I’ve been busy behind the microphone lately. Here is news about my latest Gary on Manufacturing podcast (I’m taking suggestions for a new name since I cover a much broader area than manufacturing) plus a conversation I had for an SAP-sponsored podcast with the famous Tamara McCleary for a series called TechUnknown. Finally, I will refer you to an education resource Website.
Gary on Manufacturing 191
Podcast 191–If we are ever going to finally bring IT and OT together, indeed break through all of a company’s silos, it will be through adopting coaching as a key component of the manager’s tool kit. I reference Trillion Dollar Coach by Schmidt, Rosenberg, and Eagle—a book about legendary Bill Campbell and how his coaching made the difference for executives at Google, Apple, and many more Silicon Valley companies. I also take a look at another Bill—Bill Gates—whose 10 top tech trends and 10 top challenges to solve appeared in this spring’s MIT Technology Review.
TechUnknown Podcast
I had an entertaining and informative conversation with Tamara McCleary. How do you manage the human element of automation & #AI adoption? I share my thoughts on real-life applications for #IIoT with @TamaraMcCleary on the @SAP #TechUnknown podcast.
Earn a Masters Degree
Industries of all sorts have a need for data scientists. I heard from a publicist for a Website that consolidates and explains degree programs in that area. If you or someone you know wants career advancement or change, check out this page.
Several companies are beginning to get on the podcast bandwagon. Good for them. I’ve subscribed to a few. Here’s one I just found out about. Actually, I found out about it because I’m featured on its latest podcast called The Plant.
This podcast is from the Thin Manager group within Rockwell Automation. This is the former ACP that was acquired by Rockwell a couple of years ago. I’d known that company from its first years.
The product and technology consists of thin clients. I balked a little at first because my roots were with the old centralized computing architecture where you just had a terminal–if you were lucky. You were stuck with whatever IT gave you, and heaven help you if you asked for anything more.
The thin client paradigm gave users much more power and flexibility yet gave IT much more ability for such things as version control and security. Sort of a “best of both worlds” of centralized IT and flexible PCs.
There are some things that drive me up the metaphorical wall. Especially concerning discussions of automation and jobs. I’ve contemplated this issue for years. Lately there was an issue of the Axios Future newsletter. I rather like the editor, Steve Levine, even if he is an economist turned journalist. But there are times when he stops at a macro level with no understanding of underlying facts. That’s a common problem with both economists and journalists.
The things:
Confusing robots and automation
Not understanding the jobs that were replaced
Advances in manufacturing that greatly enhance the quality of jobs
Confuse correlation with causation
Unlike people who grab high-level statistics, run the numbers through a variety of mathematical equations, and then show some sort of correlation, I started at the factory floor. First working on the line. Then figuring out ways to build better machines and put robots in places to take on physically debilitating or drudgery work. I tend to be inductive rather than deductive in my approach.
I’ve released a new podast to complement yesterday’s post about my Detroit trip. There are few things I find as exciting as exploring revitalizing manufacturing or production facility. When people and technology come together to make useful products in a clean and safe manner is art to me. This podcast reflects on my trip to Ford Livonia and FlexNGate in Detroit on March 19. This episode is sponsored by Ignition by Inductive Automation and by Bright Wolf.
As march into Women’s History Month, I welcome Isabel Yang, CTO at Advanced Energy Industries. As a minority woman in a C suite position at a publicly traded manufacturing company, Isabel has a plethora of unique insight on her path to success as well as advice for all women looking to spearhead their careers.
Yang says, “I believe women need to shape their own destiny in their careers and lives. Now more than ever, we must work to establish a set of core skills early in our careers and gradually grow ourselves into experts, then progressively branch out to learn about adjacent areas or new areas to acquire new skills.”
