The Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC),
a research institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research
(A*STAR) in Singapore invited me to facilitate a panel discussion during their
inaugural Future
of Manufacturing Summit. The panelists were Dr. Masahiko Mori from DMG
Mori, Dr. Koji Tanaka from IHI, Dr. Hamid Mughal from Rolls-Royce, Mr. Amos
Leong from the Univac Group and Dr. Michael Eder from Voestalpine.
I had the honor of interacting with these thought-leaders
and solicit their views on the 4th Industrial Revolution and how the
advanced manufacturing scene would play out in the coming decade. I am sharing
some of my observations from this discussion.
We are on the cusp of a technology evolution with
unprecedented magnitude. The digital evolution goes by many names – some call
it the 4th Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0; others term it
Cyber-physical systems or Industrial Internet of Things. But if there is only one
thing everyone agrees on, it is that we are heralding the next era of global growth
and innovation. Augmented by the exponential
advancements in computing power, sensors, an explosion of data and network connectivity
- this disruptive tsunami is sweeping through almost every industry across the
world.
Many industries and countries have already embarked on
the “Smart Industry” or “Smart Nation” journey, and manufacturing is no
exception. Aided by the advent of additive manufacturing like 3D printing
technology, various technology leaders and think tanks are offering up different
strategies on cloud infrastructure, frameworks or turnkey solutions to
accelerate the adoption of Industrial Internet of Things for smart factories. While
technology is fueling this revolution, a successful transformation is still dependent
on a complex ecosystem of human capital, management and governance.
Smart manufacturing harnesses data, artificial
intelligence and human innovation to accurately predict and execute every
aspect of the business. What lessons can we learn from this emerging trend?
Those are some of the questions I put forth to the
panelists during the forum. As the dialogue continues with each panelist
offering their opinions and forward looking vision, overarching themes clearly
emerged.
Impact on Human
Capital
Factories of the future are often labelled with the negative
connotation of eliminating jobs or replacing blue-collar roles with technology.
Successful transformation to the next generation shop floor requires collaboration
between humans and robots. Human capital should be viewed as the principal
resource as they possess the moral acumen and decision-making ethics that
artificial intelligence at this stage will not be able to replicate.
We will see a structural shift jobs, as demand surges
for new roles such as data scientists, R&D engineers, simulation experts
etc. But at the same time, we also expect to see the lines blurring between
blue and white collar employees as operators upscale and equip themselves with
the knowledge and capability to operate complex machines, synthesize commands
or feedback to the cloud while working in tandem with robots.
Need for Organizational
Alignment
We all acknowledged that the C-suite and technologists
may not always keep at the same pace. After all, executives are responsible for
managing the company’s operational and capital expenditures prudently in order
to deliver a profitable business. Technologists on the other hand, are largely
concerned with the acceleration of value chain optimization through digitalization
as quickly as possible.
Gaining management support and organizational alignment
is of paramount importance should we want to implement a smart manufacturing
initiative successfully. Converting traditional manufacturing processes to a
smart factory infrastructure can be costly. The executives need to balance
between the impact of investments in new technologies on the bottom lines in
the short/medium term and the return on investment in the long run while looking
after the interests of the company, employees and shareholders.
During the discussion, all the panelists - who are
respected technologists and business leaders in key leadership positions offered
the same word of caution: that one must carefully balance the decisions made
due to short term constraints with the long term viability of the business in
mind. Company leadership must have the right mix of technology investment with
business acuity.
Clarity on Data
Ownership
Smart factories are built on the premise of
transparency and open information flow within the supply chain to identify
gaps, forecast demands and optimize efficiency. Manufacturing processes
generate massive amount of data
every day with sensors, wireless connectivity and data processing tools, yet
organizations are always resistant to data sharing within their supply chains
because of data ownership concerns.
There are huge benefits to reap from data
sharing: combining different data streams can derive additional
information-driven intelligence to use for analysis and projections. Organizations
should overcome their reticence and work with their supply chain stakeholders
to design collaborative structures that supports transparency and openness
while setting guardrails in place to prevent contention.
Conclusion
An organization that takes time to design a deliberate
roadmap that fuses artificial intelligence, data management, suppliers/partners
and governance into its ecosystem will thrive well into the 21st
century. As the advanced manufacturing landscape is still evolving rapidly, I see
opportunities for the technology leaders to take the lead in public-private partnerships
with academia and national agencies to accelerate adoption of the Smart
Manufacturing initiatives worldwide. When done the right way, this can lead to global
growth, jobs creations and improved quality of life for the world community.
The caveat is that academic institutions need to start reviewing and redesigning
their current curriculum now, to future-proof our next generation workforce in this
increasingly digitalized world.
Credits
I will like to give thanks to the following panelists
and esteemed thought-leaders for sharing their visions and insights:
·
Dr. Koji Tanaka – Deputy
Corporate R&D Head, IHI
