Manufacturing & Mobility LIVE: A Virtual Event to Celebrate

Yesterday was Manufacturing & Mobility LIVE, our virtual event full of speakers, panels and insights about the world of global manufacturing.

With over 500 attendees, it was a day of exciting networking, discussion and fireside chats 

Topics ranged from deep AI algorithms to economic circularity to additive manufacturing to the future of EV mobility. 

Sponsored by OneMagnify, Nuveen and Snowflake, Manufacturing & Mobility LIVE was voted a 9.2/10 event by attendees.

If you want to watch some of it's incredible highlights, you can freely do so here.

But if you'd like to learn more about what went on first, stay as we explore this further below. 

Helena Jochberger of CGI's keynote on manufacturing ecosystems

One of the highlights of the event was Helena Jochberger's Vice-President, Global Lead Manufacturing, CGI's keynote on manufacturing ecosystems. 

Kicking off the event, her keynote address addressed how digitalisation, sustainability and the growth of data is fundamentally altering these ecosystems, giving critical advice on how manufacturers can best respond and adapt. 

She touched on the growth of nonphysical supply chains within manufacturing, where the upstream and downstream movement of physical components is accompanied by nonphysical processes such as the movement of data. 

Helena emphasized that capitalising on these data ecosystems in a structured, strategic manner was critical for manufacturers seeking to grow and remain competitive today.

"Data-driven ecosystems hold immense potential for innovation, growth, and sustainability," she said.

"But they need playing rules, trust, and a common language of standards to adhere to in order to develop and evolve successfully." 

She argued what will fuel this is proper data management and strategy, saying the industry must "do our homework" in order to mitigate challenges surrounding value and trust.

"A factor that holds us back in data management is the will to collaborate," she said. 

" Be that trust or mistrust, we need to be able to constructively answer the question of what everyone can gain." 

With this collective approach in mind, she called on all manufacturers- in particular SME's- to embrace the digitisation and the subsequent future of manufacturing ecosystems.

You can watch her full keynote address here.

Highlight: sustainable manufacturing with 3M

In an era where sustainability is at the forefront of manufacturing discussions, another highlight was the event's sustainable manufacturing forum. 

With speakers Sean Wu, former Senior VP Manufacturing and Supply Chain APAC at 3M and Rodney Duran, Area Vice President, Manufacturing Practice Head at L&T Technology Services the engaging panel delved into a diversity of discussions surrounding how manufacturing can create a sustainable future.

Touching on waste management, renewables, strategies to reduce environmental impact and carbon cutting initiatives, Rodney and Sean had a wealth of fascinating insights to share. 

On the topic of waste management, Rodney emphasized that it's more than just a strategic approach- it's also an organisational mindset.

“ the best way to address waste is at its source," he said. 

"If you can reduce it there than for sure you will have the results you want. If the equipment stops immediately once its down and it turns everything off, the energy conservation mode is a mindset we need to teach. You need to teach your maintenance team and operations so waste efficiency becomes part of their daily bread."

Sean expanded on this, sharing his perspective on how to best scale waste management in manufacturing environments. 

“ Most manufacturing environments adopt the lean sigma approach," he said. 

"When you look at the manufacturing waste you can apply both to process and material waste. You need to apply all your tools and processes to look at reducing the waste. You need a platform to be able to share these findings across global operations. This is exactly what 3M is doing, providing a platform to share these best practices.” 

Both executives also shared some vital advice on what should inform sustainability strategies. 

Rodney noted that the companies that struggle more with sustainability " feel that it's an obligation rather than a purpose", stressing that reasons for sustainable change need to run deeper than regulatory compliance.

Sean also elaborated on the importance of companies creating targeted sustainability strategies, adapting to " their unique products, processes and market." 

You can watch the full forum here.

Highlight: A fireside with Amir Vaziri, Head of Customer Development, PhysicsX

A standout highlight of the event was the fireside address by Amir Vaziri, Head of Customer Development, PhysicsX on deep AI physics models. 

In this eye opening fireside, he discussed how deep physics models using AI are revolutionising engineering, generating practical manufacturing geometries and creating new ways to quickly analyse the performance of components.

"These big physics models can capture as much non-linearity and innovation as possible," he said. “ we want to infuse AI at scale across organisations, across these developmental stages. It will bring accelerated time to market, improved product performance and reduced product cost.”

A fascinating peek into the complexity of digital design and AI's influence on the area, Amir discussed how using AI PhysicsX had optimised the performance of automotive cooling systems, heart pumps and complex 3D printing machines. 

Amir emphasized the importance of providing scalable manufacturing value through AI, going beyond potential use cases. 

"We want to see our customers seeing that value, that going through this process we can provide a geography that is manufacturable," he said.

"We don’t want this to be an exercise, we want this to be something that our clients can realise the value of."

You can watch Amir's full keynote address here.

Stay tuned as we gear up for our in-person event in 2025, 'The Net Zero Factory of The Future' hosted in Chicago, US on the 4-5 June.

Co-located with Sustainability LIVE Chicago and Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Chicago, secure your early bird ticket today to access all three exciting events.

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Make sure you check out the latest edition of Manufacturing Digital and also sign up to our global conference series - Procurement & Supply Chain 2024 & Sustainability LIVE 2024
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