This paper reports on a highly ambitious international study undertaken in the period 2018–2020 on the topic of convergence between biology and advanced manufacturing systems. The international team (authors of this paper) worked together to analyse the status of this convergence through the assessment of concrete examples, referred to here as demonstrators, within advanced manufacturing systems. Four independent demonstrators from different sections of the manufacturing value chain and involving bio-inspiration, bio-integration and/or bio-intelligence were selected to test the following hypothesis: “That Future Manufacturing Systems will incorporate Components, Features, Characteristics and Capabilities that enable the convergence towards Living Systems”. Each of these four demonstrators have succeeded in supporting this hypothesis and in providing clear evidence to confirm that significant performance benefits may be derived through the “biologicalisation” of advanced manufacturing systems. This conclusion is of great significance for the next phases of development of manufacturing science and engineering globally. The evidence reported in this paper provides a robust basis for recommending that a deeper analysis of the implications of biologicalised manufacturing systems be undertaken. As a result of this early stage work, it is concluded that there is a high likelihood that this new convergence will lead to a major paradigm shift in advanced manufacturing. Outstanding opportunities exist for high levels of innovation in the next stages of development of advanced manufacturing processes and systems from the biological perspective. The relationship between the human and the physical manufacturing system will also change and the world of advanced manufacturing will be confronted with many new challenges including important ethical questions.

本文报告了一项在2018年至2020年期间进行的，雄心勃勃的国际研究，主题是生物学与先进制造系统之间的融合。国际团队（本文的作者）共同努力，通过评估先进制造系统中的具体示例（此处称为演示者）来分析这种趋同的状态。选择了来自制造价值链不同部分的四个涉及生物灵感，生物整合和/或生物智能的独立示威者，以检验以下假设：“未来的制造系统将包含能够实现以下目标的组件，特征，特性和功能：向生物系统的融合”。这四个演示者中的每一个都成功地支持了这一假设，并提供了明确的证据来确认先进制造系统的“生物化”可以带来显着的性能优势。该结论对全球制造业科学和工程学的下一阶段发展具有重要意义。本文报道的证据为建议对生化制造系统的影响进行更深入的分析提供了有力的依据。这项早期工作的结果是，可以得出结论，这种新的融合很可能导致先进制造业的重大范式转移。从生物学的角度来看，在先进制造工艺和系统的下一阶段开发中，存在高水平创新的绝佳机会。人与物理制造系统之间的关系也将发生变化，先进制造业将面临许多新挑战，包括重要的道德问题。