Augmented Ops

Augmented reveals the stories behind the new era of industrial operations, where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. 

In episode 25 of the podcast (@AugmentedPod), the topic is: Industrial Tracking: Drones, Warehouses and Theme Parks. Our guest is Mark N. Goldfarb, CEO & co-founder of the Israeli tech startup Sixdof Space, who is a panel speaker at an upcoming, fast-paced panel debate with Q&A on Industry 4.0 with top Israeli startups and advanced manufacturers from New England. The event is a collaboration between the New England Advanced Manufacturing Hub (AMHUB), a global network associated with the World Economic Forum, The Government of Israel’s Economic Mission to North America, Tulip, and Stanley Black & Decker. 

In this conversation, we talk about positional tracking technology, touch on the many tracking technologies that exist out there- magnetic, UWB, Wifi, Lidar, LiFI - each with pros and cons. We then move into optical tracking, an approach that uses light, and as such requires a direct line of sight, but is less power hungry than other approaches. We discuss outfitting factory floors with this stuff to track movement by vehicles, people or goods in a manufacturing warehouse, and exciting futuristic use cases in remote surgery and landing space shuttles. 

After listening to this episode, check out Sixdof Space, as well as Mark N. Goldfarb's profile on social media, as well as the Israel meets New England smart manufacturing event and its organizers, the Israeli Trade Mission and Amhub New England:

• Sixdof Space (@SixdofS): https://www.sixdof.space/
• Mark N. Goldfarb: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-n-goldfarb-822b/
• The New England Advanced Manufacturing Hub (AMHUB): https://mfg.works/amhub/amhub-new-england/
• The Government of Israel’s Economic Mission to North America: https://embassies.gov.il/washington/AboutTheEmbassy/Pages/Economic-Mission.aspx#:
• ISRAEL meets NEW ENGLAND: Advanced Manufacturing in Factories and Workplace: https://mfg.works/israel-meets-new-england/

Trond's takeaway: Photonics is an exciting field with a tremendous amount of innovation. Optical tracking is only one use cases, there are many, many others for this platform technology.

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Augmentedpodcast.co or in your preferred podcast player, check out Augmented podcast on YouTube, and rate us with five stars. If you liked this episode, you might also like episode 14 Smart Manufacturing for All, episode 13 Get Manufacturing Superpowers, or episode 6 Human-Robot Interaction challenges.

Augmented--upskilling the workforce for industry 4.0 frontline operations.

Special Guest: Mark N. Goldfarb.

Augmented reveals the stories behind the new era of industrial operations, where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. 

In episode 18 of the podcast (@AugmentedPod), the topic is: Transforming Foundational Industries. Our guest is Dayna Grayson, General Partner and Co-founder of Construct Capital, a newly formed VC firm.

In this conversation, we talk about how Dayna became a trailblazing female VC, her early thesis around the SaaS model as transformative for industry to avoid ERP lock-in, her experience from being on the board of many famous startups, including Formlabs, Desktop Metal, Onshape, and frontline operations platform Tulip. She explains why she co-founded $140m fund Construct Capital in late 2020. We discuss how software is transforming industries that have arguably been somewhat stale since the industrial revolution. She shares her approach to invest in and scale the startups by non-linear and product design aware founders; we look at some recent investments of hers, engineer workflow tool Copia, EV charging software ChargeLab, fresh food assembly automation Chef Robotics. Finally, we touch on the future of manufacturing. 

After listening to this episode, check out Construct Capital as well as Dayna Grayson's profile on social media:

• Construct Capital (@constructcap): https://constructcap.com/
• Dayna Grayson (@daynagrayson): https://www.linkedin.com/in/daynagrayson/

Trond's takeaway: Dayna Grayson is right about factories. The factory floor is a too limiting framework to use to understand emerging manufacturing firms. Production facilities might also become microfactories, industry products become tech platforms. What does industry look like 15 years from now? We won't even recognize it. The foundation is changing. Foundational industries, yes, but created in new types of foundries.

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Augmentedpodcast.co or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars. If you liked this episode, you might also like episode 13 Get Manufacturing Superpowers, episode 10 A Brief History of Manufacturing Software, or episode 11 Empowering Workers to Innovate. Augmented--the industry 4.0 podcast.

Special Guest: Dayna Grayson.

Augmented reveals the stories behind the new era of industrial operations, where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. 

In episode 15 of the podcast (@AugmentedPod), the topic is: Freedman's Factory: Introduction. Our guest is Mark Freedman, Lean Practice Leader at Tulip for our new segment, Freedman's Factory, which you will recognize because of our new segment specific music, with a cool, shopfloor vibe.

In this conversation, we talk about Freedman's Factory. What is it? What do we hope to accomplish? We learn that Mark Freedman, whose job title is all about Lean--which has to do with eliminating waste and increasing productivity, is, in fact, all about Kaizen, which is somewhat more ambitiously Japanese and means change for the better, or in better English--continuous improvement, from Kai meaning change and Zen meaning peaceful, relaxed, and aware. We are aiming for all those things. In fact, we hope to probe deep into the manufacturing experience, learning from people who live it and breathe it. We also want to investigate what it means to explore Kaizen and Lean together with digitalization--and with the nocode approach. And, as Freedman says, with all change we have to respect the current state. In other words, before we start to change something, we have to take in what is and recognize why it is that way. If all of these things sound slightly philosophical, it is because they are. This is down-to-earth philosophy with a small p.

After listening to this episode, check out Tulip's and Mark Freedman's profile on social media:

• Tulip (@tulipinterfaces): https://tulip.co/ 
• Mark Freedman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markjfreedman/

Augmented is a podcast for leaders, hosted by futurist Trond Arne Undheim, presented by Tulip.co, the manufacturing app platform, and associated with MFG.works, the manufacturing upskilling community launched at the World Economic Forum. Each episode dives deep into a contemporary topic of concern across the industry and airs at 9 am US Eastern Time every Wednesday. Augmented--the industry 4.0 podcast.

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Augmentedpodcast.co or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars. If you liked this episode, you might also like episode 10 A Brief History of Manufacturing Software, episode 6 Human-Robot Interaction challenges, or episode 1 Automation to Augmentation - the podcast's vision to build a movement. Augmented--the industry 4.0 podcast.

Special Guest: Mark Freedman.

Augmented reveals the stories behind the new era of industrial operations, where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. 

In episode 17 of the podcast (@AugmentedPod), the topic is: Smart Manufacturing for All. Our guest is John Dyck, CEO at CESMII, the Smart Manufacturing Institute.

After listening to this episode, check out CESMII as well as John Dyck's social profile:

• CESMII: (@CESMII_SM) https://www.cesmii.org/ 
• John Dyck: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsdyck/ 

In this conversation, we talked about  democratizing smart manufacturing, the history and ambition of CESMII (2016-), bridging the skills gap in small and medium enterprises which constitute 98% of manufacturing. We discuss how the integration of advanced sensors, data, platforms and controls to radically impact manufacturing performance. We then have the hard discussion of why the US is (arguably) a laggard? John shares the 7 characteristics of future-proofing (interoperability, openness, sustainability, security, etc.). We hear about two coming initiatives: Smart Manufacturing Executive Council & Smart Manufacturing Innovation Platform. We then turn to the future outlook over the next decade.

Trond's takeaway: US manufacturing is a bit of a conundrum. How can it both be the driver of the international economy and a laggard in terms of productivity and innovation, all at the same time? Can it all be explained by scale--both scale in multinationals and scale in SMEs? Whatever the case may be, future proofing manufacturing, which CESMII is up to, seems like a great idea. The influx of smart manufacturing technologies will, over time, transform industry as a whole, but it will not happen automatically.

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Augmentedpodcast.co or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars. If you liked this episode, you might also like episode 8 on Work of the Future, episode 5 Plug-and-play Industrial Tech, or episode 9 The Fourth Industrial Revolution post-COVID-19. Augmented--the industry 4.0 podcast.

Special Guest: John Dyck.

Augmented reveals the stories behind the new era of industrial operations, where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers.

In episode 16 of the podcast (@AugmentedPod), the topic this week is: A female fighter in a manufacturing SME and our guest is Lena Jaentsch, Business Development Specialist at HERMA Group, a German manufacture, interviewed by futurist Trond Arne Undheim. 

In this conversation, we talk about being a champion for new, efficient modes of production, bringing customers value, and also being a young woman in manufacturing. We discuss the challenges in today's manufacturing companies to explore new business models and stay on top of digitalization, yet keep a holistic view. Lena is an innovation manager, and calls herself "a strong but mostly single fighter in the SME space". We discuss the war for talent and why young people don't choose manufacturing. We also discuss the need for a global manufacturing community to exchange information, tools, solutions, and experiences--especially for women.

After listening to this episode, check out Herma as well as Lena Jaentsch's social profile.

• Herma: https://www.herma.com/
• Lena Jaentsch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-jaentsch-8b0278191/

Trond's takeaway: With people like Lena on board, the future of any business would seem bright. She has the kind of limitless energy that characterizes what everyone should aspire to in the workforce. Moreover, she has the guts to go explore new things, learn, adapt, and implement. I predict Lena will move fast up the ladder. In small companies, you don't need many shopfloor managers like that, but you do need some, otherwise you will be left behind."

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Augmentedpodcast.co or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars. If you liked this episode, you might also like episode 11 Empowering Workers to Innovate, episode 3 Reimagine Training, and episode 2 How to Train Augmented Workers.  

Augmented--the industry 4.0 podcast.

Special Guest: Lena Jaentsch.

Augmented reveals the stories behind the new era of industrial operations, where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. 

In episode 15 of the podcast (@AugmentedPod), the topic is: Bottom up and Deep Digitization of Operations. Our guest is Dr. Damir Hrnjadovic, Managing Director, DMG MORI Digital GmbH

In this conversation, we talk about How DMG MORI was able to digitize their operations in a matter of weeks, using Tulip software. Lean, nocode startups are transforming experiences for factory owners because its shopfloor solutions are so easy to implement. We discuss whether nocode actually means process engineers can become independent from the IT department. Damir confirms that DMG MORI power users are able to do that even though not every shopfloor operator will create a Tulip application. We discuss upskilling in the German Mittelstand of small-and medium size businesses and how Damir feels like a time traveler when he encounters paper based processes on the shop floor.

After listening to this episode, check out DMG MORI as well as Dr. Damir Hrnjadovic's social profile.

• DMG MORI (@dmgmorieu): https://us.dmgmori.com/
• Dr. Damir Hrnjadovic (@DamirHrnjadovic): https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-damir-hrnjadovic-3ba0485b/

Trond's takeaway: It is striking to hear about how Damir at times feels like a time traveler when encountering paper based operations at the shop floor, at other times, he can experience bottom up, deep digitalization in a matter of weeks. How can those to co-exist? Clearly shopfloor change is uneven at the moment, depending on whether you heard the right digital gospel and what the attitude of the IT department is to introducing changes that democratize IT.

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Augmentedpodcast.co or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars. If you liked this episode, you might also like episode 3 How to Train Augmented workers or episode 10 A Brief History of Manufacturing Software. Augmented--the industry 4.0 podcast.

Special Guest: Dr. Damir Hrnjadovic.

Augmented reveals the stories behind the new era of industrial operations, where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. 

In episode 13 of the podcast (@AugmentedPod), the topic is: Get Manufacturing Superpowers. Our guest is Dave Evans, CEO & co-founder, Fictiv.

In this conversation, we talk about Building hardware, at the speed of software. How do you define manufacturing superpowers? Why are such superpowers possible and relevant now? We discuss specific industry 4.0 technologies, the emerging ecosystem of players in digital manufacturing, from e-Machine shop and 3D print platforms to manufacturing apps and manufacturing as a service. We discuss government engagement,? Buy America, trade wars, and where US positioning falls short, and we discuss the next decade.

After listening to this episode, check out Fictiv as well as Dave Evans's social profile.

• Fictiv: https://www.fictiv.com/
• Dave Evans (@makrdave): https://www.linkedin.com/in/evansda11/

Trond's takeaway: As exciting as the ecosystem of players in digital manufacturing is, we do need strong public sector policy to drive regulation which drives change so the superpowers Dave Evans talks about, including supply chain predictability, can get evenly distributed.

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Augmentedpodcast.co or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars. If you liked this episode, you might also like episode 5: on a Renaissance of Manufacturing or episode 7: on the Work of the Future. Augmented--the industry 4.0 podcast.

Special Guest: Dave Evans.

Augmented reveals the stories behind the new era of industrial operations, where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. 

In episode 12 of the podcast (@AugmentedPod), the topic is: Enterprise Wide Quality of Manufacturing. Our guest is Joseph DeFeo, CEO, Juran.

In this conversation, we talk about The history of Quality, its origins, the terms involved and the evolution of the field into Lean and Agile. We discuss persisting workforce challenges, emerging trends and best practices. We cover the Future outlook: What’s next? How to stay up to date?

After listening to this episode, check out Juran as well as Guest's social profile.

• Juran (@Juran_Institute): https://www.juran.com/
• Joseph DeFeo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-defeo-76869ba/

Trond's takeaway: Quality is a concept many instinctively would say they have a great handle on, but time and again, manufacturing consultants have uncovered through factory visits that they do not, whether they call it Quality, Agile or Lean. The processes that work are near timeless, but implementing them is unfortunately also a timeless task. Arguably, the productization of quality is coming and it will, like so many other things, also be tech enabled. 

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Augmentedpodcast.co or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars. If you liked this episode, you might also like episode 2: How to Train Augmented Workers or episode 9: The Fourth Industrial Revolution Post-COVID-19. 

Augmented--the industry 4.0 podcast.

Special Guest: Joseph DeFeo.

Augmented reveals the stories behind the new era of industrial operations, where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. 

In episode 11 of the podcast (@AugmentedPod), the topic is: Empowering Workers to Innovate. Our guest is  Robin Dechant, Founder, Future of Manufacturing Community.

In this conversation, we talk about Why Robin is so deeply interested in Manufacturing Innovation at such a ripe, young age? Also, how do you define manufacturing innovation? Why is it relevant now? Why should young people be excited about manufacturing? Why is upskilling so fundamental? What should people know about his new 'The Future of Manufacturing' community? How to scale upskilling? What’s next in the digital factory in the next 20 years.

After listening to this episode, check out the  as well as Robin Dechant's social profile.

• Future of Manufacturing Community: https://www.futureofmanufacturing.io/
• Robin Dechant (@robindchnt): https://www.linkedin.com/in/robindechant/

Trond's takeaway: Robin Dechant represents the future of manufacturing. He is young, he is deeply engaged in innovation, he tracks startups, talks to the whole community and wants to improve the ecosystem and is passionate about upskilling. Robin is an i4.0 native, one of many we will follow on this podcast.

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Augmentedpodcast.co or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars. If you liked this episode, you might also like episode 2: How to Train Augmented Workers or episode 3: Reimagine Training. Augmented--the industry 4.0 podcast.

Special Guest: Robin Dechant.

Augmented reveals the stories behind the new era of industrial operations, where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. 

In episode 9 of the podcast (@AugmentedPod), the topic is: The Fourth Industrial Revolution post-COVID-19. Our guest is Francisco, Betti, Head of Advanced Manufacturing and Production, World Economic Forum.

In this conversation, we talk about why he got into manufacturing and how the World Economic Forum works. We discuss how the Forum has changed over these past 5 years and how manufacturing has become the lead topic among the global elite. The manufacturing platform is now, arguably, the primary among 17 flagship initiatives at the World Economic Forum. We go deeply into the changing business models of manufacturing and what the next decade holds.

After listening to this episode, check out World Economic Forum as well as Francisco, Betti's social profile.

• World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/
• Francisco, Betti: https://www.linkedin.com/in/francisco-betti-10074342/?originalSubdomain=ch

Trond's takeaway: Manufacturing has escalated in prominence during COVID-19, and for good reason. What we can produce decides what we can become. The deep digitalization gains society has made over the past few years had to quickly be implemented on the factory floor. Surprisingly, a large part of the industry was ready. But the process now needs to complete and the results will likely be an entirely new production platform for the world. 

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Augmentedpodcast.co or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars. If you liked this episode, you might also like episode 4: A Renaissance of Manufacturing or episode 6: Work of the Future. Augmented--the industry 4.0 podcast.

Special Guest: Francisco Betti.