Willem Sundblad was born into the manufacturing world in Sweden as part of a family with a long history in the pulp & paper industry. As the Co-Founder and CEO of Oden Technologies, he’s continuing that legacy in the US through his company, one that’s leading the charge in the machine learning space.

In this episode, Willem digs into the heart of the machine learning discussion in manufacturing. He highlights the process of integrating it into a company and why the culture of the workforce is key to success. Willem shares his thoughts on guided analytics and explains how intelligent alerts can improve efficiency across the board.

Willem rounds off the discussion by explaining how Oden Technologies is helping to solve some of the common problems in manufacturing and how machine learning will impact the workforce.

In this episode, find out:

• Why applying new technologies to a company is so challenging
• How machine learning and narrow AI work in the context of manufacturing
• How guided analytics work
• When to know you’re ready for machine learning
• Why the adoption of machine learning is about culture and the workforce
• How Oden Technologies is helping to solve common problems in manufacturing

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Tweetable Quotes:

• "You want the skill and the will in the factory to be high.”
• “Machine learning can be really effective at actually understanding the true patterns.”
• “The real challenge was to really understand user behavior, the manufacturer, the real problems that you're trying to solve, and working on the machine-to-machine angle, wasn't really going to drive that.”

Links & mentions:

• Oden Technologies, industrial IoT and analytics software for manufacturers
• Willem Sundblad, Forbes Contributor
• Åre, one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts
• Akvavit, a distilled spirit that is principally produced in Sweden
• Malort, “Like a Schnapps, but instead of peppermint, it’s flavored with screams of the damned” 

Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.