In IW's February feature on the "Rise of the CTO," Cisco's tech leader, Padmasree Warrior, made an interesting point on the state of technology in advanced manufacturing:
"At this point, we believe that every company, big and small, is essentially becoming a technology company... Technology has become implicit and embedded in every business process today – the supply chain, manufacturing floor, automation and IT: They are all driven by technology and data analytics, not just operational expertise."
That is a sentiment shared by many in the field today, many of whom have declared technology the unrivalled king of 21st century industry.
But Tim Platt – Toyota (IW 1000/8) North America's vice president of information systems and information security – sees it a little differently.
In this interview, Platt argues for a more balanced approach to IT and technology in the manufacturing arena, incorporating it not as the star, but as one player in an intricately choreographed, multidiscipline production.
Hear more from Tim Platt at the annual IndustryWeek Best Plants Conference.
