This project investigates how strategic foresight methodologies can inform and create robust, future orientated strategies for manufacturers. This project attempts to understand the rapidly changing and increasingly challenging landscape of the manufacturing sector on the verge of the fourth industrial revolution. Building on existing literature related to the continuing evolution of manufacturing, and combined with ethnographic data, the paper explores the historical developments and manufacturers’ current strategies for moving into the expected future.
The author suggests that the current strategies of manufacturers may be inadequate in the face of the multivariant future; due to several reasons, such as temporal bias. Furthermore, the study proposes that implementing foresight methodologies increases the likelihood of developing robust future orientated manufacturing strategies. The project concludes, however, that these need to be bespoke solutions.