The
first technology I picked from the list is 3D printing. I recently came across
a news story about a group that produced prosthetic hands for children who were
in need of them. These prosthetic hands were highly functional, came in a
variety of colors, and were dramatically cheaper than traditional prosthetics.
It was quite an amazing story and enlightened me to the possibilities of 3D
printing technology. I have no doubt this technology will be utilized in the
near future to produce many goods and will have a significant impact on how
businesses operate. Companies have been using 3D printers since the 1980’s,
mostly for rapid prototyping. Just as other revolutionary technology, 3D
printers were very expensive and remained so for many years.
The cost and availability of 3D
printers today have made them a real option for many businesses. Hewlett
Packard has announced it is getting into the 3D printer market and introduced a
model that is much faster and cheaper than current machines. This technology
will have many significant impacts on business globally, especially in the
manufacturing sector. First, 3D printing will enable more goods to be produced
locally since the production costs will be much less. The costs will not be as
cheap as large-scale facilities, but the savings on shipping and inventory
storage will more than offset the additional expense. Next, inventory storage
will be reduced for many companies since new items can be made on site, along
with replacement parts for older products such as cars. Finally, customization
will become much easier for products as a manufacturer would simply need to
alter the software instructions instead of retooling the assembly line. 3D printers
will change the global supply chain, moving away from cheap labor manufacturing
to local, efficient manufacturing.
The next technology I picked from
the list is The Internet of Things (IoT). I wasn’t quite sure what this meant
exactly from the short paragraph in the Gartner press release. After reading
more about the subject, I was fascinated with the possibilities for this
technology as well. Imagine the
manufacturer of your car contacting you to tell you a part was about to fail
before any problems were noticeable. This example can be applied to almost any
object a person could think of. In fact, it can be applied to any person or
part of a person as well. For example, a
person with diabetes could have a monitor that could give them real time
information about their blood sugar sent to an application on their cell phone.
I believe the main ways this will impact companies is how they will collect
data and communicate with customers. The ability to monitor products a company
produces will give them a large amount of critical data they will be able to
use to improve current and future models. It will also give them information
about how customers are using the products which could lead to more customized
offerings or features. Also, companies will move to more cloud applications to
connect these products to the internet and communicate with customers. This
will be necessary, especially if data collection is needed across multiple
countries. I think the impact of this technology is going to become
increasingly apparent and will affect every aspect of our lives in the near
future.
SOURCES:
3-D Printing Will
Change the World; by Richard A. D'Aveni
http://hbr.org/2013/03/3-d-printing-will-change-the-world/
HP's move into 3D
printing will radically change manufacturing; By Lucas Mearian
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2841414/hps-move-into-3d-printing-will-radically-change-manufacturing.html
Internet of Things
(IoT)
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Internet-of-Things
