Ethics has taken a centre stage, not only in the manufacturing sector, but across our society at large. Radical transparency enabled by technology and the impact of interconnected global events have forced companies, industries, governments and organisations to take ethics seriously. They have high demands for ethical actions and responsibility and consider this as the bare minimum expected behaviour. The manufacturing sector is a big sector, and the possible positive impact that it can create in issues such as the ongoing climate crisis, gender equality, diversity, privacy, safety, health and others, can become an inspiring guiding star for other industries that want to improve and strengthen their moral and ethical compass.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers):

• What if manufacturing industry becomes the most ethical industry in the world?
• What if Europe sets the golden standard for ethical behaviour for manufacturing?
• What if “Ethical Taxes” are introduced in the future?
• What if technology will make it extremely easy for consumers and citizens to track and measure the “ethical footprint” of products and services in the near future?

We have seen an acceleration of activist movements that demand change around the world. Where it once was something of the niches, the pressure of the pandemic has made it ever more necessary for civil action and activism to fix the political, economic and social challenges of the (post-)pandemic world. Tired of waiting, the next generations knows activism is not just something they do, but it really is part of who they are. From politics and media to the climate crisis, passion and first-hand experience drive this digital generation to ensure their voices are heard worldwide.

Key Dimensions

• Being ethical or moral will no longer be only something you talk about, but you will have to do it too and it will be on top of the agenda for future workforce to join an organization.
• Growing polarisation demands companies to stand up and speak out.
• Once raised awareness, it is about doing. More and more activists realise that you can only do so much. People moving from just individualistic frameworks as they demand collective action and responsibility.
• Expect a rise of all kinds of collective actions, standing together in strikes and even rebranding of the coolness of unions.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• How would the Patagonia of manufacturing look like?
• What are the new standards of ethics and morals for manufacturing?
• What are the possible protests that could happen in the manufacturing industry and how can you address these weak spots?

The state is, and has been, our boldest and most valuable innovator, as stated by economist Mariana Mazzucato. In 2021 she published another important book “Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism; where she argues we need to think bigger and mobilise our resources in a way that is as bold as inspirational as the moon landing—this time to the most ‘wicked’ social problems of our time. This means changing government tools and culture, creating new markers of corporate governance, and ensuring that corporations, society, and the government to share a common goal. In the west, but also in other areas of the world we see the importance of governments and states setting standards, new visions and guidelines; Governmental to launch moonshot missions, to address our systemic wicked and intertwined challenges of the future.

Key Dimensions

• Real change doesn’t come in small bites, but more and more it becomes clear that it needs systemic changes to really make an impact.
• With governments creating moonshot visions it can reimagine futures of Europe to innovate and tackle real problems.
• If we can link the ambition articulated in moonshots such at the ‘EU Green New Deal’ to practice and the new ‘gold standard’ in Europe that embraces European values and ideals in its legal and regulatory framework, it ensures that Europe is leading, and not following.
• What could be the new models that can be developed to support this?

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What If European Values shifted and changed and how will this influence the Manufacturing sector?
• What if decentralised online communities will create the visions of the future, instead of governments and states?
• What if we could mobilize the political will and resources in a way that is as bold as inspirational to solve climate crisis and inequality?
• What if manufacturers are willing to call for systemic approaches to innovate and collaborate to step into the space what we think is possible to create real difference?

As more industries and sectors merge and become more interconnected and dependable to one another, the need for collaboration and communication across industries has become imperative. Being able to break the traditional silos of the manufacturing world and bridge and connect them with academia and the public sector can help promote better knowledge sharing, talent acquisition, and ensure a broader positive impact in society through sustainable innovations created in more holistic and systemic environments of cooperation.

Key Dimensions

• Addressing and facing future complex and interconnected challenges will only be done successful when we can build radical partnerships. For that, we need to bridge the various gaps between world views and perspectives, break silos and engage with people and communicate with a variety of disciplines to address value and change.
• Cross-company sharing and collaboration is needed for entire manufacturing systems.
• Collaboration is a super power of humans. How will Manufacturing use this?
• In order to work together, it will require to learn the new lingo, building tryst and understanding new ways of working will help you to built better collaborations for the future.
• Built open and flexible structures and cultures to invite new people and collaborators to the table of innovation.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• Who could be your most important partners in the future to collaborate with?
• What if regions and cities become key in building relationships?
• How can you foster current relationships but at the same time built new ones?
• What will be the common language and values that will be driving future collaborations?
• How to change culture within the manufactory business and which new facilitators could you bring in to make this happen?

Future energy use, consumption and storage are just a few of the challenges within the manufacturing sector. With a greater level of automation and technological advancements applied in factories comes a higher need for energy. And new and greener energy suppliers and sources are high in demand. Although no clear cut winner solution is on the horizon, we do see that hydrogen has a high potential. However, the cost-effective aspect of hydrogen has to be addressed to really become an energy solution for a greener future.

Key Dimensions

• Greater automation of manufacturing results in an increase of energy intensity of processes. Therefore, new (sustainable) energy sources are crucial to meet these needs.
• Hydrogen seems to represent the green energy alternative, although further research is needed in order to improve its industrialisation potential.
• Perceiving nature around us as a valuable resource symbolises the change of minds and attitude of people towards nature.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if the reduce-reuse-recycle becomes the main rhetoric in manufacturing?
• How would green energy influence the energy supply? Would we need it even more because it was green?
• What if hydrogen reaches the scaleability phase? How will that disrupt the manufacturing landscape?

Circular economy is considered as one of the best strategies to combat the climate crisis. In a resource-constrained world, there is a noticeable trend of companies opting into the circular economy model. For manufacturers, this shift involves a move away from the “take, make, waste” linear economy and a step towards increased responsibility over the total lifecycle of a product and its environmental impact. It directs production and consumption into a circular model of repair and reuse, sharing and remanufacture of materials, plus recycling at all levels. It reduces the demand for raw materials, helps to extend product life, and reduces end-of-life cycle waste. It is obvious to say, but we say it anyway, that it is gaining momentum. At every level. From the EU publishing a Circular Economy Action plan in March 2020, to governments setting new targets, businesses embracing Circular Economy business models, SME jumping on the opportunity and closing loops as well as consumers embracing circular mindsets.

Key Dimensions

• Circular Economy is not only crucial to save our planet, it can create economic advantages for manufacturers as well. As changes accelerate and life gets more uncertain and complex, we see that the manufacturers who are actually experimenting and innovating in this space now will lead in the future. The ones that are pioneering and finding out how to be pro-active by researching flexible remanufacturing models, seeking to reduce waste in the production process and develop their own industry-specific solutions to a circular economy will be the ones who will stay relevant in the future.
• Circular Economy is good business, but it also could enrich the manufacturing sector with new, more human values and could create positivity and hope
• Circular Economy requires open collaboration for closed-loop systems. How to built trust, empathy and innovative problem-solving and do more with less together.
• Challenges and changes do not come alone, and we need to think how they can connect and enable each other for the good. Industry 4.0 is considered as one of the most important shifts within manufacturing, so how can we connect the dots? How can the trend of industry 4.0 enable greater productivity and improved use of resources within closed loop supply chains which include re-use and recovery.
• As manufacturers will be transitioning to the Circular Economy, processes need to be rethought, software to be updated, packaging made more sustainable and factories need to invest in retooling and retrofitting of equipment to run on clean energy sources.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if we could redesign factories today to fit a circular processes and a zero-waste world tomorrow?
• What if waste was never created in the first place?
• What if manufacturing in Europe sets the circular standard and will enable other parts of the world to collaborate to make more of less.
• What if the economy was built on using things rather than using them up?
• What if we would make our circular society of the future as irresistible as it is necessary?

At a time of crises, when the relationship between human and nature is being redefined, and mental wellbeing in the workplace is entering as a new paradigm of work, new leadership models and new strengths/skills are needed. Transformative feminist leaderships are pioneering new dynamics, proposing ‘power with others’ as an alternative concept to ‘power over others’. Another case of new model emerging is provided by regenerative leadership, clearly indicating the need to have a positive impact in the (planetary) system we participate in. It is time to give up privilege; while on the other hand, the manufacturing workforce is still deeply struggling with a gender-gap, in which more than two thirds of it is composed of men. Small and large manufacturing industries can move from being led to leading a new paradigm of work and inclusivity.

Key dimensions:

• Paul Hawken refers to changes and initiatives happening worldwide as a ‘planetary immune response’ at the crises we are facing. New leadership models can be considered a part of this! A growing portion of the workforce is not satisfied with historical leadership styles, and its drivers. New and more inclusive approaches are emerging, allowing for diverse new types of leadership.
• Within Manufacturing, issues with gender-gap can be even more profound than in other fields. New leadership models can find fertile ground for a deep and positive impact.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if Manufacturing became the leader field in new leadership models?
• How can new leadership models support in solving some of the challenges Manufacturing is facing?

Industry 4.0 has introduced the extensive use of cobots on the factory floor which caused implications for the entire manufacturing system. The level of collaboration between human and cyber-physical systems has developed profoundly, creating both opportunities and threats that need more and more attention. Suddenly, knowledge transfer and knowledge creation can be found in humans, systems and robots, requiring diverse and complex skills from the workforce. And even though the robots can take away mundane and repetitive tasks, a greater level of familiarity needs to be introduced.

Key Dimensions

• The level and sophistication of collaboration between human and cyber-physical systems developed profoundly.
• Knowledge transfer and knowledge creation is among all the partners (humans, systems and robots)
• We will see fewer people on the production line but people with different skillsets. A new role of the human emerging as the orchestrator and facilitator of the floor.
• With a continuous advancing of the level of automation, a higher understanding of cyber-physical systems is required from employees.
• Data is produced on a high level rising questions how to use it ethically within the systems.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What will be the power dynamics of the relationship between human and robots in the manufacturing spaces?
• What if robots smoothen the workday of employees and they are making sure their wellbeing is taken care of too?
• What if robots could boost workers creativity and help them thinking out of the box whilst solving complex issues?
• What if the future factory would only need a small workforce of highly skilled managerial orchestrators?

With an ageing population that by 2060 will be composed by 29.5% of over 65, manufacturing is facing the threat of loosing a workforce who has meaningful knowledge. The problem can be addressed by a new understanding of the lifecycle of work; companies such as Michelin are offering to retired employees the possibility to join short term projects, where they can share their expertise with younger generations.

Key Dimensions

• Active ageing is defined by EU as ‘helping people stay in charge of their own lives for as long as possible as they age and, where possible, to contribute to the economy and society’ and this has been a priority for the Commission since 2012.
• In most of European countries, populations are getting older.
• The lifecycle of work should be redefined to address the needs of citizen and adapt to new structures.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• How will retirement programs look like in 10 years from now?
• What if companies could facilitate the collaboration and knowledge sharing among older and younger generations?

The term ‘prosumer’ has been around for a while and is used in several ways. A prosumer could be a portmanteau of the words producer and consumer. In refers to consumers that not only consume, but also produce. For manufacturing it is interesting to see the rise of creators happening in material innovation (see ‘New Materials, New Makers’) that shifts from laboratory to creating impact in scale. Alongside this, we also see a continuous rise in sophistication and professionalisation of makers, Maker communities such as the Thingiverse community are offering serious alternatives at scale and show that they are beyond a community of hobbies. Lastly, we have seen is how consumers are becoming shareholders in the online eco-systems (the Metaverse) who previously only profited from them.

Key Dimensions

• The perception of value shifts when consumers become stakeholders, creators, makers and owners. We see more entrepreneurial, decentralised, equitable and user generated approaches.
• Where ownership and agency was once in the hands of the producer and makers, this trend influences other choices and decisions.
• Production can be done more in a community-run and crowdsourced, with open software, local and with circular processes.
• Entrepreneurship is in the blood of the new generations, just next to the drive for purpose and fairness. How will this impact future production and creations?

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if creators become shareholders of manufactories?
• How would reimagine a manufactory processes where consumers become creators and stakeholders?
• What if all brands would be community-run and owned?

Driven by the climate crisis and changing consumer behaviour, we see traditional and new makers starting to develop and recovering materials, with nature as inspiration. A new wave of young entrepreneurs – fuelled with passion and purpose – and with digital platforms on their fingertips combining their knowledge and skillsets to develop better (bio-based) material alternatives to challenge the status quo. On the other hand, we see traditional manufacturers experimenting by starting to make their own materials to disrupt manufacturing as we know it.

Key Dimensions

• Nature will be a key inspiration for new material innovation in the future. Where it was once a niche, it will grow and will influence business models to address true sustainability.
• We see a new group of positive New Makers that will now enter the landscape of manufacturers and setting the norm for material innovation of the future.
• Besides shifting to more natural resources, some traditional materials will stay, such as steel etc, but driven by a growing pressure of sustainability, new factories and processes will be developed to make a positive contribution to the planet, instead of taking things aways from it.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if the manufacturing landscape will adopt a TikTok mindset and will start collaborating with these new material entrepreneurs in the future?
• What if mushrooms and tea bags become the new steel?
• What if manufacturers start growing their own materials in the future?
• What if we only use bio-materials and what does this mean for education and skills needed in manufacturing?

A new cohort of workers is entering the labour market. Raised in a highly digital world, this new generation has new values, new skills and different motivations than previous ones, forcing the manufacturing industry to rethink and redesign how to attract, retain and grow talent in order to remain attractive and relevant for those who want to make a career within the industry.

Key Dimensions

• The new generation is purpose and passion driven, they want their work to also make a positive dent in the world.
• The new generation values a healthy working environment, and a place where they feel that they can grow and expand in their career path.
• The new generation has new skills and competences enabled by their high digital literacy, gaming knowledge, and free and open attitude to technology. Lastly, the new generation posses a hybrid mindset.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if new skills (such as gaming, digitalisation, etc) become essential competencies in the future?
• How would you write a job posting for manufacturing for 2030?
• What if the manufacturing industry could reflect the values, skills and motivations of the younger generations?
• What if this new generation becomes the main driving force behind the industry and move from employees to employers, and run the industry? How would they design a factory?
• What if digital and “soft” skills are on top of the manufacturers agenda?

With growing migrations to Europe, there is an urgent need to flip the narrative from seeing this as a problem to embracing the opportunity. With a talent shortage, we already see different organizations around the continent introducing innovative solutions to faciliate a welcoming start to a new culture and work environment. We have spotted innovative concepts in the tech sector and gastronomy to attract talent as well as upskilling refugees and migrants. What if these approaches can be an inspiration to other sectors, such as manufacturing?

Key Dimensions

• We can see a necessity to address the importance of inclusivity and diversity in modern societies, especially when looking into even more diverse futures;
• A potential and highly skilful workforce that tends to be excluded from the official career paths.
• Growing demand for employees in the manufacturing landscape, so potentially a great win-win for both sides.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if each company would rethink how they attract and communicate to new talent and facilitate exchange and the onboarding of new workers and migrants on a basis of curiosity and opportunity?
• What if diversity of employees was a status quo?
• What if Europe would open up manufacturing to a new workforce? How would that improve overall tolerance, social cohesion, but also productivity and collaboration at work?

Smaller emerging players are revolutionizing the competitive dynamics within manufacturing. There is an evolving diversification around the business models used to enter the field(s). Multiple ways to find investments, together with the increasing use of collaborations between different actors of the supply chain define the entering barriers. On the other side, the accessibility to software decreases the costs and challenges the pre-existing infrastructure.

Key Dimensions

• Business Model innovation opens the field to small companies: they have higher accessibility to investments and facilitated path for growth and reaching customers.
• The accessibility to software is lowering entrance costs and increasing the entire landscape competition.
• Small players are challenging the giants – lower costs and lower entry barriers can create challenges for those who used to be solo players in the field.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if manufacturing had close-to-zero entry costs for new startups? How fast would innovations enter the field?
• What if the giants of manufacturing became the playing labs for small companies and employees to experiment and innovate? (already done in tech, not so much in manufacturing)
• What if the collaborative approach among “competitors” was the status quo?

At a time of crises, when the relationship between human and nature is being redefined, and mental wellbeing in the workplace is entering as a new paradigm of work, new leadership models and new strengths/skills are needed. Transformative feminist leaderships are pioneering new dynamics, proposing ‘power with others’ as an alternative concept to ‘power over others’. Another case of new model emerging is provided by regenerative leadership, clearly indicating the need to have a positive impact in the (planetary) system we participate in. It is time to give up privilege; while on the other hand, the manufacturing workforce is still deeply struggling with a gender-gap, in which more than two thirds of it is composed of men. Small and large manufacturing industries can move from being led to leading a new paradigm of work and inclusivity.

Key dimensions:

• Paul Hawken refers to changes and initiatives happening worldwide as a ‘planetary immune response’ at the crises we are facing. New leadership models can be considered a part of this! A growing portion of the workforce is not satisfied with historical leadership styles, and its drivers. New and more inclusive approaches are emerging, allowing for diverse new types of leadership.
• Within Manufacturing, issues with gender-gap can be even more profound than in other fields. New leadership models can find fertile ground for a deep and positive impact.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if Manufacturing became the leader field in new leadership models?
• How can new leadership models support in solving some of the challenges Manufacturing is facing?

The manufacturing sector is increasingly starting to collaborate across hyperconnected value networks in order to increase productivity, develop new products and improve customer experiences which will have a positive impact on society and the environment. Data is, and will be, the lifeblood of the new digital factory, and the industry will need to start understanding and treating data as a valuable resource by utilising a large variety of data and analytics applications and by requiring new skill sets to ensure the successful transformation of manufacturing processes and supply systems. At the same time, the manufacturing sector should ensure that data doesn’t become a liability. Challenge will be to ensure that the data is handled with care and of good quality.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if we enter a future, where we no longer can provide the transparency needed in data and our technical systems become “black boxes” that produce insight without explanation?
• What if the manufactory sector will experiment with hackathons to ensure the ethical and human aspects are ensured in future innovations?
• Who will own all the data in the future? What if consumers become data owners, what does this mean for future manufactory business models?

As more industries and sectors merge and become more interconnected and dependable to one another, the need for collaboration and communication across industries has become imperative. Being able to break the traditional silos of the manufacturing world and bridge and connect them with academia and the public sector can help promote better knowledge sharing, talent acquisition, and ensure a broader positive impact in society through sustainable innovations created in more holistic and systemic environments of cooperation.

Key Dimensions

• Addressing and facing future complex and interconnected challenges will only be done successful when we can build radical partnerships. For that, we need to bridge the various gaps between world views and perspectives, break silos and engage with people and communicate with a variety of disciplines to address value and change.
• Cross-company sharing and collaboration is needed for entire manufacturing systems.
• Collaboration is a super power of humans. How will Manufacturing use this?
• In order to work together, it will require to learn the new lingo, building tryst and understanding new ways of working will help you to built better collaborations for the future.
• Built open and flexible structures and cultures to invite new people and collaborators to the table of innovation.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• Who could be your most important partners in the future to collaborate with?
• What if regions and cities become key in building relationships?
• How can you foster current relationships but at the same time built new ones?
• What will be the common language and values that will be driving future collaborations?
• How to change culture within the manufactory business and which new facilitators could you bring in to make this happen?

How we work, where we work, what we expect of work and our wellbeing at work and our working conditions have been rapidly changing over the last couple of years. We see that the next generation workforce will expect more flexibility: flexible work hours, flexible locations and activities that contribute to a better planet.
They expect working conditions that fits their wellbeing. The next generation thinks differently about ‘fixed certainties’ around power, diversity, social causes, privilege and the traditional male / female divide. As such, they will vocally challenge the orthodoxy and force society to rethink traditional work patterns and role models. Lastly, they will be more critical of every company’s business practices, and before accepting a job they will closely analyse their potential employers’ intentions, conditions, values and work-life boundaries.

Key Dimensions

• How future companies and manufacturers intepretate future ideas around workforce wellbeing’ into practice, will impact how eager future generations will want to work for you.
• Manufacturers should redefine work packages and ways of working to address new expectation of wellbeing of the future generations and create a more inclusive workforce, where personal preferences are acknowledged and taking into account.
• Wellbeing at work is about the physical and digital workspace. The need for mental wellbeing is a trend will continue to increase in the workplace, forcing manufacturing to redesign workflows in order to reduce mental stress.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if children would dream of working in manufacturing?
• What if factories become places where happiness and joy are measured instead of productivity and profit?
• What if manufacturers will design their work packages and benefits where flexibility and personal preferences are leading?
• What if every manufacturer has wellbeing approaches to support parenting, caregiving, mental health and physical health?
• What if manufacturers put wellbeing central?
• What if factories will become the new lifestyle centres where people can improve their wellbeing and happiness?

More and more businesses know that green is the way forward. However, that doesn’t mean that it always on top of their priority list, especially when resources are tight. We see that SME’s (small medium-size enterprises) within the manufacturing sector are challenged. Even though they would like to implement more greener, circular and better solutions, they are constrained to making sure that economic value is created first and foremost.

Key Dimensions

• How to be green? Green solutions are available but there is a huge opportunity to make them available to SME’s and also to communicate the economic value for SME’s for being green.
• It is important to support SME’s in green solutions by giving access to infrastructure and commercialisation.
• The green mindset is not a priority, but rather an additional benefit in case of contributing to lower costs.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if a new business model of manufacturing promoted greener solutions before profit?
• What if the economic incentive was placed by social and environmental ones?
• What if public and private fundings supported and promoted solely green manufacturing?

Consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental and humanitarian issues and demand full transparency throughout the whole supply chain. With this push from consumers to honesty and business ethics, connecting the dots of the whole system and providing solutions that are real and true become crucial. It will ensure that consumers see what is happening throughout the supply chain, it will also tackle ‘greenwash’ and bring much-needed transparency in every industry. Furthermore, manufacturing needs to adapt to a supply chain where shortage might be the norm.

Key Dimensions

• It might be good for manufacturing to start rethinking their supply chain in an economy where shortage, disturbance and volatility are the norm. Can you rethink your business models to create less dependency and more guarantee in these circumstances?
• Manufacturing can create excellence and consumer trust, when they offer consumer transparency throughout the supply chain, ensuring them that they walk the talk.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if we develop, design and test processes and models to create a supply chain that is built for efficiency, resilience and transparency?
• What if manufacturers would built capacities and skills for a world where we need decision making given high uncertainty and volatility?
• What if we centre fairness, sustainability and transparency in the centre of our future supply chains?
• How do we ensure that when innovating our supply chains with new technologies, old patterns will not be reproduced?

Industry 4.0 has introduced the extensive use of cobots on the factory floor which caused implications for the entire manufacturing system. The level of collaboration between human and cyber-physical systems has developed profoundly, creating both opportunities and threats that need more and more attention. Suddenly, knowledge transfer and knowledge creation can be found in humans, systems and robots, requiring diverse and complex skills from the workforce. And even though the robots can take away mundane and repetitive tasks, a greater level of familiarity needs to be introduced.

Key Dimensions

• The level and sophistication of collaboration between human and cyber-physical systems developed profoundly.
• Knowledge transfer and knowledge creation is among all the partners (humans, systems and robots)
• We will see fewer people on the production line but people with different skillsets. A new role of the human emerging as the orchestrator and facilitator of the floor.
• With a continuous advancing of the level of automation, a higher understanding of cyber-physical systems is required from employees.
• Data is produced on a high level rising questions how to use it ethically within the systems.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What will be the power dynamics of the relationship between human and robots in the manufacturing spaces?
• What if robots smoothen the workday of employees and they are making sure their wellbeing is taken care of too?
• What if robots could boost workers creativity and help them thinking out of the box whilst solving complex issues?
• What if the future factory would only need a small workforce of highly skilled managerial orchestrators?

The democratization of manufacturing technologies and processes is making possible to grant access to cutting edge software and hardware to players that only a few years ago couldn’t enter the manufacturing sector without massive investments in R&D and facilities. We see big players providing manufacturing flexible and accessible platforms and services for smaller productions, as the demand for state of the art technology is increasing among small and medium size enterprises. As the relevance of software increases in the manufacturing process, it will be possible that more and more small players can have access to design and build new products in smaller scales of production, increasing innovation and creating a more diverse offer to consumers.

Key Dimensions

• Some say that services, not products, are the future of manufacturing. With more and more smart products being manufactured, we see the concept of product as a service on the rise that allow users to modify, upgrade and download features and updates for their own customisation. This will reshape how we organise flexible factories and what skillsets we are looking for in our future workforce.
• Manufacturing could expect more focus on recurring services which will establish a deputing relationship between manufacturer and customer.
• With more flexibility in services, there might be opportunities for new subscription services that can be adapted to immediate needs from the workforce and the users.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What does this mean for the workforce within manufacturing, where there is need for highly skilled experts or service designers collaborating with digital technologies and tools?
• Imagine a world where manufacturing can be offered in modular services that can be mixed and matched just like Lego bricks.

Industry 4.0 has increased the need and amount of (human) robots within the manufacturing process with a higher level of sophistication. With this development there is more collaboration between humans and robots. It raises awareness and issues around safety, risk, fears, and hesitance for employees working with and around them. Furthermore, employees need a higher level of assurance that their roles won’t become redundant in the upcoming years.

Key Dimensions

• It will be more important to support employees with the challenges of closer human collaboration in future manufacturing systems. Ensure to work safely with robots will be key.
• Communicate and understand which tasks fit robots and what the roles in the future will and can be for humans and robots.
• In the future, it is even more important to make sure that employees feel safe and accustomed to collaborating with robots.
• AI solutions can help with facilitation of a smoother transition in the collaboration between humans and cyber-physical systems.
• Designing robots with social interaction in mind is becoming increasingly important.How will this impact the feeling of safety in manufacturing?

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if humans collaborate with robots freely?
• What if safety issues didn’t pose any threat to humans?
• What if your robot ‘gets you?

Driven by the Circular Economy, the ‘right-to-repair’ movement and eco-design regulations are more and more defining standards. The EU is restricting products designed to be unfixable, forcing companies to change their ways of manufacturing and giving people access to repair. Consumer mindset is altering, craftsmanship revalued and celebrated and all of this is putting pressure on manufacturers to be more open how to repair their goods and make it easier for third parties to help them in the process.

Key Dimensions

• The demand to repair has been out there for a while and it changes how manufacturers are designing and planning their processes as well as what role they could play in the future of manufacturing.
• We will see an ongoing push from consumers and regulators for the right to repair and brand responding to it. Though there are barriers ahead, but with a consumer mindset altered, we expect we have not seen the end of it.
• There is a lot of opportunity to better the ‘post purchase’ consumer experience. It has gone from beyond alleviating pain points, to encouraging consumers to build a long-term, sustainable relationship with the products they buy.
• It becomes easier for more people to join the repair movement.
• For manufacturing it is interesting to reflect on their position in an interconnected repair ecosystem. An open system that, through regulations, can work better and better together and will guarantee quality and safety.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if repairability would be part of the ‘Universal Rights’ in all products manufactured in Europe?
• How can a repair mindset be even more ingrained in schools and with retailers?
• What if we would start repairing in the Metaverse? How would this look like?
• How can we design and adapt products for multiple users as well as normalise the use of repaired products?

The term ‘prosumer’ has been around for a while and is used in several ways. A prosumer could be a portmanteau of the words producer and consumer. In refers to consumers that not only consume, but also produce. For manufacturing it is interesting to see the rise of creators happening in material innovation (see ‘New Materials, New Makers’) that shifts from laboratory to creating impact in scale. Alongside this, we also see a continuous rise in sophistication and professionalisation of makers, Maker communities such as the Thingiverse community are offering serious alternatives at scale and show that they are beyond a community of hobbies. Lastly, we have seen is how consumers are becoming shareholders in the online eco-systems (the Metaverse) who previously only profited from them.

Key Dimensions

• The perception of value shifts when consumers become stakeholders, creators, makers and owners. We see more entrepreneurial, decentralised, equitable and user generated approaches.
• Where ownership and agency was once in the hands of the producer and makers, this trend influences other choices and decisions.
• Production can be done more in a community-run and crowdsourced, with open software, local and with circular processes.
• Entrepreneurship is in the blood of the new generations, just next to the drive for purpose and fairness. How will this impact future production and creations?

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if creators become shareholders of manufactories?
• How would reimagine a manufactory processes where consumers become creators and stakeholders?
• What if all brands would be community-run and owned?

Circular economy is considered as one of the best strategies to combat the climate crisis. In a resource-constrained world, there is a noticeable trend of companies opting into the circular economy model. For manufacturers, this shift involves a move away from the “take, make, waste” linear economy and a step towards increased responsibility over the total lifecycle of a product and its environmental impact. It directs production and consumption into a circular model of repair and reuse, sharing and remanufacture of materials, plus recycling at all levels. It reduces the demand for raw materials, helps to extend product life, and reduces end-of-life cycle waste. It is obvious to say, but we say it anyway, that it is gaining momentum. At every level. From the EU publishing a Circular Economy Action plan in March 2020, to governments setting new targets, businesses embracing Circular Economy business models, SME jumping on the opportunity and closing loops as well as consumers embracing circular mindsets.

Key Dimensions

• Circular Economy is not only crucial to save our planet, it can create economic advantages for manufacturers as well. As changes accelerate and life gets more uncertain and complex, we see that the manufacturers who are actually experimenting and innovating in this space now will lead in the future. The ones that are pioneering and finding out how to be pro-active by researching flexible remanufacturing models, seeking to reduce waste in the production process and develop their own industry-specific solutions to a circular economy will be the ones who will stay relevant in the future.
• Circular Economy is good business, but it also could enrich the manufacturing sector with new, more human values and could create positivity and hope
• Circular Economy requires open collaboration for closed-loop systems. How to built trust, empathy and innovative problem-solving and do more with less together.
• Challenges and changes do not come alone, and we need to think how they can connect and enable each other for the good. Industry 4.0 is considered as one of the most important shifts within manufacturing, so how can we connect the dots? How can the trend of industry 4.0 enable greater productivity and improved use of resources within closed loop supply chains which include re-use and recovery.
• As manufacturers will be transitioning to the Circular Economy, processes need to be rethought, software to be updated, packaging made more sustainable and factories need to invest in retooling and retrofitting of equipment to run on clean energy sources.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if we could redesign factories today to fit a circular processes and a zero-waste world tomorrow?
• What if waste was never created in the first place?
• What if manufacturing in Europe sets the circular standard and will enable other parts of the world to collaborate to make more of less.
• What if the economy was built on using things rather than using them up?
• What if we would make our circular society of the future as irresistible as it is necessary?

Increasing requirements and consumer awareness around transparency in supply chain are raising questions around how flexibility can be translated into manufacturing. With the shorting of the supply chain, various systems are being explored. In order to reduce the transportation of materials, sustainable systems could promote a global network for design and development, with a local product execution.On the other hand, post-ownership economy is providing alternatives to the purchase of machines, promoting flexibility within infrastructure collaboration.

Key Dimensions

• There are new emerging paradigms when it comes to production. Local production became mainstream within foods for example. However, it might be more complex to translate that into heavy manufacturing. One proposed approach is to provide a global take on design and product development, while focusing on producing local.
• Post-ownership economy can provide a more sustainable option for businesses, offering a positive influence on the budget and on the amount of machines that need to be used.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• Can local production become a true competitive advantage of manufacturing?
• What if co-owned machineries become the new norm of production within manufacturing?

Smaller emerging players are revolutionizing the competitive dynamics within manufacturing. There is an evolving diversification around the business models used to enter the field(s). Multiple ways to find investments, together with the increasing use of collaborations between different actors of the supply chain define the entering barriers. On the other side, the accessibility to software decreases the costs and challenges the pre-existing infrastructure.

Key Dimensions

• Business Model innovation opens the field to small companies: they have higher accessibility to investments and facilitated path for growth and reaching customers.
• The accessibility to software is lowering entrance costs and increasing the entire landscape competition.
• Small players are challenging the giants – lower costs and lower entry barriers can create challenges for those who used to be solo players in the field.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if manufacturing had close-to-zero entry costs for new startups? How fast would innovations enter the field?
• What if the giants of manufacturing became the playing labs for small companies and employees to experiment and innovate? (already done in tech, not so much in manufacturing)
• What if the collaborative approach among “competitors” was the status quo?

Future energy use, consumption and storage are just a few of the challenges within the manufacturing sector. With a greater level of automation and technological advancements applied in factories comes a higher need for energy. And new and greener energy suppliers and sources are high in demand. Although no clear cut winner solution is on the horizon, we do see that hydrogen has a high potential. However, the cost-effective aspect of hydrogen has to be addressed to really become an energy solution for a greener future.

Key Dimensions

• Greater automation of manufacturing results in an increase of energy intensity of processes. Therefore, new (sustainable) energy sources are crucial to meet these needs.
• Hydrogen seems to represent the green energy alternative, although further research is needed in order to improve its industrialisation potential.
• Perceiving nature around us as a valuable resource symbolises the change of minds and attitude of people towards nature.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if the reduce-reuse-recycle becomes the main rhetoric in manufacturing?
• How would green energy influence the energy supply? Would we need it even more because it was green?
• What if hydrogen reaches the scaleability phase? How will that disrupt the manufacturing landscape?

Driven by the Circular Economy, the ‘right-to-repair’ movement and eco-design regulations are more and more defining standards. The EU is restricting products designed to be unfixable, forcing companies to change their ways of manufacturing and giving people access to repair. Consumer mindset is altering, craftsmanship revalued and celebrated and all of this is putting pressure on manufacturers to be more open how to repair their goods and make it easier for third parties to help them in the process.

Key Dimensions

• The demand to repair has been out there for a while and it changes how manufacturers are designing and planning their processes as well as what role they could play in the future of manufacturing.
• We will see an ongoing push from consumers and regulators for the right to repair and brand responding to it. Though there are barriers ahead, but with a consumer mindset altered, we expect we have not seen the end of it.
• There is a lot of opportunity to better the ‘post purchase’ consumer experience. It has gone from beyond alleviating pain points, to encouraging consumers to build a long-term, sustainable relationship with the products they buy.
• It becomes easier for more people to join the repair movement.
• For manufacturing it is interesting to reflect on their position in an interconnected repair ecosystem. An open system that, through regulations, can work better and better together and will guarantee quality and safety.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if repairability would be part of the ‘Universal Rights’ in all products manufactured in Europe?
• How can a repair mindset be even more ingrained in schools and with retailers?
• What if we would start repairing in the Metaverse? How would this look like?
• How can we design and adapt products for multiple users as well as normalise the use of repaired products?

More and more technological advancements are being established, slowly shifting from reality enhancement to a life in parallel virtual worlds. With social networks moving to the Metaverse and big fashion players entering the space with collections for gaming platforms, new forms and norms of interaction between people, groups and companies are emerging. While the impact of Metaverse on consumption is being explored, there is a growing opportunity for daring players to explore new business models and possibilities of this emerging space to gain competitive advantages.

Key Dimensions

• Investments in parallel virtual worlds are moving faster, concepts such as the Metaverse are now part of the ongoing public discussions.
• However, there might still be a need for education and knowledge sharing when it comes to new digital norms.
• While parallel realities are being developed, new forms of consumption are taking shape and can become mainstream in short times – as shown by NTFS in previous fashion weeks.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• How products, services and experiences will be consumed in the Metaverse?
• How will manufacturing invest in the intangibles and what will that imply for their processes?
• What will be the new norms and forms of interaction and how will that define the way we produce and consume?

Increasing requirements and consumer awareness around transparency in supply chain are raising questions around how flexibility can be translated into manufacturing. With the shorting of the supply chain, various systems are being explored. In order to reduce the transportation of materials, sustainable systems could promote a global network for design and development, with a local product execution.On the other hand, post-ownership economy is providing alternatives to the purchase of machines, promoting flexibility within infrastructure collaboration.

Key Dimensions

• There are new emerging paradigms when it comes to production. Local production became mainstream within foods for example. However, it might be more complex to translate that into heavy manufacturing. One proposed approach is to provide a global take on design and product development, while focusing on producing local.
• Post-ownership economy can provide a more sustainable option for businesses, offering a positive influence on the budget and on the amount of machines that need to be used.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• Can local production become a true competitive advantage of manufacturing?
• What if co-owned machineries become the new norm of production within manufacturing?

Circular economy is considered as one of the best strategies to combat the climate crisis. In a resource-constrained world, there is a noticeable trend of companies opting into the circular economy model. For manufacturers, this shift involves a move away from the “take, make, waste” linear economy and a step towards increased responsibility over the total lifecycle of a product and its environmental impact. It directs production and consumption into a circular model of repair and reuse, sharing and remanufacture of materials, plus recycling at all levels. It reduces the demand for raw materials, helps to extend product life, and reduces end-of-life cycle waste. It is obvious to say, but we say it anyway, that it is gaining momentum. At every level. From the EU publishing a Circular Economy Action plan in March 2020, to governments setting new targets, businesses embracing Circular Economy business models, SME jumping on the opportunity and closing loops as well as consumers embracing circular mindsets.

Key Dimensions

• Circular Economy is not only crucial to save our planet, it can create economic advantages for manufacturers as well. As changes accelerate and life gets more uncertain and complex, we see that the manufacturers who are actually experimenting and innovating in this space now will lead in the future. The ones that are pioneering and finding out how to be pro-active by researching flexible remanufacturing models, seeking to reduce waste in the production process and develop their own industry-specific solutions to a circular economy will be the ones who will stay relevant in the future.
• Circular Economy is good business, but it also could enrich the manufacturing sector with new, more human values and could create positivity and hope
• Circular Economy requires open collaboration for closed-loop systems. How to built trust, empathy and innovative problem-solving and do more with less together.
• Challenges and changes do not come alone, and we need to think how they can connect and enable each other for the good. Industry 4.0 is considered as one of the most important shifts within manufacturing, so how can we connect the dots? How can the trend of industry 4.0 enable greater productivity and improved use of resources within closed loop supply chains which include re-use and recovery.
• As manufacturers will be transitioning to the Circular Economy, processes need to be rethought, software to be updated, packaging made more sustainable and factories need to invest in retooling and retrofitting of equipment to run on clean energy sources.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if we could redesign factories today to fit a circular processes and a zero-waste world tomorrow?
• What if waste was never created in the first place?
• What if manufacturing in Europe sets the circular standard and will enable other parts of the world to collaborate to make more of less.
• What if the economy was built on using things rather than using them up?
• What if we would make our circular society of the future as irresistible as it is necessary?

Driven by the climate crisis and changing consumer behaviour, we see traditional and new makers starting to develop and recovering materials, with nature as inspiration. A new wave of young entrepreneurs – fuelled with passion and purpose – and with digital platforms on their fingertips combining their knowledge and skillsets to develop better (bio-based) material alternatives to challenge the status quo. On the other hand, we see traditional manufacturers experimenting by starting to make their own materials to disrupt manufacturing as we know it.

Key Dimensions

• Nature will be a key inspiration for new material innovation in the future. Where it was once a niche, it will grow and will influence business models to address true sustainability.
• We see a new group of positive New Makers that will now enter the landscape of manufacturers and setting the norm for material innovation of the future.
• Besides shifting to more natural resources, some traditional materials will stay, such as steel etc, but driven by a growing pressure of sustainability, new factories and processes will be developed to make a positive contribution to the planet, instead of taking things aways from it.

Points of Departure (Brain Triggers)

• What if the manufacturing landscape will adopt a TikTok mindset and will start collaborating with these new material entrepreneurs in the future?
• What if mushrooms and tea bags become the new steel?
• What if manufacturers start growing their own materials in the future?
• What if we only use bio-materials and what does this mean for education and skills needed in manufacturing?