Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.

Building a Better Road Map to the Future of Manufacturing

Manufacturing is at a crossroads between the value generated by the data collected from the equipment and the value generated by the equipment's output.

“The future of manufacturing is here today,” says Judy Marks, president and CEO of Siemens USA, the $50 billion producer of software and systems that represent much of what is used in advanced manufacturing around the world. “We are seeing early demand signals that indicate that the best way to compete in the future is to have the most cost-effective products and to have the best integrated supply chain and to have the best application of software to have the best short-cycle turnaround”.

Marks outlined a roadmap for mid-market manufacturing companies in advance of Chief Executive’s forthcoming Smart Manufacturing Summit to be held in partnership with Boeing to be held on May 15th through 17th.

Manufacturing is at an inflection point, thinks Marks, where the application of artificial intelligence is being used to understand how to interpret the demand signals. “Half of all the world’s data was created last year, in 2016,” she maintains, “because we now have so many sensors out there collecting information. This doesn’t mean we understand what is being generated. The challenge for manufacturers—whether they are single plant facilities or huge multi-billion global operations—is to make sense of the vast amounts of this data and apply it to their systems.”

The assembly line of yesterday is not the differentiator it may have once been. Industrial controllers and sensors are now ubiquitous among manufacturing facilities. Siemens alone has 30 million sensors in its own facilities. Add those by competitors such GE, IBM, Honeywell and all the Japanese and Korean providers and the universe data-generation is vast. The use of such data, for example, now allows Siemens to use 3D in the manufacturing of gas turbine blades that turn at 13,000 RPMs.

“THE CHALLENGE FOR MANUFACTURERS IS TO MAKE SENSE OF THE VAST AMOUNTS OF DATA AND APPLY IT TO THEIR SYSTEMS.”

Over the course of the next 15 to 20 years, the data revolution is expected to create a fourth industrial revolution that will allow manufacturing companies to reduce their throughput times and greatly increase their flexibility. The reason for this is the growing movement toward customized mass production coupled with the need to reduce the use of raw materials and energy.

Part of this revolution is represented by connected controllers that bring together the physical and digital worlds at the farthest edge of manufacturing enabling the surge of the industrial app economy. Like connected people, they can take and enable more intelligent action. Connected controllers are to machines what the iPhone is to a person.

In this new paradigm, control systems are no longer passive devices, disconnected from outside data and business outcomes. They’re changing how machines operate and communicate, accelerating the pace at which the digital world influences physical systems. These new controllers are bringing apps to the machine’s level for the first time, augmenting the real time control loops and creating economic efficiency without requiring a rip and replace of existing control systems.

For example, GE launched its Control System Health App. The app reduces machine downtime by enabling preventive maintenance, providing simple descriptions of faults with recommended corrective actions. Early adopters of connected controls have seen a 40% reduction in maintenance costs as a result of anticipating and addressing problems before they occur. This health check app is the first of many Predix-based (a GE-based system) apps that collect real-time data and leverage analytics to provide better outcomes.

What this movement means to your company
How should mid-market or smaller manufacturers prepare themselves for this emerging world where networks determine a company’s ability to be the best cost producer? “The first thing a company needs to do is to set a vision of where they see their company going,” Marks says.

“They need to understand not only their capex but also their opex—their operation expenses—what are they spending today that if they applied technology could reduce that for the life cycle? To some degree, they are spending this on maintenance or other things that really represent a lost opportunity to make their processes better. This should be better redeployed. Just because one has legacy systems doesn’t mean you have to continue to run your processes this way.”

“The future of manufacturing,” Marks maintains, “will be less assembly oriented and more decision oriented. It will be less of a step-by-step process and become more of a dynamic oriented, customized mass-produced product line. Companies will be more able to make and configure to order. In the future, we will see artificial intelligence driving some decisions of how

will be made.”


MORE LIKE THIS

  • Get the CEO Briefing

    Sign up today to get weekly access to the latest issues affecting CEOs in every industry
  • upcoming events

    Roundtable

    Strategic Planning Workshop

    1:00 - 5:00 pm

    Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process

    Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:

    1. Lack of systematic approach (70%)
    2. Laundry lists without prioritization (68%)
    3. Decisions based on personalities rather than facts and information (65%)

     

    Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns.  They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning.  Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process.  This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented.  If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form.  The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    New York, NY: ​​​Chief Executive's Corporate Citizenship Awards 2017

    Women in Leadership Seminar and Peer Discussion

    2:00 - 5:00 pm

    Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations. 

    Limited space available.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $495 will be added to your total.

    Golf Outing

    10:30 - 5:00 pm
    General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
    Sponsored by UBS

    General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.

    The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $295 will be added to your total.