EP 225 - How are AI and IoT solving manufacturing labor shortages?

In this episode we spoke with Mike Rohrmoser, VP of Product Management for OEM Solutions at Digi, a global provider of mission-critical IoT connectivity products and services. We explored how manufacturers are addressing labor shortages with IoT and automation, the trade-offs between retrofitting existing factories and building new ones, the evolving sensor and connectivity landscape, and practical steps to scale IoT pilots into production.

Key insights:

• Retrofitting existing plants is often the smarter move. Brownfield upgrades can cost 40–60% less than new builds and achieve faster returns when paired with business-focused use cases and retrofit connectivity.

• Sensors and networks must be judged as a whole system. Industrial buyers weigh accuracy, deployment simplicity, and lifetime cost over unit price, with wireless IO-Link and LTE Cat 1 gaining traction and 5G RedCap on the horizon.

• Edge AI is real, but focused. Today it is most effective in computer vision for quality inspection and counting, while new designs anticipate broader workloads as adoption matures.

• GenAI augments people, not machines. Its strengths are in analysis, documentation, and device management, while safety-critical real-time control remains firmly in the domain of conventional automation.

• Scaling pilots requires proving value early. Many initiatives stall when they start with technology instead of problems; success depends on production-ready components, operator trust, and leadership alignment.

IoT ONE database: https://www.iotone.com/case-studies The Industrial IoT Spotlight podcast is produced by Asia Growth Partners (AGP): https://asiagrowthpartners.com/