IFHTSE Global 21: heat treatment and surface engineering in the first decades of the twenty-first centrury: Part 4 – Manufacturing in the global knowledge economy

Abstract

The global knowledge economy has emerged from the combination of information technology and global deregulation of trade and finance. This combination has led to the integration of production and trade in manufacturing and services to form a 'new manufacturing' sector. This sector is stimulating the development of new knowledge-intensive technological approaches to manufacturing. The development and application of nanotechnology is discussed as an example of the new approach needed in surface engineering and thermal processing to maintain competitiveness in a period of rapid change.

Keywords:

• KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
• NEW MANUFACTURING
• NANOTECHNOLOGY
• SURFACE ENGINEERING
• RISK MANAGEMENT