What’s left to learn on Day 3 of the Smart Industry Conference? Plenty.
Breakfast sessions started the day. In one room, Jason Andersen of presenting sponsor Stratus Technologies provided a personal case study that he described as “A behind-the-music tour of how we figured out our approach to cybersecurity.” The trick is rethinking the entire infrastructure. The IT approach to “this edge thing,” he said, is not the right approach.
Nearby at the other breakfast session, the inaugural class of the Influential Women in Manufacturing was celebrated with a series of inspiring presentations. This collection of professionals includes executives and engineers, scientists and technology directors from a spectrum of fields. This they have in common: they’re doing exceptional work in Industry 4.0.
Plenary sessions followed, with Accenture’s Brian Irwin providing tips for leveraging new, digital business models for growth. Some 70% of the value in a product can derive from the service and digitalization of it, he opined. In the second morning plenary presentation, Simon-Kucher & Partners’ Adam Echter explained how the increased complexity of modern manufacturing is changing the way products are monetized.
Conference-goers then broke off into smaller sessions focused on accelerating product development and maintenance analytics, 3D printing and machine learning.
All then gathered for one last luncheon session hosted by Haresh Malkani of the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute, who shared his perspective on the democratization of smart, sustainable manufacturing. “Everyone is beginning to see this journey the same way,” he said in his opening remarks, which was particularly true to the digital-pioneers in the audience.
