By Involta

During the Manufacturing First Expo in Green Bay, Wisconsin, John Kehoe, Executive Vice President of Manufacturing from Involta, shared insights on leveraging technology to increase customer satisfaction and manufacturing efficiency.

One of the highlights from his session was how companies are utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI)—no, not ChatGPT—for leveraging information to drive increased results. John profiled a large container shipping company that has recently started to incorporate AI into its global operation. The firm worked with Port Authorities closely to plan quicker offloads, as-needed port arrival changes and prepare for crews and trucking more effectively. In the first year, the firm estimated it had a 20% reduction in operating expenses related to these tasks and that customers received planned deliveries faster after implementing these changes.

With a focus on factory modernization and leveraging new processes with AI, John discussed the need for additional training for employees and management teams. As the skills to enable factory automation continue to change, the workforce will need to adapt—the way machines, autonomous vehicles and product movement occur must be reviewed and designed in advance of modernization projects.

And, as the use of robotics and automation increases, so does the need to think about safety implications. John discussed the example of factory floor movements: if an employee walking the floor encounters a robotic forklift and finds that it has idled on the floor, disrupting shipments and picking processes, what is the employee supposed to do, or who should they call to address the situation?

Lastly, John highlighted the need to review and update machinery, software and technology equipment to protect key business information from unauthorized access. While manufacturing companies have not historically viewed the factory environment as a cybersecurity risk, ransomware attacks in manufacturing companies are on the rise. Companies must ensure workers are effectively trained, create and adhere to comprehensive data management plans and choose the right partners to protect critical assets from unintended access or intellectual property theft.

By Sadoff E-Recycling & Data Destruction

When you are having data destroyed, you really need to think about finding a vendor you can trust. This is your data we are talking about after all and a potential data breach can be absolutely destructive to your business. Or, to put it another way, if your data isn’t destroyed properly it may end up destroying you. One of the things we always recommend looking for is the proper certifications. What certifications should you look for in data destruction? We can guide you through that.

What an i-SIGMA Member?

If you haven’t heard of i-SIGMA by now, you should know that it’s very important to any business that handles the destruction of data. This certification is granted, controlled, and monitored by i-SIGMA which stands for International Secure Information Governance & Management Association. It’s a mouthful to be sure, but an important one.

To give you an idea of the program’s scope, let’s take a look at the i-SIGMA certification NAID AAA. There are currently over 950 NAID AAA-certified locations around the world. The IRS has publicly acknowledged the value of a NAID AAA certification, it is required for the destruction of all external Australian government data, and the state of New Jersey also requires this certification for the corporate destruction of hard drives. Many of these things likely do not apply to you, but they are important in illustrating the accepted value of this certification program.