摘要
History of mankind has been accompanied by the development of manufacturing, while the history of manufacturing development consists of the following three main phases, i.e., three paradigms, according to the scale of its precision, functional feature, and material removal, migration and addition. Taking machining for instance, when machining precision and feature size are scaled down from the micro/nano to the atomic level, the phenomena of material removal, migration, and addition at the atomic scale can no longer be explained by classical theories. Contemporary manufacturing technology that is characterized by classical theories, i.e., macro statistical analysis and engineering experiences, will be pushed forward to the next generation of manufacturing technology, which will be multidisciplinary and based on quantum theory. This type of atomic and close-to-atomic scale manufacturing (ACSM) is the fundamental technology of the new manufacturing paradigm, namely "Manufacturing III". The essential attribute of Manufacturing III is distinguished from Manufacturing II by its theoretical fundamentals, in which quantum theory dominates.
The presented distinction between Manufacturing II and Manufacturing III is considered in the scale of system, whereby the manufacturing precision and functional feature size is down to the atomic scale. However, the fundamental difference is that Manufacturing III will be built on quantum theory. Classifying a system if it is governed by classic theory or quantum theory is determined by the relationship between the de Broglie Wavelength and the system scale or the distance between the particles.
