Questions I often get
How can my manufacturing company keep up and eventually reach innovations like AI?
1
While I agree technology has largely benefitted huge enterprise level manufacturers, it has also started to open the door for others to catch up quickly. I have yet to see an instance where small scale often inexpensive improvements when done correctly with a digital transformation in mind haven’t worked. Once the foundation is there, newer technology can often fast-track your capabilities without necessarily adding more layers of software..
How do I get started?
2
Getting started involves an honest look at where your business is at and how it really needs to work. Disregard software for a second and ask yourself what your strengths are at the core. What is holding them back that previously wasn’t the problem? What can be improved or sped up while also mitigating risk? Once those and other questions are known, consult others in the industry or that understand your market what best practices are and what worked or what to avoid. It is then; you involve IT and others for a technical discussion with your must haves.
How did digital transformation become a must and why have others had an easier path?
3
They haven’t, trust me. They all have had the same mess of multiple siloed systems that were incorrect, inconsistent, or incomplete and certainly didn’t speak to one another. I’ve seen billion-dollar enterprises with critical data being imported/exported using excel or other information being managed on SharePoint. In my opinion from being one of those manufacturers with a virtual junk drawer, it is often a lack of collaboration between departments that run the business and the IT room or the software salesperson who didn’t understand what was truly needed. Over time and several platforms later, you have a mess. The good news is, the smaller your business is - the quicker it can be cleaned up.
Where is technology heading?
4
If I knew that, I would have bought different stocks than I did five years ago. Seriously though, I see technology slowly outdating all software as we know it today. Sure, there will be guided screens and terminals, but it will be driven by AI/Agents through plain language prompts instead of needing to have interoperable software suites or learning specific program commands. Business will leverage databases or existing platforms as libraries with simplified dashboards accessing the data regardless of format. This will allow for intuitive interactions, tasks being accomplished as a cross-department workflow instead of a standalone step, and a more transparent manufacturing operation with real-time or predictive analytics being the norm.