Next Generation Manufacturing

Next Generation Manufacturing explores the strategies, challenges and opportunities that come with growing an advanced manufacturing business in Canada. Meet the people who are behind the ideas, best practices, processes, technologies, and management approaches that are essential to thrive in a modern advanced manufacturing business. This podcast is for entrepreneurs, manufacturers, technology providers, policymakers, students & teachers. Anybody with a curious mind and an interest in how we make things in the new manufacturing economy. You’ll learn about the latest trends, newest innovative technologies and how advanced manufacturing is shaping the future. If you’d like to grow your network, find new business partners, challenge the status quo, or get the support you need to take your business to the next level this podcast is for you.

Ep.17 - Circular Manufacturing: Opportunities and Challenges in Canada's Advanced Manufacturing Sector 04/11/2024

Ep.17 - Circular Manufacturing: Opportunities and Challenges in Canada's Advanced Manufacturing Sector In this episode of Next Generation Manufacturing, host Jay Myers leads a riveting conversation on the future of advanced manufacturing, with a spotlight on circular manufacturing and the circular economy. The episode draws attention to Canada's innovative strides in environmental sustainability and life cycle product management. Listeners will dive into a discussion that paints a vivid picture of the interplay between production optimization and the life cycle of products, as well as the lucrative potential of converting industrial waste into profit. The conversation, strikes a chord with those interested in environmental progress within industrial processes. Industry leaders on the panel, including Bowden, Boqaileh, Stern, Shu, and Valeri, share thoughts and experiences from their respective fields, giving listeners a forecast of the transformation they expect within their domains. They disclose challenges like creating sustainable markets, managing material costs, regulatory frameworks, and supply chain complexities, painting a realistic portrait of the journey toward a circular economy in Canada. About the Guest(s): Lina Bowden is a partner and Chief Financial Officer at Carmina DeYoung, a garment manufacturing company known for its sustainable practices. She is deeply engaged in creating a circular economy within the textile industry, particularly focusing on minimizing waste and creating lasting clothing. Khaled Boqaileh is the CEO and a driving force behind LabsCubed, which focuses on innovation in the polymer and plastics sector through automation and AI, aimed at creating efficient recycling processes. Chris Stern is the CEO of Carbicrete, a company that is pioneering the production of negative carbon building materials by utilizing waste products like steel slag. Jun Shu from CNEM (Canadian New Energy Materials Corporation) leads initiatives in green recycling processes for battery materials, which are critical for the burgeoning EV (Electric Vehicle) industry. Tony Valeri is the president and CEO of Ridge Strategies. With an extensive career in the federal government and a focus on decarbonization, he brings a wealth of knowledge aiming to transform the steel sector to utilize waste as a resource. Key Takeaways: Circular manufacturing is redefining how industries view waste by treating it as a valuable resource. Challenges such as cost, market demand, and complex recycling processes must be addressed to advance circular economies. Collaborative efforts and system thinking are crucial for the effective transition to circular manufacturing models. Advances in recyclable materials in textiles, polymers, and construction set a pace for change in Canada's manufacturing industries. Regulatory alignment and customer education will play pivotal roles in the success of circular economy initiatives. Notable Quotes: "The concept of circular manufacturing and lifecycle product management demands a new way of doing business, new thinking about value chains." – Jay Myers "I think to do circular economies well, we have to be able to make things here." – Lina Bowden "The only way to really solve it is real innovation." – Khaled Boqaileh "Effectively make ours the obvious choice." – Chris Stern "We have to work hard." – Jun Shu Connect with Ngen: Website: , , Instagram: Twitter: Linkedin: /episode/index/show/0595cef0-972c-43f6-9e3d-027bfe0275d6/id/30777818

Ep.16 - Making AI Accessible for Industrial Users 03/27/2024

Ep.16 - Making AI Accessible for Industrial Users In this episode, Jay Myers, CEO of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, interviews Humera Malik, the founder and CEO of Canvas AI. They discuss the challenges faced by industrial companies in managing and utilizing their data and how AI can help solve these problems. Humera shares her journey from the telecom world to the industrial IoT world and explains how she founded Canvas AI to connect users with their data and make AI accessible to engineers and plant floor personnel. She highlights the importance of providing a layer of interaction with the data and focuses on three key areas: helping users work with their data, making the technology accessible to non-data scientists, and helping users complete the data analysis journey. Humera also discusses the solutions Canvas AI has developed for asset management, process optimization, and sustainability, and the importance of building trust with AI systems. The episode concludes with a discussion on the adoption of AI in Canadian manufacturing and the growth plans for Canvas AI. About Humera: Humera Malik is the founder and CEO of Canvas AI. With a background in the telecom and industrial IoT industries, Humera has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by industrial companies in managing and making use of their data. She founded Canvas AI to provide a platform that connects users with their data and makes AI accessible and usable for engineers and plant floor personnel. Humera is passionate about empowering users to solve their own problems and has developed solutions focused on asset management, process optimization, and sustainability. Canvass AI aims to empower process engineers on the plant floor to make data-driven decisions quickly and accurately. Key Takeaways: Canvas AI provides a platform that connects users with their data and makes AI accessible and usable for engineers and plant floor personnel in the industrial sector. The solutions developed by Canvas AI focus on asset management, process optimization, and sustainability, helping users solve recurring problems and institutionalize knowledge. Building trust with AI systems is crucial, and Canvas AI achieves this by demonstrating the efficiency and effectiveness of their solutions in solving real-world problems. Canadian manufacturing companies have been conservative in adopting AI, but programs like the one with Next Generation Manufacturing Canada can help accelerate adoption and showcase the value of AI solutions. Canvas AI's growth plan is centered around making their platform a de facto tool for industrial engineers, empowering them to use AI in their day-to-day operations and problem-solving. Notable Quotes: "The problem I saw was, in the industrial sector, everybody was spending so many bizarre figures of about a trillion dollars spent into infrastructure built, and then another gazillion dollars spent on building the infrastructure to store data, which I called data hoarding. And then on top of that, what happens next? Nobody kind of was working on it." - Humera Malik "The intent really was how to empower the user to solve their problem, because they are the domain experts. All they need is how to make better use of their data." - Humera Malik "We focus on where we see we can provide value, so our qualification process is more refined and we really know how to score who fits the best and then take them through this journey." - Humera Malik Connect with Canvass AI: Website: Connect with Ngen: Website: , , Instagram: Twitter: Linkedin: /episode/index/show/0595cef0-972c-43f6-9e3d-027bfe0275d6/id/30402283