Gary On Manufacturing - Gary Mintchell

Nothing in industrial technology news annoys me more than the hype around artificial intelligence—AI. I recorded this podcast on the eve of the Automate trade show and conference in June 2026.   Looking to for realistic use of Industrial AI, I'm bringing in an interview with a practitioner. Bryan DeBois is Director of Industrial AI at RoviSys, one of the largest independent system integrators. He...

A first summary of my three days with the Aras community in Miami. These PLM events always return me to the time when I did this sort of work--manually. Then my first taste of computers digitizing the bill of materials as a first step in our data management journey. Unfortunately, that company hit a big bump in the road and I was invited to try other things--at other companies. Aras product manage...

Episode 275. Why AI in Manufacturing? Why not? I explore how new technologies for knowledge work, unlike in manufacturing, create even more busy work distracting us from our real work--thinking, deep work. Looking beyond the hype, AI tools are going to help us do things. We just don't know exactly what is best. We must play with the tools to find the best ways to help us. We also need to consider...

I was intrigued by an item in News Items by John Ellis quoting the Wall Street Journal regarding the continued slide in manufacturing employment in the US and the prolonged slide in manufacturing activity. The first Trump administration elicited promises of moving manufacturing to the US with the building of plants. Little of that actually happened. The Biden administration invested a few billion,...

Thoughts on organization structures and Rockwell CEO Blake Moret's experiments with bringing in outsiders and setting his own directions. Thoughts on the industrial software market in general and Rockwell's evolution. What's happening with MES in particular. Rockwell upgrading and building new factories using its own products and services. Rok on Rok Repackaged cybersecurity offerings. Software de...

We met in a conference room at an office in Barrington, IL. A place where sometime later a couple guys thought they'd screw me in a business deal. I came out ahead in the end, but the place has mixed memories.   This meeting involved thinking about the future of asset data and systems interoperability. We had a system diagram. The idea was to solve a huge problem for owner/operators of process man...

An early essay by Karl Marx writing at the beginning of the industrial revolution argued that humans who were formerly craftspeople were now just cogs in the industrial machine alienated from the products they made and their work.   Today's podcast is sponsored by Inductive Automation, makers of Ignition — the world's most versatile industrial automation platform for connecting data, systems, and...

Why pursue AI? As a tool to help entrepreneurs add value to their companies. The appropriate roll out entails organizing small "pirate ships" empowered to experiment and implement with a budget and air cover. Many concerns about AI's impact on employment and organization are over blown. History shows that new technology winds up creating more jobs than it destroys. This podcast is sponsored by Ind...

ICC 2025 Recap I recorded this as I was leaving Inductive Automation's Ignition Community Conference 2025 in Sacramento. The event team performed wonderfully moving ICC from the smaller Harris Center in Folsom to the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento with double the attendance. Lots of energy, many partners. The event had to be credited a success. Of course, the highlight was intro...

When I set initial editorial direction for Automation World, I was focused on exploring the Intelligent Application of Automation emphasizing the teams that made it happen. Recently I interviewed Mike Payne, co-owner and president of Hill Manufacturing. His story of using intelligent applications of technology both for the machines and for software showed how even an old-line manufacturer can be n...

Inductive Automation Chief Technology Evangelist Travis Cox talks with me about the newly expanded Ignition Community Conference and the beta release of Ignition 8.3. This is a major release with many usability and IT-friendly upgrades. We talk about what's new with Ignition Community Conference and the beta release of Ignition 8.3.

AI has generated more hype and obfuscation than all the words from ChatGPT. OK, maybe I exaggerate, but the amount of scare talk is endless. I try to take a more rational and down-to-earth look at the issue from the point-of-view of manufacturers. I argue that AI now and in the future should be viewed as a tool that will help humans work better and more productively. I use an example from an inter...

CEOs in a recent survey complained they were not seeing results from digital transformation. Too much complexity, dashboards too complex, information not clear, silos of data. Maybe we're looking at the wrong part of the problem. Maybe it's not technology; it's people.

This podcast is sponsored by Inductive Automation. Two topics dominated my inbox this year--and will probably continue to do so. These are AI Large Language Models and Cybersecurity. 

Looking at Google v DOJ and Apple v EU, Gary draws lessons for industrial automation.

Many times in my career I have hired into a company during the initial surge of a market. Good jobs. Excitement. Opportunity to work on new things. Then the market matured or collapsed usually due to external forces such as technology changes or consumer behavior.   I hit recreation vehicles at a high point followed by high inflation and gasoline price surges. Then a consumer product company where...

Gary offers observations on the continuing saga of former GE executives running Boeing changing the culture from engineering-driven to Wall Street-driven. Also thoughts on good manufacturing leadership.

Gary discusses the current state of the automation and control market. Why it seems to be a stable market and why the media in the market are shrinking. He riffs from Seth Godin blog  The Drift to Normal. As an organization grows in scale, the idiosyncrasy and distinctiveness that was originally informed by the taste of the founders moves toward the mean. Over time, things get more average. I have...

Gary discusses productivity, slow productivity movement, busyness or pseudo-productivity. Sponsors Inductive Automation inductiveautomation.com and Magic Mind, magicmind.com/garym and use code GARYM20.

I've seen successes of industry standards. I've also seen industrial standards struggle to break through the logjam of large companies drive to lock customers into their ecosystem. What is the latest of OPAF and what is the meaning of Schneider Electric's announcement of a product built with with Red Hat and IBM and development of a new computer communication standard? I have arranged a special de...

Boeing is a company that has lost its way. I have no idea why the board has not sacked the CEO. The 737MAX  program was a fiasco and continues to haunt the company. The 787 program ran way behind schedule costing the company billions. This is what happens when you ignore product and serving customers instead focusing solely on financial numbers. We are a business company not an engineering company...

Gary gives leadership growth tips based on Dan Lyons "The Power of Keeping Your Mouth Shut in an Endlessly Noisy World" and David Brooks "How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen."

After attending several technology supplier user conferences this summer and fall, a colleague asked why suppliers are emphasizing software. I ponder this question in this podcast essay. And ask what the new breed of engineers will bring with new ideas. Maybe Arduino control platforms? Worth asking.

Do digital tools have the effect of adding more things to our plate rather than helping us get things done? Gary looks at how software helped him get productive and then seemed to bog down and still accomplish a lot, but it seems slower over all. Even more, what is more important—getting more done or doing what is impactful?

My career spans the innovation to maturity cycle of three technology markets--PC, IT, Automation. I wonder what's next.