Q-Cast
Artificial Intelligence: Where to Begin
Jon Renneberg is the lead digital manufacturing specialist at Purdue Manufacturing Extension Partnership, or MEP. He also recently wrote an article for Quality called “AI in the Quality Department, a Practical Path Forward for Small Manufacturers.”
Michelle: Could you tell us how did you decide to pick, or decide to write, about this topic?
Jon: It is a topic that was pretty interesting to my team. Our director had an interest in it, so I was asked specifically about AI, and of course, it's Quality Magazine. We work with folks in AI all across manufacturing, so it was a pretty easy pivot, although I'm not overly well-versed in quality. It is a pretty easy transition to just about any, we'll say, administrative-type role or any role where paperwork and documentation is pretty key.
Michelle: Yeah, I thought you broke it down so well in the article, how people don't know it all and they think it's too late. They've just given up completely. And you said, you know, you're not alone.”
Jon: Yeah. We work with a lot of manufacturers, or I'd say many, that want to get in on AI. They've heard that everybody's doing it and all their competitors are going to put them out of business because they're using AI for the latest whatever.
And the reality is most of them are just trying to figure out how to use it. They're trying to figure out how it is valuable. I think there's a lot of media buzz on it, a lot of discussion on it. It's certainly a dinnertime topic nowadays.
And so, I think that there's a lot of interest, but not a lot of understanding of just where to begin.
Michelle: And could you talk to us about that? What did you take away in the article? What should readers know?
Jon: I think the biggest thing is you are not left behind. Now is the perfect time to get started. Go find a way to get familiar with it. Just like Excel, just like PowerPoint, they are all tools to help with efficiency.
In fact, for those of you who've put “proficient with Microsoft Excel” on your resume, AI is the new proficient with generative AI, AI chatbots, especially if you can indicate something that you've done as a value, something that you've brought forward from using that tool.
But a lot of employers, if they're hiring for everything from quality to safety to any of the roles necessary for supporting manufacturing, if you've got “proficient with AI or AI chatbots,” or especially if you have an example of something you've done, your resume is going to stand out over somebody who doesn't because a lot of manufacturers are just looking for somebody who has experience enough to help them start to onboard it. So, the biggest thing I would say is become familiar with it.
Do it for you. Do it for the company you're working with.
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