Welcome to Eco Ask why a podcast that dives into industrial manufacturing topics and spotlights the heroes that keep America running. I'm your host, chris Granger, and on this podcast, we do not cover the latest features and benefits on products that come to market. Instead, we focus on advice and insight from the top minds of industry, because people and ideas will be how America remains number one in manufacturing in the world. Welcome to EECO Asks why. I'm your host, chris Granger. Welcome to 2025. This is our first episode of the new year. I'm so excited to be here with you again, just looking forward to as we unpack the new year. We're going to be really walking through a topic that's near and dear to my heart and I think it's going to be to a lot of our listeners as well, and that's smart manufacturing. And right now the year 2025, now is the time to take the lead out there. The evolution, the importance of smart manufacturing is what we're going to be talking about really over the next several months as we move forward. So today for this episode, we're just going to dip our toes in the water and get started and kind of look at some of the reasons why this is important and, as I look back through my career, you know several decades in industrial manufacturing.

Incremental improvements were made in industrial automation and power management, specifically in industrial automation and power management. Specifically. Start thinking back to maybe the late 80s or early 90s, and so many of those innovations brought breakthroughs that reshaped how we work. Just think about the PLC system. I mean it's unbelievable where that thing has just blossomed and blown up. And HMI interfaces and as you start thinking about how people engaged and interacted with equipment, major leaps in that automation right. But then, after the dust settled, progress in some sense it slowed down and for years innovation felt somewhat incremental at the best. But that era is over. I mean that is fully over now. Because now what we see, with the surge of Ethernet adoption, combining that with the lower hardware cost, you have an entirely new playing field. And that's an exciting thing as we enter 2025 to think about, particularly in industrial manufacturing. Because we're not just talking about the days where you're just revisiting or replacing old device net stuff. No, no, today smart devices are changing the game, literally changing the game, and they're embedded with with advanced diagnostics as well as HTML based interfaces that make the integration and the ability to utilize that data greater than ever before, and now you even have drag and drop capability and connectivity that engineers and technicians can really pull plant data straight to their phone or to their tablet and make decisions in the moment to their phone or to their tablet and make decisions in the moment. So we're talking about a whole new era of freedom freedom to design, freedom to connect, freedom to innovate without any of the barriers that were once in place. So it's a really, really great time and we're so excited as we move forward with ECO here.

I want ECO Ask why to share some of the things that maybe just if you weren't aware about to put them in front on your radar. And if you have questions, always we're here to support, we're here to help. Ok, because smart manufacturing matters. It is such a big deal and there is a sobering reality that we need to really address if we want to think about this intelligently as we move forward. But much of our electrical infrastructure in the US is aging and reaching some obsolescence and that's a daunting statement, for sure, but it also think about it from the glass half full.

There's an enormous opportunity out there to modernize, to innovate and to lead, and smart manufacturing it's not a trend. Smart manufacturing? It's not a trend. No, it's not a trend. It's a fundamental shift that's going to redefine operations for decades in the future. And if you go looking through some of the experts out there, like the National Institute of Standards and Technology, smart innovation the way they define it involves fully integrated Think about that Fully integrated collaborative manufacturing systems so they're integrated, they're collaborating that respond in real time to meet the changing demands and conditions. So, simply put, this is empowering you as a business in manufacturing to adapt to the speed of today's market Not yesterday or not tomorrow, but today While improving your efficiency, your safety and your profitability. That's crazy when you start thinking about it Really. Fully integrated, collaborative manufacturing, real-time response that's what smart manufacturing is all about.

And for engineers and technicians as you move forward, I don't know a more exciting time that exists than right now, because you have all this new technology and it's bringing so many things to the forefront. First of all, it's bringing some freedom out there to experiment with new stuff, to test, to innovate, to implement some incremental changes that deliver measurable improvements. This is also a great time because you have so much more improved connectivity. I remember the days where you're trying to get devices to talk to each other. It was so frustrating. It would just take you hours upon hours to get a drive to talk to a PLC or whatever have you. And today it doesn't exist because Ethernet IP standardization makes the installation and integration really point and click. It's that simple. And then you have data on demand because you have advanced data collection applications and this is allowing the plant for data that's just out there was previously just sitting to now flow and flow seamlessly to the higher level MES or ERP systems. It's unbelievable the type of data that we're able to get off the plant floor right now. And the even cooler part is much of this now is brought into a mobile integration because we all know the smartphone has changed just our culture in general. So now you can get real time insights and you don't have to be in a control room. You could be literally on the floor with your equipment. It's unbelievable, floor with your equipment. It's unbelievable and eco.

What our goal is with these episodes and upcoming information we're trying to put out is to be your trusted guide to navigate the journey, because if you're out there and you're trying to do this by yourself, it can be daunting. So, if you're trying to test a single smart device, or maybe you're doing a major overhaul and upgrade, our team has the expertise and the tools you need to move forward with confidence. So, look, we're going to make sure on this episode. Go check out the show notes because we're going to have a link to our smart manufacturing guide that is going to really be a staple piece for you as you move forward.

So the challenge that exists in smart manufacturing is really getting started at times, because for many, the vision of smart manufacturing can really be overwhelming and you'll hear buzzwords out there. I hear them all the time Industry 4.0 or connected enterprise and you start thinking about those buzzwords and it can be overwhelming to the point where, like, I don't even know where to start. Are you kidding me? Like, how much is this going to cost? How much time is this going to take me? How hard is it going to be? And some of those questions result in just fear and paralyzation and you're not moving and they stall any momentum. But the good news is what we're here to tell you today is it doesn't have to be that way, because we work alongside lots of engineering teams, lots of E&I technicians, professionals and lots of frontline decision makers, and we've learned along the way how you can simplify the journey. This is what we want to share with you today, to kind of give you a high-level overview, because we're going to break. We break down smart manufacturing journeys into three processes or three approaches. Rather Okay, they're very practical, they can be implemented inside your plant.

The first one, the first step, is to start small. I go back to a conversation I had with Tessa Myers from Rockwell Automation a few years ago. She told me she said think big, act small. That was so salient. Start small. So think about a manageable project, maybe on a specific part of the line or one machine or one cell in the plant, and focus on that because those small wins if you, if done correctly, builds what builds confidence also can build momentum. Next thing you know you can be building your advocates that you need inside your facility to move to larger projects. So so start small.

Number two be practical. Be practical because it's about progression, not perfection. Say that again Progression, not perfection. So look for gaps in performance or areas you know you can make an impact and, instead of trying to eat the whole elephant at once, make little improvements, increments, progression and then make sure you can, whenever possible this is so important, so many people forget this tie everything back to the plant goals, to the overall goals, like cascading objectives. Tie it all back Now.

Number three work within your limits, because authority does matter within manufacturing plants. So implement changes that align with the corporate standards. What's coming on, while delivering those real results. You know if you, if you're, if you're trying to to to just boil through something and you're, you're creating enemies. That's not going to serve you well. But if you take this simple process of starting small experiment, prove it, prove stuff out Sometimes we have to prove it out to ourselves right Then we need to be practical, thinking about that progression over to perfection it's not about being perfect. It's about progressing and making things incrementally better and then working within our limits, recognizing that authority does matter. These are small steps that will help you achieve some of these smart manufacturing goals, and we're here to help you along the way.

Now I want to encourage you. 2025 is the year you need to take action. You just can't wait because global competition is advancing. It just is. And if you act now as a company, you're going to be leading the way is. And if you act now as a company, you're going to be leading the way, because there are surveys all the way back to a decade ago now that said only 13% of US manufacturers have adopted any smart manufacturing. Now, hopefully, that's changed a lot recently, but the ones that did back then 82% saw an increase in efficiency, 49% saw fewer defects and 45% had higher customer satisfaction. Now I don't know about you, but those are some stats I can get behind In eco. We can help you bridge the gap Because, for one thing at your disposal, if you're listening to this and you're in a service area, you have decades and I do mean decades of experience in automation, power systems, smart device integration, sending on staff ready to serve, and we have proven strategies and solution sets and tools and ways that we can come in and help you position your operations for success, because this is not an overnight transformation.

Let's just be clear about this Smart manufacturing is hard. It's not something you're just going to click your fingers to be done, but it does happen when you take progressive, intentional steps towards a smarter, more resilient future. Now, whether you're leveraging that Ethernet IP for seamless connectivity, which we highly recommend, or you're using data collection apps for better decision making, or you're starting to enable some of those mobile integrations which we see more and more customers and manufacturers out there doing that. The tools you need are really at your fingertips right now and what we're here at ECO to do is to help you get started, help you start formalizing that plan, help you think through the initial idea of starting small. We used to call that in the motor world that I came from. You know, picking a control set. We'll pick a control set of assets that we want to focus on and start small.

But the big thing that so many can get hung up on is when to start, and my encouragement to you and the electrical equipment company's encouragement to you is starting now and whatever that step is starting now and we're here to walk beside you and to journey alongside you with this, because we recognize it can be daunting. It can be so you need an expert to come alongside to maybe take that stress away. Think about some of the greatest movies out there. There's always a problem Right, and then typically with that problem, at some point in the movie in comes a guide and the guide is not the hero of the story. That would make no sense, nobody would want to see a movie like that. No, you are the hero of the story. The guide is here to equip, to come alongside, to prepare, to be there to answer your questions. And that is exactly what Electrical Equipment Company is. We are the guide coming alongside to be your partner in this smart manufacturing journey.

My question to you is are you ready to lead the way? I really hope you are and seriously check out the show notes for this episode in particular, because we're going to have lots of resources on smart manufacturing as we move into 2025. Each month, we're going to have more and more content coming out to serve you, to help you think through this, to help you think maybe I should start here, or what are some limiting factors over here. We're going to be unpacking those for you at length, okay, so again, head over to ECO online, that's E-C-O online, and get started today For one. Get your online account set up For E-engineers out there, e&i technicians out there, or even procurement whoever's listening out there. You need to have your account set up so that you can log in, you can engage with our platform, because it has been just amazing to see the leaps and bounds, enhancements and improvements we've been able to make, not because we're trying to do anything self-serving. We want to serve you better. We we've been able to make, not because we're trying to do anything self-serving. We want to serve you better. We want to connect with you better, and you can only access that and get those insights when you're inside our system. So, again, ecoonlinecom and then check out the show notes as well to download your smart manufacturing guide today, so that you can take that first step towards transformation. So we're excited to be here again with you this year in 2025 at Electrical Equipment Company and EcoASKY.

Thank you for listening so much over the years. It's just been an honor. One thing you could do is give us a rating and review. That helps, for sure. And then the biggest thing is share this out with fellow technicians or fellow workers within industrial manufacturing. That would enjoy hearing these insights, these thoughts, these reflections as you move forward. And we're here to help, we're here to serve. We'll make sure we have links also so you can connect with our labs directly. So if you want to see some of the smart manufacturing technology, if you want to play with it, if you want to test it, we had the proving, the stomping grounds for you to go out and test your cases and prove them for yourselves to make that integration even less friction and even less scary.

All right, so thank you again for watching, thanks again for listening. Subscribe, share with others and look forward to seeing you next time. So you know what's coming by now, don't you Remember to keep asking why? Thank you for listening to. Eeco Asks why this show is supported ad-free by Electrical Equipment Company. Eeco is redefining the expectations of an electrical distributor by placing people and ideas before products. Please subscribe and share with your colleagues and friends. Also leave comments, feedback and any new topics that you would like to hear. To learn more or to share your insights, visit EECOASYcom. That's E-E-C-O-A-S-K-S-W-H-Ycom.