What should companies that want to get started with new technologies such as artificial intelligence now bear in mind? What should they avoid? Prof. Dr.-Ing. Johannes Fottner, University Professor of Technical Logistics at the Technical University of Munich, reveals his personal tips in the final part of our expert interview.
Missed the first parts of the interview? Here you go:
Part 1: The 3 biggest challenges in production and logistics
Part 2: How logistics and production will benefit from AI
Part 3: German production & logistics in 10 years
Maurice Brodhun: "Of course, the companies that ultimately have to invest in automation will play a major role in how the topic develops in the future. What would you recommend to companies dealing with artificial intelligence or new technologies? What should they definitely do and what should they avoid?"
Prof. Dr. Fottner: "I can start right away with the topic of "avoidance" - and please excuse the word: A little less bullsh** bingo. So don't just throw words into a room and say "I want this and that now". It started earlier: I want a forklift-free factory and when you asked why, nobody knew. It's similar today: I want to digitize. Why is that? I actually want to increase transparency. What I'm trying to say is: please think a little and in a modern world, thinking very often also means observing: what are others doing? What happens in other environments? To conclude from this: what can I use and implement well? But always against the background of what do I want to achieve with it? Everyone will be able to understand why we say "I'm introducing a computer now just so that I have a computer". You can't do that, you have to know what you're doing with it.
If you're just using it as a typewriter, you could have just used that. It's important to always see technology at the same time as the topic of process, and you'll notice that I've actually included the word “process” in every answer because it's so important. Every technology can only play to its strengths if the process is also adapted. That's where it gets particularly exciting.
But here's a tip for us scientists and engineers: to simply look beyond our own borders. To leave our own field a little and keep learning: what great things have we already achieved in other disciplines? What I urgently recommend to companies is benchmarking in the true sense of the word - always keeping a close eye on colleagues from other companies, competitors and partners alike, and learning together. We don't have to invent the wheel 47 times and we don't have to invent it differently every time just because one is called pharmacy and the other food - but we have to learn which advantages we can exploit across borders - and I think companies are doing well in this respect. Incidentally, it's not just large companies - large AND small companies very often have very similar challenges."
