Be Smart About Incorporating the Latest Manufacturing TechnologiesBe Smart About Incorporating the Latest Manufacturing Technologies

Smart technologies offer manufacturers many benefits, but the key is knowing how to use them effectively.

Susan Shepard

January 21, 2025

3 Min Read
smart manufacturing MD&M West
Akacin Phonsawat/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

At a Glance

  • Join us for the MD&M West session, “The Smart Manufacturing Imperative: Trends, Technologies, and Triumphs.”
  • Speakers from Epson America, Orora Packaging Solutions, & Amazon Web Services will discuss smart manufacturing technologies.

“It's very important that you don't implement cool tech just because it's cool,” said Alvin Joseph, chief information officer at Orora Packaging Solutions, in an interview with Design News. “It has to truly solve a business problem and align with business strategy.” 

Joseph said it is important to know what investment is needed, the appetite for change, and how smart technologies can be orchestrated to bring meaningful value to a business. “This is sort of a balance that you’ve got to play, especially for tech leaders in the manufacturing space,” he said.

Scott Marsic agrees. “Smart manufacturing certainly brings in sensors and data and the ability to do something with it,” said Marsic, who serves as group product manager of robotics at Epson America. “But what you do with it, it's important to come back to the fundamentals and make sure that you've addressed enough core concerns or issues that your business faces.”

Joseph and Marsic will join copanelists Yue Ning, senior solutions architect, Amazon Web Services; Donna Yasay, senior leader, solutions architecture, automotive and manufacturing industry, Amazon Web Services; and Jay Maslekar, principal advisor, head of strategy & BD, US automotive and manufacturing, Amazon Web Services, in a panel discussion at MD&M West 2025, “The Smart Manufacturing Imperative: Trends, Technologies, and Triumphs.”

Related:It's Time to Get Smart About Smart Manufacturing

The panelists will discuss some of the smart technologies that provide manufacturers with valuable data that can enable them to reshape the ways they approach such things as customization and sustainability. “One of the things that I'm truly intrigued about in manufacturing is 3D printing,” said Joseph. “In the packaging industry, for example, digital printing is a big advantage, and unlike traditional printing where you use a plate, you can print directly on a substrate, it allows us to do high-speed printing at very high resolution and do within a print run something different for different customers.” 

Marsic talked about how sustainability is being informed by the data that technologies like AI, machine learning, digital twins, computer vision, and IoT bring. “The products we produce, how recyclable is it, how much recycled content is gone into that, a lot of that is the data analysis,” he said. “Because it's not easy to figure all of that out without a ton of data.”

But, as Marsic said, “smart manufacturing can't just end with data; it's got to be the right data and what you do with the data. And how that data is going to inform the decision to improve a process or workflow or quality,” he said.

Related:Sustainable Manufacturing – From Product Design to Vast Data

Both Joseph and Marsic welcome everyone to attend their session. “Whether it’s manufacturers looking to learn or are already in their journey to get some insights around trends and success factors,” Joseph said. He also encouraged recent college grads who might not have considered working in the manufacturing space to stop by to learn about the ways these companies are employing smart technologies. 

Marsic would also like to see IT professionals there. “They make all these great things happen,” he said. “But as they learn about some of these new technologies, it is more important than ever that they make sure that key business questions have been addressed so that their development efforts can be as effective as possible.”

“A lot of people aren’t experts in AI, they're not experts in machine vision or whatever,” Marsic concluded. “They’re just looking to solve problems and we want to help guide people to solve some of these challenges with these tools and best practices.”

Marsic and Joseph along with co-panelists Ning, Yasay, and Maslekar will present, “The Smart Manufacturing Imperative: Trends, Technologies, and Triumphs,” on Tuesday, February 4, from 3 to 3:45 p.m. on the Center Stage at MD&M West 2025.

Related:Sustainable Manufacturing Expo Announces Key Industry Partners

And to learn even more about sustainable manufacturing, be sure to check out sister show Sustainable Manufacturing Expo held February 4-5. Both events will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center.

About the Author

Susan Shepard

Susan Shepard is a freelance contributor to Design News and MD+DI.

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