Shifting Gears: Building a Connected Ecosystem to Drive Growth

LatentView’s exclusive networking event—Shifting Gears: Building a Connected Ecosystem to Drive Growth—in Dearborn buzzed with ideas as industry leaders tackled how to leverage analytics and AI to drive profitability and growth. Here’s a recap of the key takeaways and insights.

Welcome Note

Rajan Sethuraman

CEO, LatentView Analytics

Rajan Sethuraman, CEO of LatentView Analytics, kicked off the networking event with a thought-provoking welcome address. Businesses need agility to navigate the twists and turns of the road to success. But how do we achieve that agility? AI and analytics can help businesses not just reach the finish line but predict and avoid potholes (disruptions) along the way. Rajan emphasized the importance of analytics and AI in staying ahead of the curve, setting the stage for the insightful panel discussion that followed.

Industry leaders then took center stage, sharing their experiences and strategies for navigating disruptions with data-driven approaches.

Panel Discussion

Swift Shift

Accelerating Profitability and Efficiency with AI and ML

Speaker

Erica Klampfl

Chief Data and Analytics Officer (Interim)
Ford Motor Company

Speaker

Neil Bhandar

Vice President of Analytics
Generac Power Systems

Speaker

Scott Bennett

Chief Information Officer
Lear Corporation

Moderator

Prashant Vishnupad

Business Head – Industrials
LatentView Analytics

Supply Chain Woes and AI Solutions

Disruptions in the supply chain, especially those causing long lead times and unpredictable freight costs, were a central pain point for the panelists. Scott Bennett, from Lear Corporation, emphasized the need to analyze the entire supply chain and not just their operations. He highlighted the importance of getting upstream visibility and understanding what’s happening with suppliers. Erica Klampfl, from Ford Motor Company, echoed this sentiment, stressing the need for better data visibility across the entire supply chain. “A lot of data is just lying around,” she pointed out, “but the challenge is making it usable. Upstream tier visibility, for instance, is a huge problem.” Neil Bhandar from Generac Power Systems added that building the agility and ability to respond to changes still remains a significant problem.

But there are tools to help. Platforms like Palantir Foundry, which use AI and machine learning, helped Lear Corporation analyze their complex supply chain data, identifying bottlenecks and making better decisions about lead times and freight costs, said Scott. Erica pointed to E2Open, a platform that helps companies see what their suppliers are up to and hold them accountable for their commitments. LatentView’s ConnectedView solution also addresses many supply chain issues, like multi-tier supplier visibility, and enhances demand planning and inventory control.

Forecasting Demand and Optimizing Inventory

Accurately forecasting demand, especially for new products like electric vehicles, is critical yet tedious. The panelists offered a toolbox of solutions. Scott championed the importance of analyzing customer data to predict what kind of inventory companies would need. “We get our demand directly from customers,” he explained, “but we also need to predict inventory management. How close can we get to delivering exactly what customers need, when they need it? That’s why we use tools and solutions to streamline communication and planning.”

“Seasonality and single-sourced products make forecasting a challenge. We often end up with excess inventory, tying up cash flow,” said Neil, highlighting the need to optimize inventory. Erica suggested combining historical sales data with market research to get a more nuanced picture of future demand, not just relying on past trends.

Connected Vehicles: A Goldmine of Data

There is an exciting potential for leveraging data from connected vehicles. Erica pointed out that this data can be used to develop new services that add value for customers. Imagine features that use data to predict potential problems before they even happen. This could be a game-changer for product quality. Ford is using connected vehicle data for product feature redesign and reducing the cost of poor quality. Neil shared real-world examples of how they use connected technology to monitor the state of devices. Neil explained how device occupancy monitoring components like thermostats can regulate temperature and optimize energy use. This data can be valuable, not just for individual users but when aggregated across a large user base. Generac’s mobile app allows their generators to send data not only to dealers but also directly to Generac. The data from all these generators can be used to identify trends, predict potential problems, and ultimately improve our products and services.

Generative AI: The Future of Work and Insights

The conversation then shifted to how Generative AI (GenAI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) are making an impact in industrial applications. Erica stressed the importance of clean and well-structured data for training effective AI models. No garbage in, no garbage out, as they say. Panelists explored various applications of GenAI and LLMs, including identifying and fixing quality issues more efficiently, streamlining contract review and analysis using LLMs, and reducing the need for extensive user training through GenAI. Additionally, Scott highlighted the potential of GenAI for optimizing labor through automation and reducing labor dependency. Both Erica and Neil agreed that GenAI improves accessibility by making data insights more readily available, even for non-experts.

Balancing Transparency and Embracing a Data-driven Future

The panelists stressed that transparency in the supply chain is beneficial, but Scott cautioned about balancing openness with the need for control. Erica added that for industrial companies to advance quickly like companies from other industries, they must first address the detrimental challenge of data fragmentation.

Solutions in Action

LatentView’s interactive demonstrations at the event sparked discussions with attendees, highlighting the real-world impact of our solutions.

ConnectedNXT

Navigate with precision, efficiency, and proactive insights.

To ensure efficiency and combat disruptions, automotive leaders must get insights in real time. LatentView’s ConnectedNXT accelerator leverages connected vehicle analytics to streamline fleet management, reduce operational costs, and monitor driver performance, all while managing emissions effectively. Designed specifically for the modern age, ConnectedNXT empowers automotive companies to overcome common challenges with advanced analytics and AI, propelling your connected mobility initiatives forward.

ConnectedView MSV

Transform from supply chain volatility to visibility

ConnectedView MSV is an AI-powered and GraphML-based solution that uses diverse data sources to create a holistic picture of your global network. It provides predictive alerting of risks to the supply chain based on internal and external risks in the supply network and orchestration of the network, resulting in 5-7% manufacturing efficiency and supply availability. Proactively mitigate supply chain disruptions with advanced risk modeling and prescriptive analytics.

BeagleGPT

Move from hundreds of dashboards into one GenAI app

BeagleGPT is a Gen AI-powered conversational analytics tool integrated into Microsoft Teams for you. Scrutinizing through many dashboards and reports to get the insights you need is often tedious. This never-ending search increases the time to insights thus affecting timely decisions. BeagleGPT is your own conversational assistant to actionable insights in a jiffy. Overcome siloed, dated, and scattered insights, make informed decisions faster.

Closing Note

Krishnan Venkata

Chief Client Officer, LatentView Analytics

As the final checkered flag waved at the Shifting Gears event, Krishnan Venkata, Chief Client Officer at LatentView, delivered a fitting closing note. He emphasized the importance of these takeaways, highlighting how data and AI can empower businesses to navigate the complexities of the modern industrial landscape. Krishnan urged attendees to not just be inspired but to take action and leverage the event’s insights to implement practical solutions within their own organizations. By embracing data and AI, he concluded, businesses can not only weather disruptions but seize the opportunities that lie ahead, securing a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving world.

The Shifting Gears event in Detroit concluded on a high note, leaving attendees with valuable insights and a renewed sense of perspective about the transformative power of data and AI.

Glimpses from the Event

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LatentView Analytics was back in the Bay Area for the 18th edition of our roundtable, and it turned out to be our largest one yet! We had 130+ industry experts join us in Menlo Park, CA, for an engaging discussion on the theme, “Hype to Hypergrowth: Deriving ROI from AI.” The event sparked insightful conversations and brought together some of the brightest minds in the field to shift the mainstream AI narrative.

Services

Technical Expertise

Domain Expertise

Advisory Services

Solutions

Partnerships

Industries

Insights

About

Welcome Note

Rajan Sethuraman

Panel Discussion

Swift Shift

Accelerating Profitability and Efficiency with AI and ML

Speaker

Erica Klampfl

Speaker

Neil Bhandar

Speaker

Scott Bennett

Moderator

Prashant Vishnupad

Solutions in Action

ConnectedNXT

Navigate with precision, efficiency, and proactive insights.

ConnectedView MSV

Transform from supply chain volatility to visibility

BeagleGPT

Move from hundreds of dashboards into one GenAI app

Closing Note

Krishnan Venkata

Glimpses from the Event

Our past events

(Re)Think Data Think LatentView

Services

Technical Expertise

Domain Expertise

Advisory Services

Industries

Insights

About

(Re)Think Data Think LatentView

(Re)Think Data
Think LatentView

(Re)Think Data
Think LatentView