The Bright Spot

I recently sat down with ex-CEO, Bright Machines board member and all-around manufacturing enthusiast, Carl Bass, for a conversation about industry reality and hype, and of course factory automation.

We started Bright Machines with our eyes on a tremendous opportunity to change manufacturing for the better. Despite the introduction of automation to factories 30 years ago, fixed hardware investments have greatly limited flexibility and scalability in the factory, and automation’s true potential has yet to be unlocked.

The manufacturing industry has been a relentless adopter of software over the years, pioneering CAD/CAM/PLM systems, ERP solutions and a host of other technologies deployed to get competitive advantage.  Their factories, however, turned mostly to lower-cost labor markets to create capacity and new capabilities.

The User Experience (UX) discipline in the technology sector has evolved rapidly over the last two decades and we’ve all witnessed the changes.  For example, the transition from button-based phones and keyboard-only interfaces to increasingly powerful yet easy-to-use, touch-based smartphones and tablets.

Companies looking to automate their existing manual processes are typically faced with multiple challenges, from the technical aspects of preparing for this type of deployment, to the internal pushback from an operations team who are already overburdened with their current day jobs.

Today we moved into our new office in Seattle; we announced this move back in December, as part of our continued focus on building an incredible team of software talent in the area.

In our mission to transform industrial automation through Software-Defined Manufacturing, world class software and tools are essential. As an engineer with a background in programming software for the commercial industry, I’m constantly intrigued by how different the experience of developing code is for manufacturing processes.

If you’ve ever traveled internationally, you might recall the experience of stumbling upon the familiar sight of Apple store and the sudden wave of comfort you feel in a foreign place. This is because Apple - like many international brands - has long pursued a standardized model for growing revenue, which translates to a standardized experience for you

Twenty-five years ago, scientist and futurist Hans Moravec predicted the tremendous impact of robotics and artificial intelligence on human society, remarking: “Our artifacts are getting smarter, and a loose parallel with the evolution of animal intelligence suggests one future course for them”

Last week we published Part I of my conversation with Lior Susan, in part II he gives us insights into localized manufacturing, what makes a good CEO and provides a bit of advice for budding entrepreneurs.