The manufacturing industry has experienced rapid growth over the past few decades. For manufacturing businesses using cutting-edge quality management solutions, the digital age has brought forth a lot of new developments. Manufacturing businesses may fall into unwanted situations if they fall into quality problems. It is essential to spot every minute issue to find the best possible solution. The worldwide manufacturing industry is constantly evolving from digital automation to Industry 4.0. The manufacturing industry is an exciting sector to be a part of. Still, like every other sector, it has a fair share of challenges and problems too.
In a problematic situation, the supervision of an expert becomes an utmost necessity, especially within the diameter of a manufacturing company. When it comes to problems within the manufacturing industry, Dean Bartles can be considered a good example of an expert in identifying a problem before it becomes more prominent.
Dean Bartles has been in the industry for over four decades. He is a well-known person in the manufacturing sector. Bartles has grown abilities that are problem identification. His industry experience has allowed him to identify a problem before it’s too late. Bartles has come out as a man of the industry and looks at the problem through a standard lens: Machines are designed to communicate. He demonstrates that if the communication between the machines is sound, the production and manufacturing will also be of a higher quality.
His ideas are closely linked to smart manufacturing, which he has played a great role in making huge. Through extensive experience, he stresses that machine communication plays a pivotal role since smart manufacturing depends on statistics passed on from one computer to another through communication.
Bartles has expertise in advanced manufacturing technology areas, including digital manufacturing, model-based enterprise, industry 4.0, smart manufacturing, advanced robotics, and factory concepts. He has headed the Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group (MTDG) since its inception in 2020. He founded MTDG to transform the advanced manufacturing industrial base worldwide for a sustainable future.
Fascination with machines
Ever since he was a kid, he has been fascinated by machines. He began working in his father’s shop. He was able to quickly learn the basics of operating a lathe, milling machine, drill press, and welder. It was right then and there when his fascination turned into a passion. It resulted in Bartles spending most of his career around manufacturing. He pursued his education on the side while also pursuing his career.
Encouraging the emerging entrepreneurs
For emerging entrepreneurs, Bartles has always encouraged them to continue their education on the side. While working at General Dynamics, he earned a Ph.D. in technology management out of his desire to challenge his plant managers. For over ten years, he focused on advanced manufacturing systems. He encourages the upcoming entrepreneurs that education and skills can play an essential role in helping them execute their responsibilities in their profession. In addition, his advice to them is to build a strong network of professional societies and organizations where they meet other professionals in the same career they are aligned in.
Giving thirty years of his life to General Dynamics
For over three decades, Dean Bartles worked with General Dynamics. He held prominent positions and was responsible for setting up and running manufacturing operations in Egypt, Turkey, and the United States. Bartles was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes when the strategic business unit within General Dynamics that he was responsible for raised sales from $135 million to over $600 million between 2001 and 2014. He parted ways with General Dynamics when a newly established business in Chicago hired him. His role was to design, build, and stand up the digital manufacturing and design innovative institute from scratch.
Cementing the legacy
In 2014, he joined UI Labs as a chief manufacturing officer and founding executive director of the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII). One of the first three UI Labs workers, Bartles, organized and directed the construction of a $16.5 million building renovation project and secured more than $80 million in research projects. Bartles was the founding Chairman of the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition, the 2016-2017 President of the North American Manufacturing Research Institute, the 2016 President of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and the Chairman of the Board of the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining. Put simply, Dean Bartles has worked with many top-notch companies, and his experience in spotting problems elevated him in terms of growth in all the organizations he has worked in.
