The automotive sector is betting big on driverless cars. Billions of dollars are being spent globally as companies battle to secure a slice of the so-called ‘passenger economy’, where people swap driving for riding. But the route to full autonomy is proving difficult to navigate. The major players face a range of technological, financial [...]
There’s a contradiction at the heart of manufacturing. On the one hand we are told that increasing automation will lead to higher production rates and improved efficiencies. And yet, at the same time, there’s supposed to be a trend towards mass personalisation, with consumers expecting greater variety of products without a corresponding increase in cost. [...]
There is little doubt that the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has moved from the margins to the mainstream. At this month’s Maintec asset management show in Birmingham, there were numerous examples of how digitalisation is now being applied across a wide range of sectors, and in ever-more imaginative ways. Visitors heard how the use [...]