Making continuous improvements with a connected workforce
A connected worker can make continuous improvements by using technology to improves processes and make better decisions.
Connected worker insights
- Emphasizing technology over continuous improvement has stagnated productivity, as data lacks context for meaningful action in manufacturing.
- The connected worker plays a crucial role in interpreting data, bridging technology and problem-solving to enhance manufacturing processes.
While technology has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade with the rise of the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Industry 4.0, smart factories and so on, there has been a curious paradox: Labor productivity has stagnated during that period.
Why is that?
Eric Whitley, director of industrial transformation at L2L, said the emphasis on technology rather than making continuous improvements is the biggest reason why in his presentation “Transforming Continuous Improvement: The Role of AI and Connected Worker Technology” at IMTS 2024 in Chicago.
Before the outsized emphasis on technology, Whitley said there was a stronger emphasis on process with methodologies on lean manufacturing, Kaizen, Toyota and Six Sigma, among others.
The rise of IIoT and Industry 4.0 has obvious benefits by giving manufacturers an enormous amount of information that shows what’s happening throughout the plant. The problem is, according to Whitley, there hasn’t been much emphasis on developing processes that help manufacturers do their job better with the data they’ve been given. It hasn’t been turned to information they can use to do their jobs better. It’s just… there. A lot of numbers and facts and figures without the needed context to help them take the next step.
Eric Whitley, director of industrial transformation at L2L, in his presentation “Transforming Continuous Improvement: The Role of AI and Connected Worker Technology” at IMTS 2024 in Chicago. Courtesy: Chris Vavra, WTWH Media
The connected worker’s role in manufacturing
Whitley said about manufacturing and the production struggles they face today: “We have to get back to the thought process of improvement. We need to have a problem-solving thought process.”
He said there were four things workers can emphasize right away:
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Availability. Work at improving things such as downtime, predictive and preventive maintenance, spare parts and inventory, asset management, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and more.
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Performance. Improve processes such as throughput, cycle time, changeover, order leveling and material shortages.
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Quality. Perform layered process audits, examine product inspection and run settings and find ways to reduce scrap and rework.
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Workforce development. Improve employee training and digitize work instruction and knowledge management as well develop better SOPs and improve skills development.
The connected worker plays a key role in all this by acting as the middle layer in the data sandwich, Whitley said. On the one side are the large structural pieces of data coming from a manufacturing execution system (MES) or asset management system holding the data set together. On the other side are the control systems such as the programmable logic controller (PLC) or supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. The connected worker is in the middle gathering and interpreting the data.
“We need to get better at collecting the manual information that allows the worker to see what’s happening at the shop floor,” Whitley said.
That’s especially important because the manufacturing worker today is younger and accustomed to technology and they aren’t going to stick around if a manufacturing facility is still dependent on the pencil and clipboard.
“They know there’s ways to go grab and get the information easier,” Whitley said.
The connected worker will have a great deal of data at their fingertips, but they need the right process and methods to make the best use of what they have. Courtesy: Chris Vavra, WTWH Media
Technology and the PDCA cycle
Technology is a tool and can be beneficial, but it has to be used to solve problems and be part of the process instead of being the process. Technology, Whitley said, has to help turn the wheel faster in the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle. Manufacturers need to improve visibility, retain workers, increase onboarding speed for workers and make sure the data gets to the right person at the right time.
Artificial intelligence (AI) can help the connected worker because it can gather all the data and synthesize it into something workers can evaluate. Many forward-thinking manufacturers are already looking to using AI to improve their manufacturing and maintenance processes.
Even with that optimism, it still comes down to using AI the right way and finding ways to improve throughput and performance.
“We’ve gotta turn this and get better,” Whitley said. “Manufacturers should focus on improvement and availability, performance and quality and the people and the labor issue. We’ve always been good at solving problems so let’s turn to this.”
Chris Vavra, senior editor, Control Engineering, WTWH Media, cvavra@wtwhmedia.com.
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