Full stack, lights out manufacturing

Lights out manufacturing isnt a new idea. With the advances in automation and software, many companies are already deploying these manufacturing techniques to between shifts or in addition to workers, to increase value streams. As Elon Musk pointed out, “Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated.”

Credit: nist.gov

In the future, as the full value chain integration between Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems, and other software, and robotics, AGVs, and other physical spaces become simplified and less costly to deploy, advanced manufacturing centers with minimal or no direct labor will become commonplace.

Think manufacturing-level Skynet... It’s coming.