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In 2004, one of the best books about business networking ever written was published by my friend Ricky Steele. His book gets right to the middle of why it’s important to put others first in our business interactions and how serving others yields huge rewards for us, though it’s not why we serve. At a 2021 conference in Santa Clara, California I formed the XR at Work community with friend. My aim is to provide support, education and community for others that are putting emerging technologies into industrial environments. XR at Work cares about others first and foremost as our community is really valuable and important to me and the members. I think Ricky Steele is proud of what we are doing and that makes me happy.
In my day job I put new tech into an old industry. It’s a wonderful role that I am immensely thankful for. You will see a lot of people on LinkedIn, assorted webinars and conferences that provide good insights about the use of extended reality (XR) in manufacturing, oil & gas, automotive, warehousing and light industrial environments. Oddly, many of those self-proclaimed “experts” have never worked a shift in an actual factory or been out in the oil fields or warehouses. XR at Work provides insights from the factory floor where the tech is implemented with deskless workers whose life (sometimes literally) depends on the effectiveness of the solutions. We give advice from our years of experience in enterprise, in the mills and out on the proving grounds on a global scale.
Over the coming months I will be sharing what we on the enterprise side see as important metrics and use cases for extended reality, AI, digital twins and other tools. If you’re in enterprise technology, you’ll hopefully find value in this series. If you’re a service provider my expectation is that you will gain some insights from your prospective buyers. Stay tuned to the Manufacturing X.0 Insights Newsletter each month for insights from the frontlines of manufacturing including topics like:
· Where do I begin with XR in my manufacturer?
· What impact can XR have on my training initiatives?
· Do I really need AI in my factory?
· What are some of the challenges I may face with XR in manufacturing?
I’m a big fan of XR, a big fan of manufacturing and also a huge fan of MX.0’s community and events. I hope to see you in Cleveland on September 25th. If you haven’t registered yet it’s not too late! Let’s have a talk or go on a morning run together. In the meantime, I’ll see you right here in the Manufacturing X.0 Insights Newsletter!
Scott Burkey - scott@xratwork.org
Scott Burkey is a Technology Fellow at Smurfit Westrock, a global manufacturing and consumer packaging company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. He takes a pragmatic approach to implementing new ways of making training more effective and supporting front-line workers. Having worked as a software developer for over 20 years for brands like CNN, TBS/TNT and Coca-Cola, Scott now champions new technologies in the manufacturing industry which is one of the biggest adopters of augmented and virtual reality.
Prior to Smurfit WestRock Scott delivered VR products for the National Basketball Association. He serves in an advisory capacity to startups and non-profits, as well as serving on the Advisory Boards for the Georgia Association of Manufacturers and MX.0. Scott is a United States Marine Veteran that enjoys running and backpacking with his wife and 4 children in Atlanta, Georgia.