The opportunity
Enable manufacturers to quickly adapt to changing market demands, produce smaller, customized batches efficiently, and integrate new technologies like AI and IoT for smarter, more responsive production systems.
From “The new face of manufacturing : agility, insight and execution…” (November 2006)
Focus on planning agility : Gone are the days of sitting back and figuring out how to crank out a production run of 700,000 items. Markets and demand are changing so rapidly that you might need to retool, rework and redo your production capabilities, so that you can respond to something new that is going to happen next week. That’s why you’ve got to ensure that you make agility — the ability to change your own goalposts — the cornerstone of your manufacturing capability.
Go maximum on flexibility : Here’s your new production mantra: volatility is the new normal . The last five years have taught us that unpredictability now comes at us in regular waves. If you are a food manufacturer and can’t instantly respond to sudden, new food traceability requirements, you’ll be faced with whopping, new, unmanageable excess costs. If you can’t provide detailed new logistics information to respond to some sudden new security concern, you don’t have the right flexibility. Today’s manufacturers live with the new unknown, and plan for it.
Have deep insight into rapidity : With the collapse of product lifecycles and wildly fluctuating consumer / customer attitudes, you’ve got to stay on top of how quickly demand might change. All of the manufacturers I’ve studied with have ensured that they have the systems and technology that provide them deep, deep insight into how quickly their markets are changing. This includes CEO’s and executive management who can access real time, high-level snapshots of all kinds of key operating metrics. Sales force and marketing and production teams who know exactly what is going on in the marketplace, minute by minute by minute, and plan accordingly.
From “Decoding Tomorrow: The Way Forward: #1 Manufacturing - “The most valuable part of a modern manufacturing operation is the part you can’t see: the algorithms that optimize flow, the data that predicts failure, and the agility that makes the entire process intelligent.”” (September 2025)
Mass Customization & Personalization : The era of mass production is yielding to mass customization. Flexible manufacturing systems, powered by new technologies, are enabling the personalized creation of products at scale.
ZIMM GmbH (Austria) : This SME manufacturer of spindle lift gears needed to increase production flexibility and efficiency for unmanned shifts.20 By implementing a modular manufacturing cell with a KUKA loading robot, ZIMM automated the physically demanding task of loading heavy metal parts. The outcome : The company can now run unmanned shifts, which has significantly increased its competitiveness, while employees have been relieved of heavy physical work and reassigned to more valuable tasks.20
Rohleder (Germany) : A medium-sized, family-owned textile manufacturer, Rohleder’s high-mix, low-volume production model made adopting standard automation difficult. They took a measured, strategic approach, partnering with local universities to analyze machine data and improve weaving efficiency. They also selectively integrated AI tools like ChatGPT in their sales department to improve customer communication. The outcome: The university collaboration led to a 20% increase in weaving productivity and a reduction in machine stoppages, enhancing efficiency without sacrificing the flexibility that is their core competitive advantage.
From “Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #14 Mass Customization Systems: “The future isn’t mass-produced; it’s mass-personalized, empowering customers to co-create the products that shape their world.”” (July 2025)
First up is ’ mass customization .’ What’s that? Manufacturing production is shifting from standardized mass manufacturing to personalized creation at scale. 3D printing is just the beginning of this new world of flexible manufacturing systems that fundamentally change how we think about inventory, distribution, and product design.
Fueled by a convergence of digital technologies, new materials and new methodologies, this new model promises to deliver personalized products at a scale and cost previously unimaginable, fundamentally changing the nature of competitive advantage and value creation in the 21st-century economy. (Success will also flow to those nations and regions that have the maturity to embrace the change. The rest will be pretty much behind and will see the end of most manufacturing jobs.)
Additive Manufacturing (AM), commonly known as 3D printing, is arguably the most critical hardware technology driving the mass customization revolution. Its primary advantage lies in being a ” toolless ” fabrication process. Traditional manufacturing methods like injection molding require the creation of expensive, static molds, making it economically unfeasible to produce unique items in small quantities.
Read the full pieces on jimcarroll.com:
The new face of manufacturing : agility, insight and execution…
Decoding Tomorrow: The Way Forward: #1 Manufacturing - “The most valuable part of a modern manufacturing operation is the part you can’t see: the algorithms that optimize flow, the data that predicts failure, and the agility that makes the entire process intelligent.”
Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #14 Mass Customization Systems: “The future isn’t mass-produced; it’s mass-personalized, empowering customers to co-create the products that shape their world.”