Thought Kamp on Smart Manufacturing: Cultural Imperative

Date: 24th January, 2020  Venue: The Pride, Shivajinagar, Pune 6.30pm onward

Introduction

Kontempore, drawn from the words contemporary and relevant is a movement. It is a though leadership forum led by various senior leaders from across sectors. Organizations are going to go through huge transformation in next one decade because of automation, digitization, artificial intelligence etc. Type of talent and organisation culture industry required and opportunity industry provided in the past will go through huge transition. That is a herculean task, but holds great promise to take our country to the next level. So, we are really excited to tap into your tremendous experience in this journey, that can make a big difference. Kontempore aims to bring industry professionals together to explore, evolve and co-create a next generation organisational transformation plan.

The future in industrial manufacturing revolves around the way companies embrace strategic change; how they leverage constantly developing igital technology and data analysis. As industrial manufacturers continue to expand their use of intelligent systems and platforms, such as the cloud, that securely gather and enable data analysis, they will optimize business processes, reduce supply chain and manufacturing costs and, ultimately, drive improved profitability.

Objective and Methodology:

As a part of ThoughtKamp series we periodically organise various round table discussions & interactive sessions on topics of contemporary interest to industry practitioners. The attempt is to get together select senior professionals, to share ideas, experiences, views and in the process, learn from each other. The discussion will revolve around People, Process and Technology space with regards to Smart Manufacturing.

Some Themes Playing Vital Role in Re-Shaping the Organisational Culture

• Robotics & Automation: Physical objects are getting interconnected with the digital technology (e.g. advanced robotics and sensing) and able to communicate without human intervention. Automation and Robotics Engg is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization.
• Understanding Smart Machines: Powered by smart machines, the new industrial revolution is changing how manufacturers operate today. To remain competitive and profitable, plants and machines will have to be smarter, i.e. better connected, efficient, flexible and safe. Manufacturing floor machines will evolve their level of intelligence in order to accommodate more predictive planning and more flexible business needs.
• Industrial IoT & Manufacturing: OEMs and end users can leverage Industrial IoT to better monitor and control machinery. The IIoT vision of the world is one where smart connected assets (the things) with varying levels of intelligent functionality – ranging from simple sensing and actuating, to control, optimization, and full autonomous operation – operate as part of a larger system.
• AI & Autonomous Vehicles: The use of AI based machine learning in autonomous vehicles is on rise due to availability of a new class of embedded AI processors. These high-performance, low-power devices support deep learning and computer vision capabilities needed to build autonomous machines. Their massive computing capabilities is mainly due to parallel processing GPU devices which make them next-gen computing devices.
• Manufacturing Excellence & Total Quality: Manufacturing excellence is to provide high quality, competitively priced products and services in a global marketplace. The challenges they face are QCDPMS, i.e. Quality (Improve), Cost (Reduce), Delivery (On-Time), Productivity, Morale & Safety improvement. The journey to manufacturing excellence is not easy as it takes committed operational vision by everyone, every day and everywhere.
• Talent Value Proposition & Socio-Political Transformation: The mismatch in skills available and competencies needed in the workforce given today’s technologically-focused world has resulted in fierce competition for talent, political and economic instability. The catastrophic global disasters are reshaping trade relations, fiscal policy, regional economic health, price of key commodities and supply chain risk.
• Demand for Customization & Sustainable Production: Control is shifting away from the manufacturer, giving consumer a greater say in what, when and how they receive goods and services due to interaction between Web 2.0 and advanced manufacturing trends. The influence of social activism is on rise as consumers are demanding environmentally sustainable products with increased CSR efforts and other commitments to the society.
• Industry Consolidation & Resource Price Volatility: After a minor decline in 2016, merger and acquisition activity – particularly across borders – is expected to increase, especially with the return of private equity buyers to the transaction market. Market volatility is causing unexpected shifts in the prices of futures and commodities, affecting investment decisions.

Question to Consider…

• Have you created, communicated and reinforced a set of core values throughout the organization?
• Do those core values support your strategy, structure and mission?
• Do all senior team members “walk the talk” by living the values for which your organization stands?
• Does your organization see the senior team as being aligned on mission, strategy, goals and priorities?
• Are there high levels of trust, openness and collaboration in making decisions and teamwork?
• Do you hire people with attitudes and competencies that support your culture?
• Does your culture foster a willingness and eagerness among our people to lead and embrace change?
• How well does your company innovate beyond old solutions and, in an iterative process, rapidly learn from that innovation?

The need is to build a culture of resilience and speed…