The Digital Factory - Episode 18: Jeff Immelt on the Four A’s of Advanced Manufacturing

Episode 18: Jeff Immelt on the Four A’s of Advanced Manufacturing

02/01/19 • 21 min

The Digital Factory Conference, our advanced-manufacturing leadership summit, is coming back to Boston on May 7. This year it’s got a new co-host: Jeff Immelt, who spent 16 years as CEO of GE and is now, among other roles, a partner at NEA. Visit https://thedigitalfactory.com/ to learn more about the conference.

This episode of the Digital Factory Podcast features a wide-ranging conversation between Jeff and Jon Bruner about digital transformation in manufacturing. In his investing, Jeff focuses on what he calls the “Four A’s:” artificial intelligence, automation, analytics, and additive manufacturing. Not only will those technologies improve overall manufacturing productivity, they also promise to introduce new capabilities that can drive transformative business models, like mass customization, machine-as-a-service, and rapid product development.

For full episode notes, visit http://bit.ly/2HHHwTZ.

Previous Episode

Episode 17: 2018 in review

Jon Bruner and Andrew Edman talk about the value of proprietary manufacturing technology, the aesthetics of generative design, the influence of social media on product design, and the acceleration of the product lifecycle. For links related to this episode, visit http://bit.ly/2CqLqw7.

Next Episode

Episode 19: Dayna Grayson: can startups compete in manufacturing?

It’s difficult to sell new technologies to big manufacturers. If you’ve got a novel way to build things and a fresh startup to market it, you’ll run into all sorts of obstacles: established industrial companies tend to be risk-averse, top-down organizations with long replacement cycles and highly specific requirements. Many industrial startups generate lots of interest but starve as they trek through long sales cycles.

Dayna Grayson sees that changing. She’s a partner at NEA who has invested in several next-generation manufacturing startups, including Formlabs, Desktop Metal, Onshape, and Upskill, and she points to three major shifts that have made manufacturing a compelling sector for startups to address.

Visit http://bit.ly/2Xco9WR for full episode notes and links. And visit https://www.thedigitalfactory.com/ to learn more about The Digital Factory Conference, returning to Boston on May 7, 2019. Dayna Grayson will speak along with CEOs, CTOs, and CIOs who are transforming their businesses through manufacturing.