Gary On Manufacturing - Gary Mintchell

222 Build In Resiliency How would you like to be the chief automation engineer when an automated assembly line goes down and it gets daily reports in The New York Times and the CEO camps out on the production floor until you get it fixed and that CEO is the world's smartest man--Elon Musk? Too often we build projects, automation and otherwise, without any resiliency. They are brittle. They break easily. Like the system Airbus considered with its extra-huge airliner that required every airport to upgrade runways and terminals. Or, like us, when we don't build resiliency into our careers and our lives. Even worse--the anxiety and brittleness of our children pushed to succeed above all else. Build in some resiliency in your life and go make a difference.

People hit me up continually about ability of predictive analytics for predictive maintenance as the nirvana of digital manufacturing. My reply is that digital data leads to analysis/user interface/decision support. In other words, data helps people make better decisions in order to solve manufacturing problems and run more efficient and profitable and safer plants.

"We tend to overestimate risk and under estimate value when we're evaluating digital technology implementation," stated a keynoter during the 25th annual ARC Advisory Group Forum. Another keynoter told us that if we are evaluating digital transformation initiatives using a spreadsheet, we are off base. Some things have too great a risk of not doing. A Wall Street analyst told us that over the past year industrial software companies outperformed industrial companies. Software for digital transformation is where it's at. Check out the new Schneider Electric initiative promoting software defined control based on IEC 61499. This is an outgrowth of the Open Process Automation initiative that seems to be gathering some momentum. Software is eating the world--or at least the industrial one.

219 Quality Without Wires Are you teaching quality today? That question started a young English teacher into a journey that led to the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. But really, I wanted to talk about quality and wiring. I visited a prospect who was interested in a press control automation system. When I went into the plant to look at one of their presses, I saw a haphazard (and hazardous) wiring job on the control panel. I left as soon as I could. But wiring can be exceedingly expensive in many plants. Wireless became an attractive alternative. We had WirelessHart soon to be partly replaced by WiFi. Now, the latest cellular technology, 5G, when made into a private network coordinating with WiFi6, composes a powerful IoT and digital transformation communication system.

I worked with data ever since it was handwritten or typed. We can just generate much more of it these days. We can contextualize, analyze, visualize. The question is--are we using it adequately to make better decisions?

Congratulations to Eddie Habibi, Pat Kennedy, Corky Ellis, and others for building companies and getting a good exit. Where are the next generation of new companies coming from? Will they be disruptive to the manufacturing technology market? What is disruptive anyway? Podcast supported by Inductive Automation.

This podcast is sponsored by Ignition from Inductive Automation. The project engineer came to me, "We can't ship this machine, because it is not yet perfect." What is quality? When is it "good enough" to ship. What is meeting spec? When is "good enough" not sufficient?

I moved to a new state a few months ago and have been searching for a good local, independent coffee shop with ethically traded coffee--in vain. So, I go to Starbucks a few times a week. The concept of quality at Starbucks is not the coffee, which is probably why people doctor it with flavored sugars and milk. Its quality has always been environment. One of my first jobs was with Airstream, manufacturer of quality recreation vehicles. Everyone in the company was aware of the need for quality. The question for you today is are you contributing to building quality, ethical products that serve your customers and society? On a personal development note, I leave you with Seven Daily Habits from Richard Koch in The 80/20 Principle.

Manufacturing and production can be stressful occupations. Add in the constant stresses of a pandemic and there is the recipe for affecting health. Take a stress break and get a new focus.

Did you ever get a bright idea for a new product or service? You might have even sketched it and written a product outline. Then you filed it. One day you noticed someone else had taken that same idea and created a billion-dollar company? Bright ideas and doing the work.

With AI and automation and robots, what will humans do for work in the future? Will we all be destitute? Will we finally be able to take time and "smell the roses"? Gary offers thoughts.

Teaching and Mentoring the next generation of engineers and technologists.

The first writer to seriously look at the new phenomenon of data-driven analytics in baseball found himself allowed to sit in the locker room of the major league baseball team. He observed the players. Something naggged at his consciousness. Then it dawned on him—they didn't look like athletes. Showering, getting dressed, no one really looked like a standout athlete. Yet, they were winning. Yes, said data-driven baseball exec Billy Beane, everyone else evaluates how players look. We look at their performance and indicators that they have future potential. But I really wanted to discuss Digital Transformation. And to transform digitally, you need to be (digital) data-driven.

The original visionaries who established the modern education system in the early 20th Century were following and expanding upon a vision of the founders of the USA—an educated population is essential for the success of a democracy and for a fruitful life. What became of this education system? Hi This is Gary. This podcast is brought to you with support from Inductive Automation. Discover a whole new view with Ignition 8 by Inductive Automation. Packed with features for the modern control system like unlimited licensing, high-powered tags, and a mobile-first flexible design environment for all devices, Ignition 8 supports enterprises of any size. See all ignition has to offer at https://inductiveautomation.com/ . Did the system you grow up in seem like the one I did? It was more like you were groomed to sit still, follow orders, give back the answer the teacher wanted, don’t make waves. It was designed originally to give just enough basic skills in English and math so that mostly boys could fill the slots in

Perhaps the #BlackLivesMatter protests will lead to real change if organization leaders step up and do instead of say. Likewise, innovation in technology and manufacturing is leaping ahead spurred on by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Years ago machine and process safety were first ignored and then addressed as an add-on Then engineers began evaluating the problem and engineered safety from the beginning design. Not only was safety enhanced, but also reliability and productivity improved as well. We are seeing the same thing already in response to solving problems due to Covid-19. I take a look at a variety of responses just in the first couple of months of the crisis. This podcast is sponsored by Inductive Automation and its flagship Ignition 8.

Whether you are building machines to a spec or some other product or you are a systems integrator or supplier--experience shows that those who think laterally and find a value add are more likely to get more business from good customers. I even share a story about a software developer who started playing with 3D printing and then organized a manufacturing line to produce face masks for Polish hospital workers in response to SARS CoV 2. Check out The Podcast https://thepodcast.fm/episodes/206 . This podcast is brought to you with support from Inductive Automation. Discover a whole new view with Ignition 8 by Inductive Automation. Packed with features for the modern control system like unlimited licensing, high-powered tags, and a mobile-first flexible design environment for all devices, Ignition 8 supports enterprises of any size. See all Ignition has to offer at inductiveautomation.com Check out my blog at https://themanufacturingconnection.com

When I would go to NI Week, National Instruments would always talk about solving big problems. I began to approach the history of digital transformation that same way. GM had a problem involving the changeover of machines from one model year to the next. It took too long to change the machines due to the relay logic. They went to Odo Struger of Allen-Bradley and Dick Morely who then founded Modicon for a solution. Each built a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) to solve the problem and the race was on. We can then look at all the digital advances from then to now as the solving of successively more difficult problems. Today we have IoT, data science, edge computing, analytics, visualization, AR, VR. And we go on. It is a journey not a destination. This podcast is sponsored by Ignition by Inductive Automation.

This episode is an interview with Yuval Boger, CMO of Wi-Charge, who talks about wireless remote power for charging IoT devices with light. There was a gap between this and my last podcast. In the interim, we sold a house, bought a house, and moved to another state--all at the beginning of the covid-19 rise and the shelter-in-place orders. It has been crazy times. Now, we've plenty of time to get used to the new house. I hope everyone listening is doing well.

Computing at the Edge was a constant theme in the two tech forums I visited in early February. Mostly what that means is that many enterprise applications need data from the plant or process. Data must be unlocked. Other topics included speculation over anticipated benefits of 5G and a sprouting of Open and Open Source initiatives.