About Sandeep Sreekumar:
Sandeep Sreekumar is the COO and Co-Founder of IndustryApps. Sandeep has 15 years of digitalization experience. He specializes in Smart Factory, IT/OT Domain, IoT, ML, AI, Plant Engineering, and Process Engineering. Before IndustryApps, he was a Global Head – Digital Factory.
About Rolf Knoerzer:
Rolf Knoerzer is the CEO and Co-Founder of IndustryApps. Rolf has 25 years of building and running businesses. He specializes in Operations & Supply Chain, Smart Factory, Production Systems, Lean, KAIZEN, MTM, REFA. Before IndustryApps, he was a VP Operations & Supply Chain APAC.
Listen to the full discussion here:
- Listen on Stitcher
Connect with the Guest:
Sandeep Sreekumar: LinkedIn
Rolf Knoerzer: LinkedIn
Some of the highlights from the podcast:
- Rolf and Sandeep’s journey in working together and starting a startup
- Hurdles on the industry and how they solve it
- How IndustryApps helps its clients and how long the onboarding process is
- Current manufacturing trends Rolf and Sandeep are seeing
- Certain policies around IndustryApps developers
- Piece of advice regards shift from a corporate type of job to startup
- How different industries respond to digitalization
Show notes:
- [0:54] What made you both come up with the startup and how did you end up working together?
- [3:50] Can you tell me a little bit about the industry? What are the hurdles you encountered and what are you directly solving right now?
- [5:18] One of the biggest things we had to identify was how to solve the significant differences within the process layer of it and at the same time needing to operate from the platform layer.
- [10:10] Based on statistics, 73% are still not into digitalization, which means there is a huge challenge with adopting technology in an industrial frame. And another critical topic we are looking into is data security.
- [12:18] Just to follow up on that data management. So let’s see if somebody was using a cell phone, is the data stored on their handheld devices or is it on a cloud based server like Amazon Web Services or something like that. Where is the data stored and how is that working?
- [13:37] Is there downtime within your platform?
- [13:42] We have multi-clusters and multi backup mechanisms which are enabled so that if a cluster fails, it sort of switches over to other environments and stuff. So we don’t expect any downtime.
- [15:22] Can you give a case study around the client side? How have you helped them and how long did it take to onboard them? How long did it take for them to start seeing certain changes and make decisions to see the data in real-time?
- [22:05] Costing wise, how does it work? Is it like a model that we have on Android Play stores or Apple Play stores, where you do not pay for the stores but you only pay for the apps?
- [26:11] How do you differentiate your platform with others?
- [27:08] We do not have any connection hardwiring to any specific hardware or software layer. We do not limit customers on technology and framework. It’s the choice of customer. And the complete platform is built on open protocols and open standards, so nothing proprietary in the environment.
- [27:48] For a specific client to start implementing with the app, do you kind of come in and get involved in the discussion while they’re using the app or do you let the app developers and owners deal directly with your client?
- [28:21] It’s a combinational approach. So basically, we are involved especially because we are in the starting phase of the journey. We are making sure that they really get the best of the environment and they are getting the best of the solution. But fundamentally, the whole platform is built in a way where they could do all of these things by themselves.
- [31:47] What are the more manufacturing trends you are seeing right now in the industry?
- [31:58] There are a lot of companies moving into the area of digitalization. And for good reason, I would say COVID is one of the reasons why people sort of got a push through it.
- [35:30] Industries will change into a platform based economy. We believe that over the next few years, this curve will completely turn upwards. And that is where we want to position ourselves as a company- who will accelerate that journey for companies to digitize themselves.
- [38:44] If you would have more information, and you would know what’s really coming, then you would be better prepared. And I think this is the key for the future. Many companies have understood these problems and that’s a reason why they start to think of digitalization.
- [39:15] Do you have any certain policies around your app developers where you kind of push them to have that in mind while they’re looking at data and while they’re proposing a solution? Does that ever come up or is it still a beginner stage where you’re not looking at sustainability?
- [42:06] What piece of advice would you give to people listening to the podcast who want to kind of shift from a corporate type of job to a startup entrepreneurial type of job?
- [45:33] Would you like to share something about IndustryApps or decision makers in our audience who can reach out to you?
- [46:15] We came up with a completely different way to digitize your factory and we do not really compromise anything that you would be able to get from a normal industrial company out there, because we are not limiting anyone’s choices in terms of what solution they would want to work with.
Quotes from the Episode:
About the Host:
The host, Rushit Shah is the Managing Director of APAC and North America at Alcott Global. Rushit comes with 20 years of Executive Search and Selection with 8 years of Supply Chain Consulting service within APAC. He worked for more than 40 countries with diversified industries and functionality.
Alcott Global connects and upgrades the supply chain ecosystem by finding the right talent through executive search, developing talent through learning solutions, and meeting supply chain technology needs through a comprehensive crunch base marketplace.
The supply chain executive search has been our focus since the very beginning, offering recruitment services for top-tier supply chain roles at every level of the end-to-end supply chain: plan, source / procure, make, and deliver. Our consultants have years of experience in placing top talent, in North America, LATAM, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and APAC, and besides speed, one of our biggest strengths is our network within the supply chain industry, and we capitalize on it to find the best solutions.
Through the years, we have grown as an organization and our offerings with it. One of our initiatives, the learning solutions- training and supply chain academy, is focused on transforming leadership- self-leadership, executive presence, influence capital, and business acumen. Through Supplify, we aim to match corporations with the top technology companies to solve their supply chain and logistics challenges with a focus on innovation and digital transformation.
We are in constant touch with the leaders in supply chain, inviting them to inspire the supply chain professionals in thought-provoking podcast episodes and events, and showcasing what is possible at the yearly Leaders in Supply Chain Awards.
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