Over at the Think Tank section of SupplyChainBrain, Augury growth strategist Brian Fitzgerald argues that the US can be an industrial frontrunner again if the focus stays on applying AI solutions to increase efficiency, improve sustainability and empower workers.  

This article first appeared on SupplyChainBrain on May 10^th, 2024.

The U.S. has the potential to reclaim its throne as one of the world’s largest manufacturing powerhouses — but not in the ways other countries, like China, have achieved this mission.

Fill The Labour Gaps By Winning The AI Race For Manufacturing

China has a manufacturing workforce of 212 million, which outnumbers those of the U.S., EU, Japan, Canada, Korea, India, Mexico and Vietnam combined. Yet China’s manufacturing activity has constricted in recent months, and the country’s Education Ministry estimates that the sector will face a massive worker shortage by 2025, which might give the U.S. an opening as it works to bring factories home.

“The U.S. will restore its manufacturing powerhouse status by leading where it’s already ahead: the artificial intelligence race.”

Still, naysayers think the U.S.’s industrial force will never catch up. In terms of manufacturing employment, they’re right — we’re not going to see 200 million workers take up careers in American factories overnight. 

But the U.S. will restore its manufacturing powerhouse status by leading where it’s already ahead: the artificial intelligence race. The country has initiated $249 billion in AI funding and employs the leading number of “top-tier” AI researchers, at 60%.

Educate People And Apply AI

AI’s potential for radical innovation in manufacturing is unmatched. In order to advance down the path to becoming an industrial juggernaut, American manufacturers must educate themselves on how AI can help meet their goals, including filling labor gaps and enhancing sustainability while driving efficiency, increasing profitability, and improving machine reliability. 

“AI-powered industrial co-pilots will be dynamic partners for both new and existing talent in the industry. These “assistants” will be able to help workers complete tasks more efficiently, increasing productivity and freeing up time for more advanced undertakings.”

AI will be a crucial solution for the U.S. as it looks to bring factories home. Not only does this disruptive technology drive efficiency with fewer workers in the mix, but it will attract an entirely new set of tech-savvy graduates who are excited to use AI on the job. 

Actionable Insights For Continual Improvement

For instance, AI-powered industrial co-pilots will be dynamic partners for both new and existing talent in the industry. These “assistants” will be able to help workers complete tasks more efficiently, increasing productivity and freeing up time for more advanced undertakings. These co-pilots are built on multiple advanced AI systems and, therefore, can make sense of complex production sensor data.

The insights gleaned from that data are used by plant workers to improve production processes and power faster machine repairs. While AI can do some human tasks faster and more accurately, the co-pilots won’t steal jobs. Instead, they’ll fill the critical gaps we’re seeing in the U.S., and cut down on menial tasks, so employees can focus on decision-making and strategy…

Read the full article at SupplyChainBrain.  

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With the holiday season in the air (and a prequel in the cinemas) it’s the perfect time to (re)watch/(re)read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Novelist – and Augury’s Chief Revenue Officer – Brian Fitzgerald took the opportunity to dive in deep and offer advice to Willy Wonka on how to take his next-level chocolate factory to the next-level. Production Health to the rescue!

What business advice can you offer a manufacturer who’s even more iconic than Elon Musk, Ohno Taiichi and Henry Ford combined (and even more eccentric than Elon Musk)? Well actually quite a bit…

A Rich And Telling Tale…

Ever since Roald Dahl published Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 1964, people have been industriously interpreting the children’s novel – as well as the two film versions that followed in 1971 and 2005.

Is it an allegory of the rich versus the poor? Is it a marketing handbook on how to totally engage your audience by simply offering five golden tickets for a tour of a factory? Is its message that life is karmic – with good children being rewarded and bad children being turned into blueberries? Or is it simply a warning call against the rise of childhood diabetes?  

What Can Willy Wonka Teach Manufacturers?

Certainly, Willy Wonka does offer some inspiring insights for manufacturers. For instance, the fact he’s looking to find a worthy successor who he can then train with “all my most precious candy-making secrets while I am still alive” is commendable. In this age of a graying workforce, passing on the knowledge has only become more essential. 

“If the good lord intended us to walk, he never would’ve invented roller skates.”
— Willy Wonka

Also, his workforce of Oompa Loompas certainly seems self-motivated – and the fact they regularly break out into song and dance, is obviously a great morale booster. In addition, Wonka’s tireless R&D – producing such game-changing products as the everlasting gobstopper or lick-able wallpaper – should be celebrated. 

“Invention is 93% perspiration 6% inspiration 3% perspiration and 2% butter scotch ripple.”
— Willy Wonka

But regardless of how gleaming and modern his factory comes over, it still seems in desperate need for an industry 4.0 update. In other words, it would be a huge help for Willie Wonka to get real-time insights into what’s happening in his factory.  

Helping Wonka Reach For The Manufacturing Stars

For instance, if Wonka was backed by a Machine Health Solution, he’d no longer risk being unable to fill orders in the holiday season due to unplanned downtime. The Oompa Loompas would know which machines to focus on and where they could extend production without risk of catastrophic failure. In addition, with the increased level of job satisfaction, the Oompa Loompas would be happier and less likely to get recruited by The Wizard to make the leap to Oz. 

In terms of the lovely product in itself, with less downtime, there would be less negative impact due to spoiled milk or other raw materials. There would also be less negative impact caused by spoiled children, such as with Veruca Salt. The change in vibration and machine behavior caused by her being sucked into the garbage shoot would be easy to track and actions could be taken to mitigate the potential damage to the downstream equipment. 

“A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.”
— Willy Wonka

As for Augustus Gloop falling in the chocolate river? Apart from the ESG impact of having to pour all that chocolate down the drain rather than make candy from it (assuming they did that, or … yuck), there’s the impact on gross margins from wasted raw materials.

Willy may say there’s magic in the way he makes his candy. But the predictive capabilities of machine health are like magic themselves – and far more scalable.

And then there’s the matter of process health. Wouldn’t our eccentric friend also benefit from knowing the optimal conditions he needs to make the best chocolate? Or something as deliriously exceptional as an everlasting gobstopper?

Great Chocolate Every Single Time

Certainly, if you really want to know how the best confectioners make an impact on the happiness of kids worldwide, they’re doing it today with process health – and without kids in rivers, girls turning into blueberries, or flying elevators zooming by. Just great chocolate every single time. 

In conclusion (and to paraphrase Willy Wonka himself):
Q: “Do you know what happened to those who got everything they wanted in terms of production health?”
A: “They lived happily ever after.”

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