GRAND | CHALLENGES
The 3 Grand Challenges of advanced manufacturing today:
DECARBONIZATION
Advanced manufacturing research and innovation is the single most important means of reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. By changing what we make, how we manufacture and how we recycle materials, advanced manufacturing is the key to building a cleaner, equitable future.
Decarbonizing the economy is immensely challenging. It requires the discovery of new materials, taking these breakthrough discoveries into manufacturing mainstream, creating entirely new manufacturing processes (e.g. additive manufacturing offers up to 50% energy savings) and reducing waster throughout the manufacturing supply chain, all to create products that use less energy while they are in service and be can efficiently recycled at the end of their useful lives.
MATERIAL LIFECYCLE
Minimizing negative environmental impacts from manufacturing requires prioritising the reduction, recovery and reuse of materials and products across the entire manufacturing lifecycle - from raw materials to end-of-life.
Sustainable manufacturing involves transitioning from fossil fuels to bio-based energy resources, reducing waste and emissions from materials and processes and tracking end-of-life management. The ultimate goal is develop closed loop manufacturing by reducing, reusing and recycling materials and products for greener production.
SCALE-UP
Improving the rate at which new materials are adopted into production processes requires a massive transition in the advanced manufacturing sector.
Currently, it can take over 20 years (longer than pharmaceutical development) for new materials (and new manufacturing processes) to transition into mainstream manufacturing. Overcoming the scale-up challenge requires profound changes in how we think about manufacturing: from fixed physical infrastructure to agile physical infrastructure that supports rapid prototyping and customisation, from fixed physical infrastructure to digital infrastructure capable of simulating how novel materials will perform at large size and large production volume scales.