Driving Our Economy Forward: Peak Symposium
The 10th annual Peak Performance Symposium took place recently at the Pie Innovation Center in Cleveland, Tennessee.
The symposium gives manufacturing professionals a chance to share ideas through technology and workforce development.
Tonight we take a look at how the event continues to Drive Our Economy Forward.
“Is just the tip of the iceberg you know. So it’s going to change things even quicker as we experience it now.”
“We are here to present to manufacturers that are in the area. And there’s manufacturers that are here talking about um the automation that is going on in manufacturers. And then the individuals that have come to watch want to know about that. How they can do it in a more efficient uh way on their investment side,” said Becky Faith, Director of Business Development at Focust.
“As things change with industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0, how do we integrate that relationship between the machines and the employees. And how they work well together”
“Change is inevitable, right. A lot of folks right now are concerned about how fast this automation is going, this advancement is going. Um, there are natural fears right. We bring in new technology one of the questions is is that going to replace me; what’s going to happen to my job,” said Dr. Chris Cunningham, Guerry and UC Foundation Professor at UTC.
“What efforts can we take to help workers realize that automation is here to enhance productivity not replace workers.”
“One of the key themes at this year’s Symposium is, just because new technolog is coming, doesn’t mean that you are no longer valuable. What it does mean is that we may have to have a shift in our mindset our approach to managing and developing our employees. There does need to be investment in how do we uh help our workforces develop and grow,” said Dr. Cunningham.
“This is just a tool that uh enables them to do that the inspection process faster. Um, it kind of frees up the lab people to to focus more on the quality of the parts so effectively allowing you to have better parts in the lab Uh, better throughput through your production facility which ultimately means profitability for the customer. or the company,” said Jay Higginbotham, Regional Sales Manager at RENISHAW.
“Be transparent. Include the those closest to the front line, into the process as well.”
Mia Williams: “Every experience is different for every organization. But we’re all bumping up against the same crisis right now. And that is a people problem right. So when we come together and we uh have solutions, we all can say hey that may work for my organization,” said Mia Williams, Senior HRBPARTNER/ Talent & Culture at Toyo Tires North America.
“The reality right now is that there’s a huge deficit in the amount of well skilled and trained manufacturing talent. We already can’t fill the jobs we have right. So if the technology helps us to do that work, doesn’t mean that there are not going to be jobs; just means that we’re going to need to continue to invest in and develop that workforce. So that they can do the new jobs the way that they’re going to be done with the help of that technology,” said Dr. Cunningham.
“Yes we’re expecting you to learn and do more of this. Uh and, and, and, and do a little more of the the STEM type of activities. Um you know but, this is what lies ahead.”
“When the personal computer was introduced there was a fear that everyone was going to lose their work. And in reality, 2 million jobs were changed. But 7 million new ones were created okay. So a lot of times when we see technology comes in, it may temporarily disrupt what was going on. But a lot of times that technology is replacing work that either nobody wants to do, or it’s dangerous to do right now. Or it’s not being done efficiently. And it creates new opportunities for people to do different jobs, sometimes even more meaningful and more valuable to the organization,” said Dr. Cunningham.
