Eric Cowan is vice president of Industry 4.0 solution delivery and automation at Stanley Black & Decker. He joins us to discuss the hard and soft skills necessary for a successful digital transformation in manufacturing. Key topics covered include ensuring adoption of new solutions, upskilling, future predictions, and how mid- and small-sized manufacturers can embrace Industry 4.0 advancements.

Data analytics is one of the hottest buzzwords in manufacturing today and, as a data scientist with GE Digital, Sarah Lukens specializes in it. In this episode, Sarah talks about combing through as many as millions of data points, then transforming them into actionable insights for manufacturing. She explains industrial AI, technical language processing, and moving form predictive to prescriptive analytics.

Susanne Lauda is director of global advanced manufacturing technology at AGCO. She discusses Manufacturing 4.0 examples, challenges, and best practices related to agricultural machinery and precision agriculture technology. A member of the Women in Manufacturing Education Foundation Board of Directors, Susanne also shares her experience and outlook on the future of women in the field.

Edward Hightower is managing director of Motoring Ventures and author of the book Motoring Africa: Sustainable Automotive Industrialization. He joins us to discuss the topic of sustainable industrialization and how he's putting his years of experience in automotive product design and engineering at big-name brands to work to help drive more automotive manufacturing in Africa.

Max Reynolds, co-founder and CEO of Symbio Robotics, discusses how software-based technology can help manufacturers retrofit existing automation in final assembly. He explains the power of artificial intelligence, forced feedback, computer vision and machine learning to “push the final frontier of automation” and modernize robot programming processes.

Rick Oppedisano, president and CEO of Delta Bravo AI, joins us to discuss working with manufacturers to transform the data they collect on the factory floor into predictive models that optimize operations. He covers the role artificial intelligence can play in preventative maintenance, predictive quality, reducing scrap, demand and inventory movement forecasting, as well as increasing general throughput. He also shares best practices for investing in-house versus hiring an outside partner in predictive analytics.

Shameka Lewis, associate manager of global environment, health and safety with toymaker Mattel, covers employee health and safety in the face of COVID-19 and overall, in addition to the topic of women in manufacturing. She shares pandemic-fueled approaches to EHS she expects to stick, cultivating a culture of safety, and being a woman in a male-dominated industry, among other things.