In recent years, new revolutionary paradigms generally indicated using the term Industry 4.0, have been conceived and are progressively applied in several manufacturing systems to achieve a smarter, more effective, and sustainable production. This article aims to depict the present and future scenarios related to the application of Industry 4.0 concepts to polymer composites manufacturing. To provide a view on future potential, and open new research frontiers, the article attempts to address through elaborate discussions two major questions: The article, in addition, connects new avenues in additive manufacturing, for instance, incorporating topology optimization, design opportunities, recent industrial developments in machines and patent disclosures, and defect detection/mitigation during manufacture. Similarly, recent developments concerning robotic Automated Fiber/Tape Placement have been provided, discussing state-of-the-art research trends and future opportunities.

Biopolymers are promising environmentally benign materials applicable in multifarious applications. They are especially favorable in implantable biomedical devices thanks to their excellent unique properties, including bioactivity, renewability, bioresorbability, biocompatibility, biodegradability and hydrophilicity. Additive manufacturing (AM) is a flexible and intricate manufacturing technology, which is widely used to fabricate biopolymer-based customized products and structures for advanced healthcare systems. Three-dimensional (3D) printing of these sustainable materials is applied in functional clinical settings including wound dressing, drug delivery systems, medical implants and tissue engineering. The present review highlights recent advancements in different types of biopolymers, such as proteins and polysaccharides, which are employed to develop different biomedical products by using extrusion, vat polymerization, laser and inkjet 3D printing techniques in addition to normal bioprinting and four-dimensional (4D) bioprinting techniques. This review also incorporates the influence of nanoparticles on the biological and mechanical performances of 3D-printed tissue scaffolds. This work also addresses current challenges as well as future developments of environmentally friendly polymeric materials manufactured through the AM techniques. Ideally, there is a need for more focused research on the adequate blending of these biodegradable biopolymers for achieving useful results in targeted biomedical areas. We envision that biopolymer-based 3D-printed composites have the potential to revolutionize the biomedical sector in the near future.