/technologies/businessofengineering/b/blog/posts/the-state-of-manufacturing-technology-in-2016Manufacturing technology is an ever-evolving discipline that changes rapidly from year to year, as new innovations help to make the industry safer, more advanced and more efficient. Here are just a few examples of the technologies that made a mark onen-USTelligent Community 12https://community.element14.com/technologies/businessofengineering/b/blog/posts/the-state-of-manufacturing-technology-in-2016Fri, 18 Nov 2016 19:30:43 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:334d490a-e04b-4d23-af01-e2440eabd13aInstructorman0<p>The nature of manufacturing and, crucially, of manufacturing jobs, seems to be shifting toward automation.&nbsp; More of what used to be done by humans will be done by machines in the very near future.</p><p>What impact will this shift have on the people that have already been negatively impacted by the closure of traditional manufacturing plants around the world?</p><p>Will most find renewed employment as robot designers, programmers, or maintenance technicians?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This is another case in the long history of technical evolution where scientific and engineering breakthroughs send ripples through the social fabric.&nbsp; I&#39;m not saying the ripples are always bad, rather, that more effort should be concentrated on understand those ripples and generating parallel social breakthroughs that work to ameliorate consequences.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Mark A</p><img src="https://community.element14.com/aggbug?PostID=2229&AppID=96&AppType=Weblog&ContentType=0" width="1" height="1">