{"id":17012,"date":"2023-11-30T13:17:38","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T19:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prolifics.com\/us\/?p=17012"},"modified":"2025-09-19T16:59:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T11:29:28","slug":"important-take-aways-from-the-connected-worker-chicago-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prolifics.com\/usa\/resource-center\/blog\/important-take-aways-from-the-connected-worker-chicago-summit","title":{"rendered":"Important Take-Aways from the Connected Worker Chicago Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many important topics came up at the recent Connected Worker Chicago Summit 2023, an event that explored the top digital challenges and the latest technological advancements (especially with AI and generative AI) affecting manufacturing professionals. We at Prolifics talked with a lot of attendees at our booth, in speaker sessions, and out on the floor. Here are four important issues we heard from you during our three days there:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1) \u201cNo paper on the factory floor\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2) Younger workers and technology\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3) \u201cPurity\u201d and the connected worker<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4) Using AI in business operations<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a quick look at each and see how it could apply to your organization.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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1) \u201cNo paper on the factory floor\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Knowledge sharing and workforce management came out as a huge issue for many of the manufacturing companies in attendance. As these firms update and modernize with more complex equipment, there needs to be better ways of getting complex information in front of employees. A bunch of papers stuck all around the workstations with steps on how to operate the machinery, or repair and maintenance manuals buried in a supervisor\u2019s desk drawer somewhere, doesn\u2019t cut it anymore. Connected worker technology, whether through tablets, virtual\/mixed reality wearables or computer vision, will get the correct information in front of the worker quickly and efficiently. The use of this technology dovetails and is part of the next topic \u2013\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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2) Younger workers and technology<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many manufacturers expressed dismay that they can’t find enough people to work in their factories. To engage younger people, they can\u2019t have that above \u201cpaper on the factory floor.\u201d Companies need more technology because that’s how their target workforce grew up \u2013 for younger workers, there was never a time without smartphones or the internet. They expect automation and technology as a matter of course. For example, a tech-savvy new worker using a wearable now has the complete knowledge base in front of them \u2013 all the information he needs, even pictures and steps to go through. It makes onboarding easier, it makes training easier, and it makes day-to-day operations easier \u2013 which not only translates into efficiency and lower costs \u2013 it also means safety, a prime concern of every manufacturer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The flip side of this is that older workers are leaving or retiring \u2013 and taking a lot of institutional knowledge out the door with them. One manufacturer told us, “We don’t have anything documented in terms of our processes and our procedures. I would like to take our knowledgeable workers and get them to somehow help us use Gen AI to create that documentation.” That \u201csomehow\u201d would be AI speech-to-text, which captures info, then generates and formats documentation the way the client wants it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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3) \u201cPurity\u201d and the connected worker<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It may at first seem to be a niche issue, but we met with a lot of food and beverage companies that can’t use phones, tablets or wearables out on the manufacturing<\/span> floor because of food purity and safety rules \u2013 when dealing with food you can’t have anything that could contaminate it.<\/span> A potential solution would be sanitized, <\/span>ruggedized tablets that are mounted in a way that they couldn\u2019t contaminate anything, with employees using speech-to-text instead of touching the tablet screen.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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4) Using AI in business operations<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the conference focus was on the connected worker on the manufacturing floor or out in the field, many companies took the opportunity to discuss how AI and Gen AI could help their office\/business operations. These included:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n