The Operations Brief Roundtable · No. 01 ·
AI on the floor, past the hype
Where AI is actually showing up in industrial work, and what gets people to use it.
At the table
What we talked about
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Adoption shows up in how people act
Robert watches for the point where employees get comfortable with a tool and start advocating for it. In Robert's words, that's a really good sign.
Robert Wyse, Industronics Service Company -
Let it complement the work
Robert's team lets AI complement the work. Proposals are more sensitive, and Robert said people want a personal touch there.
Robert Wyse, Industronics Service Company -
The rules change by department
Matt sees traditional engineering departments kept away from AI because of IP and security risk. Supply chain is where Matt has seen it used more.
Matt Gargas, RDT -
Reading the reports is the hard part
Louis can produce a report in seconds. Reading it and doing something with it keeps getting harder. Louis called it information overload.
Louis Balla, Nuage -
Map the process before you automate it
Louis's advice is back to basics: has anyone even mapped the process? Louis thinks that in a lot of organizations, it's tribal knowledge from 20 years ago.
Louis Balla, Nuage -
Pick the scope on the shop floor
Matt has built spreadsheet tools that looked good and never got used. The better path, in Matt's view: walk the shop floor, talk to managers, staff and engineers, and narrow the scope to what would help their day-to-day work. Matt thinks that's how you get buy-in.
Matt Gargas, RDT
In their words
“It lets us handle lower-risk or mundane work and focus our effort on something more value-driven for our customers.”
Robert Wyse Owner, Industronics Service Company“It's almost like you need to go back to MBA-type business basics: have we thought through the entire process?”
Louis Balla CRO, Nuage“If someone walked the shop floor, talked to managers, staff, and engineers, understood what in their day-to-day work could be positively changed by implementing AI, and then set a narrower, appropriate scope of execution, I think you'd get a lot of buy-in.”
Matt Gargas Director of US Operations, RDT“When your employees start feeling comfortable and advocating for the platform or whatever you're working on, I think it's a really good sign.”
Robert Wyse Owner, Industronics Service CompanyWant a seat at a future table?
Panelists are operators, integrators and industrial vendors. Sessions are small and informal. If you'd like a seat, send us a note. You can also see every session and panelist.