Claude Costelloe - Manufacturing Operations

“A modern manufacturer should be using data in real-time, pulling it from equipment on an automated basis and not, say, manually extracting and recording it. It should be automating the collection of that data and then centralising it so that it can be used to drive tactical decisions in terms of how the company is pursuing its goals,” he said.

25 years ago, the average family car had one warning light to tell the driver when oil levels were low. Today, the same car’s dashboard is likely to look like an airplane cockpit and the reason is data.

Modern vehicles are equipped with sensors that generate data for on-board computers to help monitor the car’s performance. Using this data, the system can make predictions about performance and warn the driver in advance of problems, and the result is that the cars of today break down less often, are more reliable and are far safer to drive.

According to Claude Costelloe, director of manufacturing operations and supply chain at DMI, this is just one example of how data-driven decision making is revolutionising the world in general and in 2023, the manufacturing industry is right at the coal face of this change.

Along with the accelerated adoption of technology and human-centred manufacturing, data-driven decision making is one of the three most significant developments currently impacting the sector, and in Costelloe’s opinion, things are only getting started.

“A modern manufacturer should be using data in real-time, pulling it from equipment on an automated basis and not, say, manually extracting and recording it. It should be automating the collection of that data and then centralising it so that it can be used to drive tactical decisions in terms of how the company is pursuing its goals,” he said.

“Everything we do at DMI is in the service of that goal, of helping our customers achieve their business goals through the best application of technology. And I only see the concept of the data-driven organisation becoming more important in the months and years to come.”

Costelloe has long experience in manufacturing, including a 25-year-career in the highly specialised field of medical device manufacturing. Today, with DMI, he helps companies solve production issues and streamline their processes to make them more efficient.

From an early age, he has had an affinity for all things mechanical, something that found an outlet in building and racing bicycles. This propelled him towards a career in engineering, but it was while working at an electronics manufacturing company in his 20s that he realised the essence of manufacturing was not something confined purely to technology. Instead, he realised, it extended to creating environments conducive to efficiency and effectiveness.

"I got interested in the whole area of operational excellence. And in particular, the part that people play in manufacturing. At the end of the day, designing and building technology that works isn’t all that difficult, but doing it in a way that gels harmoniously with the people who use it is just as important. That’s what dictates whether it will be a success or not," he said.

"No matter how sophisticated or automated a manufacturing process is, there's always going to be interaction with a human element. That's why this idea of human-centred manufacturing is so important, looking at how people adapt and adopt such technology.”

Initially, automation in a production facility usually targets reducing errors and lowering costs, but according to Costelloe, before setting out to do this, it is essential to eliminate non-value-added activities.

“It's about taking out the waste from the process, cutting away the parts that don’t contribute before you automate, and you need to have your people at the centre of that requirement. This is important because the introduction of technology doesn't automatically align with employees' readiness to adapt,” he said.

"It doesn't necessarily follow that if we automate and give staff back ten hours of their life, that they will instinctively want to embrace the technology.”

Looking forward, Costelloe envisages a future where manufacturing will increasingly embrace artificial intelligence and robotics, embracing technologies like 3D printing and be conducted with the assistance of robots, underscoring the importance of adaptive, data-driven strategies.

“One of the big challenges for leaders in organisations is that they’re so snowed under with the tactical requirements of running the business that it's often hard for them to get a bird’s eye view of where they are and where they need to get to. That’s why it’s so useful to come to DMI and see a fully integrated, fully connected, next generation manufacturing line up and running,” he said.

“It might be that only part of what’s here is directly applicable to them, but that's not the point. They can see everything that's current in fully connected,  future stage manufacturing under one roof. They can also meet a whole team of experts that can work directly with them on that end to end journey, from people who've worked as site leaders right through to data scientists.”

According to Costelloe, what DMI offers is something akin to a jump on, jump off service. Companies can engage at whatever level suits and at whatever pace suits, and adopting part of the process doesn’t mean adopting all of it.

“For example, we have some organisations who are struggling with a business strategy, and we can help with that. We've also got organisations that have a business strategy but need a digital strategy that will align with it, and we can help with that too. Maybe a company has an idea what it needs to do but doesn’t have the skillsets and detailed knowledge to execute, and we can help with that too,” he said.

“Some organisations know exactly what they want and only need help with execution. Others don’t even know where to start. Our job is to be able to show everyone what ‘good’ looks like, regardless of the level of immersion they need.”