There is a paradigm shift underway in manufacturing, points out The Economist. New technologies in computing, materials and processes such as three-dimensional printing are making fundamental changes in the way things are made, where they are made and by whom, whether workers or smart robots.
Three-dimensional printing, in which a computeraided printing machine deposits successive layers of different materials to produce solid designs and objects, is a key exemplar of this third industrial revolution. The knowledge and service content of the final value of a manufactured product would go up, and the labour cost would go down.
Mass customisation would be in and locating manufacture to low-wage countries would be out. Boston Consulting Group foresees a resurgence of manufacture in a country like the US at the expense of a China, or an India. Several policy ramifications follow.
One, India will find it well-nigh impossible to take the route to prosperity that Asia’s miracle economies, including South Korea and China, followed, of outsourced manufacture to feed demand in developed economies. Ten years from now, much of the manufacture to meet demand in the US and Germany could well take place in those countries themselves. Two, low wages would only be a drag for attracting investments, whereas smart labour and a huge home market would be a big draw.
Three, knowledge would drive the entire economy: not the rote-driven mastery of yesterday’s verities but a ceaseless quest to challenge established wisdom and produce new knowledge. Universities have to not just train manpower but create new knowledge, serving as hubs of new production ideas. Our school and education systems would have to undergo a fundamental change in terms of organisational structure and culture. The way ahead is to universalise not just secondary education but also tertiary education, with extensive modular course offerings.
Four, the financial ecosystem must evolve to mediate funds towards knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation and conversion of knowledge into production. Finally, high-speed broadband must become ubiquitous and cheap, to enable all this.
