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During the 1990s, networking was implemented in factories. Computer networks have a positive and significant effect on plant labor productivity after controlling multiple factors of production and plant characteristics. Networks increase estimated labor productivity by roughly 5 percent, depending on model specification.
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Mainframe computing and personal computers are introduced into the manufacturing areas. Today, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) compiles various applications that play a key role in the actual product creation (such as CAD, CAE, PDM, and CAM), manufacturing execution and supply chain management.
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By the 1990s, the PC was capable of the computations required by 3D CAD. In 1995, Autodesk was being deployed for product development. The modern CAD era has been marked by improvements in modeling, incorporation of analysis, and management of the products we create, from conception and engineering to manufacturing, sales, and maintenance.
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By 2000, the Internet was becoming a necessary part of the manufacturing chain. It allowed for customer engagements as well as supplier management.
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In the early 2000's, robotics were being implemented in the manufacturing space, including a line of arc welding and handling robots.
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VR gives manufacturers the opportunity to understand machinery and tooling before it hits the manufacturing floor. The ability to simulate everything from the factory floor to the most extreme edge case of the final product is invaluable, and the ability to do it instantly and effectively makes VR a transformative technology for factories.
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The Industrial IoT revolutionized manufacturing by enabling the acquisition and accessibility of far greater amounts of data, at far greater speeds, and far more efficiently than before. Two Industrial IoT use cases which are most important in manufacturing from a spending perspective are production asset management and predictive maintenance
