Jay Lee, a speaker at the marcus evans Manufacturing CXO Summit 2013, on what the manufacturing industry is missing today. Interview with: Jay Lee, Ohio Eminent Scholar & L.W. Scott Alter Chair Professor, Univ. of Cincinnati

1. Interview with: Jay Lee, Ohio
Eminent Scholar & L.W. Scott Alter
Chair Professor, Univ. of Cincinnati
What the manufacturing industry is
missing today is the ability to convert
data into meaningful information during
the production process, says Jay Lee,
Ohio Eminent Scholar & L.W. Scott Alter
Chair Professor, Univ. of Cincinnati.
“More data does not mean we can make
better decisions. There is a gap between
data, information and decisions. In
addition, we need to see the quality of a
product while the machine is still
making it,” he adds.
A speaker at the marcus evans
Manufacturing CXO Summit 2013, in
Las Vegas, Nevada, September 16-17,
Lee discusses what capabilities are
missing in manufacturing today.
How is big data challenging
manufacturers? How could they
overcome those issues?
The amount of data we can generate
from various sources is creating many
opportunities, but having more data is
not enough. We need tools to make
better decisions with that data. Right
now, a manufacturing company that
cares about quality, productivity,
throughput and delivery cannot easily
converge data to visualize content. It
needs tools to visualize product quality
before it is even produced. That is what
is missing today.
The data management systems most
companies use today for payroll, data
co llectio n, employee b enef its,
procurement, customer relations, and
so on, were built without any domain
knowledge.
These systems lack advanced analytics
tools, such as advanced correlation,
clustering, peer-to-peer reasoning, etc
techniques. Whether the company
makes automobiles or semiconductors
does not change how the data is
managed. These software solutions
simply provide a framework for data
analysis. Data analytics is different from
data analysis. Data analytics is to
transform data to meaning. These tools
do not really exist in manufacturing.
What opportunities are under-
utilized in this industry?
Many manufacturers get data from
devices provided by vendors, such as
sensors and controllers, but do not add
a robust software inside that can
directly analyze the data. The industry
is lacking open protocol software where
manufacturers can customize their
application.
What will it take to achieve this
vision that you have of the
manufacturing industry and how it
can better utilize data?
I define it with “5 Cs”: Collection, Cloud,
Content, Community and Cognition.
Understanding what data to collect is
the first step. Next is Cloud. We do not
have to depend on a central database,
as a Cloud can analyze data right away.
Thirdly, when the data is converted into
information, what is the Content you
need to know? Doctors can run 40
different tests on a single blood sample,
but manufacturers do not do that.
Fourth, Community. We do not use
experts every time, so we must share
our best practices with colleagues and
leverage expertise to help the younger
workforce catch up. Lastly, Cognition, so
when people visualize information it has
meaning for them.
These are the ways in which the
industry should develop a systematic
way for utilizing data.
How do these impact cost?
At the tip of the iceberg we see cost as
being an issue, but under the water lie
all the bigger problems of waste,
downtime and ineffective utilization of
resources. Manufacturers must figure
out the invisible evils out there without
generating more data just to
understand the current data. They
should tackle the lower hanging fruit
before considering opportunities.
Any final thoughts?
Although the manufacturing envi-
ronment is always changing, the
fundamentals of quality, productivity
and competitiveness do not change.
Manufacturers need to consider that
they do not know, and continuously
improve their competitiveness.
Manufacturers
must figure
out the
invisible evils
out there
How Manufacturers Can Better Utilize Data

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About the Manufacturing CXO Summit 2013
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exhibition or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed
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networking event. The Summit includes presentations on developing KPIs, strategic
manufacturing, global supply chain, solving the skill gap, and design for
manufacturability.
www.manufacturingcxosummit.com
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