Industry 4.0 is more than technology; it’s an enabler to improving manufacturing, including operator performance and quality. This excerpt from an interview by Industry 4.0 Club‘s CEO Mike Ungar and Chairman Mike Yost with Matrix Automation’s Brandon Kenning highlights how to unlock operator performance with Industry 4.0 innovation. Click here for the full interview video.
How should Industry 4.0 be integrated into Lean to ensure a people-centered approach is protected?
Lean has always been about people: identifying waste, solving problems, and making improvements stick. Industry 4.0 doesn’t replace that, it strengthens it. The combination is called Lean 2.0 or Digital Lean.
When we use manufacturing solutions to digitize standard work and capture data in real-time, operators get instant feedback. That makes it easier for companies to sustain Lean and helps operators succeed shift after shift.
Industry 4.0 isn’t a substitute for Lean; it’s the engine that helps Lean improvements take root and last.
How should manufacturing leaders implement Industry 4.0 projects to increase the engagement of the shop floor to improve results?
I think the key is making sure operators see technology as something that helps them, not something that monitors them. Manufacturing solutions give people clear digital work instructions, real-time guidance, and error-proofing, so they feel more confident in the work they’re doing.
The shop floor engages when they see technology working for them, not on them.
We’ve written about this in a couple of our blogs, one focused on Increasing Operator Confidence & Retention, and a few others focused on Digital Work Instructions. They highlight that new hires often get overwhelmed with paper manuals and tribal knowledge. With digital tools, we flip that experience. Operators are guided, supported, and engaged from day one, and that makes all the difference.
In many areas of the country and world, we have a significant gap in having enough manufacturing employees to keep our factories operating. How can Industry 4.0 help both to retain the workers we have and attract new talent to manufacturing?
Retention improves when people feel capable and confident. I’ve seen situations where new operators quit before lunch on day one because they were overwhelmed. Manufacturing solutions such as MES change that. It guides them step by step, gives them feedback, and helps them succeed quickly. That confidence keeps people from walking away.
On the attraction side, perception matters. I heard a quote recently that “Manufacturing isn’t dark, dirty, and dangerous anymore.” Today’s plant floor is digital, data-driven, and safer. When younger workers see that, it changes their perception of manufacturing as a career.
People don’t quit when they feel supported. MES helps operators feel confident, capable, and proud to stay.
Would you be able to briefly share a specific example of how Industry 4.0 has impacted operator performance to improve quality in manufacturing?
We’ve seen strong results in diverse industries. Woodbridge Group has seen great results and taken defects down to ZERO.
Another example is Pride Mobility. They needed consistent quality across multiple plants building motorized wheelchairs. By using MES to standardize digital work instructions, they reduced operator errors and created the traceability needed for FDA compliance. That not only improved quality but also gave leadership confidence that every product met the same standard, regardless of where it was built.
When we digitize the operator experience, quality becomes built-in instead of inspected-in.
Would you share your perspective on what you see as some of the next evolutions in manufacturing?
We’re moving toward more operator augmentation: MES guiding the human, AI analyzing performance, and automation assisting execution.
Compliance and traceability are non-negotiable in industries like automotive, aerospace, and medical devices. MES can ensures every step is captured, every product documented.
And as more analytics and IoT tools converge with MES, factories will become smarter, but they’ll still be people-centered. Operators remain critical.
The next evolution isn’t lights-out factories; it’s smarter factories where digital tools empower every operator to perform flawlessly.
Any final thoughts?
The future of manufacturing isn’t humans versus machines — it’s humans empowered by machines. Operators will always be the heartbeat of production. With MES and digital work instructions, we make their jobs easier, safer, and more effective. And when operators perform at their best, factories perform at their best.
If you’d like to see how this can become a reality in your own operations, we’d love to connect and share how we’re helping manufacturers unlock operator performance and raise the bar on quality.
Want to learn more? Watch the full interview with Industry 4.0 Club and Brandon Kenning.