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The role of materials in digital manufacturing and Industry 4.0

Digital manufacturing is reshaping how industries build, operate, and innovate. From automotive and electronics to healthcare and infrastructure, we are seeing a major shift away from centralised, rigid production and toward more connected, flexible, and scalable systems. Enabled by automation, real-time data, robotics, and software-defined workflows, this transformation is driving what many refer to as Industry 4.0.

Why materials matter in a digital world

While most of the focus tends to fall on technologies like AI, sensors, digital twins, or machine learning, there is a more foundational piece of the puzzle that receives far less attention: the materials themselves.

The physical building blocks of products, components, and devices remain largely unchanged, and they are increasingly becoming a bottleneck to progress. While production systems and workflows have advanced dramatically, the materials we rely on to make things have not. In many cases, they are becoming a limiting factor.

Legacy materials and their challenges

Price is volatile
Sourced from mines
Difficult to scale
Incompatible with new methods

Legacy materials come with familiar challenges. Many are sourced from mined or geopolitically sensitive resources, making them vulnerable to price volatility and supply chain disruption. Others require energy-intensive or chemically complex processing to produce and shape. In many cases, they are difficult to scale consistently, with batch-to-batch variation that complicates quality control. Some are simply not compatible with new manufacturing formats like roll-to-roll production, additive manufacturing, or modular system design. Even where performance is strong, these materials often introduce friction into otherwise streamlined, automated systems.

A new set of demands

At the same time, industries are asking more of their materials. 
They need to integrate into high-speed, high-volume production environments. They must remain stable under a wide range of operating conditions. They are increasingly expected to support embedded sensing, feedback, or real-time analytics. And in many sectors, sustainability is no longer optional, materials must support lower energy usage, fewer emissions, and greater recyclability or circularity.

For manufacturing to fully realise the potential of its digital transformation, the material inputs need to evolve alongside the machines, software, and systems. That means developing a new generation of materials designed specifically for digital-era production.

What next-generation materials need to deliver

The ideal material

The ideal material for Industry 4.0 is not defined by a single property, but by a combination of characteristics that make it compatible with the new way of building.

Scalable by design

01

It should be scalable, meaning it can be produced in large volumes with minimal variation.

Physically and technically flexible

02

It should be flexible both physically, for integration into different form factors, and technically, so that its performance can be tuned or customised for specific use cases.

Built for modern manufacturing

03

It needs to be manufacturable using efficient, automated processes, without dependence on slow, centralised, or hazardous methods.

Stable and system-ready

04

It must be stable, consistent, and ready to integrate with data-driven systems.

Sustainability is key

Modern materials must be more than high performing – they need to be cleaner, safer, and more aligned with the environmental standards that customers, regulators, and investors now expect. This includes how they are made, how they are used, and how they can be recovered or recycled at end of life.

Move forward or fall behind

We are entering a period where the limitations of legacy materials are increasingly at odds with the ambitions of modern industry. For manufacturers building next-generation technologies – whether in electronics, energy, health, infrastructure, or automation – the materials they choose can either accelerate progress or slow it down.

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Advanced systems
need advanced materials

As manufacturing systems become more advanced, intelligent, and efficient, the materials we use need to catch up. Without that shift, the full potential of digital manufacturing will remain just out of reach. The opportunity is clear: to build the future, we need to start with the materials that make it possible.

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