Sam Waes on Smart Industry Transformation and Manufacturing

During the early 2000s, Orange as a company was synonymous – at least in the UK – with Orange Mobile. 

You had a plan on your phone, a compact, chunky model that perfectly embodied the transition between early 90s telecommunications and the landscape post-Apple. This phone probably had a touch screen and clunky button combination and a build that felt indestructible in the way people joke today about the trusty Nokia.

But Orange, like the images of rising suns and growing fires associated with its name, has expanded far beyond telecommunications.

Emerging as a bold global digital transformation and consultancy partner, this company addresses the needs of consumers and leading companies across a diversity of sectors.

On the business side is the aptly named Orange Business, which addresses the digital transformation needs of industries like manufacturing.

During a recent trip to the company's offices in Slough, UK, Manufacturing Digital sat down with Sam Weiss, Head of Smart Industries Europe, to discuss his career path, what sets Orange Business apart from other digital transformation partners and the technologies and trends changing the manufacturing industry.

The path to Orange Business

Sam joined Orange Business in 2021 as a Business and Innovation Consultant and currently leads its Smart Industries division in Europe. 

With more than 20 years of experience, he has contributed to various sectors including manufacturing, construction machinery, advanced materials, space, innovation and startups. 

“I have a background as an industrial designer,” Sam says, referencing his master's degree in Product Design & Innovation. 

“Developing new stuff is what I've been doing throughout my whole career, in the sense that I started working in a compressor manufacturer to design new compressors.”

His responsibilities included working in a concurrent design facility (CDF) to implement designs into production, produce prototypes and handle calculations. 

After working in this engineering-heavy environment, Sam gained experience in e-learning and training, spending seven years in the communications industry. Afterwards, he moved into manufacturing, looking at the integration of sustainability into business practices, which he did for 17 years. 

"We didn't call it that at that time,” he says, reflecting on the rise of sustainability when he worked at a compressor manufacturer.  "But it was about setting up a used equipment business, buying back compressors, selling them, and handling the communication around that.” 

But what truly interested Sam was innovation. He soon began working on a consultancy basis with large manufacturers, focusing on integrating internet capabilities. 

"I was the internet coordinator for the factory," Sam recalls, "which sounds really stupid and silly now because there was one person who had internet access. I was involved in communication projects, in supply chain projects, in sourcing projects, in optimisation projects – all linking things to the internet.

"I've always been touching IT topics. But actually, for a long time, I didn't want to move into IT, so I've always been on the OT side. But then I got the call from Orange Business.” 

Making a mark at Orange Business

Starting out in business innovation consulting at Orange Business, Sam had the opportunity to work in both worlds, bringing his IT and OT knowledge together. 

This meant he was uniquely poised to address some growing concerns in the manufacturing industry.

“Things moved very fast,” Sam says. "I was asked to do an internal study about how we should look at and work with the manufacturing industry. So I did this and got the chance to execute the advice I laid out, all coming from 25 years of experience in many different domains and companies, always with an OT operation-driven focus.”

This operational technology focus continued as Sam expanded into further client work, including running a technology transfer network for the European Space Agency. 

He explains: "I had 15 brokers in different countries, a network where we looked at technology, how can you innovate with technology and how can you apply that technology again into industries, into manufacturing.”

At Orange Business, Sam relished the opportunity to work with customers on bringing OT and IT technology together, finding solutions to enhance user and company experience. 

Such solutions are sometimes overlooked opportunities – common technologies that can provide impressive, innovative results.

“Every day I talk and work together with customers to see how they can use common technology,” Sam continues. 

“Remote access, for example. It sounds like a very, very obvious thing, but if you talk from an OT and IT point of view, it can bring incredible transition and change to a factory. People can work more flexibly, everything can be coordinated and organised better and everything can be seen. You can optimise your factory so much easier without needing people to constantly visit the factory floor. So this, for me, is also innovation.”

However, introducing new forms of innovation is rarely a smooth process. Change always comes with challenges, the biggest of which tends to involve convincing stakeholders that upheaval and uncertainty will eventually lead to positive results.

In the manufacturing industry, where companies need to maintain continuous operations and consistent, reliable output, this is doubly true. 

“Creating the change or helping to create the change is what motivates me,” Sam says. “Because there's always initially a bit of resistance and hesitancy. I embrace that challenge and the opportunity to get people together. This is what I’ve been doing a lot as a consultant.” 

Sam is used to working in multidisciplinary teams, bringing together people from different departments to solve common company-wide challenges. 

He has the experience required to communicate with a wide range of stakeholders to highlight the importance of digital transformation.

“I've done the engineering, I've done the factory implementation, I've done the communication, I've done the marketing,” says Sam. “All of this helps me bring people together and create change in the environment.”

Of course, the biggest driver of change and development in the manufacturing industry is technology, and AI is the headline act. 

AI, digital transformation and the future 

Enthusiasm for AI in the manufacturing industry cannot be understated. According to Forbes, the AI market is projected to reach a staggering US$407bn by 2027, representing substantial growth from its estimated US$86.9bn revenue in 2022.

According to Latest Industry Reports, the global AI in manufacturing market was valued at US2.54bn in 2023 and is anticipated to reach US3.2bn by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 3.3% during the forecast period of 2024 to 2030.

Sam is another believer in AI's potential to reshape the manufacturing industry and the world.

“I believe it will be a bigger change than the change of implementing the internet,” he says. “Remember, I was the internet coordinator. The change from not having to have the internet, nobody could see what was happening, what future lay ahead of us.” 

He encourages caution when it comes to AI. Criticisms of the technology’s capacity for bias and misinformation are well documented, with Google and ChatGPT recently coming under fire.

Clearly, overcoming these hurdles is of paramount importance but, when it comes to the technology’s capacity to be used in damaging ways, Sam makes an excellent point. 

“There are so many dangerous things you can do with AI," he says. "But I can do dangerous things with a laptop, too. We need to position and guide it correctly, so it remains as ethical as possible.” 

An unfortunate side effect of the vast majority of innovative systems, technologies and inventions in the world is that they can be abused. The internet, as Sam points out, has been transformative beyond conception. It’s full of incredible, life-changing forms of community, entertainment and information. 

It’s also full of unfathomable horrors. Anyone who’s spent 10 minutes in a chatroom or an Instagram comments section knows that. 

Does this mean we should turn away from it completely? Of course not. If we did that, how would you read Manufacturing Digital's wonderful articles?

The answer is regulating and addressing usage, as opposed to diagnosing the whole platform as problematic – a perspective which applies exceedingly well to AI and its most contentious manifestation: generative AI. 

"With Gen AI, we need to work together with the people on the factory floor to see what challenges they have and if this new technology can address them," asserts Sam. "At the end of the day, it's a tool. Everything starts with assessing what is there, how it can serve my needs and what are those possibilities."

Orange Business tackles this through a dedicated factory assessment that recommends digital technologies for specific improvements. Sam believes a good limit test for the successful implementation of AI will be when people discuss it as a broader function instead of a flashy new technology.

"Nobody talks anymore about the digital camera," Sam points out. "Now, it's just a camera. Still, I sometimes say it's a digital camera, but it shows that I'm too old for it."

Sam emphasises though that AI, regardless of its nature as generative or predictive, needs to be discussed in terms of its business case – something he feels manufacturers, despite their enthusiasm, are struggling to do. 

“A lot of manufacturers are enthusiastic about it, but they struggle to articulate that kind of business perspective, how this is actually going to benefit us,” Sam says, pointing to Orange Business’s collaboration with Surveily to enhance safety through AI-powered CCTV. 

“Our work with Surveily is a very nice example. You can see that it's about safety. If we’re presenting a solution and talking about AI, it means we haven't found the right business case.”

Ultimately, Sam and Orange Business recognise that all forms of digital transformation must serve business needs and goals. Technology is a strategic investment that can massively enhance operations and enable companies to better serve employees and, critically, customers.

Orange & The Servitisation Trajectory 

At Manufacturing Digital, we’ve spoken a lot about the emergence of a new economic model in the manufacturing industry.

This model, manifesting often as subscription services or long-term partnerships, is where manufacturers sell access to continually-improving, digitally-enhanced services as opposed to a static product.

But interestingly, Sam asserts that this has been happening for longer than we might realise: "You had HP making more money on ink than on selling the printers."

He argues that the transition is particularly challenging for product manufacturers because it requires the adoption of a different mindset.

“Thinking about making a product is something different than providing a service,” he adds. “You know exactly which restaurants provide good service and which restaurants don't. These companies have to pivot to providing service and thinking in service terms.”

In providing its own services, Orange gives clients a "servitisation trajectory" relating to their progress in this area. 

"We have a few people that guide in servitisation trajectories," Sam continues. "I believe it's crucial in order to survive.

"For some companies, manufacturing is not the core business. For some others it is. Either way, at Orange Business we can help both of these companies enhance the customer experience.” 

The link between manufacturing operations and customer experience can often be lost on the factory floor. Sam agrees with this statement, highlighting that a focus on process, productivity and cost-effectiveness blocks consideration of CX.

"They feel they need to produce as fast as possible, use a little bit of energy and do it as cheaply as possible,” Sam says. "But in the end, the product they produce is the satisfaction, the experience the customer has."

He points to the automotive manufacturing industry as an example of a place where smarter products are growing in popularity.

We’ve recently seen companies like Dassault Systèmes partner with JLR to use digital twins and brands like Porsche AG utilise VR software in their design and training processes.

John Deere is another manufacturer that has truly embraced servitisation through its innovative range of data-solutions tailored to its agricultural equipment. 

“Manufacturers can make their cars come alive, collecting data from the factory floor,” Sam explains. “That's an example of how products will become smarter and more shaped around the customer experience.” 

On a positive note, many manufacturers are getting this servitisation trajectory right. Sam previously worked in a communications capacity with a compressor manufacturer selling air over the fence. Instead of selling compressors as the common product, it sells access to the service – the channelling of air it provides.  

While embracing this trajectory is critical, the long-term competitiveness and success of manufacturers is also dependent on them embracing digital transformation and prioritising customer experience holistically. They must ask how emerging technologies like automation and digital twins can be thoughtfully adapted to business and client needs. 

We’ve featured companies like OneMagnify, which have helped manufacturers answer these questions and more through intelligent uses of data and AI.

But as the market for digital transformation partners continues to expand, how can manufacturers choose the right one for them? 

What sets Orange Business apart?

“One of the elements is that we're truly global," says Sam, outlining why Orange Business stands out. 

"We have a huge amount of expertise in so many different countries. So I think this really makes a difference.”

Modern manufacturing is deeply interconnected, with no factory or nation working in silo. The manufacturing sector of every country is intimately shaped by both local and global factors, from access to skilled labour to the state of the economy to available raw materials. 

We’ve seen this play out in recent years in the UK, where the manufacturing sector has struggled due to the cost-of-living crisis and the impact of Brexit, in addition to the global ramifications of the pandemic.

Orange Business understands the importance of viewing the challenges manufacturers face as part of an industry ecosystem, addressing them on a global and local scale. 

“I think this is where Orange Business can bring value,” says Sam. "That's also the reason why we work with partners to fill in gaps where we are lacking in local expertise. So for me, the difference is the size and the global scale of the type of implementation projects that are there."

Another critical differentiator for Orange Business is its cybersecurity capabilities. 

Cybersecurity is a separate unit in the organisation, created to focus and continually address this rapidly evolving and incredibly important aspect of global manufacturing. 

“I think that's the other real differentiator,” Sam says. "You see that a lot of factory discussions start from a security point of view.”

This is understandable, considering manufacturing remains the biggest industrial target for cybercrime. Attackers are attracted to its sensitive data, looking to extort companies for cryptocurrencies or cash, and are acutely aware of its vulnerabilities such as overreliance on legacy systems.

Sam recounts an experience working with a company that had suffered a devastating cyber attack. Even after a year, the firm hadn't been able to fully restore operations.

Downtime is devastating for manufacturers, made even worse by an overreliance on outdated infrastructure, old operating systems and computers that aren’t integrated into existing networks.

“A lot of transition needs to be done,” Sam concludes. “And we have that broad view on what is happening, not just a view of the UK or Belgium or Ireland, but a truly global view that helps us address companies' needs on that scale.”

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