April 22, 2024 • 45 mins
It's no secret that manufacturing is experiencing a labor shortage. In this episode, Ed and Alvaro discuss how technology and training can retain talent and attract new people to manufacturing careers.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
My name is Eduardo or better known as EdBallina.
Hey, how are you?
Alvaro Cuba here.
Good to see you, my friend.
Yes, great seeing you.
What's about today?
Well, I had a few things to discuss likethe Baltimore Bridge, but for those that
are watching later on, we're recordingthis on April 6th and at 10:30, about 10:
(00:24):
30 this morning, we experienced anearthquake.
In central New Jersey, we're in theoutskirts of Northeast Pennsylvania around
Scranton.
And we did not experience it here, but mywife's family is mostly in northern New
Jersey and we got lots of phone calls.
Yeah, we do.
It was interesting.
(00:46):
My sister -in -law said it felt like shewas in a boiling pot.
She could hear just grumbling in the houseand things started moving.
So.
Yeah, thank God.
It's very weird.
No, it's not it's not normal in thenortheast.
No, we lived like seven years there andnever had never any movement.
It the only other one that I'veexperienced one in Mexico City, but about
(01:08):
six or seven years ago, there was one inVirginia or Maryland.
And I happened to be in the middle of aconference call with my plant managers.
And the gentleman that was from theMaryland plant had really some pretty poor
financial results to share with me.
So he's telling me,
how he's going to miss his forecast.
The earthquake.
Well, we're on this call, right?
We didn't know anything.
(01:28):
And he's telling me this.
And all of a sudden he goes, oh, my God, there'san earthquake!
Right.
And I was like, come on, really?
Like you have to like, you know, distractme.
And all of a sudden I look at the windowand the trees are moving.
I go, oh, my God, you're right.
Everybody hang up.
Get onto the floor.
Make everybody safe.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
Well, not not strange to me.
(01:49):
I'm coming from Peru.
So right.
There you have earthquakes very frequent,sometimes every week or something and big
ones now and then, but in the Northeast,it's clearly important.
Hey, did you also, I just want to commenton you, we didn't discuss before, but you
(02:10):
saw the news on the jobs report today.
Please tell me because I just read theheadline.
I...
I was running and gunning this morning.
I did not get a chance.
So, so you're very impressive for theeconomy and we'll have it.
We'll discuss it today because we added300,000 jobs, which is a hundred thousand
(02:33):
more than expected, which tells theeconomy is booming and it's so strong,
which is good for the country.
Right.
Uh, but the concerning news, and we'llalso talk about that is that manufacturing
added.
zero in total.
So health and social services were thehighest.
(02:58):
But certainly, and our buddies here inmanufacturing will, I think this will need
to be a collective work on advertisingbetter manufacturing and starting to get
those jobs on.
But
So you and I have talked about this in thepast that, you know, by our very nature,
(03:25):
and I know it's a stereotype, butmanufacturing people are not always the
best salespeople.
And I think that carries on to our abilityto bring people into this really fantastic
field.
And, you know, we're going to talk aboutit in more detail a little bit, but if it
was so...
bad to work in manufacturing
(03:45):
I don't think Alvaro and I would havestuck around for almost 40 years.
And then after retirement, go back,doubling down, right?
It's a terrific career.
It really is.
Okay, let's go.
Let's do it.
So welcome to the Manufacturing Meet Uppodcast.
(04:05):
This is our first one.
We're very excited to spend some time withyou.
This show is where we kick back.
on our downtime and get real aboutefficiency on the plant floor.
As you'll hear in a few minutes, Alvaroand I both started on those factory floors
and although we kind of rose to differentlevels of the organization always had a
(04:29):
passion for what happens in the factory.
That's where the decisions get made andthat's where the product is produced that
delights our customers.
Actually, it's the heart of the business,it's the heart of any company.
So, yes.
It has been very exciting all these yearsbeing at the very center.
So come join us in manufacturing.
Trust me, you'll stay.
(05:01):
So I've been in the manufacturing worldfor over 30 years now, and I'm now
entering my second act as an entrepreneur.
My sons and I started a company a year agofocusing on filler valve rebuilds, mostly
for the beverage industry and alsoproviding supply chain consulting
services.
I've got about a 40 year career inmanufacturing, started with Procter and
(05:24):
Gamble making paper, six and a half years,then Scott Paper for another six and a
half years, and then,
in 1995, I joined PepsiCo, where I had 24great years with the company and different
assignments from plant manager to VP ofoperations and retired six years ago.
And like they say in the mafia movies,just when I thought I was out, they pulled
(05:49):
me back in.
And I'm only too glad to report that I'mreally having the time of my life doing
what I enjoy and love, which is providingsupport to our
manufacturing companies to make them moreefficient, more effective, and to make the
life of that person on the floor just abit more comfortable and less erratic.
(06:09):
So, Alvaro, you have a great story aswell.
Before going and to your point, what wouldyou say to those guys that are thinking
about going to manufacturing?
What would be your...
Off the cuff, it's hard work, but it'samazingly rewarding.
(06:31):
When you can, you and your team can make adifference on the floor.
Very quickly, I was in a plant where theywere having some serious down can issues
and talking to the operator.
We were able to make some changes.
The next day when he came in, I came inabout an hour and a half into a shift and
he hugged me.
He said, Ed, I was picking up down cansevery two to three minutes.
He goes, I've been here since six.
(06:53):
We've had two.
Thank you.
That.
means the world to me.
And those experiences are yours to be had.
Yeah, totally agree with you.
Very, very fulfilling.
From my side, as I mentioned, Peruvian, Istudied engineering in Peru and my very
first job, plant, go figure out boilersand pumps, water pumps and, and
(07:24):
all services and all those things.
It has been great experience.
35 years in manufacturing.
Well, sort of.
I started in manufacturing and firstplants with Bunge and great experience
(07:45):
and then start going into supply chain,logistics and interesting
enough that took me to the commercialside.
So I ended up in sales and marketing andas a general manager.
And then even I ended up having my own dotcom in the late nineties.
(08:13):
Interesting.
Yeah.
Now that we are seeing this boomingtechnology
well, I lived from inside the other boomuntil the bubble burst and
I had to go to a different thing.
So I started working for Kraft Foods andwith them had wonderful career.
I lived in seven countries, visited morethan 70 for work and also changed
(08:40):
different industries in these globalmanufacturers and in local manufacturers.
So I've been able to, lucky to be like insix industries.
And then we split Kraft in Mondelez.
So finished my career with Mondelezworking in North America.
(09:02):
And now I moved to Miami and as you said,retired, but I love manufacturing.
So I continue mentoring, advising, andworking with
a lot of guys in manufacturing.
So it's a fantastic career and totallywith you, that is the best experience I've
(09:26):
possibly had.
Yeah, it's, I've heard a little bit of yourtravels before and your experiences and
you know, I thought I had pretty variedexperiences, but I only worked in a couple
of countries.
So one thing I did mention at thebeginning is like you, I'm foreign born.
I was born in Cuba, I came to this greatcountry in 1971 and proceeded to grow up
(09:51):
in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and got a degreein chemical engineering from New Jersey
Institute of Technology.
But it is fascinating.
I spent about a year working in Mexicowith the Mexican Pepsi bottler.
And that was an amazing experience becauseeven though Spanish is my native tongue, I
(10:11):
really have never used it in theprofessional world.
So.
I'm trying to put together a presentation.
We're doing some bottlenecking work.
And it was hard.
First of all, I didn't know how to sayfiller in Spanish, right?
So I'm like, so I'm asking people and say,oh, "llenadora."
Okay, I got it, right?
So even the name to the equipment, right?
(10:32):
But when I presented, it was a seniorleadership team, you know, the president
and, you know, head of the supply chain.
And I felt like a five-year-old, right?
Because my
Spanish is what I speak with my cousinsand my mom when she was alive, right?
You know, we speak differently when wecommunicate, you know, to senior
(10:54):
executives.
And I was like, my goodness, I sound likeI'm 10 years old.
But somehow, it was an amazing experience.
And as you know, you know, Caribs likemyself are not terrible lovers of spicy
foods, right?
Our foods, Cubans,
are relatively, you know, bland.
(11:15):
My Mexican friends.
Oh yeah.
I loved it.
They turned me on to hot, spicy foods.
So it's been fun.
Yeah.
It's a, working and living in differentcultures is, it's hard at the beginning
and you, you feel like a child growing upagain, but it's terribly fulfilling.
(11:38):
And when you start understanding theculture,
of that country and that people, theenrichment in your life is phenomenal.
I agree.
I mean, I learned as much as I taught frommy experience in Mexico, you know, about
the culture, about the people, the foods,et cetera.
(12:02):
And we'll talk about manufacturing, but inthe shop floor, that is also a...
terrific experience in any differentcountry in every diff. every country does
it different, every country has a differentculture, and in getting the feeling of
(12:28):
all of that and then sharing thebest practices and sharing what one is
doing and the other is in itself a greatthing to do.
It's diversity at the end.
Absolutely.
And the one thing that I find doesn'tchange though, is when you get out on the
(12:50):
floor, right, and you're working with anoperator, you're working with a mechanic
or a maintenance supervisor, and you're inthere getting your hands dirty with them,
and you teach them and you show them howto solve a problem, I don't care whether
you're in a plant in, you know, Sloveniaor, you know, Peru or
Canada or the United States, that's, theyvalue the fact that you're willing to go
(13:15):
out there, share their experience, right?
Share their pain.
And if you can take some of the painpoints away, you're a hero.
People remember you.
Yeah.
And I'm sure all the manufacturing buddiesare listening to us have that experience.
The first time they get into a plant oryou guys, every time you are into a new
(13:37):
plant or...
change plants.
Yeah, it's a learning experience as well.
Not only for them, but for every one ofus.
Absolutely.
And you have to prove yourself.
And I will tell you, some of the toughestpeople to prove yourself with are
maintenance mechanics.
(13:58):
Right?
They're like, oh, so you're like some hotshot that's going to show me how to do
things that I've been doing for 20 years.
They give you a wrench and
send you to the machine until you don'tdemonstrate, you don't gain their trust.
And fortunately, a lot of this hazingdoesn't go on as much anymore.
(14:20):
But I remember in papermaking, a newoperator would come in, and you know, the
more seasoned tech would be, hey, listen,go, you see that bucket?
Go grab that bucket.
Give me a bucket of steam from the steamturbine, you know, floor.
Yes.
And some people would pick up the bucketand go and walk upstairs to go get their
(14:42):
bucket of steam, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Some really fun stories, you know, of, youknow, kind of the shenanigans, the funny,
safe shenanigans that go out on our shopfloors.
Yeah.
We'll keep it at that.
And we'll talk more about today.
So what about let's go to our topic.
Well, so I think it's a perfect takeoff onthe job report, right?
(15:04):
You and I were talking about this maybe acouple of weeks ago and you know, this,
this it's, it's kind of weird.
Right.
If we step back a little bit, you and Italked about the transition over the last
couple of years where, you know, duringCOVID it was all hands on deck, every case
out the door, not regardless of cost, butwith a focus on product supply because
(15:29):
it's how we experience things that I hadnever seen before.
I would say after leaving Cuba, which isempty store shelves.
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, for people that have grown up inthe United States over the last 40, 50
years, that is like, what is going on?
There's an empty spot on the gondola and,you know, King Soopers or H.E.B.
(15:53):
or whatever you shop.
So big push,
we have to get it out the door.
Because they have to feed our consumers,people like you and I, right?
Well, during that time, because ofinflation, a lot of companies, the
pricing, some of the pricing hasn't held,some of the volume has slipped back.
And now the big rallying cry is aboutproductivity, right?
It's not "every case is worth producing",kind of, right?
(16:18):
Or has to justify itself because we havein some cases excess capacity and the cost
have
ballooned and the consumer isn't thatwilling to absorb that much.
So you have that going on, thattransition, and then you hear the great
job reports, right?
And you and I on the surface were like, hey,the numbers look really good, right?
But yet you and I know the reality that wesee in our plants where most facilities I
(16:43):
go into are down 15 to 20 % on maintenancetechnicians or kind of that mechanical
skill labor.
We're still not,
fully populated with operators, right?
So it's weird.
Every job across the board, it's beingchallenged.
And that's not the only thing that ischanging.
(17:06):
It's changing the timing.
It's full economy on one hand, but howcome if it's full economy, we are seeing
vacancies, so much vacancies in the plant.
But there is also a couple of things thatare changing.
In addition, one is the increasing volume.
(17:32):
The production back in America is now fullblown.
And also, as I mentioned when we weretalking, manufacturing is expected to grow
3% starting 2025, which is coming back tothe growth moments.
And the...
(17:53):
the other thing that is changing is thepeople.
Right.
No, because during pandemic, everyone wasin their homes and everyone was used to
the computer and, uh, and things
and now people are thinking about not onlythe job that they had, but what other
experiences are out there?
(18:13):
What else can I do?
Um, probably I can work from home.
Probably I can travel.
Right.
No?
And, uh,
and this also changes the demographics ofthe people that we need to bring into the
plant.
No, it's people that want much moreexperience, much more exposure, fun.
(18:36):
Right.
And also they want a purpose.
Right.
And so I think all these paints a fairlygood picture of what I'm sure
everyone that is listening to us in theplant, is experiencing, no?
(18:57):
So all the news are here; the reality inthe shop floor is different.
And when you talk to the people in theplants, I'm sure you are doing, and our
listeners as well, the people in the plantare telling you, no, what's new, what's
next?
How is this going to change?
That's internally, and externally, peopleis also
(19:21):
asking themselves the same questions.
So.
Absolutely.
I think the pandemic might have forced achange in the fulcrum point, right, of
people, how they balance, you know, theirprofessional career, you know, the
financial rewards that come with it and,you know, maybe their exterior life,
(19:43):
right, and their families and all that.
So and the working from home, I think,
also provided people with a view to adifferent reality of work, what work can be
like.
Um, I also think part of the, the reasonwhy we're seeing some of these
discrepancies, you can hardly pick up anewsfeed and not find that a company laid
off a thousand people or they, you know,which was the 99 cent store I heard about
(20:06):
this morning, they are closing everysingle one of those stores.
They're done.
Right.
So Dollar General also announced that.
And then, but I know, yeah, I, I startedpart of,
Well, no, no, you're fine. Now
I think part of what we're experiencing aswell is companies are harnessing
technology, right, to automate and reducetheir labor costs, right?
(20:29):
Labor costs have gone up significantly.
And I hate to use this example becausethere's all kinds of rethinking of this
today, but the self-checkout, right, inour stores, right?
Where you no longer have a cashier, youscan yourself, you know, and the jokes
that Walmart needs to pay me benefitsbecause I'm doing their work, right?
(20:50):
But what happens is that automationis liberating folks that should be
available, right, to fill some of theneeds that we have in manufacturing.
But I think we have a couple of issues.
What is the skill set that is, you know,required in manufacturing continues to go
up?
(21:10):
And you and I are going to dig into this alittle bit because we do think that one of
the ways to help this problem is throughtechnology.
But if you're being eliminated essentiallyas a cashier, right?
But what I need are electrical techniciansor a data scientist.
They're not even a scientist, but somebodycan deal with databases and all that.
(21:34):
The skills that you have and the skillsthat we need are not well-aligned.
And that's where I think we need to, youknow, as a country, maybe invest a bit
more on re-education and capabilitydevelopment so we can fill those needs.
But I think...
Totally agree.
(21:54):
Yep.
But also, I think we need to work onrebranding the manufacturing job, no?
Because...
Before we need to think how we attractpeople.
You said it.
There is all these people going out ofthese jobs.
(22:16):
But the report today, it was saying zerogoing into manufacturing.
Yeah.
No.
So one of things is how we rebrand.
You and I know, and we come, even in ourtimes,
it has been changing and improving, butthe picture of the manufacturing being a
(22:42):
difficult job, dirty and difficult, andsometimes unsafe and all the time running
here and there, knowing sometimes dingy,yes, space.
(23:02):
Hey, you and I, and I want to hear, I wantto hear your experience, but I have
literally walked through stinking, putridpulp that overflowed my shoes.
Okay.
That I couldn't even stand myself when Isat in my car the next day.
Okay.
I've got into some dingy, dingy basementswhere there are cockroaches that were as big,
(23:24):
not in the paper.
I mean, not in food or anything, right?
But cockroaches that were, that werebigger than like a household cat.
Uh, but, but.
You know what?
Yes, some of those still exist, but notthat.
And it's not necessarily the world we aregoing.
You were mentioning technology.
(23:45):
I think we are still far from technologytaking jobs out of manufacturing.
Right.
No, because you continue to go to theplants as well as I do.
And we still see.
people running around you, you mentionedthis example about the person saying thank
(24:06):
you because it only had two bottles.
Right.
Uh, no, they go after instead of manymore.
I clearly recall a plant that the line wasstopping every minute.
No.
And then, and.
(24:27):
Everything was firefighting, and theoperators and the mechanics and risky and
all that.
So technology helped us in that example.
It was in Mexico, actually, in one of ourplants in Mexico.
With training on the people and intechnology, we start taking that line to
(24:49):
10 minutes and then to one hour and thento two hours.
When we start doing that, the people inthe line start having time to breathe
first and then to think and then to startdoing many very fun and engaging
(25:12):
activities because they were not, Iremember the first time doing TPM, the
first time that the Japanese came from theJapanese Technician Institute.
came, he said, "the operators seem like itcannot be slaves of the machines."
(25:34):
Yes.
No, I'm sure you have heard that.
So, but I think right now we have a goldenopportunity with technology.
Right.
No, since in everything, in machinehealth, in process health, in data
collection, in all those things.
(25:55):
technology can help us.
Absolutely.
And give that time back to the operators,to the mechanics,
so they can travel to see other machinesin other places.
They can talk to suppliers.
They can go to the shelf and see whatconsumers are seeing in their products.
(26:19):
No? They can exchange among them.
They can go to the market.
There are many things that not only willbe fulfilling, but also where they can
continue to learn.
It's a much more enriching career, right,
when you can do more than just be thatpacker operator that has to stand up down
(26:44):
containers every three minutes becausethis machine shuts down.
And we used to call it the whole,
you know, again, the manufacturing pictureit's out there is, it's like the Eagle song
"Hotel California."
OK, you can check in, but you don't alwaysknow when you're going to check out.
I'm sure everyone that's, you know, listento this to this podcast has had the
(27:07):
experience where you come in 7:30, 8 o'clockin the morning or earlier and you're
trying to start up a process or machine ora line and you're there 24 hours later.
Right.
Because you have the commitment to makesure that it starts up.
That and you don't do that at all.
No part of the job.
Yeah, but you are seen and I'm seeing nowlines that run three hours four hours
(27:31):
without a stoppage and They stop themachine to do something in my machine
versus the machine stopping to youExactly.
No and the boss right?
Who's the boss?
Is the now the boss or you the boss?
And then the mechanics can plan what theyare going to do when they need to do and
the operators can do other things.
(27:54):
No.
So that is one of the components that Ithink technology can bring to the table.
And I'm sure everyone in your plant, youare seeing this in small scale or in big
scale.
(28:15):
but I would invite you to look and try toget those experiences because I start to
see, I don't know you Ed, but I start tosee these lines and these plants that look
completely different, clean and organizedand not firefighting and people involved
(28:38):
not only on the production, but also inhow to improve the production and how to
innovate.
You know that I'm sure you are seeing thatas well.
Well, I had a really interesting call afew days ago with a company that makes
packaging equipment happen to be sodaindustry, and they were talking about what
(29:00):
their vision is of the future, and it wasreally cool.
So we were talking about having multiplecameras over the machine, and you and I
know that one of the biggest.
aggravators if you're a packer operator isto go pick up down containers at the end
feed, right?
Especially if they happen over and overagain.
And their idea was they would have camerason the end feed cameras on the transfer
(29:23):
chains, right?
All connected to a predictive maintenanceplatform.
You know, it happened to be augury andwhere the machine would and you know would
connected to an AI.
the machine would recognize that everythree minutes you're having a down can
here at the end feed.
And then it correlates that to anothercamera upstream that shows you that when
(29:46):
you go across that plate, your canswobble.
And sometimes weevil wobbles and they dofall down, right?
I mean, just the potential of that, right?
Not that we shouldn't be fixing down cansimmediately, but that takes so much pain
away from the operator.
And the point that you made about,
with the Japanese technician set is spoton.
(30:09):
When your operators are part of themachine, right?
So they're fixing jams and they're, youknow, cleaning up scrap product and all
that.
They're not really operators.
An operator in a good line should beobserving, looking for opportunities,
looking for how to improve processes.
Not there standing up, but down containerevery three minutes.
(30:30):
Nobody likes to run a crappy line, right?
and technology is there to help change thegame.
Yeah, and technology, you mentioned anexample.
It's not the technology complicatedtechnology of the previous iterations of
technology were very difficult to installand took a lot of time and had a lot of
(30:55):
approval system changes and all that.
Right now for
the machine health or the process health,you just go glue a sensor, you wifi it to
a AI analysis, and then you get in, evenin your mobile, you get the status of the
(31:19):
entire line or whatever machine you aremonitoring, no?
So it's starting become very easy and veryeasy to access.
So I had reconnected with an old colleaguefrom my PBG days and she mentioned to me
this company that she, I think herhusband's involved in.
(31:42):
Anyway, they make a railroad cart, right?
That they literally put on the tracks andit's got sensors all over it.
So they check the dimensions of the railsas it rides over it, right?
Looking for wear, looking for cracks.
they check overhead with sensors to makesure that there aren't any tree branches
(32:03):
that are gonna hit the trains.
I looked at that and said, oh my God, canyou imagine the impact that that's gonna
have on railroad safety, right?
On preventive maintenance.
I mean, it really is very credible.
I mean, the use of drones now, right?
I have a cousin that worked for, he wasthe CIO for a sugar company in Central
(32:26):
America.
And he was sharing with me informationlike, Hey, we use drones to precise, uh,
precise application of fertilizers andwhatever other elements they add.
When they harvest sugar cane, that sugarcane is harvested at the peak of its, of
its yield.
And it is tracked all the way until itgets into the in -hen -yul.
(32:49):
So they maximize the sugar yield and it'sall done, you know, in the cloud.
Oh, it is impressive as heck.
Well, just drive a Tesla.
You see on your screen the people that isthe silhouettes of the people that is
walking in the walkway and even colorcoded.
(33:12):
Yes.
No, if it's green, it's no danger.
If it's red, it may be a danger.
No, so a lot.
It's there and I think, you know, gettingback to how do we address someone's
problem with manufacturing?
I do believe a huge percentage of it isimage, right?
(33:33):
Going back to your comment, we have animage as a dirty, grungy place.
You work a bazillion hours, you know, ifyou're in the beverage industry, we always
talk about the hundred days of summer,right?
That is literally from roughly MemorialDay to Labor Day where we do a ton of
volume, right?
Summertime.
and you just kind of run, you know thatyou may be in the plant on the 4th of
(33:55):
July, right?
And those are some sacrifices, but they'regetting less and less.
And I think the opportunity to be a partof this American manufacturing renaissance
is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I'm thrilled to see manufacturing comingback to the U .S.
And then the other point that youmentioned at the beginning, the technology
(34:16):
is a big help these days and
You should check it out guys.
The second is training and you mentionedat the beginning, no, if, if we are going
to capture the people, we need to trainour people first internally for the new
(34:38):
technology, but then we need to train thepeople that is coming from outside.
No, and there is several ways thatcompanies are finding now to train.
No? It's a college is not needed hightech, high tech is needed.
And there is different ways to, to getthat internally.
(35:01):
You can train.
I remember in one of our operations, wewere training the people internally in
small labs that we, that they themselveshelped, and they became so good that at
some point one university asked
them to, if they could bring the studentsto be trained in that.
(35:28):
And guess who were the teachers?
The operators and the mechanics that weretrained in those labs.
So that's an easy way.
And the other that I keep thinking is ifthe people that is coming from outside,
(35:48):
probably does not know a lot aboutmanufacturing in the line,
they, in these days, they are tech-savvy.
Yes, right.
No.
And it's very easy if you, if they aretech-savvy and they are not afraid of the
computer or the machine or the sensor andthey can interact, that's a big jumpstart.
(36:13):
Absolutely.
And look, it,
the technology is meeting us where welive, right?
Because there are a number ofmanufacturing, I call it information
systems, right?
That feed right into this little monsterthat we carry in our pockets, right?
This computer that we call it a phone isincredibly powerful and everybody has one.
(36:39):
I mean, I remember when cell phones kindof started coming down the shop floor, I
was like, oh, we can't have that here.
Good luck trying to stop cell phones onthe shop floor.
Now you have to manage it somehow.
More than stop them, use them.
Absolutely.
No? Absolutely.
Because you can get, as we all know, manyof our devices and reporting systems have
(37:04):
mobile capabilities.
So you could literally be walking aroundthe plant and receive a notice on your
phone that says, hey, we have detected ahigh-range vibration on
your fan X, Y, and Z.
And we think the probable cause is yourfan blades are dirty, so it's unbalanced.
Here's what, here's the fix.
Shut down, clean the fan blades, startback up.
(37:26):
And by the way, after you start up, youget a message that says your vibrational
level's back to normal.
I mean, that's right?
That beats the heck out of the oldfashioned way of your fan gets dirty, goes
out of vibration.
Imagine that example, anyone from outside.
that you tell them that they are going towork in that environment.
(37:49):
It doesn't sound tempting.
Yeah.
I want to go.
Yeah.
It's, uh, it's in my mobile.
It's different than before.
And then you can use also the technologyfor the training.
Right.
No, I'm sure you're familiar in, in withthe budddy system, no.
And you enter a new role, another personto accompany you and go with you to every
(38:16):
place and, and all that.
Now,
with the mobile, you can do it even withsomeone in other plant.
Absolutely.
That operates a machine that is identicalor similar to yours.
Right.
And can become your budddy and can tell youdo this, do that, watch out with this,
watch out with that.
(38:36):
Any questions?
No, you can even watch in the camerawhat's happening.
So technology as well is a great enablerand a great facilitator to train
the people, the internal people, and thepeople that we want to hire.
Absolutely.
I, I've experienced and it's in the earlystages, but the use of smart glasses to
(39:02):
troubleshoot equipment, right?
In the beverage industry, a lot of ourOEMs are headquartered in
Europe, and it's not easy to always getthem across.
And we started using smart glasses where atechnician can actually look at a piece of
equipment and
the technician back in Parma, Italy islooking at the same thing and can actually
(39:24):
project on the screen an arrow, hey, seethis right here?
Go check the clearances on this transfer,et cetera.
So they're hearing it auditorily.
The technician in Parma is seeing what ourtechnician is seeing and is directing
them.
I mean, that is only gonna grow.
(39:44):
And that really helps shortcut the repairprocess
and the meantime to repair.
So even, and people learn, right?
Adult, the adult learning model, right,requires, we learn differently than
children, right, when you're an adult.
And school children, we teach them thetheory first, and then we have them
(40:04):
execute.
Adults learn the other way.
So very powerful technology that I thinkis just starting to blow up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So once, once we put all this together,no, so,
we were saying, change the image of the,of the manufacturing role.
(40:25):
And that's something that we all should bedoing.
Not only in the plant and with the peoplethat it's, we are trying to hire in our
day-to-day with our families, witheveryone, we need to help change this.
So that change first, technology isbecoming a big enabler and
(40:48):
the speed that is progressing and thethings that are coming every day, a new
thing on technology and with AI, that'sgoing to even accelerate more.
And then on the third in the training isall these possibilities of training that
the technology can also bring.
(41:11):
So when we put those three together, we cangoing back to the...
report that we said, no?
So yeah, it's it's true that there is alot of change.
I was reading 50% of the people ingeneral in all industries in manufacturing
and in everything is thinking aboutchanging roles. So what's that is they want
(41:37):
new experience?
They want fun.
They want a purpose, right, and we have tooffer them exactly that.
No possibilities to train, possibilitiesto engage, possibilities to travel.
We were saying we are the heart of thecompany.
So if we do that, we should be able toattract all that people that is going out
(42:03):
of those companies or jobs into anengaging, fun, purposeful roles in
manufacturing.
But...
We have to do it all together, guys.
Folks, it's a great career, right?
I'll repeat it again, maybe more in thevernacular.
If it stunk so bad, this guy and I wouldnot have stuck around for darn near 40
(42:30):
years and then come back because we didn'tget enough.
We wanted more.
And the ability to mentor people, right?
I mean.
When I get a phone call from somebody thatI have absolutely no influence over
anymore, right?
I'm no longer the vice president of this,right?
And they're calling me up to ask foradvice or bounce something off of me.
(42:51):
My God, does that make my heart swell,right?
It makes me feel like I was able to help,right?
I made a difference.
And these people have nothing to gain fromme anymore.
And they're still calling me.
Wow, maybe they like me.
I sure did fool them!
I'm sure they like you, my friend.
I'm sure they like you.
It has been a great conversation and Ithink we leave you guys with these three
(43:18):
messages.
Let's all together try to change the imageof manufacturing that is changing.
Second, let's try to use technology asmuch as possible, as simple as the mobile
and from there.
And the third is to recruit
(43:38):
let's use also technology and let's becreative.
No, I think that mismatch could be aproblem, but it could be an opportunity if
we recognize the skills that the peoplethat are coming in are bringing with them
and mixing that with technology shouldmake the trick.
(44:02):
And with that, I hope that we startgetting
more and more people into the shops andyou guys start, well, focusing more in
innovation and mentoring and helpingpeople in the plants.
(44:22):
And by the way, the pay isn't half badeither.
Okay.
No, it's a great point.
Normally the starting point, all the restgoes on top of that.
Exactly.
Okay, great.
It has been a great podcast.
Thank you. To wrap up the episode today,
(44:43):
Just join manufacturing meetup.
If you have friends, invite them.
This is a big community.
It's not Ed and I.
This is everyone that works inmanufacturing.
This is the idea of meeting up.
If you liked the episode, please...
give us a review if you are in iTunes orlike us if you are in YouTube and please
(45:09):
share the podcast.
Agreed.
This has been a lot of fun.
If you like to keep this conversationgoing, you can email us at mmu@augury
.com.
So again, that's mmu at augury .com orfind us on the Endpoint.
It's a free online community formanufacturing pros
(45:31):
at endpoint.augury.com
We'll also have those links in the shownotes for the episode.
So hopefully we'll see you next time.
See you guys next time and great talkingto you, amigo.
Same here, my friend.
My name is Eduardo or better known as EdBallina.
Hey, how are you?
Alvaro Cuba here.
Good to see you, my friend.
Yes, great seeing you.
What's about today?
Well, I had a few things to discuss likethe Baltimore Bridge, but for those that
are watching later on, we're recordingthis on April 6th and at 10:30, about 10:
(00:24):
30 this morning, we experienced anearthquake.
In central New Jersey, we're in theoutskirts of Northeast Pennsylvania around
Scranton.
And we did not experience it here, but mywife's family is mostly in northern New
Jersey and we got lots of phone calls.
Yeah, we do.
It was interesting.
(00:46):
My sister -in -law said it felt like shewas in a boiling pot.
She could hear just grumbling in the houseand things started moving.
So.
Yeah, thank God.
It's very weird.
No, it's not it's not normal in thenortheast.
No, we lived like seven years there andnever had never any movement.
It the only other one that I'veexperienced one in Mexico City, but about
(01:08):
six or seven years ago, there was one inVirginia or Maryland.
And I happened to be in the middle of aconference call with my plant managers.
And the gentleman that was from theMaryland plant had really some pretty poor
financial results to share with me.
So he's telling me,
how he's going to miss his forecast.
The earthquake.
Well, we're on this call, right?
We didn't know anything.
(01:28):
And he's telling me this.
And all of a sudden he goes, oh, my God, there'san earthquake!
Right.
And I was like, come on, really?
Like you have to like, you know, distractme.
And all of a sudden I look at the windowand the trees are moving.
I go, oh, my God, you're right.
Everybody hang up.
Get onto the floor.
Make everybody safe.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
Well, not not strange to me.
(01:49):
I'm coming from Peru.
So right.
There you have earthquakes very frequent,sometimes every week or something and big
ones now and then, but in the Northeast,it's clearly important.
Hey, did you also, I just want to commenton you, we didn't discuss before, but you
(02:10):
saw the news on the jobs report today.
Please tell me because I just read theheadline.
I...
I was running and gunning this morning.
I did not get a chance.
So, so you're very impressive for theeconomy and we'll have it.
We'll discuss it today because we added300,000 jobs, which is a hundred thousand
(02:33):
more than expected, which tells theeconomy is booming and it's so strong,
which is good for the country.
Right.
Uh, but the concerning news, and we'llalso talk about that is that manufacturing
added.
zero in total.
So health and social services were thehighest.
(02:58):
But certainly, and our buddies here inmanufacturing will, I think this will need
to be a collective work on advertisingbetter manufacturing and starting to get
those jobs on.
But
So you and I have talked about this in thepast that, you know, by our very nature,
(03:25):
and I know it's a stereotype, butmanufacturing people are not always the
best salespeople.
And I think that carries on to our abilityto bring people into this really fantastic
field.
And, you know, we're going to talk aboutit in more detail a little bit, but if it
was so...
bad to work in manufacturing
(03:45):
I don't think Alvaro and I would havestuck around for almost 40 years.
And then after retirement, go back,doubling down, right?
It's a terrific career.
It really is.
Okay, let's go.
Let's do it.
So welcome to the Manufacturing Meet Uppodcast.
(04:05):
This is our first one.
We're very excited to spend some time withyou.
This show is where we kick back.
on our downtime and get real aboutefficiency on the plant floor.
As you'll hear in a few minutes, Alvaroand I both started on those factory floors
and although we kind of rose to differentlevels of the organization always had a
(04:29):
passion for what happens in the factory.
That's where the decisions get made andthat's where the product is produced that
delights our customers.
Actually, it's the heart of the business,it's the heart of any company.
So, yes.
It has been very exciting all these yearsbeing at the very center.
So come join us in manufacturing.
Trust me, you'll stay.
(05:01):
So I've been in the manufacturing worldfor over 30 years now, and I'm now
entering my second act as an entrepreneur.
My sons and I started a company a year agofocusing on filler valve rebuilds, mostly
for the beverage industry and alsoproviding supply chain consulting
services.
I've got about a 40 year career inmanufacturing, started with Procter and
(05:24):
Gamble making paper, six and a half years,then Scott Paper for another six and a
half years, and then,
in 1995, I joined PepsiCo, where I had 24great years with the company and different
assignments from plant manager to VP ofoperations and retired six years ago.
And like they say in the mafia movies,just when I thought I was out, they pulled
(05:49):
me back in.
And I'm only too glad to report that I'mreally having the time of my life doing
what I enjoy and love, which is providingsupport to our
manufacturing companies to make them moreefficient, more effective, and to make the
life of that person on the floor just abit more comfortable and less erratic.
(06:09):
So, Alvaro, you have a great story aswell.
Before going and to your point, what wouldyou say to those guys that are thinking
about going to manufacturing?
What would be your...
Off the cuff, it's hard work, but it'samazingly rewarding.
(06:31):
When you can, you and your team can make adifference on the floor.
Very quickly, I was in a plant where theywere having some serious down can issues
and talking to the operator.
We were able to make some changes.
The next day when he came in, I came inabout an hour and a half into a shift and
he hugged me.
He said, Ed, I was picking up down cansevery two to three minutes.
He goes, I've been here since six.
(06:53):
We've had two.
Thank you.
That.
means the world to me.
And those experiences are yours to be had.
Yeah, totally agree with you.
Very, very fulfilling.
From my side, as I mentioned, Peruvian, Istudied engineering in Peru and my very
first job, plant, go figure out boilersand pumps, water pumps and, and
(07:24):
all services and all those things.
It has been great experience.
35 years in manufacturing.
Well, sort of.
I started in manufacturing and firstplants with Bunge and great experience
(07:45):
and then start going into supply chain,logistics and interesting
enough that took me to the commercialside.
So I ended up in sales and marketing andas a general manager.
And then even I ended up having my own dotcom in the late nineties.
(08:13):
Interesting.
Yeah.
Now that we are seeing this boomingtechnology
well, I lived from inside the other boomuntil the bubble burst and
I had to go to a different thing.
So I started working for Kraft Foods andwith them had wonderful career.
I lived in seven countries, visited morethan 70 for work and also changed
(08:40):
different industries in these globalmanufacturers and in local manufacturers.
So I've been able to, lucky to be like insix industries.
And then we split Kraft in Mondelez.
So finished my career with Mondelezworking in North America.
(09:02):
And now I moved to Miami and as you said,retired, but I love manufacturing.
So I continue mentoring, advising, andworking with
a lot of guys in manufacturing.
So it's a fantastic career and totallywith you, that is the best experience I've
(09:26):
possibly had.
Yeah, it's, I've heard a little bit of yourtravels before and your experiences and
you know, I thought I had pretty variedexperiences, but I only worked in a couple
of countries.
So one thing I did mention at thebeginning is like you, I'm foreign born.
I was born in Cuba, I came to this greatcountry in 1971 and proceeded to grow up
(09:51):
in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and got a degreein chemical engineering from New Jersey
Institute of Technology.
But it is fascinating.
I spent about a year working in Mexicowith the Mexican Pepsi bottler.
And that was an amazing experience becauseeven though Spanish is my native tongue, I
(10:11):
really have never used it in theprofessional world.
So.
I'm trying to put together a presentation.
We're doing some bottlenecking work.
And it was hard.
First of all, I didn't know how to sayfiller in Spanish, right?
So I'm like, so I'm asking people and say,oh, "llenadora."
Okay, I got it, right?
So even the name to the equipment, right?
(10:32):
But when I presented, it was a seniorleadership team, you know, the president
and, you know, head of the supply chain.
And I felt like a five-year-old, right?
Because my
Spanish is what I speak with my cousinsand my mom when she was alive, right?
You know, we speak differently when wecommunicate, you know, to senior
(10:54):
executives.
And I was like, my goodness, I sound likeI'm 10 years old.
But somehow, it was an amazing experience.
And as you know, you know, Caribs likemyself are not terrible lovers of spicy
foods, right?
Our foods, Cubans,
are relatively, you know, bland.
(11:15):
My Mexican friends.
Oh yeah.
I loved it.
They turned me on to hot, spicy foods.
So it's been fun.
Yeah.
It's a, working and living in differentcultures is, it's hard at the beginning
and you, you feel like a child growing upagain, but it's terribly fulfilling.
(11:38):
And when you start understanding theculture,
of that country and that people, theenrichment in your life is phenomenal.
I agree.
I mean, I learned as much as I taught frommy experience in Mexico, you know, about
the culture, about the people, the foods,et cetera.
(12:02):
And we'll talk about manufacturing, but inthe shop floor, that is also a...
terrific experience in any differentcountry in every diff. every country does
it different, every country has a differentculture, and in getting the feeling of
(12:28):
all of that and then sharing thebest practices and sharing what one is
doing and the other is in itself a greatthing to do.
It's diversity at the end.
Absolutely.
And the one thing that I find doesn'tchange though, is when you get out on the
(12:50):
floor, right, and you're working with anoperator, you're working with a mechanic
or a maintenance supervisor, and you're inthere getting your hands dirty with them,
and you teach them and you show them howto solve a problem, I don't care whether
you're in a plant in, you know, Sloveniaor, you know, Peru or
Canada or the United States, that's, theyvalue the fact that you're willing to go
(13:15):
out there, share their experience, right?
Share their pain.
And if you can take some of the painpoints away, you're a hero.
People remember you.
Yeah.
And I'm sure all the manufacturing buddiesare listening to us have that experience.
The first time they get into a plant oryou guys, every time you are into a new
(13:37):
plant or...
change plants.
Yeah, it's a learning experience as well.
Not only for them, but for every one ofus.
Absolutely.
And you have to prove yourself.
And I will tell you, some of the toughestpeople to prove yourself with are
maintenance mechanics.
(13:58):
Right?
They're like, oh, so you're like some hotshot that's going to show me how to do
things that I've been doing for 20 years.
They give you a wrench and
send you to the machine until you don'tdemonstrate, you don't gain their trust.
And fortunately, a lot of this hazingdoesn't go on as much anymore.
(14:20):
But I remember in papermaking, a newoperator would come in, and you know, the
more seasoned tech would be, hey, listen,go, you see that bucket?
Go grab that bucket.
Give me a bucket of steam from the steamturbine, you know, floor.
Yes.
And some people would pick up the bucketand go and walk upstairs to go get their
(14:42):
bucket of steam, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Some really fun stories, you know, of, youknow, kind of the shenanigans, the funny,
safe shenanigans that go out on our shopfloors.
Yeah.
We'll keep it at that.
And we'll talk more about today.
So what about let's go to our topic.
Well, so I think it's a perfect takeoff onthe job report, right?
(15:04):
You and I were talking about this maybe acouple of weeks ago and you know, this,
this it's, it's kind of weird.
Right.
If we step back a little bit, you and Italked about the transition over the last
couple of years where, you know, duringCOVID it was all hands on deck, every case
out the door, not regardless of cost, butwith a focus on product supply because
(15:29):
it's how we experience things that I hadnever seen before.
I would say after leaving Cuba, which isempty store shelves.
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, for people that have grown up inthe United States over the last 40, 50
years, that is like, what is going on?
There's an empty spot on the gondola and,you know, King Soopers or H.E.B.
(15:53):
or whatever you shop.
So big push,
we have to get it out the door.
Because they have to feed our consumers,people like you and I, right?
Well, during that time, because ofinflation, a lot of companies, the
pricing, some of the pricing hasn't held,some of the volume has slipped back.
And now the big rallying cry is aboutproductivity, right?
It's not "every case is worth producing",kind of, right?
(16:18):
Or has to justify itself because we havein some cases excess capacity and the cost
have
ballooned and the consumer isn't thatwilling to absorb that much.
So you have that going on, thattransition, and then you hear the great
job reports, right?
And you and I on the surface were like, hey,the numbers look really good, right?
But yet you and I know the reality that wesee in our plants where most facilities I
(16:43):
go into are down 15 to 20 % on maintenancetechnicians or kind of that mechanical
skill labor.
We're still not,
fully populated with operators, right?
So it's weird.
Every job across the board, it's beingchallenged.
And that's not the only thing that ischanging.
(17:06):
It's changing the timing.
It's full economy on one hand, but howcome if it's full economy, we are seeing
vacancies, so much vacancies in the plant.
But there is also a couple of things thatare changing.
In addition, one is the increasing volume.
(17:32):
The production back in America is now fullblown.
And also, as I mentioned when we weretalking, manufacturing is expected to grow
3% starting 2025, which is coming back tothe growth moments.
And the...
(17:53):
the other thing that is changing is thepeople.
Right.
No, because during pandemic, everyone wasin their homes and everyone was used to
the computer and, uh, and things
and now people are thinking about not onlythe job that they had, but what other
experiences are out there?
(18:13):
What else can I do?
Um, probably I can work from home.
Probably I can travel.
Right.
No?
And, uh,
and this also changes the demographics ofthe people that we need to bring into the
plant.
No, it's people that want much moreexperience, much more exposure, fun.
(18:36):
Right.
And also they want a purpose.
Right.
And so I think all these paints a fairlygood picture of what I'm sure
everyone that is listening to us in theplant, is experiencing, no?
(18:57):
So all the news are here; the reality inthe shop floor is different.
And when you talk to the people in theplants, I'm sure you are doing, and our
listeners as well, the people in the plantare telling you, no, what's new, what's
next?
How is this going to change?
That's internally, and externally, peopleis also
(19:21):
asking themselves the same questions.
So.
Absolutely.
I think the pandemic might have forced achange in the fulcrum point, right, of
people, how they balance, you know, theirprofessional career, you know, the
financial rewards that come with it and,you know, maybe their exterior life,
(19:43):
right, and their families and all that.
So and the working from home, I think,
also provided people with a view to adifferent reality of work, what work can be
like.
Um, I also think part of the, the reasonwhy we're seeing some of these
discrepancies, you can hardly pick up anewsfeed and not find that a company laid
off a thousand people or they, you know,which was the 99 cent store I heard about
(20:06):
this morning, they are closing everysingle one of those stores.
They're done.
Right.
So Dollar General also announced that.
And then, but I know, yeah, I, I startedpart of,
Well, no, no, you're fine. Now
I think part of what we're experiencing aswell is companies are harnessing
technology, right, to automate and reducetheir labor costs, right?
(20:29):
Labor costs have gone up significantly.
And I hate to use this example becausethere's all kinds of rethinking of this
today, but the self-checkout, right, inour stores, right?
Where you no longer have a cashier, youscan yourself, you know, and the jokes
that Walmart needs to pay me benefitsbecause I'm doing their work, right?
(20:50):
But what happens is that automationis liberating folks that should be
available, right, to fill some of theneeds that we have in manufacturing.
But I think we have a couple of issues.
What is the skill set that is, you know,required in manufacturing continues to go
up?
(21:10):
And you and I are going to dig into this alittle bit because we do think that one of
the ways to help this problem is throughtechnology.
But if you're being eliminated essentiallyas a cashier, right?
But what I need are electrical techniciansor a data scientist.
They're not even a scientist, but somebodycan deal with databases and all that.
(21:34):
The skills that you have and the skillsthat we need are not well-aligned.
And that's where I think we need to, youknow, as a country, maybe invest a bit
more on re-education and capabilitydevelopment so we can fill those needs.
But I think...
Totally agree.
(21:54):
Yep.
But also, I think we need to work onrebranding the manufacturing job, no?
Because...
Before we need to think how we attractpeople.
You said it.
There is all these people going out ofthese jobs.
(22:16):
But the report today, it was saying zerogoing into manufacturing.
Yeah.
No.
So one of things is how we rebrand.
You and I know, and we come, even in ourtimes,
it has been changing and improving, butthe picture of the manufacturing being a
(22:42):
difficult job, dirty and difficult, andsometimes unsafe and all the time running
here and there, knowing sometimes dingy,yes, space.
(23:02):
Hey, you and I, and I want to hear, I wantto hear your experience, but I have
literally walked through stinking, putridpulp that overflowed my shoes.
Okay.
That I couldn't even stand myself when Isat in my car the next day.
Okay.
I've got into some dingy, dingy basementswhere there are cockroaches that were as big,
(23:24):
not in the paper.
I mean, not in food or anything, right?
But cockroaches that were, that werebigger than like a household cat.
Uh, but, but.
You know what?
Yes, some of those still exist, but notthat.
And it's not necessarily the world we aregoing.
You were mentioning technology.
(23:45):
I think we are still far from technologytaking jobs out of manufacturing.
Right.
No, because you continue to go to theplants as well as I do.
And we still see.
people running around you, you mentionedthis example about the person saying thank
(24:06):
you because it only had two bottles.
Right.
Uh, no, they go after instead of manymore.
I clearly recall a plant that the line wasstopping every minute.
No.
And then, and.
(24:27):
Everything was firefighting, and theoperators and the mechanics and risky and
all that.
So technology helped us in that example.
It was in Mexico, actually, in one of ourplants in Mexico.
With training on the people and intechnology, we start taking that line to
(24:49):
10 minutes and then to one hour and thento two hours.
When we start doing that, the people inthe line start having time to breathe
first and then to think and then to startdoing many very fun and engaging
(25:12):
activities because they were not, Iremember the first time doing TPM, the
first time that the Japanese came from theJapanese Technician Institute.
came, he said, "the operators seem like itcannot be slaves of the machines."
(25:34):
Yes.
No, I'm sure you have heard that.
So, but I think right now we have a goldenopportunity with technology.
Right.
No, since in everything, in machinehealth, in process health, in data
collection, in all those things.
(25:55):
technology can help us.
Absolutely.
And give that time back to the operators,to the mechanics,
so they can travel to see other machinesin other places.
They can talk to suppliers.
They can go to the shelf and see whatconsumers are seeing in their products.
(26:19):
No? They can exchange among them.
They can go to the market.
There are many things that not only willbe fulfilling, but also where they can
continue to learn.
It's a much more enriching career, right,
when you can do more than just be thatpacker operator that has to stand up down
(26:44):
containers every three minutes becausethis machine shuts down.
And we used to call it the whole,
you know, again, the manufacturing pictureit's out there is, it's like the Eagle song
"Hotel California."
OK, you can check in, but you don't alwaysknow when you're going to check out.
I'm sure everyone that's, you know, listento this to this podcast has had the
(27:07):
experience where you come in 7:30, 8 o'clockin the morning or earlier and you're
trying to start up a process or machine ora line and you're there 24 hours later.
Right.
Because you have the commitment to makesure that it starts up.
That and you don't do that at all.
No part of the job.
Yeah, but you are seen and I'm seeing nowlines that run three hours four hours
(27:31):
without a stoppage and They stop themachine to do something in my machine
versus the machine stopping to youExactly.
No and the boss right?
Who's the boss?
Is the now the boss or you the boss?
And then the mechanics can plan what theyare going to do when they need to do and
the operators can do other things.
(27:54):
No.
So that is one of the components that Ithink technology can bring to the table.
And I'm sure everyone in your plant, youare seeing this in small scale or in big
scale.
(28:15):
but I would invite you to look and try toget those experiences because I start to
see, I don't know you Ed, but I start tosee these lines and these plants that look
completely different, clean and organizedand not firefighting and people involved
(28:38):
not only on the production, but also inhow to improve the production and how to
innovate.
You know that I'm sure you are seeing thatas well.
Well, I had a really interesting call afew days ago with a company that makes
packaging equipment happen to be sodaindustry, and they were talking about what
(29:00):
their vision is of the future, and it wasreally cool.
So we were talking about having multiplecameras over the machine, and you and I
know that one of the biggest.
aggravators if you're a packer operator isto go pick up down containers at the end
feed, right?
Especially if they happen over and overagain.
And their idea was they would have camerason the end feed cameras on the transfer
(29:23):
chains, right?
All connected to a predictive maintenanceplatform.
You know, it happened to be augury andwhere the machine would and you know would
connected to an AI.
the machine would recognize that everythree minutes you're having a down can
here at the end feed.
And then it correlates that to anothercamera upstream that shows you that when
(29:46):
you go across that plate, your canswobble.
And sometimes weevil wobbles and they dofall down, right?
I mean, just the potential of that, right?
Not that we shouldn't be fixing down cansimmediately, but that takes so much pain
away from the operator.
And the point that you made about,
with the Japanese technician set is spoton.
(30:09):
When your operators are part of themachine, right?
So they're fixing jams and they're, youknow, cleaning up scrap product and all
that.
They're not really operators.
An operator in a good line should beobserving, looking for opportunities,
looking for how to improve processes.
Not there standing up, but down containerevery three minutes.
(30:30):
Nobody likes to run a crappy line, right?
and technology is there to help change thegame.
Yeah, and technology, you mentioned anexample.
It's not the technology complicatedtechnology of the previous iterations of
technology were very difficult to installand took a lot of time and had a lot of
(30:55):
approval system changes and all that.
Right now for
the machine health or the process health,you just go glue a sensor, you wifi it to
a AI analysis, and then you get in, evenin your mobile, you get the status of the
(31:19):
entire line or whatever machine you aremonitoring, no?
So it's starting become very easy and veryeasy to access.
So I had reconnected with an old colleaguefrom my PBG days and she mentioned to me
this company that she, I think herhusband's involved in.
(31:42):
Anyway, they make a railroad cart, right?
That they literally put on the tracks andit's got sensors all over it.
So they check the dimensions of the railsas it rides over it, right?
Looking for wear, looking for cracks.
they check overhead with sensors to makesure that there aren't any tree branches
(32:03):
that are gonna hit the trains.
I looked at that and said, oh my God, canyou imagine the impact that that's gonna
have on railroad safety, right?
On preventive maintenance.
I mean, it really is very credible.
I mean, the use of drones now, right?
I have a cousin that worked for, he wasthe CIO for a sugar company in Central
(32:26):
America.
And he was sharing with me informationlike, Hey, we use drones to precise, uh,
precise application of fertilizers andwhatever other elements they add.
When they harvest sugar cane, that sugarcane is harvested at the peak of its, of
its yield.
And it is tracked all the way until itgets into the in -hen -yul.
(32:49):
So they maximize the sugar yield and it'sall done, you know, in the cloud.
Oh, it is impressive as heck.
Well, just drive a Tesla.
You see on your screen the people that isthe silhouettes of the people that is
walking in the walkway and even colorcoded.
(33:12):
Yes.
No, if it's green, it's no danger.
If it's red, it may be a danger.
No, so a lot.
It's there and I think, you know, gettingback to how do we address someone's
problem with manufacturing?
I do believe a huge percentage of it isimage, right?
(33:33):
Going back to your comment, we have animage as a dirty, grungy place.
You work a bazillion hours, you know, ifyou're in the beverage industry, we always
talk about the hundred days of summer,right?
That is literally from roughly MemorialDay to Labor Day where we do a ton of
volume, right?
Summertime.
and you just kind of run, you know thatyou may be in the plant on the 4th of
(33:55):
July, right?
And those are some sacrifices, but they'regetting less and less.
And I think the opportunity to be a partof this American manufacturing renaissance
is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I'm thrilled to see manufacturing comingback to the U .S.
And then the other point that youmentioned at the beginning, the technology
(34:16):
is a big help these days and
You should check it out guys.
The second is training and you mentionedat the beginning, no, if, if we are going
to capture the people, we need to trainour people first internally for the new
(34:38):
technology, but then we need to train thepeople that is coming from outside.
No, and there is several ways thatcompanies are finding now to train.
No? It's a college is not needed hightech, high tech is needed.
And there is different ways to, to getthat internally.
(35:01):
You can train.
I remember in one of our operations, wewere training the people internally in
small labs that we, that they themselveshelped, and they became so good that at
some point one university asked
them to, if they could bring the studentsto be trained in that.
(35:28):
And guess who were the teachers?
The operators and the mechanics that weretrained in those labs.
So that's an easy way.
And the other that I keep thinking is ifthe people that is coming from outside,
(35:48):
probably does not know a lot aboutmanufacturing in the line,
they, in these days, they are tech-savvy.
Yes, right.
No.
And it's very easy if you, if they aretech-savvy and they are not afraid of the
computer or the machine or the sensor andthey can interact, that's a big jumpstart.
(36:13):
Absolutely.
And look, it,
the technology is meeting us where welive, right?
Because there are a number ofmanufacturing, I call it information
systems, right?
That feed right into this little monsterthat we carry in our pockets, right?
This computer that we call it a phone isincredibly powerful and everybody has one.
(36:39):
I mean, I remember when cell phones kindof started coming down the shop floor, I
was like, oh, we can't have that here.
Good luck trying to stop cell phones onthe shop floor.
Now you have to manage it somehow.
More than stop them, use them.
Absolutely.
No? Absolutely.
Because you can get, as we all know, manyof our devices and reporting systems have
(37:04):
mobile capabilities.
So you could literally be walking aroundthe plant and receive a notice on your
phone that says, hey, we have detected ahigh-range vibration on
your fan X, Y, and Z.
And we think the probable cause is yourfan blades are dirty, so it's unbalanced.
Here's what, here's the fix.
Shut down, clean the fan blades, startback up.
(37:26):
And by the way, after you start up, youget a message that says your vibrational
level's back to normal.
I mean, that's right?
That beats the heck out of the oldfashioned way of your fan gets dirty, goes
out of vibration.
Imagine that example, anyone from outside.
that you tell them that they are going towork in that environment.
(37:49):
It doesn't sound tempting.
Yeah.
I want to go.
Yeah.
It's, uh, it's in my mobile.
It's different than before.
And then you can use also the technologyfor the training.
Right.
No, I'm sure you're familiar in, in withthe budddy system, no.
And you enter a new role, another personto accompany you and go with you to every
(38:16):
place and, and all that.
Now,
with the mobile, you can do it even withsomeone in other plant.
Absolutely.
That operates a machine that is identicalor similar to yours.
Right.
And can become your budddy and can tell youdo this, do that, watch out with this,
watch out with that.
(38:36):
Any questions?
No, you can even watch in the camerawhat's happening.
So technology as well is a great enablerand a great facilitator to train
the people, the internal people, and thepeople that we want to hire.
Absolutely.
I, I've experienced and it's in the earlystages, but the use of smart glasses to
(39:02):
troubleshoot equipment, right?
In the beverage industry, a lot of ourOEMs are headquartered in
Europe, and it's not easy to always getthem across.
And we started using smart glasses where atechnician can actually look at a piece of
equipment and
the technician back in Parma, Italy islooking at the same thing and can actually
(39:24):
project on the screen an arrow, hey, seethis right here?
Go check the clearances on this transfer,et cetera.
So they're hearing it auditorily.
The technician in Parma is seeing what ourtechnician is seeing and is directing
them.
I mean, that is only gonna grow.
(39:44):
And that really helps shortcut the repairprocess
and the meantime to repair.
So even, and people learn, right?
Adult, the adult learning model, right,requires, we learn differently than
children, right, when you're an adult.
And school children, we teach them thetheory first, and then we have them
(40:04):
execute.
Adults learn the other way.
So very powerful technology that I thinkis just starting to blow up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So once, once we put all this together,no, so,
we were saying, change the image of the,of the manufacturing role.
(40:25):
And that's something that we all should bedoing.
Not only in the plant and with the peoplethat it's, we are trying to hire in our
day-to-day with our families, witheveryone, we need to help change this.
So that change first, technology isbecoming a big enabler and
(40:48):
the speed that is progressing and thethings that are coming every day, a new
thing on technology and with AI, that'sgoing to even accelerate more.
And then on the third in the training isall these possibilities of training that
the technology can also bring.
(41:11):
So when we put those three together, we cangoing back to the...
report that we said, no?
So yeah, it's it's true that there is alot of change.
I was reading 50% of the people ingeneral in all industries in manufacturing
and in everything is thinking aboutchanging roles. So what's that is they want
(41:37):
new experience?
They want fun.
They want a purpose, right, and we have tooffer them exactly that.
No possibilities to train, possibilitiesto engage, possibilities to travel.
We were saying we are the heart of thecompany.
So if we do that, we should be able toattract all that people that is going out
(42:03):
of those companies or jobs into anengaging, fun, purposeful roles in
manufacturing.
But...
We have to do it all together, guys.
Folks, it's a great career, right?
I'll repeat it again, maybe more in thevernacular.
If it stunk so bad, this guy and I wouldnot have stuck around for darn near 40
(42:30):
years and then come back because we didn'tget enough.
We wanted more.
And the ability to mentor people, right?
I mean.
When I get a phone call from somebody thatI have absolutely no influence over
anymore, right?
I'm no longer the vice president of this,right?
And they're calling me up to ask foradvice or bounce something off of me.
(42:51):
My God, does that make my heart swell,right?
It makes me feel like I was able to help,right?
I made a difference.
And these people have nothing to gain fromme anymore.
And they're still calling me.
Wow, maybe they like me.
I sure did fool them!
I'm sure they like you, my friend.
I'm sure they like you.
It has been a great conversation and Ithink we leave you guys with these three
(43:18):
messages.
Let's all together try to change the imageof manufacturing that is changing.
Second, let's try to use technology asmuch as possible, as simple as the mobile
and from there.
And the third is to recruit
(43:38):
let's use also technology and let's becreative.
No, I think that mismatch could be aproblem, but it could be an opportunity if
we recognize the skills that the peoplethat are coming in are bringing with them
and mixing that with technology shouldmake the trick.
(44:02):
And with that, I hope that we startgetting
more and more people into the shops andyou guys start, well, focusing more in
innovation and mentoring and helpingpeople in the plants.
(44:22):
And by the way, the pay isn't half badeither.
Okay.
No, it's a great point.
Normally the starting point, all the restgoes on top of that.
Exactly.
Okay, great.
It has been a great podcast.
Thank you. To wrap up the episode today,
(44:43):
Just join manufacturing meetup.
If you have friends, invite them.
This is a big community.
It's not Ed and I.
This is everyone that works inmanufacturing.
This is the idea of meeting up.
If you liked the episode, please...
give us a review if you are in iTunes orlike us if you are in YouTube and please
(45:09):
share the podcast.
Agreed.
This has been a lot of fun.
If you like to keep this conversationgoing, you can email us at mmu@augury
.com.
So again, that's mmu at augury .com orfind us on the Endpoint.
It's a free online community formanufacturing pros
(45:31):
at endpoint.augury.com
We'll also have those links in the shownotes for the episode.
So hopefully we'll see you next time.
See you guys next time and great talkingto you, amigo.
Same here, my friend.
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