In the age of internet and globalization, consumer demands for customized and unique products are pushing manufacturing companies to adopt flexible manufacturing practices. Consider the case of eyewear ecommerce that requires several workers at the production line to build thousands of eyeglass frame variations for customer choices that evolve on a daily basis. A traditional industrial automation system can’t possibly offer the flexibility to meet changing customer demands at scale and speed.
Instead of developing standardized products optimized for the masses, factories of the future must leverage intelligent technologies capable of performing tasks that are less predictable and require real-time decision-making capabilities.