Breaking the mould: European manufacturing in the knowledge economy

Manufactured artefacts will always be needed to satisfy human needs, but the business of manufacturing faces a range of challenges in the emerging knowledge economy. Six main areas are identified where manufacturing must develop and excel: concurrency, integrating human and technological resources, the conversion of information to knowledge, environmental compatibility, developing reconfigurable enterprises and innovative processes. There are many emerging technologies which can assist, but if Europe is to remain a force in manufacturing it needs to take positive action to enhance its strengths and alleviate its weaknesses – and nowhere more so than in the field of research.