Sponsor Spotlight: iNDustry Labs at Notre Dame
Interview by Berit Reisenauer Guidotti, enFocus Industry Innovation Fellow
Tell me about your relationship with enFocus. How have we worked together to meet an industry need?
I am an Engineer in Residence (ENIR) at iNDustry Labs at the University of Notre Dame. iNDustry Labs exists to support regional businesses – especially manufacturers – as they become more productive, resilient, and skilled. iNDustry Labs provides a competitive advantage for local companies; we offer manufacturers access to bright people, resources, and facilities to help them achieve digital transformation. enFocus and the enFocus Industry Innovation Fellows complement the iNDustry Labs team. While iNDustry Labs’ staff offer deep technical and professional experience, the enFocus Industry Fellows are our “boots on the ground,” enabling us to attack problems differently.
I wish I had known about enFocus’ work during my time as the president of Hoosier Racing Tire. One challenge in traditional manufacturing contexts is the tendency to become entrenched in the same problem-solving patterns. There is a real need for fresh, innovative thinking in the industry, and that’s what enFocus and their team of engineers, analysts, and designers offer to iNDustry Labs. Although it can be a benefit, industry experience can also get in the way of making seismic shifts – the kind of shifts our regional manufacturers need to achieve Industry 4.0. The enFocus Fellows bring energy, fresh thinking, and creative problem solving to our projects and complement iNDustry Labs’ experience and university relationships.
enFocus offers us different viewpoints, backgrounds, and experiences. The relationship between our two organizations is very collaborative, and the Fellows are constantly infusing our work with new ideas and concepts. This was especially true about our project with General Stamping and Metalworks (GSM).
Yes, let’s talk a little about the project collaboration and process – the various activities we did together for our project with GSM.
We worked together on a pilot assessment with GSM, a local family-owned manufacturer that’s been a part of our community for many years. It was one of iNDustry Labs’ first pilot projects, and GSM was a great partner. The purpose of the assessment was to identify digital transformation opportunities within GSM’s manufacturing operations. They invited us in, were very forthcoming and honest, and gave us a real opportunity to understand their business deeply. In our interviews with GSM’s staff, we could see that they were totally committed to improving the business.
GSM’s manufacturing operations were already very advanced; it was an exciting challenge for us to find areas for GSM to improve – we researched, dug deep, and utilized resources throughout the university. We were meeting every day to understand GSM’s business from within. At the end of the assessment, we cast a vision for GSM’s leadership team and provided a compelling roadmap to show them how they could achieve digital transformation. We suggested projects and partnerships drawing on the expertise of our LIFT Network partners, the university’s resources, and the technical talent available through enFocus.
How would you characterize the impact enFocus has created for GSM and the community at large?
I’ve seen the impact already. enFocus gives iNDustry Labs and the manufacturers we partner with the freedom to experiment, to innovate, and to take risks that have a potentially huge upside.
If you’re a successful manufacturing business, you’ll likely have access to capital – that’s not going to be your biggest challenge. You probably also have a list of good ideas on the backburner, ideas that you know would improve your business. However, there is a third necessary element that many manufacturers in our region don’t have, and that’s the time and talent to implement those innovative projects within the business. At the end of our engagement, John Axelberg (the CEO of General Stamping and Metalworks) said, “my only regret is that we did not engage with you sooner.” iNDustry Labs and the enFocus Industry Innovation team offered incredibly valuable time and talent to GSM, expanding GSM’s capacity to achieve digital transformation.
The enFocus Fellows themselves also demonstrate the impact of these projects for our community. enFocus has the ability to recruit exceptional talent that some employers may have difficulty attracting on their own. enFocus shows that it’s entirely possible for our region to recruit and retain valuable talent to do great work, and we especially saw this with GSM. When bright, young, talented Industry Fellows engage on a project, manufacturers learn that they can also create compelling opportunities for their employees to innovate, grow the business, and grow professionally. GSM is committed to doing that work in the future, and we’re seeing that in the projects we’re working on with them today.
What is the greatest value enFocus has delivered to you?
enFocus does a great job recruiting talent – elevating our regional workforce. I know I’m repeating myself here, but I have been incredibly impressed by the good, young, bright folks from diverse backgrounds helping enact the mission of retaining talent in the region. If I were running Hoosier Racing Tire today, I would hire enFocus to tackle those thorny projects in my business that really need that innovative mindset.
On the GSM project, enFocus Fellows helped us understand the challenges and opportunities for GSM’s business; you collected everyone’s individual thoughts and contributions and allowed us to sort through all the noise and get to the heart of the issue. The enFocus Fellows allowed us to articulate industry challenges and opportunities in a way others could understand.
How would you describe future opportunities for collaboration?
iNDustry Labs has a number of services, products, and core facilities available to us to engage deeply with the University of Note Dame, the broader region and with local manufacturers. I am looking forward to piloting more assessments in 2021, and to growing our relationships locally. With GSM specifically, iNDustry Labs and enFocus are supporting the company’s digital transformation journey with a Student Applied Project, technical project management, some specialized engineering advising, and input on sustainability and green building initiatives. I believe this is only the beginning of a fruitful relationship between GSM, iNDustry Labs, and enFocus.
Learn more about enFocus' work with regional organizations in our next Sponsor Spotlight.