Chris Holman welcomes back Tom Kelly, President & CEO, Automation Alley, Troy, MI. Watch Tom and Chris discuss Automation Alley and how the revamped Integr8 sessions are going in 2024, on the YouTube video shared below: 

Chris looked to find out several things from Tom in this conversation:

Q. Before we get started, can you remind us what Integr8 is? And what is the purpose of this series of roundtables?

What our members tell us is that there is so much happening right now in manufacturing with new technology that they are struggling to figure out what to invest in and what they should be doing to stay at the forefront of their industry. And that’s why we developed these roundtables – to pull together leaders across academia, government and manufacturing to help companies navigate these challenges and changes. We have to move from (providing) information to insight. We have to start helping companies decide what they need to do.

So this playbook that we just released is the first of 12 playbooks we will issue this year.

And they are all free – companies can come to interg8series.com to download.

Q. So, you just released the findings from your first roundtable. What was the focus? And can you tell us about your findings?

“Navigating the Future: Global Industry 4.0 Trends, Standards and Policy” is available to view or download at integr8series.com.

The playbook provides a comprehensive overview of the current Industry 4.0 landscape and offers a prospective outlook and recommendations to help companies adapt to the evolving digital transformation trends in the years to come.

Q. Based on this playbook what are the most important things manufacturers should be doing?

Global Trends playbook key takeaways:

· Learn from International Counterparts to Spark Innovation

· Create Flexible Global Standards to Promote Collaboration

· Transform Workforces for Industry 4.0 Success

· Invest in Infrastructure Readiness

· Identify Game-Changing Technology

· Deploy New Technologies Ethically

· Prioritize Cybersecurity Protection

Q. What will be the focus of the next roundtable and when does that playbook come out?

We just held our second roundtable discussion last week. It was focused on the pivotal role of the workforce in the age of digital transformation.

One of the biggest challenges in manufacturing has been the low unemployment rate and the difficulty in attracting and retaining skilled labor.

We talked about the challenges and opportunities companies can leverage through with new and evolving technologies, upskilling and reskilling and how to foster a culture of innovation.

The resulting playbook has been released:

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