Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In the future, all consumer goods in everyday use will gather performance data, aggregated and transmitted through the cloud back to the products’ manufacturers. For the engineers that design those products, the result is a data set to determine the upper and lower limits of performance for critical components, allowing an iterative design process that lets each generation of component and assembly become optimized for performance.
The result is lower cost, and less environmental impact for each component. That’s good, but that data can also be aggregated by marketers to develop a very accurate profile of individuals in a household, to drive advertising. And it's surrendered to those marketers without compensation. Uploading motor performance data in a washing machine to a design engineer is a good trade for consumers, because they get better machines in return. But surrendering data to an advertising agency without compensation, is bad business.
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*ABOUT END OF THE LINE:*
Manufacturing veteran James Anderton expresses his compelling and unique opinions about the state of the manufacturing sector and the engineering industry more broadly. He shares his thoughts and insights to help engineering and manufacturing professionals navigate through the challenges of world events, the blending old with new technologies, evolving processes, gaps in skilled labour, in an effort to help maximize productivity of their daily operations. Occasionally, he just likes to vent.
James is a former editor of trade publications in the automotive, metalworking and plastics industries with contributions to a wide range of print and on-line publications. He also brings prior industry experience in quality and manufacturing for a Tier One automotive supplier.
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#data #datacollection #consumerproducts
In the future, all consumer goods in everyday use will gather performance data, aggregated and transmitted through the cloud back to the products’ manufacturers. For the engineers that design those products, the result is a data set to determine the upper and lower limits of performance for critical components, allowing an iterative design process that lets each generation of component and assembly become optimized for performance.
The result is lower cost, and less environmental impact for each component. That’s good, but that data can also be aggregated by marketers to develop a very accurate profile of individuals in a household, to drive advertising. And it's surrendered to those marketers without compensation. Uploading motor performance data in a washing machine to a design engineer is a good trade for consumers, because they get better machines in return. But surrendering data to an advertising agency without compensation, is bad business.
* * *
*ABOUT END OF THE LINE:*
Manufacturing veteran James Anderton expresses his compelling and unique opinions about the state of the manufacturing sector and the engineering industry more broadly. He shares his thoughts and insights to help engineering and manufacturing professionals navigate through the challenges of world events, the blending old with new technologies, evolving processes, gaps in skilled labour, in an effort to help maximize productivity of their daily operations. Occasionally, he just likes to vent.
James is a former editor of trade publications in the automotive, metalworking and plastics industries with contributions to a wide range of print and on-line publications. He also brings prior industry experience in quality and manufacturing for a Tier One automotive supplier.
* * *
*JOIN ENGINEERING.COM:*
Easy, free. Join and get access to more stories, videos, white papers, research reports made for the engineering professional. Customize your profile to follow topics you care about and engage with the global engineering community. engineering.com
* * *
*STEM GAMES:*
Play some fun engineering-based STEM games on engineering.com:
engineering.com/resources/games
* * *
*ENGINEERING.COM TV:*
Watch in-depth engineering videos made for the engineering professional and found exclusively on engineering.com TV:
Panel Expert Roundtables: engineering.com/viewAll?category=roundtables
For the Design Engineer: engineering.com/viewAll?category=designing-the-future
For the Manufacturing Engineer: engineering.com/viewAll?category=manufacturing-the-future
* * *
#data #datacollection #consumerproducts
