David Marshall
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How to Use Digital Transformation and Evolution In Your Manufacturing Company
- March 27, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Digital Transformation, Manufacturing
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A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of serving on a panel — Digital Transformation and Plastics Manufacturing — at the Plastics Executive Conference in Naples, Florida. The panel was moderated by my good friend, Nanette Gregory, senior partner at NSG Consulting, and I was joined by Rajiv Menon, founder of Informulate; Gary Stein,
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Panel Discussion: Digital Transformation and Plastics Manufacturing
- March 20, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Digital Transformation, Leadership, Manufacturing
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of serving on a panel at the Plastics Executive Conference in Naples, Florida. The panel was entitled Digital Transformation and Plastics Manufacturing, and it was moderated by my good friend, Nanette Gregory, senior partner at NSG Consulting. I was joined by Rajiv Menon, founder of Informulate; Gary
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Making a Case for Technology Skill Schools
- March 13, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Management, Manufacturing
In Indiana, there’s a rather unusual vocational school called Driver Solutions, a truck driving school where students learn how to properly drive a tractor-trailer rig in three weeks. Students who qualify, and can pass the different drug and health tests, will not only get a job immediately after they graduate, their schooling is paid for.
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How We Used Automation to Increase Productivity, Reduce Errors, and Reduce Waste
- March 6, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Digital Transformation, Innovation
Several years ago, when I was the president of Robroy, we were faced with a problem of how to deal with an old business that was run down, obsolete, and had an employee retention problem (we would lose 20% of our workforce every time we conducted a random drug test). This was my world without
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The Downside of Digital Transformation
- February 27, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management, Measurement
While I’m generally high on digital transformation in this blog and talking about the upsides and positive benefits that come from it, I’m well aware that there are downsides to digital transformation. For one thing, artificial intelligence is not the panacea to all of your problems. You can’t just get an AI package, dump all
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What Life Was Like Before AI and Digital Transformation
- February 20, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Digital Transformation, Measurement
For some executives, it’s hard to imagine life before artificial intelligence and digital transformation. There’s always been automation and computers helping facilitate decision making and measurement. But I know that pre-AI world all too well, having spent most of my career in that part of the manufacturing history. The result was often poor quality, stifled
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What are Some of the Challenges of Adopting Modern Methodologies?
- February 13, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Management
The biggest hurdle manufacturers face in adopting modern methodologies and digital transformation is not the technology, it’s developing the cultural acceptance for change and its outcomes. It generally fails because of a lack of commitment of top leadership. That’s because people left to their own devices, without a clear vision of what they want and
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How To Make Sure You Made the Right Business Decisions
- February 6, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Measurement
One of the great things about being president of a company is that you can, within reason, do whatever you want. You don’t have to ask anyone or get permission. Of course, that depends on the magnitude of what you want to undertake, but for the most part, you get to call the shots and
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How Do You Fight the Status Quo When Leading a New Company?
- January 30, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
It’s an exciting time to walk into a new job at a new company and know that you get to set the tone for that company’s vision and performance. If it’s a brand new company and you’re an energetic leader, you’re starting with a clean slate, so you get to create the culture. But if
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Lessons Learned During a Factory Refurbishment
- January 23, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Innovation, Manufacturing
When we redesigned and refurbished an old fiberglass liner factory, one of my big concerns was worker safety. We had seen a lot of injuries in the plant over the years, and it was not a clean factory to begin with. We wanted something that was cleaner, could operate with fewer associates, and had more