smart manufacturing, and smaller com-
panies can profit from it as well. We have
to be on the cutting edge.”
This manufacturing boom for the state
is a process, not an overnight sensation.
If this trend is embraced, the state will be
looking at decades of movement toward
diversification.
Defining Smart Manufacturing
The process of smart manufacturing
includes anticipating machine wear and
tear as well as monitoring all steps in the
manufacturing process. Just as robotic
automation f reed humans from repet-
itive—and often dangerous—work on
the shop floor, smart manufacturing re-
leases humans from cognitive work that
can easily and more efficiently be done
by artificial intelligence.
Unlike a human, a robot can easily lift
a car, and with smart manufacturing, the
cognitive heavy lifting can be done by ar-
tificial intelligence, according to Thorsten
Wuest, an assistant professor in industrial
and management systems engineering at
the WVU Statler College of Engineering
and Mineral Resources and one of two
inaugural J. Wayne and Kathy Richards
Faculty Fellows in Engineering. However,
Wuest is quick to maintain that this does
not replace humans in the manufacturing
process.
“With smart manufacturing, humans
are freed up to do what they do best—
plan and change,” he says. “There are
still things automation can’t handle, and
humans need to be there for the day to
day. The human mind is not replicated
in artificial intelligence and hopefully
never will be.”
Smart manufacturing connects the
manufacturing process to cloud storage
using sensors to provide the data in real
time. It is a flexible process, and it can
be designed to do just what a manufac-
turer needs.
Embracing Smart Manufacturing
Currently, West Virginia is lagging
behind the smart manufacturing curve.
A study by the WVU Statler College of
Engineering and Mineral Resources and
the BBER found that even though more
than half of business owners in the state
have heard of smart manufacturing,
only about one-fifth of them are actively
working on it.
“Part of the hesitancy is because this
involves risk,” says Deskins. “Big com-
panies are better able to take that risk
than small companies.
Small manufacturers with tight profit
margins also have more cost worries.
However, smart manufacturing can be
done with a small budget. Eagle Man-
ufacturing in Wellsburg, WV, used a
small-scale smart manufacturing inter-
vention that fit its budget and freed it
up for more expansion.
“Eagle had a pain point in its operation
and did a small-scale solution,” says
Wuest. “By spending less than a four-digit
number, Eagle saved its company signif-
icant amounts of money.”
As smart manufacturing becomes more
mainstream, more companies will supply
the tools, such as the sensors, and com-
petition should bring down prices and
make the new technology more afford-
able. Even now, a little knowledge can cut
a company’s smart manufacturing bill.
Impacting Education
Smart manufacturing is revolutioniz-
ing education as well as industry. A new
category of manufacturing jobs is being
brought to the table.
“In four-year post-graduate educa-
tion, we are definitely taking action,”
says Brian Lego, assistant professor at
the BBER. “At WVU, we created a new
master’s degree in business data analytics
that will be completing its second year.
We also have classes that emphasize eco-
nomic issues and data.”
According to Lego, four-year institu-
tions are not the only schools that need
to play a role in this revolution. Two-year
colleges will need to participate in prepar-
ing the next wave of professionals as well.
“Not everyone wants or needs to have
a four-year degree, but we need to devel-
op a workforce from the ground up and
progress it along with these industries,”
he says. “If you don’t have the people,
you can get left in a lurch.”
Championing
Broadband Infrastructure
This industrial revolution will have its
place in history alongside other major
historic changes in the way products
are manufactured and society functions.
“From a historical context, we moved
from an agrarian society to an industrial
society that was manufacturing based
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