Arcam AB fka AMAVF

[charlie T colton]

GE Digital: Beyond A 'Cartoonish Version' Of The Internet Of Things

An interview with Bill Ruh, GE’s chief digital officer and CEO of its 17-month-old GE Digital unit, at forbes.com. The interview is focused on the IoT, Predix, and GE's competition in the digital arena.

GE Digital: Beyond A 'Cartoonish Version' Of The Internet Of Things - Feb 15, 2017

There's a brief statement where Ruh talks about the digital environment and manufacturing in the future.

It’s one thing to instrument, network, and collect data from a home thermostat, as Google is doing with the Nest business it acquired for $3.2 billion in 2014. It’s another thing to deploy sensors and applications nationwide at one of the largest US energy providers, as GE Digital is doing to improve the reliability and performance of Exelon’s nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, solar, and natural gas facilities. Those plants generate tens of thousands of megawatts of power.

“Are those two things the same? Of course not,” Ruh says.

GE has an advantage in industrial markets not only against digital rivals that lack its deep domain expertise, he insists, but also against traditional manufacturing competitors such as Siemens and Honeywell, which flexed their digital muscles early on by acquiring a range of industrial software vendors. The problem now for those companies, Ruh maintains, is that their software is based on last-generation technology that doesn’t interoperate well with systems from other vendors.

“The real action is going to be in next-gen manufacturing, where the entire technology is going to shift in the next decade,” Ruh says. “And if you aren’t on the new cloud architecture, you’re not going to be able to compete, either as the one who uses it or the one who sells it.”


Ruh was interviewed earlier this month - The Thought Leader Interview: Bill Ruh - February 1, 2017

Excerpts from that interview:

In a sense, this is the digitization of everything that people like [quality pioneer] W. Edwards Deming talked about: the use of better management systems to build quality and productivity into products. Except now, in addition to training people to continuously improve systems, we’re building continuous improvement into the technology.

We’re also going to change the way we design products. When a product is used, operational data will go right back to engineering and R&D. The engineers will change products at a faster rate because their designs will go right into manufacturing. With additive manufacturing [3D printers and digital fabrication], we’ll be able to enhance products at rates we couldn’t before. Those are foundational changes.
_________________________________________________________________

In the next decade, success will be based on driving productivity. Whoever can pump a barrel of oil at the lowest cost, or use less fuel to fly an airplane, or gain more energy out of a turbine will have the competitive advantage. I think manufacturers everywhere will rethink their operations costs. Going to a low-wage country will no longer be productive; instead, the answer will be putting manufacturing close to your customers, to reduce the cost of transportation, and investing in technology. As additive manufacturing advances, you’ll be able to invest your capital costs with greater confidence, because your digital infrastructure will allow you to be more flexible. The platforms that provide better productivity will thrive. For example, the winning agricultural equipment companies will be those that make farmers most productive. Gradually, companies will compete less on productivity and more on their distinctive approach to analytics.





"With additive manufacturing (3D printers and digital fabrication), we’ll be able to enhance products at rates we couldn’t before. Those are foundational changes."