Unlocking Operator Performance to Reduce Errors and Improve Quality

Welcome to the Industry 4.0 Club's fireside chat. The club's purpose is to engage the power of diverse worldwide talent to accelerate the global evolution to Industry 4.0. We accomplish this by hosting and supporting respectful, thoughtful, and interdisciplinary open conversations and creating quality content on wide-ranging Industry 4.0 topics to expand the reach of our community. My name is Mike Ungar, and I am the CEO of the Industry 4.0 Club. I have over 40 years of leadership and manufacturing experience, most of that with Michelin. I'm joined today by my co-host, Mike Yost, who happens to be the chairman of the club. Mike, would you mind introducing yourself, please?

Not at all, Mike. Thank you. As Mike said, my name is Mike Yost. I am the volunteer chairman of the Industry 4.0 Club, one of its co-founders, and along with Mike, the co-host of our regular fireside chats here. So I've been in industry about 35 years, the last half of it spent in the industrial nonprofit side. So the first half of my career spent on the solution provider side, and I actually worked a good bit with Brandon and heard really good things about Scott. So I'm really excited to talk here today. Our topic is going to be unlocking operator performance to reduce errors and improve quality. We have Scott Wolbers and Brandon Kenning here with us. And by way of introductions, Brandon is the president of Matrix Automation, and he leverages nearly 20 years of experience providing manufacturing execution systems to companies making diverse products from automotive Tier 1 sub-assemblies and HVAC equipment to mobility medical devices such as motorized wheelchairs. His expertise centers around digital complex assembly, enabling frontline workers and continuous improvement with digital innovation. I've seen it firsthand, it's good stuff. Scott Wolbers has nearly 40 years of plant management experience with Woodbridge Group and Tower Automotive. He served as a longtime plant manager, as well as an operations manager, a TPS facilitator, and a continuous improvement leader. Now, as a Lean consultant, Scott has led innovative Industry 4.0 solution creation, while building teams with a can-do attitude. So for those of you that are listening here on LinkedIn today, if you'd like to participate, please go ahead and drop questions or comments into the, into the comments field, and we will do our best to, to get to them. So with that, welcome, Scott, and welcome, Brandon.

Thank you. Well, it's great to have you guys with us as well. Thanks for taking time to join us. So maybe we'll start, Scott, just to get us going. You know, you have broad, you really have quite a broad background and extensive Lean experience. I think for me, one of the first questions that I'm curious about is Industry 4.0, how does that get integrated into Lean to ensure that we keep a people-centered approach that Lean is very, very well known for?

Well, I think 4.0, Ultimately brings all the wastes and the sins of the past forward so that we can move forward sin-free, if you will, with happier customers and happier people in our workforce.

Yeah, so go a little deeper on that. So I know, so I have some background with Lean, and I know, I, you know, 5 years ago I was scared to death to bring technology in and Because I was worried it would impact the culture that we had worked so hard to establish, the Lean culture. What's your experience with that, Chuck, in terms of integrating Industry 4.0 into Lean thinking?

I believe you're spot on that you have to have both. You have to be working your culture along with the 4.0 and the Lean. But what I've also found is over time, the workforce puts their arms around it, And you can move forward at a faster pace when everybody's on the same page. I hope that answered your question.

Yeah, I'm sorry, Mike, I'm just going to jump in. In your bio, Scott, it mentions that you're a Toyota Production Systems facilitator. I know when I was starting my career in the space, a lot of people would point to lean and say there's no place for technology. All right, but we were working, the organization I was working with was working with Toyota, and they were actually using quite a bit of technology to gather the data and present it, and I guess uncover some of the sins, as you were talking about before. So, is there a connection there, possibly, between the Toyota Way and the Lean principles and the The visibility that you can get with these new solutions?

Most definitely. And most recently, posting things that used to be on paper within the Toyota Way, and I'm sure they've evolved as well. I was actually trained by Toyota, so I started out doing everything on paper. But when you put everything up on a digitized screen and you can see the value stream, You can actually see the waste as well. And so the digitization holds the changes that you make true as you go into the future. But digitization is probably the greatest thing that I've seen in the industry. And again, I come from a really old-school background where we did it the wrong way for years. And now the possibilities are unlimited and perfection is definitely achievable.

And that— so if I could jump in real quick, you know, Lean's always been about people, right? Identifying ways, solving problems, making improvements stick, right? But Industry 4.0 doesn't replace that, it just strengthens it, right? You combine MES, IoT, digital work instructions, you know, we standardize the digital the, the digitized, standardized work stuff, capturing data in real time, eliminating non-value-added tasks like manual reporting. Operators get that instant feedback, right? Bottlenecks are clearly visible. Like Scott was saying, up on screens you can see, you know, blocks and stars, and, you know, that continuous improvement cycle just accelerates and And just as importantly, everyone talks about automation and cobots and robots. Industry 4.0 creates a path to better jobs, essentially, not fewer jobs, right? Because you take technology, it'll maybe replace the repetitive or manual tasks, but you reskill those operators, right? They're now in system setup or data analytics or even cobot programming themselves, right? So that makes lean easier to sustain. You know, it shows the workforce that technology is there to empower them, not replace them. And it's, you know, you're just helping operators succeed shift after shift and giving them opportunities for, you know, future in manufacturing, right?

So yeah, so if I can follow up on what you said, then that's from your experience in implementing projects with different manufacturers, can you give an example of where, you know, if you close your eyes and think about Joe or Jane or somebody you remember about the before and after, where because of something with Industry 4.0, their engagement has gone up and what happened?

Well, you know, in terms of You know, specific examples, you know, I think, you know, we've seen a lot of results in diverse industries, but obviously Woodbridge, where we worked with Scott for a number of years, has seen great results. And Scott, I don't know if you wanna talk about those. I don't want to steal the thunder since you're the one using the application, not me.

You're on a roll. Keep going, Brandon.

But, you know, I guess another example would be Pride Mobility where, you know, they needed consistent quality across multiple plants building motorized wheelchairs. And using MES to standardize those digital work instructions, you know, they reduced operator errors, created traceability needed for FDA compliance.

compliance.

So that not only improved quality but also gave leadership confidence that every product met the same standard regardless of where it was being built. So when we digitize that operator experience, you know, quality just becomes built in instead of inspected in.

One of the things that I think is really interesting Is that some of the things that I think Brandon and Scott probably take for granted. I already heard terms like standard work and— whoops, sorry, I'm giving thumbs up here. Things like standard work, right? And the environments that they work in, an automotive Tier 1 environment where you're getting orders on a very short timeframe with the opportunity or the expectation to bring the finished product, even if it's a subassembly, to the end customer in a matter of hours in the right sequence, just in time, build to order, you know, error-proofed, all that kind of stuff. And so I think that in order to do those things, there are some fundamental things that I don't even know if you guys recognize how valuable that is to the outside world. The principles apply of building quality in and understanding standard work and digitizing that and, you know, being able to trace things.

Pool systems.

Yeah, yeah, pool systems. I mean, I think it's pretty amazing stuff, and I think that probably more valuable or more— yeah, probably even more valuable than you recognize. So, Brandon, I know from your perspective, you work with a lot of different customers, a lot of different manufacturers in a lot of different industries. You mentioned mobility devices, complex assemblies in automotive, appliance industry, medical devices, etc. When you engage, you probably likely engage with the business leaders, there, right, in talking about future plans and the types of systems that they're looking to get at. What's the typical engagement look like for you guys as you're engaging with systems that are going to impact the plant floor folks and then working with guys like Scott or counterparts of his in the different business? How do leaders like to talk about these types of Solutions and systems?

Well, you know, when we talk about, you know, Industry 4.0 projects like MES, you know, there's 2 different conversations, right? There's a C-level conversation that you have, obviously the nuts and the bolts and the dollar signs, but when you get down to the floor, you know, it's, you know, overall you're just making sure that the operators see that technology is something that helps them, that You know, nobody likes to be monitored, right? You know, that big brother looking over your back, right? So, you know, a project like MES, it helps. It gives people clear digital work instructions, right? Like I said before, real-time guidance, error-proofing. But, you know, at the end of the day, they feel more confident in the work that they're doing, right? You know, we've written about this in a couple blogs. One of them actually, I think, titled Operator Confidence and Retention. And a few others on digital work instruction, but they all highlight that new hires often get, quite frankly, overwhelmed with the, you know, the thick paper manuals or trying to absorb, you know, years of tribal knowledge through OJT, right? But with digital tools, we flip that experience. So operators are guided, supported, and engaged from day 1. I think—

Yeah.

That makes all the difference. If you can help them engage, then it just makes that process easier and then they adopt it and they champion it themselves.

That's neat. Well, I think what you're describing, I think if we can connect the dots to something else, then we talk about a shortage of workers that we have today in manufacturing and the concern about that only growing over time. I think what I hear you saying is that this may actually be attracting more— make manufacturing more attractive for the worker of the future. What do you think about that? I mean, am I thinking about this the correct way or not?

Oh, certainly. Certainly. Retention improves when, when people feel capable and confident, right? Um, I don't know how many times we've seen situations where an operator will quit before lunch on day 1 because they're just overwhelmed, right? Um, but MES changes that. Like I said, you know, it— by guiding them step by step, giving them feedback, helping them to exceed quickly, um, that confidence keeps people from walking away. And then on the attraction side, perception matters, right? We've all heard the quote, but manufacturing isn't dark, dirty, and dangerous anymore, right? The 3 Ds. Today's plant floor, it's digital, right? It's data-driven and it's safe. And when younger workers see that, it changes their perception of Manufacturing is a career, right? You know, that, and, you know, overall, people, people don't quit when they feel supported. And I, I feel MES operator, you know, it helps them be more confident, capable, and, and proud to do their work.

So Scott, maybe from your vantage point, you have a long, long history. You refer to yourself as an old-school manufacturing guy. So plant leadership, et cetera. This point that Brandon and Mike are exploring as far as making it more exciting, connecting with the younger generation potentially, have you seen that? Like, what was it like when you were looking at your responsibilities as a plant manager, as an example, and evaluating the opportunities or the options out there to move forward and you say, hey, I want to bring in some technology, solutions. Maybe talk a little bit about how you position that kind of stuff, either with other leaders in the business or, you know, the operators themselves.

Sure. We're back to that culture discussion where everyone wants to be on a winning team. And part of that culture development is celebrating successes. And With the MES system that we put in place 20-some years ago and, and evolved it with the industry, what we found was we were having nonstop celebrations. We had perfect safety, we had perfect quality, 5 years with 0 parts per million in defects. Imagine the celebration a plant manager wants to have when you're doing that. And productivity, unlimited gains in productivity and profitability. And that's what everybody wants. Everybody wins. The customer's happy, the people are happy, and you can flip that around and do more for the people when you're making more money and you're celebrating successes on a regular basis.

Yeah, that's, that's so true. No, I think I appreciate the culture conversation. It's so important. One of the things I think leaders don't spend enough time on and realize is that the culture is essential for— we talk about attracting and retaining, but really overall for sustaining the changes, whether that's lean changes or Industry 4.0 technology changes. Without that right culture, these things tend to come and go. But You know, is that, is that the same thing you've seen as well?

Oh, definitely. And, uh, you know, I'd love to tell you a quick story where over 21 years in the same facility with record-breaking taking place almost every day, our MES system, uh, was strong. People rallied behind it. But ultimately, it was removing people as we eliminated waste. We posted a letter saying, no one will ever lose their job due to continuous improvement activity, but then you have to really walk that talk. We started to take our teammates to trainings and before long, and I guess one of my greatest successes that I think I've achieved is watching that come full circle. Where operators that once worked on the shop floor literally went to a catalog, purchased a collaborative robot, installed it, and programmed it. And you talk about an evolution, all linked to that MES system, and everybody won once again. Happy customer, happy teammates, and Safety, quality, and productivity flourishes, right?

Yeah, that, that's— I mean, I just want, I guess, first of all, just to remind everybody, if you're interested in chiming in here or asking any questions, we have Brandon Kenning from Matrix Automation and Scott Wolbers, Lean consultant and retired ops leader from Woodbridge Group. Lots of experience here. So If you have questions, go ahead and jump in here. You know, I just think your point, you know, the focus of the conversation is around empowering the— or unlocking operator performance to drive the gains you're talking about. And Scott's talked about the profitability improvements and the safety improvements and, you know, the quality improvements and things like that. I mean, those are fantastic results. And again, the point about celebrating the successes and making winning teams, I think, is really, really important. And, you know, one of the things that I think is a really touchy subject in industry is sort of the vendor world and the manufacturer world. And a lot of times there's a concern of, you know, where do vendors fit and are they looking out for themselves versus looking out for, you know, the manufacturers, et cetera? When you're celebrating these victories and these results and stuff, I'm wondering, Scott, how inclusive your partners were that helped you get there, like your external partners, like Brandon and his team. Were they— Did people recognize the fact that they were a valuable part of what you guys were delivering on?

Most definitely. You know that when the pressure's on. Over those years, we had some interesting experiences, cyberattack. You want to talk about partnering and you want to talk about the importance of a great working relationship with your vendor, I couldn't be happier running a just-in-time facility to have Matrixx as a partner where when you need to make a midnight phone call and someone on the other end answers and goes to work.

Mm-hmm.

It was an amazing experience and we came through that unscathed and there aren't many that can say that. So it's been a great working relationship. You know, both at the leadership level and on the shop floor. Very respected.

Yeah, thank you, Scott. I appreciate that. Well, and you know, it's— you know, we look at every one of our customers as a partner, right? I mean, you know, when they succeed, we succeed. And hence why Woodbridge has been a customer for over 20 years. We've had customers over 30 years. We've had customers over 40 years. Um, you know, it's that, hey, we're partners for life, right? Whatever you need, we'll provide a solution for it. And, you know, support is a huge issue nowadays, right? It's, you know, not an automated chatbot, not an automated line. We pick up the phone, we answer it, and we get our team on board.

So yeah, that's good.

Thanks, Scott. I appreciate that plug.

Hey, we've got a question. Maybe I'll throw up a question, maybe that for us to look at here from Wilson. So his question is, usually old-school operators tend to be more resistant to new technology deployment on the shop floor. On the other hand, young people are not interested in working in labor such as manufacturing operations. How do we bring these things together? I think it's how do you manage both the older generation and the younger generation? Maybe Scott or Brandon, who would like to start?

Scott?

Mm-hmm.

Got it. Yeah, it's— that's a great question. And what you'll find when you've had some time involved in a strong MES system, people know they make mistakes. We're human. And when MES is catching your mistakes, there's no questioning it. The system really works well with the operators, and over time, there were no old-school operators left because everybody appreciated the fact that their mistakes were being caught. And not all mistakes are major, but they're all highlighted, at least at the operator level, so the operator can correct that mistake before that defect moves on to the next. So I guess that's my answer to the question. The system helps young and old.

Yeah, and I kind of alluded to that a little bit ago when we talked about, you know, that it's perception, right? Perception of the industry. Where is that next generation of workforce coming from? And, you know, Everyone thinks of the 3Ds, right, that are dangerous. And it's, you know, being able to get out of that mindset and show them the new digital plant floors, right, and these new technologies that, like I said, it's the perception of they're working for me, not monitoring me, right? And if you could— you can show them that and you can prove them that— prove to them that that's the case, then you see a little bit better adoption rate. And coming in, you know, out of the blue to somebody who has, you know, doesn't even know how to spell MES, right? And we're running in with all this technology. Yeah, sure. A lot of people are like, you know, this is too much. We have a clipboard and an Excel spreadsheet.

Yeah.

And that's all we need and we're good, right? And it's like, okay, you have to like, okay, well, what about this little option? You know, hey, we can make this mundane task go away. Like, oh, that's great. Yeah, that's perfect. You know, and then, I mean, we could sell an entire MES system on one little piece. You know, I saved somebody 15 minutes a day, right? So it's— yeah, and it is, you know, you have the older generation that, you know, they're used to doing it the The same way, that tribal knowledge, right? We're a bunch of squirrels with our nuts, and no one likes to share because that's job security. But, you know, it's how do you get to that next level? And I think, you know, if that the digital age with the younger folks and, you know, Scott, you mentioned the whole gaming before when we were talking, that whole gaming aspect. I don't know if you want to— If you wanted to add that here, but—

Well, once you digitize everything in a workspace, and the idea first popped into my head watching my grandson bowl on a Wii. And I thought, boy, if that same sensor that's monitoring his hands and knows where his ball is going to go in this virtual game, And you put that process into the workforce, into a workstation, and you monitor every movement that's made. How incredible would it be? And, and the visual I give people is you come to work and the gentleman that runs his operation as close as possible to the perfect desired state We'll get a scorecard at the end of the day. And so having this leaderboard up on the wall showing each and every one in the facility who's the master of that operation, it adds an element of challenge, but it turns work into more of a video game. And I think that would really bode well for the younger generation. to actually have a score and, uh, it worked from there.

Yeah, yeah, we see that. They call it gamifying, um, the, the role, right? And, and even like competition in that same role shift over shift, right? Like who, who's got the highest score for that day, right? Which shift had the most? And, you know, you see it on a bigger scale with, you know, parts, you know, built and stuff like that per shift. But when you boil it down and you can quarterback rank your employees, right? Like, and some people can do higher complex things, they have better scores at those, and you can shift resources around. Yeah, it's a great tool. And like Scott pointed out, you know, people, you know, this new generation, they're all about, you know, gamifying things and how can I be better than the guy next to me?

Yeah, I think I Listening to all of this, I mean, I think it's still gonna come back to the culture that you guys have been talking about all along, right? If you have the data and you say, we're not gonna use it against you, and then it ends up proving otherwise, then you're gonna lose that trust and you're gonna drive people away.

Yep.

So I think it's, again, probably a reality that you guys have forgotten how important it is because it's just part of your everyday thinking. But I think that's really, really important. And, you know, I'm wondering, we're talking about the future generation here, right? We're talking about the next generation of workers and such. So you guys, where do you see manufacturing going? Like, if you had to look out and share perspectives on what you think is coming next in manufacturing, what do you guys see for the future of manufacturing, technology-oriented or otherwise?

Well, I mean, we definitely see, you know, the industry moving toward more operator augmentation, right? So you have MES guiding the human, and then you have the new AI models, right? They're analyzing performance, and then you're using cobots and robots to assist execution. You know, compliance and traceability, they're non-negotiable in industries like automotive, aerospace, you know, medical devices, right? But, you know, MES ensures, you know, every step is captured, every product is documented. And as more analytics and IoT tools converge on MES, you know, factories just, they're just become smarter, right? But they're still people-centered, right? Operators remain critical. And it's, I don't think the next evolution is lights-out factories. I think it's smarter factories where, you know, Industry 4.0 digital tools just— they empower operators to perform flawlessly, right? That's our end goal, right? And Scott's seen it with zero parts per million, so it's attainable, right? It's just, you know, it's— but there's disciplines on both sides. There's discipline on, you know, the operator from the top down, right? Fish thinks from the head down. So It's that culture again, right? It's all about culture and how you adopt the technology.

Scott, how about you? Where do you see things headed?

You know, when I look for the new and better way, I call Brandon because they're the experts that made me successful the first time around. But really, I do see digitization being The ultimate perfection of everything— safety, quality, and productivity— can all be enhanced through digitization in the workplace.

Excellent. Well, thank you guys. So as we get ready to wrap up, I guess we've been talking with Scott Wolbers and Brandon Kenney for about the last 30 minutes about unlocking operator performance to reduce errors and improve quality in manufacturing. As we're getting ready to wrap up here today, wanted just to ask you guys for some final thoughts for our audience. Mike, you want to start us off, what you've heard, and then maybe we'll go to Scott and then Brandon?

Yeah, I would actually. I'd like to sort of pull something out again that I think we're talking with people here who don't realize sometimes the depth of the power of some of the things that they're uncovering. And so I want to go back to the point where Scott was talking about the support that he's had and making midnight phone calls and getting somebody to pick up the phone for Matrixx and jump into action. And I think that's really, really critical because oftentimes nowadays the conversation around technology seems like it can do it all, right? You train an AI and bang, we're lights out, you know, whatever, whatever. But manufacturing is still very much about personal relationships, people that you can trust, people that you can count on. So I really think that, you know, going back to the previous question about the future, I see folks building ecosystems where they have trusted partners that they can rely on. And if you're going to walk into this kind of an environment and talk to somebody like Scott, who has responsibility to keep lines running and, you know, people employed and safe and customers happy, you're going to have to be with them for the long term. So I think that was stated. I'd just like to restate how important that is.

Thanks, Mike. Scott, what are your final thoughts for the audience that you'd like to share?

It's not easy, but you really do need that partner, and you put your pencil down and, and go to work, and you can get there. And we do take a lot of it for granted when we're looking back over successes, but there was a lot of work that went in up front. And having a good partner, that's what it's all about.

Yeah.

Thank you. Brandon, how about yourself? Final thoughts for the audience today?

I just probably— I'd close by saying that, you know, the future of manufacturing isn't people versus machines, right? It's people empowered by machines. So operators are always gonna be the heartbeat of production, period. MES, digital work instructions, yeah, that, you know, We make their jobs easier, safer, make 'em more effective. And when the operators perform at their best, the factories perform at their best, plain and simple. You know, if anyone's interested in how to make that a reality in your own operations, you know, we'd love to connect and show you what we're doing and how we're helping other manufacturers not only unlock operator performance, but raising the bar on quality, like Scott pointed out.

Well, thank you so much for that. And so, Brandon, Scott, thank you very much for, for taking the time out of your schedules to share with us a bit about your insights about engaging people really to improve results on the shop floor. So thank you for your time.

Sure. Thanks for having us.

Thanks. So yeah, the Industry 4.0 Club, we'd like to encourage you to take action. I think if you've been listening at all today, hopefully you've got some thoughts on what you should be doing next. We want to focus on helping you deploy Industry 4.0. You can read an article, get a little bit smarter, attend a workshop, develop a smart manufacturing roadmap, or encourage your plant and those around you to do the same thing. We'd like to know what you're doing. It's important to us that we hear from you. So here's our website address. Please drop us a note on our website or our LinkedIn page. We also host conversations like this really on a weekly basis. If you'd like to join us on a conversation, be part of our discussion, we'd also be happy to hear from you and connect with you about doing that. So with that, I'd like to again thank you, Scott. Thanks, Brandon. Thanks, Mike, for the time. And we wish everybody a wonderful rest of the day and week. Excellent.

Thanks, everybody.

Thank you. Thanks, guys.

Thanks, guys.