mtconnect

Destiny of Manufacturing EP 0414 - Russ Waddell - MT Connect

Russ Waddell is the managing director for the MTConnect Institute and responsible for day-to-day business operations. He also sits on the Technical Steering Committee for the MTConnect standard. Prior to this role, Waddell worked at AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology as an industry economist where he provided statistical research for sales and marketing in the manufacturing technology industry. Waddell holds a bachelor's degree in economics from The College of William and Mary.

Russell Waddell, managing director at the MTConnect Institute, dives into why so many standards exist, what manufacturers can gain from a digital factory project, and how they can cut through the hype—to at least achieve shop floor monitoring. MTConnect, a standard with more than 10 years of history, frees up manufacturers to focus on value-add functions instead of normalizing data. And it has been installed on more than 50,000 devices worldwide. Today, the use case is not just what happened or what is happening “what is going to happen: looking at … anything that is forward-looking and anticipating what will happen next.” Perhaps most important, embracing standards allows for quick and easy integration of all types and brands of equipment.