New advanced materials : economic dynamics and European strategy : a report from the FAST programme of the commission of the European Communities

This report on materials is not a sequel to the five or six high-quality reports published in certain Community countries over the last few years, nor does it attempt to summarize them. Nor is it a technical summary of the state of the art in new materials. It is rather to be seen as a survey of economic dynamics and strategy, carried out for the purpose of prompting political and industrial leaders throughout the European Community to reflect in some depth on the subject of materials. The report is arranged in five parts : the first is concerned with a definition of materials, the second with structural materials and their influence on the reconception of industrial processes, and this part is complemented by the third, which looks at the three main sectors using structural materials (transport, packaging, building and public works). The fourth part analyzes functional materials and the way in which they affect basic components in the technological system (information, energy, biotechnology). The fifth and last part makes a strategic analysis for Europe (in the spheres of industrial strategies, the role of the authorities and developments in employment and skills). Front Matter....Pages I-XXI Foreword....Pages 1-1 Introduction....Pages 2-19 Front Matter....Pages 21-21 “New” Materials versus “Old” Materials: A Groundless Controversy....Pages 22-31 From Macroscopic to Microscopic Industrial Mastery of Materials: the Characteristics of the New Materials....Pages 32-44 Structural Materials and Functional Materials....Pages 44-50 Introduction: Variety, Complexity, Integration. The Role of Structural Materials in the Transition to a New Information-rich Production System....Pages 51-59 Intra-materials Variety : Competition and Know-how as Exemplified by Composites....Pages 59-74 “Inter-materials” Variety and the Overchoice Phenomenon....Pages 74-91 Transient and Permanent Variety. From Management of Uncertainty to Management of Complexity....Pages 92-116 Reducing of Complexity through Integration....Pages 116-139 Front Matter....Pages 141-142 New Materials and Transport....Pages 142-190 New Materials and Packaging....Pages 191-212 New Materials in Building and Public Works....Pages 213-239 Front Matter....Pages 241-244 Functional Materials and Information....Pages 244-289 Materials and Energy....Pages 289-320 Biomaterials and Biotechnology....Pages 320-328 Front Matter....Pages 329-330 Description of Two Development Scenarios for Materials....Pages 331-342 Industrial Strategies in Materials : European Situation....Pages 342-364 Role of the Authorities in Europe in the Field of Materials....Pages 364-430 Materials, Employment and Skills....Pages 430-448 Conclusion....Pages 449-455 This is a detailed study of the effects of developments in new materials on industrial strategies in Europe. The study shows how a new information-rich economic system is emerging, based on uncertainty and complexity management. The mechanisms of emergence and of viability of such a system involve new strategies in terms of gathering know-how, management of skills and industrial partnership. The book has five parts: Part I is concerned with a definition of materials, Part II with structural materials and their influence on the reconception of industrial processes. Part II is complemented by Part III which looks at the three main sectors using structural materials (transport, packaging, building and public works). Part IV analyzes functional materials and the way they affect basic components in the technological system (information, energy, biotechnology). Part V makes a strategic analysis for Europe (in the spheres of industrial strategies, the role of the authorities and developments in employment and skills). The economics of new materials makes it possible to reconsider industrial strategies in terms of know-how and information gathering. The authors use these innovations to analyse the emergence of an information-intensive economic system and define some of the mechanisms which play a part in its emergence.