Breaking the Bottleneck | Issue 16
[06/25/2023] Rebuilding Intel, Fictiv & Augury Reports, Fero Labs
Breaking the Bottleneck is a weekly manufacturing technology newsletter with perspectives, interviews, news, funding announcements, and a startup database. For a high-level market map on discrete and continuous manufacturing click the link here! If you know anyone looking to chat about manufacturing tech, I’d love to talk!
Content I Enjoyed This Week 🏭🗞️🔬
News:
LM & Xaba Test Cognitive Autonomous Robots [Manufacturing.NET]
Xaba, in collaboration with Lockheed Martin, has developed an AI-driven robotics and CNC machine controller called xCognition. The aim of their collaboration was to evaluate the automation of crucial manufacturing operations using Lockheed Martin's industrial robots integrated with xCognition. The test assessed the robot's performance in maintaining trajectory positioning and drilling tests on an aluminum test plate. The results showed that xCognition improved the accuracy and consistency of the commercial robot by a factor of 10X. The xCognition AI-driven control system enables industrial robots to deliver accuracy, repeatability, and work in path programming mode. Xaba's goal is to open up new application opportunities for industrial robots and cobots, positioning themselves at the forefront of intelligent automation for sustainable manufacturing.
Biden’s $9.2 Billion Ford Loan Is Aimed at China [Bloomberg]
The Biden administration is lending $9.2 billion to Ford Motor Co. to support the construction of three battery factories in Tennessee and Kentucky. The loan, provided by the Department of Energy, aims to close the gap between Ford and Tesla in the electric vehicle (EV) market and to compete with China in the EV industry. The move aligns with Biden's green policies, which emphasize confronting China and promoting climate and industrial policies. China has become a dominant force in EV sales and battery supply chains due to substantial subsidies from the Chinese government. The US is now recognizing the risks of relying on China for clean technologies and is following a similar playbook by providing subsidies throughout the EV value chain. With its significant capacity, the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office plays a crucial role in driving structural changes in the automotive industry. Ford, unlike Tesla, cannot rely solely on investors and needs to achieve scale in its EV business quickly. The loan from the government will help Ford achieve this goal. The US aims to catch up to China and shift the balance of power in the EV market, using China's experience and Tesla's success as references.
Insights from Industry Leaders on the Fourth Industrial Revolution [WEF]
The leaders highlighted the importance of collaboration between companies and governments, the need for purposeful innovation and implementation of technology, the urgency of sustainability and decarbonization efforts, the significance of employee engagement in technology adoption, the importance of upskilling and reskilling programs, and the transformative potential of digital tools and technologies. Initiatives such as the Global Lighthouse Network and the Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) are mentioned to accelerate the deployment of 4IR technologies and drive economic growth, innovation, and sustainability in the manufacturing sector.
Cell and Gene Manufacturing Startups [BioPharma Dive]
Developing cell and gene therapies is a complex process, and manufacturing these therapies reliably and at scale is a major challenge for companies in this field. Startups and academic labs often face bottlenecks and delays in manufacturing, which can hinder their progress and funding. To address this issue, several manufacturing startups have emerged since 2017, aiming to provide cost-efficient solutions and services to help companies develop in-house production capabilities. These startups work closely with young biotechs, offering guidance on raw material control strategies, technology transfer, and early clinical data gathering. By partnering with drugmakers and offering specialized manufacturing expertise, these startups aim to fill the gap in the cell and gene therapy manufacturing landscape. Companies include Landmark Bio, ElevateBio, VintaBio, and Shape Therapeutics.
Rebuilding Intel [SemiAnalysis]
From the great blog SemiAnalysis, the article text discusses the challenges faced by Intel. Intel’s significant advantage began to diminish with the 14nm and 10nm transitions, and competitors like TSMC and AMD caught up and surpassed Intel. The inefficiencies within Intel's manufacturing and design processes became apparent once the company lost its process node lead. Intel's manufacturing was less efficient than TSMC's, requiring more fab space for the same output due to lower tool utilization rates and worse yields. Moreover, Intel's design teams were lagging behind AMD's, requiring larger cores with more transistors and higher power consumption to achieve similar performance. Intel's design methodology also contributed to longer development cycles and higher costs for new architectures. Furthermore, the article highlights specific inefficiencies within Intel's operations, such as the use of hot lots (batches of wafers processed quickly) leading to decreased tool utilization, the high number of design iterations (steppings) resulting in increased costs, and longer time to market, and lengthy test, sort, and bin times compared to competitors.
Intel plans to address these inefficiencies by doing a variety of things to save costs and enhance production efficiency. The team plans to start charging business units for hot lots, reduce the number of steppings, and make teams more conscious of test strategies. Second by transitioning to an external foundry model, Intel aims to drive down costs on a product and fab level by allocating costs to individual designs and teams rather than entire business units. Finally, Intel aims to optimize design and ramp processes by increasing focus on architecture, die size, and cost. Intel plans to improve the ramp rate of new products to accelerate yield learning and increase tool utilization. They will charge internal teams a flat wafer price across the lifetime of a node, lock in orders earlier, and be less flexible with internal customer order changes. These measures are expected
Research:
State of Production Health [Augury]
70% of organizations rank the ability to meet their full production potential as good to excellent, but many struggle to quantify Artificial Intelligence (AI) investments and say unreliable equipment and unplanned downtime prevent them from reaching operational goals.
While production health is a fairly new idea in manufacturing, it ranked
second among top AI use cases, just behind supply chain optimization
(40% and 41% respectively).
71% of manufacturers say that sustainability targets either hurt or
have no impact on their ability to meet production goals.
State of Manufacturing [Fictiv]
Other Reports:
Nokia and EY Research on the State of the Industrial Metaverse
Wohlers Report 2023 Takeaways [Wohlers Report]
Wohlers Associates expects the AM industry to exceed $100 billion for the first time in 2032 showing an overall worldwide growth in AM products and services of 18.3%
Historically, the photopolymer segment has been the largest, partly due to its popularity for prototyping and other applications. However in 2022, polymer powders exceeded the photopolymers segment and point to a strong adoption of AM for production applications.
An estimated 34.9% of all industrial AM systems installed worldwide are in North America.
Sales of AM systems for metal parts increased by 27.2% in 2022. An estimated 3,049 metal AM machines were sold in 2022, compared to the 2,397 sold in 2021.
Podcasts/Video:
Building Out a US Solar Supply Chain [Catalyst]
China’s Manufacturing Sector Carbon Emissions [OIES Podcast]
Twitter/Reddit:
China is now Net Positive in its Automotive Trade Balance
Manufacturing Deals
Apex Space - A spacecraft platform helping configure standard satellite bus models from 100 to 500kg
$16million [Series A] - Led by Andreessen Horowitz and joined by Sheild Capital
Fero Labs - A software platform that helps manufacturers find and eliminate process inefficiencies
$15 million [Series A] - Led by Climate Investment and joined by Blackhorn Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, and DI Technology
Limble - A Utah-based all in one computerized maintenance management platform building the future of EAM
$58 million [Series B] - Led by Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Kibsi - A company building a no-code computer vision platform to build and deploy computer vision applications
$9.3 million [Series PreSee / Seed] - Led by NTTVC and joined by Preface Ventures, Ridge Ventures, Secure Octane, and Wipro Ventures
Weekly Planned Downtime + Extra Maintenance
Sam Altman on the Future of AI
Hassan + Obama