Have you ever heard the old adage that every story has two sides? In the case of Intelligent Automation and Manufacturing, the story has a complete disconnect. We recently sat down with one of our Advisory Board members, who has a deep background and experience in the manufacturing industry, to understand why and find a way to fix the problem.
EvolutIA: Thanks for your time today. This is undoubtedly an interesting topic. How did you first get exposed to Intelligent Automation or IA?
Advisor: Being a Lean Six Sigma professional, I attended an Intelligent Automation conference early last year to see what I was missing out on. I had heard the buzzwords and what it was capable of, but I had to see it for myself. What I found was something that far exceeded anything I imagined! I learned so much about a technology that should work hand in hand with lean. I have been in Manufacturing for almost 3 decades, with nearly two decades as a Lean Director and Master Black Belt. I have taught problem-solving and Six Sigma to hundreds of Green and Black Belts. How could I not have heard about Intelligent Automation in the last 5-10 years? Why had I not seen a presentation or a pitch for these fabulous products? Why is there very little Intelligent Automation in the manufacturing world compared to the industry’s scale? I decided to investigate this at the conference, and as I spoke to the various automation providers about the topic, the gaps became quite evident.
EvolutIA: Interesting. Please tell us more about the gaps you alluded to.
Advisor: Sure! I listened to the keynote speakers and participated in the breakout groups at the show. One thing immediately became apparent: I did not understand their language, and they did not understand mine. We both had our acronyms, and neither of us knew what in the world they meant or how they were applied. It was like traveling abroad and trying to converse with someone in a different language. IT speaks IT, and manufacturing speaks manufacturing, but it is interesting that in some cases, what is being talked about is the same thing, just called something different! This rears its ugly head frequently when IA providers give business leaders demos of their products. Their verbiage and technical language immediately turn the manufacturing business leaders off. This impacts the key decision-makers’ ability to move forward with automation. Manufacturing leaders have difficulty implementing something they don’t understand or can’t explain to someone else. The language barrier between the two is a difficult one to overcome!
EvolutIA: So, how do we fix this issue?
Advisor: Both sides can help themselves by spelling out or eliminating acronyms from their presentations and verbiage. IA providers should talk about processes and outcomes instead of technical jargon. Business leaders must also do their part and at least understand technology basics. Otherwise, they are missing out on a wonderful thing! For some reason, manufacturing business leaders seem to have a fear of the Terminator movie in their heads when it comes to intelligent automation!
EvolutIA: Terminator… That’s a bit scary. Why do you think they feel that way?
Advisor: There’s always the human fear of technology taking jobs, but that can be addressed with change management. Within manufacturing, IT has a negative perception within many organizations. IT Projects are almost always lengthy, late, and over budget. Plus, organizations feel they need to be supported more. This tends to make business leaders hesitant to implement any new technology, allocate any money into their budget for automation, or develop their strategy around Intelligent Automation. Worse, Manufacturing business leaders’ minds seem stuck in the 1980s and 1990s with their approach to capital spending and budget allocation. They gravitate towards buying new machines to make the operators more efficient or reduce waste while disregarding automating transactional processes, which will directly impact efficiency and waste. They truly don’t understand how sales, supply chain, HR, scheduling, customer forecasting, and many other transactional processes impact their high-level organization and manufacturing plant metrics.
EvolutIA: How should Manufacturing leaders think from today forward?
Advisor: The year is 2024, and we all need to be open to new ways of thinking and strategizing. They should listen to the ideas of the technical generation! Break down these barriers and misperceptions because if you don’t, someone else will, and they will also gain a competitive advantage.