This is the third part in a series about my perspective of what the future has in store for various aspects of manufacturing. I approached each aspect by imagining what is possible using what we know to be technically possible today. In part one I covered cutting tools for machining and in part two production management.

In this article, I’m going to present a future where inventory (including any material in the production process) is maintained at the lowest possible levels through data systems that analyze real product flow for statistical variability, constraint identification, and by using models and simulations to make recommendations for the most useful improvement opportunities.

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