Imbuing the factory floor with Silicon Valley鈥檚 fail-fast-to-win ethos is central to Peggy Gulick鈥檚 mission as director of Digital聽Transformation Operations聽and Smart Factory at Kohler Co. I had a thought-provoking conversation with Gulick at the recent event, where she brushed aside the market speak to share a strategic game plan for the next generation of with breathtaking simplicity.
鈥淒igital transformation is just the newest term we鈥檙e using to describe the next stage of continuous improvement, bringing connected data from a really cool toolkit of Industry 4.0 innovations directly to people on the factory floor, helping them solve problems easily,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he people in the plant understand where the biggest problems are and where the biggest value comes from. It鈥檚 no different than the problem-solving we鈥檝e always done. What are you waiting for? You have to start today; find your problems and solve them.鈥�
Best known for its plumbing products, operates over 50 manufacturing plants worldwide and is a .
Intelligent, Connected Data Delivers Business Agility
When Gulick joined Kohler last year, she identified culture, infrastructure, and a strong foundational 聽system as three critical ingredients to digital transformation. At the same time, fast-changing customer demands and interconnected geopolitical events have shifted how companies do business. As ecosystems expand, security threats mount, workforce shortages continue, and industry boundaries blur, connected personalized data has become the common denominator for digital transformation.
鈥淭his is a fun job because we鈥檙e going into plants and augmenting humans, hyperconnecting them with data that allows them to continuously improve. Our goal is to help every one of our valued associates work smarter and not harder,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is not a perfect time to digitally transform. Consumerism has changed, with even greater expectations for customization and expediency. Manufacturers require intelligent, connected data to drive the automation for performance at that level, or they just won鈥檛 make it.鈥�
Gulick rattled off a slew of business results possible from intelligently connected data. Employees on the factory floor can ramp up faster, getting the personalized training they need at the right moment. This helps companies increase productivity and morale while meeting quality and safety standards. Machine learning algorithms can perform mundane, repetitive tasks with greater ease and accuracy, freeing up people for more strategic tasks, like new careers managing robots. Predictive maintenance from Internet of Things (IoT)-based sensors that monitor equipment helps prevent unexpected production line stoppages. Gulick said that one of Kohler鈥檚 transformative plants in Alabama achieved significant realized cost savings because they were alerted to replace a failing part before it broke down.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the bidirectional information that really boosts business agility,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e sending the information from tools and equipment to people when they need it, and they鈥檙e able to take the right action or escalate the problem seamlessly.鈥�
Practical Digital Innovation from the Factory Floor
Unlike past eras of innovation, digital transformation these days is impressively practical while requiring upskilling of employees to create the greatest impact. People can use technology in new ways and, over time, drive repeatable value throughout the company. At Kohler, leaders continue to gauge what training is needed to allow an agnostic culture of associates, partnered with advanced technology like robots and cobots. The foundation, including architecture, infrastructure, and culture, are factors for success. Their watchword is standardization.
鈥淲e strive to be the employer of choice in addition to the brand of choice,鈥� said Gulick. 鈥淧art of our road map is having a single source of data from our core 51风流systems run in a standard way across all of our plants. Intelligent data will provide executives with a strategic view that tells them where to focus today and how to make smarter decisions for tomorrow. For associates across our plants who know what their problems are, we want to drive autonomy with consistent guard rails so they can innovate faster.鈥�
Inducted into the last year, Gulick is looking ahead to her eventual obsolescence as she helps lead Kohler鈥檚 digital transformation.
鈥淚鈥檝e been doing disruptive thinking for almost a decade, and no matter what plant I walk into, I have realized that no person goes to work to do their job poorly,鈥� she said. 鈥淕iven the right tools, workers of all generations will get the job done, with quality and efficiency. Once we have connected intelligence, we can reimagine everything at our plants worldwide, including supply chain, operations, customer experience, and even profit and revenue streams. All companies need to begin transformation from where they were yesterday.鈥�
What are you waiting for indeed!
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