Best of LinkedIn: Smart Manufacturing CW 45/ 46

00:00:00: This episode is provided by Thomas Allgeier and Frennis based on the most relevant LinkedIn posts about smart manufacturing in calendar weeks, forty five and forty six.

00:00:09: Frennis is a B to B market research company that supports enterprises across the smart manufacturing industry.

00:00:16: with the market, customer and competitive insights they need to navigate dynamic markets and drive customer centric product development.

00:00:24: Welcome to the deep dive.

00:00:25: Today we're going laser focused on smart manufacturing.

00:00:29: We've been tracking the sharpest insights from the front lines, really just the high signal content across LinkedIn for the past two weeks, and we're here to boil it all down.

00:00:37: Yeah, and I think if you had to have the one minute summary right up front, yeah, it's this reindustrialization isn't you know just a vision document anymore?

00:00:44: It's actually moving into these huge multi-billion dollar factory programs.

00:00:48: But the real friction point the thing that's defining where companies are actually putting their money is these persistent bottleneck skills data and even energy.

00:00:57: So we're really past the proof of concept stage.

00:00:59: We're in the scaling phase and success now hinges on solving those messy real-world problems.

00:01:05: We've clustered everything we saw into five logical areas for today.

00:01:09: Strategy in the workforce, then AI and data, automation, the platforms underneath it all, and finally that crucial link to energy and people.

00:01:19: It really gives you a complete picture of where things stand right now in global manufacturing.

00:01:23: All right, let's jump in.

00:01:24: Theme one.

00:01:25: global strategy, reindustrialization, and that looming talent crisis.

00:01:30: A post from Sasha Kay really set the stage, pointing out that reindustrialization is this massive defining theme right now.

00:01:37: It is.

00:01:37: It's all driven by resilience and, frankly, geopolitical stability.

00:01:44: the bets we're seeing are incredibly bold.

00:01:46: An ultimate example of that has to be Tesla.

00:01:48: Robert Little highlighted this in an incredible detail.

00:01:52: Absolutely.

00:01:52: They've put in funny four billion dollars so far with billions more planned.

00:01:56: They're not just tweaking a line.

00:01:58: They are fundamentally redesigning the entire process with things like giga casting and the new forty six eighty battery cells

00:02:04: and that unboxed manufacturing process for the cyber cab.

00:02:07: That just sounds I mean radical.

00:02:09: It's like they're throwing out the traditional assembly line entirely.

00:02:12: They pretty much are.

00:02:13: The real innovation is how sub-assemblies come together at the very last second.

00:02:17: It's all designed to, what, half factory space and double the throughput.

00:02:22: It is a completely top-down, hyper-efficient approach.

00:02:25: That kind of vertical integration is just stunning.

00:02:28: But how does that top-down strategy compare to what we're seeing with these big regional scaling efforts?

00:02:33: Are they even comparable?

00:02:35: Well, in many ways, no.

00:02:36: We saw a post from Amit Mehta and George Bumitri about how Saudi Arabia is scaling up industrial capability for smart building manufacturing.

00:02:45: That's part of Vision, twenty thirty.

00:02:46: Right.

00:02:46: So that's a massive nationally backed effort.

00:02:49: It's a different game than Tesla's singular global verticality.

00:02:53: But no matter the strategy, you always have.

00:02:54: that friction on the ground.

00:02:56: Brian Carroll had a fantastic post that really stuck with me.

00:02:59: He used the factory two point five analogy.

00:03:01: I love that one.

00:03:02: Where you have a shiny new cobot sitting right next to a three inch binder labeled master production plan.

00:03:09: It's just a perfect illustration of the reality gap.

00:03:12: And Jacobo Lurekasal gave some great context here reminding us that industry.

00:03:17: four point oh you know it started as a political strategy in Germany back in twenty eleven.

00:03:22: Hmm to protect their industrial base

00:03:24: exactly it became a global marketing strategy long before it was an operation reality.

00:03:28: and moving that vision into a dirty complex factory floor That's the real challenge

00:03:34: and that leads right to the biggest bottleneck of all people.

00:03:38: Scott Clark delivered a pretty major warning.

00:03:40: He said the advanced manufacturing revival could just stall if we don't fix the skills gap.

00:03:45: Right.

00:03:45: You just can't automate your way out of needing skilled people.

00:03:48: Yeah.

00:03:48: Max Wright confirmed this, saying how hard it is to find these hybrid superstar leaders.

00:03:53: Hybrid

00:03:54: superstar.

00:03:54: Yeah.

00:03:54: You know, people who get the process, but also the data and the technology.

00:03:57: It's a rare combination.

00:03:59: And those leaders need visibility.

00:04:00: They can't be flying blind, which brings us right to theme two, AI, data and interoperability.

00:04:06: I mean, can these systems even talk to each other?

00:04:08: That's the million-dollar question.

00:04:10: Pranavadhera called interoperability the single biggest differentiator, like plumbing.

00:04:16: Not glamorous, but absolutely critical for success.

00:04:20: So there is some hope, though.

00:04:22: A poll from Jeff Winter showed that something like ninety-three percent of manufacturers use the ISA- ninety-five standard to connect their ERP with their MES and SCADA systems.

00:04:31: The

00:04:31: framework is there, sure, but the value often isn't.

00:04:35: Guzzai amended Teresa absolutely nailed the core problem.

00:04:39: Data fails because it lacks context.

00:04:41: What do you mean by context?

00:04:42: Well,

00:04:42: you can have ten thousand temperature readings, but without the batch history or the maintenance log, that data is just noise.

00:04:48: It isn't embedded in how real people actually solve real problems.

00:04:52: And that context is what turns data into intelligence.

00:04:55: That's the bridge to AI.

00:04:57: Chris Stevens noted a huge shift happening here.

00:04:59: AI is moving from just providing past answers like, here's the failure rate, to offering proactive suggestions.

00:05:05: Change the setting now or failure is imminent.

00:05:07: We saw some fantastic examples of this in action.

00:05:10: Tony Alexander detailed a touchless manufacturing scheduling system.

00:05:14: He basically called it a Google Maps for manufacturing.

00:05:17: I love that.

00:05:18: So it's finding the best route for production orders.

00:05:20: Continuously.

00:05:21: And the impact was a twenty percent reduction in makespan.

00:05:24: That's not a small gain.

00:05:26: That's getting twenty percent more out of your multi-million dollar assets.

00:05:30: It's a direct hit to the P&L.

00:05:32: And we saw this in heavy industry too, right?

00:05:34: More vertical specialized AI.

00:05:37: Absolutely.

00:05:38: Muserad Hussein described a hybrid AI architecture for steel manufacturing.

00:05:43: The hybrid part is key.

00:05:44: It combines traditional physics-based models with deep learning.

00:05:48: And the results were what?

00:05:49: Fifteen to twenty percent energy reduction?

00:05:51: And

00:05:51: a thirty percent improvement in quality consistency, so you get these huge sustainability and cost wins at the same time.

00:05:57: This move to real-time optimization is what makes the whole digital twin idea finally feel, you know, practical.

00:06:03: It is.

00:06:04: Daniel Cravenan highlighted the Siemens Electronics Factory in Erlingen.

00:06:08: They're fusing digital twins with plant simulation to create an operational digital twin.

00:06:14: So it's not a static model.

00:06:16: It's feeding real-time behavior back to planners.

00:06:19: So they can test scenarios before making changes.

00:06:21: Exactly.

00:06:22: And David Morley confirmed, this is a broader trend, that digital twins and AI are really transforming CNC manufacturing for both sustainability and a competitive edge.

00:06:32: Let's shift gears to theme three, automation and robotics.

00:06:37: When you think of the high end of automation, you still think of the dark factory.

00:06:41: And it's becoming a reality, especially in high volume sectors like automotive.

00:06:45: Milo's Coussera showed some great examples with ABV robots running to Medi-FourSeven.

00:06:49: It's about efficiency, but also by keeping people out of dangerous jobs.

00:06:53: But it's also moving way beyond just the assembly line, right?

00:06:56: Into infrastructure.

00:06:57: Yes, definitely.

00:06:58: Daniel Keper highlighting gecko robotics.

00:07:00: Their autonomous systems can inspect climb, fly, even swim across critical infrastructure.

00:07:04: Wow.

00:07:05: They're taking on all the dull, dirty, and dangerous inspection tasks that are so vital for safety and heavy industry.

00:07:10: That's incredible.

00:07:12: But the cost and the complexity of programming these things has always been a barrier, especially for smaller companies.

00:07:17: Is that changing?

00:07:18: It really is.

00:07:19: And it's thanks to the no code movement.

00:07:21: Alexandra Katana was talking about this.

00:07:23: And Philip English reported that a company called Augmentus secured eleven million for its platform.

00:07:29: And what does it do?

00:07:30: It can achieve up to a ninety percent reduction in robot programming time.

00:07:34: When you take programming from days down to minutes, the entire ROI calculation just shifts.

00:07:40: And that's happening on the AI side too.

00:07:42: For

00:07:42: sure.

00:07:43: Olga Perbelkina shared that Intel is offering a free no-code computer vision tool called Getty.

00:07:50: It just dramatically lowers the barrier to entry for AI-driven.

00:07:54: quality control.

00:07:55: Okay, so beyond coding, there's also this huge demand for more physical flexibility in the system.

00:08:00: Right, that's the counterpoint to Tesla's hyper integration.

00:08:03: RivaRotova showed how Lyft and Siemens are using modular automation to produce, say, different types of battery parts on the same line.

00:08:11: It's essential for a high mix environment.

00:08:12: But sometimes the simplest innovations are still the best.

00:08:15: Oh, without a doubt.

00:08:17: MfiraSkibani shared a great, simple rotating device built with a lean pipe system for an assembly line.

00:08:23: It's a good reminder that smart manufacturing is about intelligent systems, not just complex ones.

00:08:29: Let's move down the stack a bit.

00:08:30: Theme four, platforms, IoT, and ecosystems.

00:08:34: Before we even get to connectivity, where are the biggest gaps in the industrial IT stack today?

00:08:39: It's often in the foundational layers.

00:08:41: PLM and MES, they get neglected for the flashier ERP systems.

00:08:46: Venkatesh Krishnan pointed out that if you don't integrate your design data in PLM with your production execution in MES, you're just constantly fighting fires.

00:08:54: And Nira Kaswani pointed out a really painful gap for process manufacturers like in food or pharma.

00:09:00: Yeah,

00:09:00: that was a great point.

00:09:01: They have ERPs, but they often have no technology to manage the batch itself.

00:09:05: They're relying on paper records and pure guesswork to figure out why a batch failed.

00:09:10: Which

00:09:10: kills rapid innovation.

00:09:11: So once you have those layers, you need connectivity.

00:09:14: Barless use noted IIoT is critical for predictive maintenance.

00:09:18: But we all know standard Wi-Fi just doesn't cut it for these critical use cases.

00:09:22: Right.

00:09:23: Martia Bertolarsson was emphatic that smart factories need more.

00:09:27: They need private five G and open ecosystems to get that low latency and security.

00:09:33: And as soon as you connect everything, the attack surface just explodes.

00:09:37: Cynthia Rojas really drove this home.

00:09:39: Yeah.

00:09:40: You have to unify IT and OT visibility for real time edge security.

00:09:46: A production shutdown from a cyber attack is a nightmare scenario.

00:09:49: The complexity is just too much for one company to handle, which is why we're seeing these huge strategic partnerships.

00:09:53: Exactly.

00:09:54: Stephanie Schneider announced the expanded alliance between Siemens and Capgemini to tackle ITOT integration at scale.

00:10:01: And globally, Gwonell of Ice Huey talked about Schneider Electric and Roka Group partnering up to transform seventy-nine factories.

00:10:08: I mean, these are massive multi-year commitments.

00:10:11: But it's not all smooth sailing in the ecosystem.

00:10:13: Peter Soroka raised some really important concerns about data sovereignty after the management swap at HiveMQ.

00:10:19: the industrial data platform.

00:10:20: Yeah, a critical European one.

00:10:22: That shifting control the US executives has raised a lot of questions about who really governs critical operational data.

00:10:28: It's a reminder that your platform choice is a geopolitical decision, not just a technical one.

00:10:34: Okay, let's wrap with our final theme.

00:10:37: Energy, circularity, and the human element.

00:10:40: Morgan Mayer contributes to concept I just loved.

00:10:42: Energy as the eighth waste of lean.

00:10:45: It's so essential.

00:10:47: Unstable or expensive energy leads to downtime.

00:10:50: It undermines efficiency just as much as any of the classic seven wastes.

00:10:53: So what are the solutions looking like?

00:10:55: Well,

00:10:56: Morgan provided a great case study of a food and beverage maker that installed a battery energy storage system, a BES.

00:11:03: It stabilized their power supply, got rid of interruptions, and

00:11:06: the result.

00:11:06: They recovered enough uptime to run one extra batch per day.

00:11:10: That is operational excellence driven purely by energy management.

00:11:13: A

00:11:13: perfect link between a sustainability tech and a hard economic outcome.

00:11:17: What about broader circularity?

00:11:19: Remanufacturing is the huge lever here.

00:11:22: Arthi Sariman explained it's already a fifty billion dollar industry and it's expected to double in four years.

00:11:27: But it all depends on design for disassembly and crucially a digital thread to know if a used product core is economically viable for another five to ten years of life.

00:11:38: That traceability is everything.

00:11:40: And we saw Anthony Lindote how advanced manufacturing like Fabric Eight Labs technology is supporting that resilience.

00:11:46: And finally, let's bring it all back to the workforce.

00:11:49: Jekyll made a great point about empowering frontline workers with better tools and just, you know, recognition.

00:11:55: Maggie Sloak had a perfect example of that.

00:11:57: CheerPak North America using mobile ERP data access.

00:12:02: It saved their coordinators and supervisors hours every single week.

00:12:06: That's

00:12:06: it right there.

00:12:07: Digital intelligence driving organizational agility.

00:12:10: Jennifer Dissy summed it up perfectly after the Biomanufacturing Summit.

00:12:13: Success requires operational mastery, digital intelligence, and organizational agility.

00:12:18: You have to treat this as an opportunity, not a threat.

00:12:21: Okay, so we've covered a huge amount of ground today.

00:12:23: Everything from Tesla's radical strategies to how hybrid AI is cutting energy use and steel, and how no code is democratizing robotics.

00:12:31: I think the single biggest takeaway for you, the listener, is that the gap between the big industry four point zero story and what's happening on the factory floor is finally closing.

00:12:39: But success, real execution, depends entirely on solving the soft problems first.

00:12:45: The skills, the data context, the partnerships, before you try to scale the hard tech.

00:12:51: All right, let's leave you with a final thought to chew on.

00:12:53: Considering the huge strategic investments in North America with Tesla, the massive state-backed scale-up in the Middle East with Vision, and then you have Europe's growing anxiety over data sovereignty.

00:13:05: with what happened at HiveMQ, who will truly control the underlying data flow in the next generation of smart manufacturing.

00:13:11: And what does that control mean for global industrial power?

00:13:14: That's the question every industrial strategist should be thinking about.

00:13:18: If you enjoyed this deep dive, new episodes drop every two weeks.

00:13:21: Also check out our other editions on digital construction and digital power tools.

00:13:25: Thank you for joining us for this deep dive.