Product Development in Micro and Nano Manufacturing - The Challenge of the Future

The development and design of micro and nano products becomes a more and more important issue. Many new technologies are developed these years and they create many visions for new products and applications. If these visions are to be transformed into industrial products on a larger scale it is imperative to introduce a product driven approach alongside with the technology driven approach.

The product driven approach is necessary to ensure a long time perspective in technology development i.e. a market pull. The technology driven approach is useful for short and medium term development. The further development of methodologies for life cycle assessment and the establishment of the relevant unit process data for the field of micro and nano products is necessary as this aspect has to be considered during product and process development.

To realize the promising perspectives of micro and nano technology it is very important that: • both the product driven and technology driven approach are used. • in the product driven approach methodologies and principles in design of micro products must be developed – both related to next generation of products and future generations. • in the technology driven approach a continuous development of materials and processes is promoted supporting the new design principles.

New design principles as well as improved materials and technologies are necessary to realize the industrial potentials which are linked to mass production principles and low cost.