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. I'm looking forward to spending some time with you today, and we've been working lately on EECO Asks why about the topic of smart manufacturing. It's a fun topic to talk about. It's a fun topic to write about. We do it all at an electrical equipment company and we've been really working through why now is the time to lean in hard to smart manufacturing, how so much has evolved over time in the modern manufacturing plant, how the power of Ethernet has changed so much from connectivity standpoint. It's absolutely unreal when you go into manufacturing plants these days and the level of technology that's just on the plant floor blows you away. And to do that, though, sometimes, if you're in older manufacturing, there has to be a progression you have to really think through. If you're in older manufacturing. There has to be a progression. You have to really think through how you're going to get if you want to get from A to B the steps to get there effectively. So we talked about smart devices in our last episode if you go back and listen to that one. But today what we want to do is really give you three practical ways to begin your smart manufacturing journey and you're going to see you'll want to do these steps in consecutive order.

Okay, we're going to really walk with you. Why? Because the whole journey of smart manufacturing starts long before the first device is replaced or a new panel is installed. As exciting as those moments are, right, it really begins with clarity and understanding where you are. You can't go anywhere until you know where you are currently right and where you're at right now. You also need to address the current condition and where there are. Gaps are between where you are and where you need to be. Once you know what they really truly are and hard data, then you can take steps. So at an electrical equipment company, we believe the smart investment to help you get started is what we call an installed asset analysis, and we're going to really walk with you on why that's important to help get your plant future ready. So you may be in a facility that has aging infrastructure, with you on why that's important to help get your plant future ready. So you may be in a facility that has aging infrastructure, or you could just be responding to growth opportunities Phenomenal problem to have right. Or maybe you're just trying to align to the corporate sustainability and digital transformation goals, whatever they may be. These types of processes we're going to walk through today are going to really give you some insight to visibility, as well as a roadmap to move forward confidently, because that's what it's all about moving forward with confidence.

Ok, so now first thing we need to do is define the truth. We need to understand what is true inside your plan, and if you build your whole strategy on assumptions, you're behind, and I know there's something to be said about. You know tribal knowledge and I totally get there's power in that, but you can't build the entire strategy around that, because one of the most valuable tools that you have is that your fingertips but many people forget it is a detailed, honest assessment of your installed electrical and control assets. That's where it starts, so the installed asset analysis. That's where that gets delivered right there with that. So it's a structured, objective view Okay, that's the big key word an objective view of your facilities, electrical and control infrastructure. Now we're talking from anywhere, from your storerooms to control panels, to motor control centers, to PLC cabinets, panel boards you get it Across the board. And the interesting part I've been involved with several of these throughout the years is the revelation that is found when you go through and you do this. I've heard people say I didn't even know that was there. Like, wait, those drives should have been placed years ago. Well, we really need to get that replacement MCC on the next capital plan right.

All these things start coming up when you take the time to look at it and it makes sense. Let's think about it. People retire, they just do. Production lines are reconfigured, new equipment is brought into the manufacturing facility and if you don't have consistent documentation or doing some periodic assessments, you're going to fall. These systems could fall into disrepair or become dangerously outdated. This is where this process really jumps in and helps you, and it gives you a necessary truth, one that allows you to clearly prioritize what needs to be done and then that can help you with your strategic planning moving forward, because aging equipment increases the risk of unplanned downtime as well as safety hazards, and we know, at the end of the day, it's all about getting our people home safely and if that equipment gets older, it's not going to operate as efficiently as you hope. So, if all these things are playing together, what it really is doing it's limiting your ability to collect, interpret and to act on real-time data, and that's essential for any smart manufacturing journey.

Okay, so this is again peace of mind. We're not talking about inventory. Let's clear the air. This is not inventory assessment. This is a blueprint for progress. So now you will want to, okay, chris. Well, what's included in install asset analysis? Why I'm so glad you asked? Okay, because the depth and scope of your analysis really depends on your objectives and that's the beauty of this, as someone who's worked through several of these because some manufacturers were going to focus narrowly on control panels or PLCs, or others choose to be more broadly, electrically focused. Right, but regardless of the objectives, here's where you want to get to. You want to get to a risk analysis?

Okay, identifying the devices that are near, or maybe getting close, to the end of life, and then start evaluating what the potential failure is Like if this piece of equipment goes down, what does that impact to me? How is that going from dollar cents and time? Okay, then condition assessment you want to be looking at items like thermal issues or environmental protection, ceiling, physical integrity. You know, does the door get ready to fall off if you open it right? You need to understand these things in performance. Then protection in that assessment, when you're dealing with all things electrical, you need to understand the short circuit potential, the overload potential, the coordination capabilities, everything coordinated to operate correctly, because that's what it's about.

Then criticality Not every asset have the same level of essential operations for your plan, and you know that. But do you have them defined on a list where you can clearly help you make decisions? And then, how about your inventory analysis? Do you understand with your inventory right now what's obsolete, what's surplus? And here's the one that gets missed often what are the gaps in the critical spares? If you know the gaps in the critical spares, hey, then at that point at least you're in control of potentially what could happen. The problem is very often, if things fail and you don't have it spare on the shelf and you didn't know that you don't have it, what happens, temperature in the room just goes up, and all of these things also.

When you do installed asset analysis, it helps you work to capital planning and gets you really prioritized on upgrades. It helps you have those budget conversations that you know you're going to be into Right and you can have a budget conversation based on urgency and strategic value, not opinion. And when you come into a meeting with that, with that type of information, you're setting yourself up for success, because it's not. We need to recognize, too, that not all installed asset analysis are the same. Installed asset analysis are the same. Again, some vendors that we've worked with have very detailed component level reviews and others offer in-depth assessments of automation components and power systems. The key is choosing a partner, like an electrical equipment company, who can come in and align the type of service directly to your most specific needs and get very, very granular. Okay, we want to understand your risk talents. We want to help you with your modernization goals. All that Because, again, at the end of the day, it's more than just a spreadsheet with a list of equipment.

That's not a ton of value, but the deliverables of what you should expect need to be clear. They also need to be very custom and they need to be structured around how your plant operates. So maybe you want to think about it I always talked about maybe we need to focus on a machine or a control panel itself, or a production line or any grouping, a control set, if you will. That makes sense to your team. And then again those reports should come back to you with a very detailed inventory of those assets, broken down by the current condition, the end of life. What does that look like? What's the functional risk for those items? Are they obsolescence? Are they no longer supported? If they're no longer supported, what does that even mean? Okay, where do I need to go if this item is no longer supported? What does that cross look like? So we can do an upgrade. And then also, you want to be getting some recommendations to help me prioritize upgrades, because it can be overwhelming.

When you get all this data, where do you start? Again, electrical equipment company, we can step in and we can help you with this. And we want to help give you a summary of risk and improvement opportunities, as well as that critical spares gap. You need to know what those are. So we want to give you that analysis, just so you can be aware. Hey, based off of what we found in the plant, based off what we were able to identify in your storage, here are your gaps. Now, some of the gaps you may be comfortable with. Let it roll, buddy, because if that goes down, we got plenty of time, those are plenty available, we can get them anytime, but some of those items, if they go down, it's a big deal. It's a major disruptor, and what we want to help you identify are what are those potential major disruptors, so that you can manage it instead of having to react to it.

Okay, now, all this stuff needs also to come around a post debrief. Don't want to just give you a spreadsheet. Hey, thank you for your business. No, that's not how we roll. We want to help you because this is your launch pad, not just for modernization, but for strategic decision-making, particularly around maintenance, your capital investments and overall system reliability. Okay, so think about that as step one, getting started with that asset analysis. Then what we're going to do is we're going to explore some possibilities with what we like to call a smart tech review, because once that assessment is complete, the next step is start evaluating technologies, because we want to see what technologies align with your overall needs and objectives.

And this smart tech review does just that. It helps you visualize the future and see how smart devices can improve diagnostics, connectivity, performance, maintainability. This is really where your vendor, your installed asset analysis and invite potential manufacturers that can demonstrate real, applicable solutions for your environment and bring that together to let you see this right. This needs to be immersive. This needs to be hands-on. You need to be able to demonstrate directly how technology is going to improve functional performance, first and foremost okay. Then you need to understand to demonstrate directly how technology is going to improve functional performance, first and foremost, ok. Then you need to understand, ok, what diagnostics and operational data is available based off of that, and then, ultimately, how. How is all this going to connect and control to your control system? You need to be able to do that, because having data for data sakes and you can't actually do anything with that data you know that's madness.

And then, really, when rubber meets the road, how is the solution that we're going to try to provide you and help you with? How does it get set up, how is it programmed and what is the ongoing maintenance responsibility for that? And this is where smart tech reviews come into play and again, this is an often overlooked area, because this is a great way to broaden your perspective and broaden your team as well. Involved. Start bringing in control engineers and maintenance technicians and IT techs all these things, because these are different skill sets that we're going to need in the smart manufacturing facility. Right, but with the right preparation, a technology demo could be a creative workshop for you. See how that works and it helps your team start to imagine all the possibilities that are out there now and how to get there. All right. So the smart tech review is so crucial.

Now, third step, told you, we're going to give you three steps One, two, three. That's the way we roll. Progression planning OK, we're going to be building that path to the future. Now that you know what you have, you need to know, okay, what could you have. Okay, you need to build that progression plan and what we're going to do. We're going to bridge these things together, because progression planning outlines how your facility will modernize over time, both through the big capital projects Big capital projects, don't get me wrong, they're immensely important, absolutely critical but also through incremental upgrades, because what you're going to be doing, if you take this approach.

It's going to ensure that every replacement is a step forward, because what you don't want to do or try to minimize let's say that's probably better said that way are take lateral moves. Sometimes you do have to take lateral moves, totally get it, but ideally, on a smart manufacturing journey, you're moving the ball down the field. You're moving the ball down the field. Now, if you have to move to the side a little bit just so that you can go down later, that's part of it. But it's really about planning with purpose, because this is not progression plans. It's not just about replacing hardware. It's about standardizing on smarter, collected devices that will help you achieve this operational excellence.

Now, these plans are typically multi-year capital investment plans. They're going to have some time there. You're going to have standards for device selection and integration, and these standards need to be some time there. You're going to have standards for device selection and integration, and these standards need to be adhered to. So those standards, what they're said, you need to make sure they're being followed through by all the people involved, based from procurement to quotes, to installation. They also need to establish data and information requirements based off your goals. That needs to be part of the criteria process and to get that, you got to involve more people across different departments to ensure that alignment, because nothing's going to throw it down faster than oh, they didn't ask me. No, go ahead, be collaborative here. Okay.

And if you do this, upgrade opportunities are going to be starting to turn into innovative opportunities, and that's when it gets fun. So it really starts by asking the right questions what knowledge do we need to operate more effectively? What do we not know that if we did know, we'd change everything. And then what insights from that could improve your uptime and energy usage or product quality? And how can you capture and leverage that information? All these important areas, ok.

So there are going to be hurdles? Ok, because there are challenges in any project like this. You don't have challenges around equipment access, like how can you physically get to the equipment sometimes, or how can you safely open the equipment when it's operating. These are challenges Production, downtime or resource availability. It's just if every plant had all the resources it needs, it'd be a utopia. We know that doesn't exist, but if you had the right team and you had the right structure and methodology, these things can be managed. And that's where experts like these things can be managed, and that's where experts like Electrical Equipment Company can step in and help with a blended team of your plant personnel and our professionals. And if you do that, with the right, proper planning which we do this all the time man, this can be done with minimal disruption and maximum impact. Man, this can be done with minimal disruption and maximum impact.

Okay, so again, don't let perfection I would encourage you here Don't let that perfection be the enemy of progress. A complete analysis of your assets doesn't have to happen all at once. Start small Again, I was really big. One of the things that impacted me on EcoSY, if you guys remember, one of the guests one time said think big and act small. So start small. Maybe it's a simple storm review or specific control panels or just your highest risk area and you just want to have a sleep a little bit better at night, knowing what's in that high risk area. Start there, build some momentum and then expand as you go, because this is not a single project. Again, this is a progression, but it does start with understanding where you are presently and at ECO we're here to help you really get clear on what that starting point is and walk with you through the entire journey From asset analysis to the smart tech review to the progression planning. You don't have to do this blindly, you don't. You can modernize smart with purpose, with strategy and with clarity, and we want to help you.

So, again, if you found this encouraging, if it's something that you think you would like to learn more about specifically with our services at Electrical Equipment Company, go check out the links in this particular episode. We'll have links directly where you can contact us. We'd love to come in and just have a conversation, understand where you're at, maybe even help you get clarity on where you should start where you're at, maybe even help you get clarity on where you should start. Sometimes just a simple walk through a plant and listening and hearing your areas of concern will be enough for us to identify. Hey, based off of what you told us, why don't we look at this type of analysis over here for you and you know what those little small steps are great ways to get started in a truly meaningful way. So go check out the show notes. We'll have all that. We'd love to connect with you. These types of services we do across the country.

If you're listening to me and you're in electrical equipment companies service area. We can help you with this. Ok, from the small to the big, we are ready to jump in and serve and help get you started on your own smart manufacturing journey. So thank you for listening. Hey, I would also encourage you to share this stuff out Eco SY when the episodes come out, share it out with your team, share it out with other teams, encourage them to check it out. Show notes have. We'll have all the links we have the ways you can connect with us on LinkedIn, the way you can get started with an installed asset analysis, the way you can get started with your EcoOnline online account. We want to get you started with your own account so that you can go in and start evaluating some of these products and things like that that we have online for you. So, again, ecoonlinecom is where you get started with that.

Okay, if you don't mind, give us a rating and review for the podcast. That does help promote the podcast. That would be great. But the main thing, the absolute most important thing, is connect with us. We are here to serve, we're here to help and if you think that you're ready to start your own smart manufacturing journey, we're ready to come alongside, kind of as your guide, if you will, to give you that confidence to step forth and be the hero that we know that you are All right. Thank you so much for listening, for hanging out today. Again, all your feedback's great. Look forward to seeing you next time and 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.