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The Lab Is Already a Factory · Volume II

Part 1 of 4 The Lab Is Already a Factory The gap between a lab and a factory is real, but smaller than people quote. What decides it is what your product is worth per gram. Part 2 of 4 The Factory That Ships in a Container A gram of mRNA is tens of thousands of doses. Make the dose dense enough, and the factory stops being a destination. Part 3 of 4 The Fine-Chemical Factory Already Shrank In 2016 the FDA let Janssen switch an approved drug from batch to continuous. A quiet case of a factory getting smaller, faster and cheaper. Part 4 of 4 Where the Coin Doesn't Flip ExxonMobil spent hundreds of millions proving algae fuel doesn't pay. Value density, not cleverness, decides whether the coin flips.

AI & Manufacturing · Volume I

Part 1 of 4 Where AI's productivity gains actually go Everyone's talking about how much more productive AI makes us. Nobody's asking where the work actually goes. In manufacturing, friction doesn't disappear, it relocates. Part 2 of 4 From human harmonization to machine harmonization Every factory on earth was designed around the human body. What happens to all of it when AI shifts the optimisation target to machines? Part 3 of 4 Measuring judgement, not effort Manufacturing is brilliant at measuring visible effort. When AI makes the clever work invisible, we have to learn to measure judgement instead. Part 4 of 4 Scale out, not up For a hundred years we built factories bigger. If AI lets a plant mostly run itself, the logic flips: small, distributed, close to demand. Networks, not cathedrals.

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Essay Has AI actually changed manufacturing? Three years ago I said there wasn't one monetisable use case for AI in manufacturing. It's 2026, and I've changed my mind less than I expected. Water Water circularity in food manufacturing Food manufacturing uses over 70% of the UK's freshwater. How emerging technology can drive circularity. IMechE Scaling digitalisation in food factories Integration over innovation: why digital transformation depends more on patient integration work than on the newest technology. Aqua Libra When a PLC innovates like a startup What happens when an established company is willing to disrupt itself and lead with bold ideas. Panel Engineering skills for the future On the emerging technologies reshaping food manufacturing, and the skills the next generation of engineers will need. FDF 2023 A double win at the FDF Awards Engineer of the Year and the Product Innovation Award, for the Aqua Libra flavour tap.