The Augmented Lean Manufacturing Experience

Over the past few days, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect upon recent trends in manufacturing practices due to technological advancements as well as the workforce response to those advances. Because my reflection happened as a live immersive experience instead of in a library or online, I’ve come to realize that we have it all wrong. You cannot start with technology, you have to start with the workforce. Nowhere is this more clear than when you start to consider the emptiness of the buzzwords we have used to guide this effort: industry 4.0, smart manufacturing, digital manufacturing and how far it is from the astonishment that I experience every time I go to work.?

These three buzzwords, in particular, don’t seem to have a specific meaning. Industry 4.0 simply refers to the last stage of a century-long evolution of industry which few of us reflect on on a daily basis–although perhaps we should. Industry 4.0 cleverly implies that stage 4 is somehow better without any such proof. However, the latest is not always the best in manufacturing. Smart manufacturing just adds “smart” presumably to signify some sort of technological fix. Digital manufacturing obviously emphasizes the binary logic of digital systems which allows faster, more structured communication, but otherwise could mean any number of things. Why is this a problem??

The issue here is that many technophiles skip the important first step of discovery. Discover what, you ask? Easy: you cannot contemplate putting new technology into your factory, shop floor or work bench without knowing what your problems are. That’s why the only folks who should fix things are those that actually have problems.?

Managers, for example, don’t have manufacturing problems. They have management issues. Executives, to be sure, have many issues, but they are rarely directly connected with or confronted with the individual worker’s problems, or even distinct operator issues, even though a manufacturing firm is only as strong as each individual worker. Instead, technophiles focus on putting in machines, robots, and testing the latest gadgets such as clunky AR-devices that don’t (yet) deserve the honorable distinction of being called wearables. I have not yet seen a truly wearable AR device that can comfortably be worn for a full work shift. When they arrive, I’ll be the first to put one on.?

Last week, Tulip, the frontline operations platform, opened its Experience Center in Somerville, Massachusetts. The rapidly scaling startup is a “frontline operations platform” because it connects the people, machines, devices, and systems used in a production or logistics process in a physical location. The experience center I got to help bring about doesn’t only display how Tulip is democratizing technology and empowering those closest to operations to solve problems–it lets you experiment with it yourself. I’m so excited to bring my kids there soon so they can see first hand what contemporary technology in combination with talented workers is doing to manufacturing and production lines in shop floors, factories, and supply chains that bring us the goods and services.?

Since not all of my readers would have had the chance to visit Tulip’s Experience Center yet (let me know and I’d be delighted to show you around), here’s my quick virtual guide, which in no way does justice to the experience, by the way.

I would start at what we call Mission Control, a massive dashboard map consisting of four huge monitors brought together, showing hashed data with live KPIs from global Tulip deployments. Imagine that: we can observe every time any of our customers opens an app and can monitor uptime, track quality issues, usage, and productivity patterns across the globe. The demo obviously contains hashed data and approximate locations to protect client privacy and security. Soon enough, Tulip customers will be able to do the same, increasing executive visibility of factory productivity, bottlenecks, training needs, and rollout of manufacturing execution technology worldwide, no matter how big or small.?In my view, giving operators mission control is even more powerful than giving executives the same.

Discrete Manufacturing is the next section. Here we find MIT’s Yo-Yo-making assignment for the introductory course 2.008 Design and Manufacturing II which Tulip has empowered with work instructions, guided assembly process steps, and quality tracking.?

Next, you can explore Inventory Management, being able to scan QR codes to fetch or replace inventory, ensuring you have a full overview of current inventory, upcoming needs, and disruptions to the supply chain.?

Quality Inspection with Stanley Black & Decker is fun because putting together a drill can be a bit complicated. Tulip’s app, however, tracks every step and lets you know if you’ve made a mistake so you can fix it right then and there and before you have sent it further along the conveyor belt. I certainly appreciate how well these drills work and knowing that they won’t break when I’m in the middle of an assembly job under my kitchen sink or in my workshop.?

The Vision Showcase is intriguing because you go from the Machine Shops to Machine Monitoring with the complex precision CNC machines of DMG Mori. I never imagined I would touch a CNC machine, let alone control the quality of its assembly through digital cameras.

Lastly, for Life Sciences, you can explore how the leading biotech companies conduct the important Weigh and Dispense process (and eat some M&Ms which were used to simulate pills as a bonus at the end of the demo), watch Batch Processing, explore the legally mandated step of keeping Logbooks (which now are digitized), as well as put on an AR headset to begin your first AI-enabled 3D Printing Production line.?When I say explore I mean you can actually touch, feel, and put your hand into the cleanroom through a glove.

It is important to note that even though each of these display stations demo technology at work, there is only as much technology here as is needed, never more. Many of the components are off the shelf and can be purchased from any electronics store or can be ordered with two-day shipping from the revolutionary online manufacturing parts store Vention.?

If we expect new generations of talent to flock to manufacturing to fill the one million jobs currently open only in the US, we have to let them discover it for themselves. Tulip has taken a first step to opening up futuristic manufacturing practices to today’s manufacturers, students, and professionals in any field. This is part of what Tulip CEO and co-founder Natan Linder and I call Augmented Lean. Our book is in pre-order now and will be out this fall.?

Connect with us, experience the evolving shop floor, and join the conversation on what is different about Augmented Lean. I hope it is clear that Lean + Digital only makes interesting word constellations (e.g. Digital Lean or Lean Digital) but augmenting the human workforce with meaningful, non-obtrusive technologies is a whole another matter entirely. Augmenting something means adding value, not just adding together. It also means that the end result is altered, as anybody who has played an augmented chord on a musical instrument can attest to. Children state that augmented chords convey a sense of astonishment, magic and wonder. That’s what we are looking for in tomorrow’s manufacturing. But wait? It is happening today.?

There is a method to the madness and we have personally worked with some of the largest and most successful industrial manufacturing corporations worldwide, such as Stanley Black & Decker, J&J, and DMG MORI, to explore and implement Augmented Lean management throughout their operations.?Stanley's Manufactory in Hartford, CT is another place to experience this new wave in manufacturing.

We should be careful about introducing technology before we know what we want to use it for. Technology is costly. Bad tech is even damaging. Machines that we don’t know how to use properly soon enough end up just taking up valuable factory floor space. In the interim, we should spend a lot of time doing discovery.?

Augmented Lean has to do with striking a balance between hacking the process even before we see bottlenecks appear and governing the operations with clear standards, minimalistic principles, and Lean practices that are commonly understood and make sense to the workforce. At the end of Augmented Lean, you sprinkle just the right amount of technology on top. You never start with technology, you start with the problem you want to solve.?

What if your in-person workday consisted mostly of astonishment, magic and wonder? I think you would want to come in to work and would leave hybrid work for another day. That’s the promise of today’s manufacturing environment when it is set up as an Augmented Lean management experience where everyone is a manager of sorts and has the knowledge and insight to provide input on how things can always improve, day by day.