Episode 1: Where to Begin a Digital Transformation

Industry 4.0 enthusiast and thought leader Jeff Winter and Smart Industry's Scott Achelpohl welcome you to the start of SI's monthly series of chats about how industrials large and small can embrace technology.

Jeff has joined us before, for a webinar and an Industry 4.0 article this year, but Smart Industry is pleased that he'll team with us once a month for (R)Evolutionizing Manufacturing.

Manufacturing use cases for artificial intelligence, digital twins, predictive maintenance, cybersecurity, IT and OT convergence, automation, robotics, VR-assisted manufacturing, data management and dynamic search ... you name it, Jeff and Scott will probably talk about it—and more.

During this premiere, we begin with the ground-floor topic of How and Where Industrials Can Start Their Digital Transformation Journey.

Questions Jeff answers in this episode:

1. What is the difference between Industry 4.0 and Digital Transformation?

2. How far along are we? And is there any manufacturer left who isn’t here, participating in this era. Jeff, what do you think? Where are we?

3. For small or medium-size manufacturers, what are some initial, low-cost steps they can take to begin their Industry 4.0 journey?

4. What areas of I 4.0, if any, should smaller companies avoid engaging on/in to ensure the highest ROI and minimal scope creep on their journey?

5. Who's still not on board with Industry 4.0? And why?

6. Can small enterprises compete effectively with larger corporations, and will it reduce the wealth gap? Or are we at risk of reliving the era of computerization and automation?

Link to Smart Industry’s original podcast page

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Sources Referenced:

• Giacomo Büchi, Monica Cugno, Rebecca Castagnoli, Smart factory performance and Industry 4.0, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 150, 2020, 119790, ISSN 0040-1625: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004016251931217X

• IoT Analytics - The rise of Industry 4.0 in 5 stats, 2022: https://iot-analytics.com/industry-4-0-in-5-stats/

• World Economic Forum - The Global Smart Industry Readiness Index Initiative: Manufacturing Transformation Insights Report 2022: https://www.weforum.org/whitepapers/the-global-smart-industry-readiness-index-initiative-manufacturing-transformation-insights-report-2022/

• World Economic Forum - Global Lighthouse Network (153 lighthouses): https://initiatives.weforum.org/global-lighthouse-network/lighthouses

• Industry Week’s 2024 Technology Survey: https://www.industryweek.com/technology-and-iiot/article/55041608/iiot-means-nothing-and-no-one-uses-generative-ai

• MESA - A Low-Risk, Incremental Approach to Smart Manufacturing for Small & Medium Manufacturers, 2022: https://www.pathlms.com/mesa/courses/39290

• Wikipedia - Luddite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

• Microsoft & MIT Technology Review - Taking aI to the next level in Manufacturing, 2024: https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/04/09/1090880/taking-ai-to-the-next-level-in-manufacturing/

• Rockwell Automation - 9th Annual State of Smart Manufacturing, 2024: https://www.rockwellautomation.com/en-us/capabilities/digital-transformation/state-of-smart-manufacturing.html