Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1463464
APRIL 2022 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 17 that's because of using the data analytics. at itself is value, that is money. Matties: When I was in Santa Clara, the way they loaded their factory floor was optimized to degrees that they never achieved with just a human planning their production schedule. When you start adding up the benefits, the capa- bility may also improve, you can open new mar- kets, and you can attract new customers because you are a state-of-the-art facility. e marketing benefits extend deep and wide as well. Kelly: is gets into a cost-plus discussion. Again, this is all positioning. If you go into Factory of the Future saying, "You've got to do it to be competitive and to make money," that's fine. But again, there are other issues which we're trying to raise, such as resiliency. I don't know how you put a dollar figure on resiliency, but as we know all too well today, a global supply chain model can cause havoc if you can't get the parts where they need to go. I've been trying to detail all the typical costs, but there are intangibles like the sustainability of the supply chain, or resiliency of the supply chain. ere is value in being able to continue to produce no matter the circumstances. Matties: ese days, supply chain is always questioned and that leads to insecurity. at's a topic people definitely pay attention to. Johnson: It's something you can measure in your on-time delivery to your customer. Kelly: Agreed. Johnson: Matt, we're talking as if there's reti- cence in the industry to invest and move for- ward. Earlier, you said there are plenty of com- panies doing this work, they're just not pro- moting it. If we were to generalize the indus- try, are we dealing with a lot of inertia to make this change in North America, or is it being done quietly? Kelly: In mid-2020, the implementation rate was 20%; I don't think it's much higher now, maybe 25%. Johnson: So, there are those leaders, those early adopters and then there are a lot of com- panies that are still further back on the adop- tion curve? Kelly: Yes, but it depends on geography. If you did that measurement in Europe, it would be better. In North America, it's not as good, and globally, it's still low. Hillman: I like this baseball analogy. In the movie "Moneyball," they examined what the Oakland A's did to remain competitive as a small market team. If you embrace the num- bers the way Matt is suggesting, there are examples that are even simpler to examine than using semiconductors as a parallel. But statistics scare people, they're hard to deal with. Management Commitment and Vision Matties: How do we move forward? It's a choice, obviously, that OEMs and manufac- turers need to make on whether they're going to invest the money. As you point out, Matt, at some point they're not going to have a choice; it will be a requirement to do business. Maybe they'll piecemeal it in over time? Kelly: In terms of next steps, we have the big multinationals and SMEs. at needs to be put at the top of our list because we don't want an SME in North America to roll their eyes and say, "If I only had $700 million, I'd do it." e conversation around the industry seems to be saying, "For the big multinationals, here are the types of things you can and should be doing." By the way, they probably are, and that's the stuff they're not talking about. It shows the leadership what the leading edge can do. I think the real implementation gap clo- sure can be within the SMEs in North Amer-