“A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong”
– Tecumseh
1. What Other Area Is Data-Rich?
Supply chain, bruh. Artificial intelligence is making massive inroads into data-rich areas, and supply chain is one such concentration where the technology can harvest significant value. Managing your supply chain goals that are in line with organizational needs (like revenue) is a significant challenge. AI tools can be used to contain costs and delivery schedules. If you're a supplier and you think nobody cares about you, try missing a couple delivery dates.
2. Let's Get Real About Cybersecurity
It is not as hard as some people think. There are a ton of free tools for assessing and maintaining your infrastructure. Also, the government is leveraging these tools as part of its purchasing requirements. Security is one of the relationships where low cost and trust can go hand in hand like turkey and gravy.
3. What Is the Key to Digital Manufacturing?
Consistent data. Have you run a bar chart with data that even Excel doesn't know what to do with? It just spits out a bunch of hashtag symbols – or the percentages are multiplied by 100 in half the cells. Collecting harmonized data will accelerate your ability to solve problems faster.
4. C’mon – We’re Not Even Done With Industry 4.0
Now, people are talking about Industry 5.0. To be fair, those companies on the bleed edge are seeking the next advantage. Companies have quickly shifted from collecting data and visualizing equipment availability to predicting which assemblies might fail early due to a mismatch in tolerances. Expect to see more human-to-machine interactions both physically and digitally.
5. Man, I Miss Being a CAD Jockey.
Modeling complex geometries was my favorite part of design engineering. Need this interface to mount to the tapered cylinder of a bypass duct? Let's get our surface modeling on! The efficiency of modeling practices has come a long way with the intersection of robot process automation, virtual reality, and digital twins. I need to start yet another hobby.
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