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Quantum Computing Industries - Manufacturing
While it may have seemed like science fiction just a few short years ago, recent developments in quantum computing, from Google’s claim of having achieved quantum supremacy to the White House’s national security memorandum, have made it so quantum computing is now a technology we should all be paying attention to. Manufacturing will soon be dramatically changed by quantum computing, from how products are designed to how they are fabricated and even the raw materials they are created from. The manufacturing industry makes up 16% of the global GDP and 14% of all employment, according to McKinsey. With quantum computing poised to have a significant global impact on the manufacturing industry, it's critical to understand what this impact will look like. How will this new technology be used in the manufacturing industry, and how can businesses prepare to take advantage of it?
What is Quantum Computing?
A quantum computer is a machine that harnesses the fantastical phenomena discovered in quantum physics to deliver incredible leaps in processing capacity. Quantum computers will soon outperform supercomputers, bringing significant breakthroughs to nearly every industry and job function. The key to a quantum computer's success comes from its ability to generate and manipulate quantum bits or "qubits."
Traditional computers, such as the one you're using to read this article, use strings of electrical or optical pulses to represent 0s and 1s. These binary strings are known as "bits," and they power every modern electronic device you own. Instead, quantum computers employ "qubits," or quantum bits. A qubit can be made in a variety of ways, but qubits are frequently made of subatomic particles such as electrons and photons. While it may be difficult to imagine, qubits can store multiple values at once, each with a different probability of occurring; this property is known as superposition.
Superposition is key to the massive leap in processing power enabled by quantum computing. A classical computer with 8 bits, for example, can store one of 256 possible values, whereas a quantum computer with eight qubits can store all 256 possible values simultaneously. With each qubit added, the range of possible values doubles. This scales up quickly; for example, a quantum computer with just 30 qubits can hold over 1 billion possible values, and a quantum computer with 300 qubits can hold more values than there are atoms in the known universe. With this kind of exponential scaling up of computing power, it's no surprise that quantum computing is gaining so much attention.
Manufacturing Use Cases for Quantum Computing
We've reached the limit of how much faster we can make traditional computers. Today’s transistors are already so small that quantum effects are beginning to interfere with their operation, so miniaturization is no longer an option. Parallel processing also has its limitations. With manufacturing problems getting more complex with each passing year, and with more data needing to be processed, the increased speed of quantum processing promises to have a significant impact on a wide range of manufacturing-related operations, including optimization, logistics, machine learning, simulations, and others.
Materials Development
Richard Feynman popularized the concept of quantum computers. Feynman postulated that to simulate quantum systems, you would need to build quantum computers, memorably stating that "nature isn't classical... and if you want to make a simulation of nature, you'd better make it quantum mechanical." The manufacturing of materials with greater strength-to-weight ratios, rigidity, or elasticity begins with chemistry. Chemistry, the study of molecular dynamics, and electronic structures are all studies of quantum mechanical processes, and today's computers struggle to accurately simulate all but the simplest molecules.
Molecular simulation is a time-consuming process based on trial and error. Even the most powerful supercomputers are incapable of doing perfect computations, and inaccurate estimates are insufficient to mimic complex molecules and their interactions. With existing methods and technology, it is unlikely that the properties of complex compounds can be determined with great accuracy.
Quantum computers’ capability to simultaneously explore multiple possibilities allows them to solve for the complex interdependencies and correlations involved in molecular simulation and will enable comprehensive modeling of large and sophisticated molecules. Because of the time and computational power currently required, developing new materials is an expensive and lengthy endeavor for manufacturers. The ability of quantum computers to efficiently simulate quantum systems will help manufacturers unlock a plethora of creative and inventive new materials to be developed and fabricated.
Transportation Efficiency
The traveling salesperson is a classic mathematical problem that has significant manufacturing applications but is notoriously difficult for classical computers to resolve. The problem asks, "given a list of cities and the distances between each pair of cities, what is the shortest possible route that visits each city exactly once and returns to the origin city?" On a traditional computer, this would take approximately n! computations for n number of cities. Quantum computers, on the other hand, would only require √(n!) steps, which would be a huge improvement. For comparison, a traditional computer would take over 40k steps to solve this problem for 8 cities, whereas a quantum computer would only take 200.
How do you optimize your manufacturing truck fleet to deliver products and return in the quickest and most efficient manner possible? Transportation logistics is a more complex form of the traveling salesperson problem. Manufacturers must determine the most efficient route from their facilities to their clients and back, and as we've seen, the more stops you want to make before returning, the more difficult this problem becomes. The problem gets even more difficult the more factors you add to the mix. How many trucks do you think you'll need? What is the maximum amount of material that a truck can transport? How can you cut costs while still meeting client delivery deadlines?
For manufacturers, this is an increasingly important question to answer in an age when clients expect faster turnaround times than ever before. Quantum computing will allow the industry to crack these questions—and many more—at a level of speed and accuracy not previously thought possible.
Warehouse Management & Distribution
Material scheduling can be one of the most difficult logistical challenges a manufacturer faces. Making sure you have enough raw material on hand for the number of orders and production deadlines is a difficult task. Manufacturing organizations can save a lot of money by optimizing their scheduling and fabrication processes. Quantum computers' ability to represent several answers at the same time allows for the rapid discovery of the best overall solution, making it a good fit for multivariable issues like this.
Nippon Steel is one example of a manufacturer that is already looking into this. Together with Cambridge Quantum Computing and Honeywell, Nippon Steel is working on developing the most efficient timetable possible for the delivery of the intermediate products that are necessary for the steelmaking process.
Inbound Logistics
Managing your suppliers is difficult enough, but in this ever-changing world, it's critical to stay nimble, which is easier said than done. Changing suppliers may result in manufacturing delays, revenue loss, and a shift in your entire production schedule. While most manufacturers have backup suppliers and contingency plans, they may not be the cheapest, most efficient, or most optimal suppliers to use when a supply issue arises. There are frequently too many vendors and too much data to sort through in order to determine which vendor is the best to work with. Quantum computers will allow manufacturers to make this type of decision on demand, allowing them to determine which of their supply vendors is the most optimal not only during a crisis but at any point in time. By enabling the on-demand and rapid selection of optimal vendors for any given situation, manufacturers who are early to adopt quantum computing as part of their digital transformation strategy will surely achieve a competitive advantage through reduced costs and shortened delivery cycles.
How Manufacturers Can Become Quantum Ready
According to a recent McKinsey report, any industry that will be ready to take advantage of quantum in its early days should be preparing for a change in business. Set up research teams, hire key talent with quantum computing knowledge, and begin your R&D journey. Quantum computing will alter the way we conduct business. Companies that master quantum computing will have a significant competitive advantage. If you’re in manufacturing, now is the time to investigate how your company can benefit from this revolutionary technology. A proof of concept is an excellent place to start for businesses looking to make this transition.
Classiq is the leader in quantum software. We have the right product, people, and processes in place to ensure the success of quantum proof of concepts. Our patented software development platform simplifies the development of sophisticated quantum applications for any hardware platform. Even those who are not experts in quantum computing can benefit from our "expert in a box" concept. Our team has years of experience teaching and developing quantum applications. Our processes and experts can walk you through the process of analyzing, developing, testing, and deploying quantum applications.
In addition to being a service provider and solution partner, Classiq's goal is to educate customers about the latest developments in quantum computing. Working with Classiq on a quantum computing proof of concept is the expert move. Contact us today to learn how we can help you accelerate your quantum journey and digital transformation strategy.
While it may have seemed like science fiction just a few short years ago, recent developments in quantum computing, from Google’s claim of having achieved quantum supremacy to the White House’s national security memorandum, have made it so quantum computing is now a technology we should all be paying attention to. Manufacturing will soon be dramatically changed by quantum computing, from how products are designed to how they are fabricated and even the raw materials they are created from. The manufacturing industry makes up 16% of the global GDP and 14% of all employment, according to McKinsey. With quantum computing poised to have a significant global impact on the manufacturing industry, it's critical to understand what this impact will look like. How will this new technology be used in the manufacturing industry, and how can businesses prepare to take advantage of it?
What is Quantum Computing?
A quantum computer is a machine that harnesses the fantastical phenomena discovered in quantum physics to deliver incredible leaps in processing capacity. Quantum computers will soon outperform supercomputers, bringing significant breakthroughs to nearly every industry and job function. The key to a quantum computer's success comes from its ability to generate and manipulate quantum bits or "qubits."
Traditional computers, such as the one you're using to read this article, use strings of electrical or optical pulses to represent 0s and 1s. These binary strings are known as "bits," and they power every modern electronic device you own. Instead, quantum computers employ "qubits," or quantum bits. A qubit can be made in a variety of ways, but qubits are frequently made of subatomic particles such as electrons and photons. While it may be difficult to imagine, qubits can store multiple values at once, each with a different probability of occurring; this property is known as superposition.
Superposition is key to the massive leap in processing power enabled by quantum computing. A classical computer with 8 bits, for example, can store one of 256 possible values, whereas a quantum computer with eight qubits can store all 256 possible values simultaneously. With each qubit added, the range of possible values doubles. This scales up quickly; for example, a quantum computer with just 30 qubits can hold over 1 billion possible values, and a quantum computer with 300 qubits can hold more values than there are atoms in the known universe. With this kind of exponential scaling up of computing power, it's no surprise that quantum computing is gaining so much attention.
Manufacturing Use Cases for Quantum Computing
We've reached the limit of how much faster we can make traditional computers. Today’s transistors are already so small that quantum effects are beginning to interfere with their operation, so miniaturization is no longer an option. Parallel processing also has its limitations. With manufacturing problems getting more complex with each passing year, and with more data needing to be processed, the increased speed of quantum processing promises to have a significant impact on a wide range of manufacturing-related operations, including optimization, logistics, machine learning, simulations, and others.
Materials Development
Richard Feynman popularized the concept of quantum computers. Feynman postulated that to simulate quantum systems, you would need to build quantum computers, memorably stating that "nature isn't classical... and if you want to make a simulation of nature, you'd better make it quantum mechanical." The manufacturing of materials with greater strength-to-weight ratios, rigidity, or elasticity begins with chemistry. Chemistry, the study of molecular dynamics, and electronic structures are all studies of quantum mechanical processes, and today's computers struggle to accurately simulate all but the simplest molecules.
Molecular simulation is a time-consuming process based on trial and error. Even the most powerful supercomputers are incapable of doing perfect computations, and inaccurate estimates are insufficient to mimic complex molecules and their interactions. With existing methods and technology, it is unlikely that the properties of complex compounds can be determined with great accuracy.
Quantum computers’ capability to simultaneously explore multiple possibilities allows them to solve for the complex interdependencies and correlations involved in molecular simulation and will enable comprehensive modeling of large and sophisticated molecules. Because of the time and computational power currently required, developing new materials is an expensive and lengthy endeavor for manufacturers. The ability of quantum computers to efficiently simulate quantum systems will help manufacturers unlock a plethora of creative and inventive new materials to be developed and fabricated.
Transportation Efficiency
The traveling salesperson is a classic mathematical problem that has significant manufacturing applications but is notoriously difficult for classical computers to resolve. The problem asks, "given a list of cities and the distances between each pair of cities, what is the shortest possible route that visits each city exactly once and returns to the origin city?" On a traditional computer, this would take approximately n! computations for n number of cities. Quantum computers, on the other hand, would only require √(n!) steps, which would be a huge improvement. For comparison, a traditional computer would take over 40k steps to solve this problem for 8 cities, whereas a quantum computer would only take 200.
How do you optimize your manufacturing truck fleet to deliver products and return in the quickest and most efficient manner possible? Transportation logistics is a more complex form of the traveling salesperson problem. Manufacturers must determine the most efficient route from their facilities to their clients and back, and as we've seen, the more stops you want to make before returning, the more difficult this problem becomes. The problem gets even more difficult the more factors you add to the mix. How many trucks do you think you'll need? What is the maximum amount of material that a truck can transport? How can you cut costs while still meeting client delivery deadlines?
For manufacturers, this is an increasingly important question to answer in an age when clients expect faster turnaround times than ever before. Quantum computing will allow the industry to crack these questions—and many more—at a level of speed and accuracy not previously thought possible.
Warehouse Management & Distribution
Material scheduling can be one of the most difficult logistical challenges a manufacturer faces. Making sure you have enough raw material on hand for the number of orders and production deadlines is a difficult task. Manufacturing organizations can save a lot of money by optimizing their scheduling and fabrication processes. Quantum computers' ability to represent several answers at the same time allows for the rapid discovery of the best overall solution, making it a good fit for multivariable issues like this.
Nippon Steel is one example of a manufacturer that is already looking into this. Together with Cambridge Quantum Computing and Honeywell, Nippon Steel is working on developing the most efficient timetable possible for the delivery of the intermediate products that are necessary for the steelmaking process.
Inbound Logistics
Managing your suppliers is difficult enough, but in this ever-changing world, it's critical to stay nimble, which is easier said than done. Changing suppliers may result in manufacturing delays, revenue loss, and a shift in your entire production schedule. While most manufacturers have backup suppliers and contingency plans, they may not be the cheapest, most efficient, or most optimal suppliers to use when a supply issue arises. There are frequently too many vendors and too much data to sort through in order to determine which vendor is the best to work with. Quantum computers will allow manufacturers to make this type of decision on demand, allowing them to determine which of their supply vendors is the most optimal not only during a crisis but at any point in time. By enabling the on-demand and rapid selection of optimal vendors for any given situation, manufacturers who are early to adopt quantum computing as part of their digital transformation strategy will surely achieve a competitive advantage through reduced costs and shortened delivery cycles.
How Manufacturers Can Become Quantum Ready
According to a recent McKinsey report, any industry that will be ready to take advantage of quantum in its early days should be preparing for a change in business. Set up research teams, hire key talent with quantum computing knowledge, and begin your R&D journey. Quantum computing will alter the way we conduct business. Companies that master quantum computing will have a significant competitive advantage. If you’re in manufacturing, now is the time to investigate how your company can benefit from this revolutionary technology. A proof of concept is an excellent place to start for businesses looking to make this transition.
Classiq is the leader in quantum software. We have the right product, people, and processes in place to ensure the success of quantum proof of concepts. Our patented software development platform simplifies the development of sophisticated quantum applications for any hardware platform. Even those who are not experts in quantum computing can benefit from our "expert in a box" concept. Our team has years of experience teaching and developing quantum applications. Our processes and experts can walk you through the process of analyzing, developing, testing, and deploying quantum applications.
In addition to being a service provider and solution partner, Classiq's goal is to educate customers about the latest developments in quantum computing. Working with Classiq on a quantum computing proof of concept is the expert move. Contact us today to learn how we can help you accelerate your quantum journey and digital transformation strategy.
About "The Qubit Guy's Podcast"
Hosted by The Qubit Guy (Yuval Boger, our Chief Marketing Officer), the podcast hosts thought leaders in quantum computing to discuss business and technical questions that impact the quantum computing ecosystem. Our guests provide interesting insights about quantum computer software and algorithm, quantum computer hardware, key applications for quantum computing, market studies of the quantum industry and more.
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