Our most popular posts have been about the need for a manufacturing consultant. We discussed what a manufacturing consultant does, the characteristics of a great manufacturer, and whether manufacturing consultants are worth the money.
As AI in manufacturing promises (or threatens, depending on your perspective) to make many jobs obsolete, you may wonder if there is a need for manufacturing consultants in the new world of manufacturing.
AI in the Manufacturing Industry is Just a Tool
Any company that manufactures products can still gain valuable insight and improvements in its operations from consultants, which cannot be replicated by AI. AI in manufacturing offers benefits like enhancing efficiency, reducing human error, and enabling predictive maintenance, but it is used to solve specific problems and is not an end solution. The strategic insights and tailored guidance provided by experienced consultants remain crucial in navigating complex manufacturing challenges and driving sustainable growth.
The Human Edge: AI’s Lack of Discernment in Manufacturing
AI cannot solve your manufacturing challenges but can help you find and implement solutions. Though its results can be impressive, AI does not have the key element needed to solve a problem: Judgment. AI cannot understand the problem holistically, use a combination of discernment, experience, and skill to find a solution, and certainly not implement that solution.
A manufacturing consultant discerns manufacturing challenges to understand the mixture of people, technology, and processes needed to reach a client’s objectives. MTG has worked on a project of that nature. Our client had a successful product and seeks to expand capacity and market share. However, their operations were held back by poor planning, lax process control, and poor communication.
What are the Benefits of AI in Manufacturing?
How can AI help this client? AI tools can automate orders when inventory stock reaches a certain point, automate paint processes, and generate work instructions for each process. They can also accomplish many of these activities better than humans can. AI can be part of the “Poke Yoke” (mistake proofing), which every manufacturing facility should implement wherever possible.
How AI Can Be Used in Manufacturing
An example of AI used in Poke Yoke is Overview.ai, a partner with MTG, which provides a device that uses AI to “learn” what a compliant product looks like and can adapt as it inspects new quality issues that it was not initially programmed to find. It is difficult for human operators to inspect every unit successfully. Even for a product as delicate as nuclear weapons parts, mistakes are routine. Will AI still make mistakes? Yes, but the models in development are constantly evolving, and the odds of a mistake are much lower.
The Importance of Human Experience with AI Tools
A good manufacturing consultant will include AI as one of the many methods and technologies they employ to meet their clients’ needs. At MTG, we constantly learn and add more tools to our repertoire to solve various problems.
It takes experience and an outside perspective to use these tools effectively. That is why we do not recommend AI tools, automation, lean, or Six Sigma, in every circumstance. It varies depending on the situation. A consultant who does not use AI tools is a relic and too stuck in old methods to advance.
The Over-reliance of AI in Manufacturing
The opposite, however, is also true. Consultants touting AI as the solution to all problems should not be trusted. These individuals are too beholden to fads and not using the things humans have, perspective and discernment, to solve your manufacturing challenge. They have one hammer and see your problem as another nail.
AI's Role in Manufacturing: A Tool, Not a Cure-All
See AI for what it is and what it is not. It is a tool that can achieve powerful results with human judgement and experience. Do not believe that it can solve all your manufacturing problems. Find where it can best help you achieve value for your business. A manufacturing consultant can help you figure out what that might be.
Interested in how CMC is leveraging AI in manufacturing? Learn more about how we can support manufacturing processes below.
