In this episode of One Step Ahead, we spoke to Robert Bodor, President and CEO at Protolabs, and Bjoern Klaas, Vice President and Managing Director EMEA at Protolabs Europe. As a leader in digital manufacturing, Protolabs plays a key part in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or “Industry 4.0”. Our guests explain how digitally powered manufacturing is accelerating lead times and life cycles across industries, how Artificial Intelligence and machine learning can help, and how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the sector. They also explain why 3D printing – or additive manufacturing – can lead to more sustainable and climate-friendly product designs.

This episode was presented by Libby Potter, and features an introduction on Industry 4.0 by Robert Harrison, Professor of Automation Systems and Head of the Digital Technologies Directorate at Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick.