Smart and resilient manufacturing in the wake of COVID-19

Since 2020, manufacturers have been facing unprecedented and extraordinary challenges with the COVID-19 outbreak, which severely disrupted manufacturing operations around the world. Some manufac- turers have shifted gears to help address dire shortages during the coronavirus pandemic. Others were thrown into deep unknowns and faced with the grim prospect of being closed down. We have seen a sprawling network of multinationals and local businesses step in to fill a void by using 3D printers to make personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face shields, respirator masks, nasal swabs and even ventilator parts. Large manufacturers attempted to rejig parts of their production lines to mass-produce ventilators.