Digital Manufacturing Strategies, Analytics, the Labor Shortage and the Leadership Gap

An Interview with TBM

Prior to the American Manufacturing Summit 2019, Generis Group spoke with TBM Consulting to discuss merging digital technologies in manufacturing and the industry’s labor shortage. In this Q&A, we discuss how manufacturers prepare for, evaluate and implement digital solutions, the digital collection issue, machine maintenance programs, and the manufacturing industry’s labor shortage and leadership gap.

This is an excerpt from the interview we did with TBM Consulting:

“Emerging digital technologies are upending production and supply chain practices and promising a range of new capabilities for manufacturers. How should manufacturers evaluate and implement such solutions?

The buzz in manufacturing today is all about digital transformation. Industry 4.0, the Industrial Internet of Things, cognitive computing, artificial intelligence, and so on. Digital transformation means big changes, major disruptions, lengthy implementations and expenses with lots of zeros, which is scary to a lot of business owners, especially for manufacturers who tend to be conservative.

The vast majority of manufacturers have revenues of less than $250 million. Most of these firms can’t afford to test multi-million-dollar solutions. Large corporations can spend $1 million for a pilot project and then millions more dollars for a broader rollout. Smaller companies may only have $500,000 to invest in total over two to three years.

Thankfully, it’s not necessary to write a seven-figure check and launch a multi-year transformation to extract significant value from these new technologies. You can start by looking at the costs and benefits, target those capabilities that will be most beneficial to your operations, then develop a technology roadmap that will help maintain the best ROI for your business.”

Click through to read the full interview here.