Driving Industrial Innovation

[00:00:00] Filip Popov: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Espresso 4.0. Today we are joined by a very special person, Lucio Corcuera from all the way from Peru, working for SKF, a world renowned manufacturer of bearings, as well as a supplier of all kinds of services for maintenance and a leader in reliability in industry. Lucio, welcome and thank you for joining me for an episode of Espresso 4.0.

[00:00:31] Lucio Corcuera: Hi, Filip. Thank you for the invitation. Well, it's for me a pleasure to be here on your podcast.

[00:00:37] Filip Popov: Excellent. Glad, glad to hear it. So why don't you start us off? Well, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what your primary responsibilities are?

[00:00:46] Lucio Corcuera: Yes, of course. Well, uh, related to my background, I'm a mechatronics engineer with some specializations degrees in projects in technology. And my current role is, I work as a sales product manager for the engine region, especially, specifically the Peru and Bolivia markets. And my main responsibility is to deliver all our technology offer to focused on engineering and technological projects to our key industry, specifically the heavy industry, which is our priority as an engine region.

[00:01:22] Filip Popov: Uh-huh. I got it. I got it. So, basically you identify potential opportunities where you can improve upon businesses within the, within industry and you try to package, uh, the plethora of SKF has to offer, uh, into, into something that makes sense most for them. Okay.

[00:01:39] Lucio Corcuera: Of course. Our idea is to be a key connector between all the platforms that SKF has in order to be a global differentiation in our value proposition for our customers.

[00:01:53] Filip Popov: Excellent. And in your view, how is industry 4.0 reshaping manufacturing processes in Peru and Bolivia and the region?

[00:02:02] Lucio Corcuera: Well, definitely since many years ago when it, when all of this revolution started here and globally. Well, many changes started to take place, uh, specifically here, for example, it's really common to have digital transformation departments, okay, with strong leadership that are implementing all of these solutions and all of these trends related to technologies.

For example, it's really common here to talk about cybersecurity, cloud solutions, to be and to see machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions deployed in all the value chains of the factories, for example, if I talk about mining industry, it's really common to see now here in Peru, for example, some cases where the customer have developed machine learning algorithms for improving the efficiency in all the production process.

The idea is how they can use, okay, the operational variables with the best points. Okay? In order to guarantee a best output. So, that is one of the main issues that you can have that you can see here in operations. But also some of the applications are focused on maintenance. Okay. For example, like, uh, like, you know, some, we are applying different technologies, digital technologies, and also artificial intelligence solution for predictive maintenance for mining industry and in general industrial. And also I could say it's common to see now another type of application you see, for example, uh, machine vision. For safety at industry. So, it's really common. That's only to be the appliance of this technologies in production, in operations, in maintenance, but also focused on safety for the personnel in the plants.

[00:04:08] Filip Popov: Okay. Okay. Now, I typically ask a lot, a lot of my guests this question, but let's see if, uh, if this, if the answer kind of also corresponds to your region and in South America, right? But I'm curious to know whether, what the challenges and opportunities do companies face when integrating digital technologies into their operations? I think you spoke a little bit about the opportunities already, but what are the challenges when it comes to integrating digital technologies?

[00:04:38] Lucio Corcuera: Yeah, that's, that's a great question. And that's, um, I could say, um, when we talk about technology implementation, we definitely talk about digital transformation. And we need to understand that concept because talking about digital transformation are great words, okay, are big words. So, it's not as many people think that it's just about, okay, technology deployment, technology implementation. No, that's not digital transformation. That's a part, yeah. But the key of, uh, of technology implementation, okay, is not only focused on technology by itself.

It's a synergy between technology, process transformation again, and also a cultural transformation, because if we really want to implement effectively all of these biggest digital solutions that we are now seeing as opportunities, we need to make some transformation related to the processes of how the mine and the industry are working, but also a cultural transformation in order to be open to these technologies, because that is one of the main, uh, issues that we face when we try to implement a new technology. And it's just like a single product. If we don't have, uh, strategic. Okay. From that direction. Okay. If we don't have the people, okay, with the right mindset, which is open to new technologies, to new changes, it's going to be really complicated. And we have seen this many times with different customers with different industries, when people are not aware and are not open to new, to different technologies. Why? Because we, as human beings, sometimes are rejected, we reject new things, right?

So, change management is an important, an important challenge that we are facing every single day. So, one of the main changes, main change of challenges, uh, is that, so is that cultural of the people which are working. And also I would say, a great challenge is focused on the synergy between all the stakeholders that need to be aligned in order to be helpful for the project. Sometimes we can, we have faced different barriers, okay? Okay, because, because not all the organizations are aligned to the objectives of the project that we're trying to implement. So, those I would say are the main issues that we constantly face in our daily, daily work activities. Yeah.

[00:07:37] Filip Popov: I would agree with you. I mean, digital transformation is not just slapping on an ERP system and call it digital transformation. It's more of a, it permeates more all different layers and it involves change of culture. So, what happens, uh, what comes to the forefront, forefront is, uh, culture as well as leadership. Uh, I think we'll get onto the leadership in some of my later questions that I have for you. But, uh, I think, uh, I think, uh, I think that challenge travels well also in Europe and North America, pretty much everywhere where I've, where I've had the pleasure to speak to people in this industry. Let's dive into, or let's focus a little bit on the specifics within the SKF kind of portfolio. Right?

Um, I know that, uh, you went to Expo MENA 2024, Expo MENA is, uh, I believe a very important event, that gathers industrial leaders in mining in Peru. And there you introduced a micro log analyzer, DBX and a wireless monitoring solutions. How do these innovations enhance predictive maintenance and automation in the mining sector?

[00:08:43] Lucio Corcuera: Yes, as you mentioned, this year we have launched different solutions. One of them is the new micro of DBX, okay, which is our latest product focused on predictive maintenance or routes. Okay? So, MicroAnalyzer is our emblematic, uh, product for root, root based maintenance. Okay, so, uh, but what is the special of this product? Okay, this product, uh, involves not only all the power of the predictive maintenance traditional micro, but it also is including all these new digital solutions, that synergy can give to the customer more benefits related to, for example, interconnectivity. Okay. The possibility to have a better user friendly experience.

Okay. So, it's a microlog with great powerful resources, but also with all the digital solution benefits that you can encounter with this new trends and also related to wireless technologies. We, well, it's not, uh, something that we launched this year. We have launched from the last few years, but yeah, but in general, SKF, we are constantly innovating, okay?

Related to all our solutions. So, we have now, yeah, wireless solutions, wireless sensor for monitoring vibration and temperature in some semi critical equipments. But also we have our condition monitoring solution and technology for critical machinery. With wide sensor that we use for more complicated environments, more complicated operating conditions that we need to measure with a wide sensor.

So, in general, yeah, we have, I would say all the solutions available related to all the new trends, okay. For every specific need. And that is our key as technology experts. Our idea is not to give technology just because our customer is asking, we also, and we firstly are analyzing and identifying what our customer really needs. And in that sense, we can advise him what is the right technology and the right product for him, for them.

[00:11:13] Filip Popov: A very customized approach. Uh, not just offering something that you, just for the sake of offering it, but rather identifying what the problem is, uh, and then, and what the best fit is. Okay. Okay. I want to go back to what you mentioned the previous question, uh, or rather answer regarding leadership. You as a conference speaker and a specialist in leadership, uh, what key qualities do you believe are essential for effective leadership in today's industry 4.0 landscape? And in fact, I believe you do have a podcast yourself. Uh, called the or at least revolving around leadership. So, I think you would be a perfect person to answer this question.

[00:11:54] Lucio Corcuera: Yeah, well, thanks for the consideration and yeah, you're right. Um, I'm constantly studying about these topics because they're really important for all our creation activities. Well, I could say if we, if I had to mention two key qualities that a strong leader needs to develop during these days, specifically if you want to implement all this transformation in your industry.

Firstly, I could mention you need to develop great influence and skills. You need to be a great influencer on your factory. Why? Because as you, as we are talking right now, okay, implementing these new projects, implementing these new technologies, okay, require a great leadership that is able, a great leader that is able to convince to all your organization, to your, all your team, all the benefits of that, of this project not only for one department, not only for one person, but for the whole organization. So, being a great influencer is really important. It's a must in a strong leader specifically, and especially during these times in the industry that we are facing changes every single day. That would be the first one.

And the second one, which is key for all these changes, is effective communication. One of the main issues that we also face during the project implementation, during uh, different processes in factories are that we are not communicating effectively between our own team with another teams with, for example, providers, with suppliers, with another stakeholder. So, the ability to communicate effectively, to be really understood. To be really a good communicator related to what's the message, what's the objective of your communication? What are the benefits? What is what you're waiting for the other person that you're trying to communicate with is key. You want to be real effective with all the processes and the changes that you want to implement. If you're not effective with that, believe me, you're going to lose a lot of time and a lot of money. And in the end, you're going to see that your results are not what you expected at the beginning. So those, I would say, are the key abilities. Strong data should develop during this phase.

[00:14:36] Filip Popov: You know what, I tend to agree with you wholeheartedly. I think that influencing people and sales skills are basically related. They're kind of cousins. And I would even say that, uh, good communication is a part of that. I would at the, at the really, at the really foundation of, of both of those tools to both of those two skills, I would put that, at the foundation lies, uh, effective storytelling, uh, and with the right story, you can communicate a right mission, motivate people or influence them, uh, to do great things. And in this case, um, uh, adopt technology and move towards industry 4.0. You are planning to publish a book, I hear, uh, on sharing your experience. Could you give us a preview of, uh, of the themes you'll be exploring?

[00:15:31] Lucio Corcuera: Yeah, yeah. Well, uh, I see you're well informed about myself, so thank you for that. Yeah.

[00:15:37] Filip Popov: I did my homework.

[00:15:38] Lucio Corcuera: Also, as well as maybe you're, you're here right now and you can see. I love technology. I'm a big fan of technology, but most of all, I love people. So, one of my key purpose in life is focused on help other people to develop themselves in order to be successful with their lives, with their projects. So, and in that sense, uh, during the last two years, I started a personal project where we try to help people to be educated with different personal skills. Okay. Our idea is to strengthen the abilities that you use every single day in your life, not only in your work life, but also in your personal life.

So, I'm talking about leadership. I'm talking about influence and skills, uh, time management, emotional intelligence, for example, which is key to control and to regulate all your emotions that are, that in the end are relevant for your success for your results. If you are really intelligent, talking about just intellectually, but you don't have the capability to control your emotions to react properly to every situation. Well, you're going to face different problems in your life, definitely. Yeah, for sure. And also, some important abilities that you, for example, if you study an engineering career, you are not taught about them. For example, sales, how you could negotiate, how you could influence the people, how could you communicate properly?

So, all of these abilities and skills that you need to develop, uh, I have developed a course. Okay? That I'm constantly teaching to young people specifically. Okay, specifically students from universities. So, my idea of this new book is to condense all my strategies, all my knowledge and my experience in a book that could be practical, but really effective in order to study and apply all of this knowledge and strategies that are going to be really valuable for you in your daily life. So, that is the core of the book, and I hope to launch this the next year. Definitely.

[00:17:57] Filip Popov: Excellent. Well, we're looking forward to it. Um, what emerging trends in industrial technology do you foresee having the most significant impact in the coming years?

[00:18:07] Lucio Corcuera: Well, definitely, if I would have to mention just one, I would say Artificial Intelligence. Artificial intelligence now with specifically the, um, generative AI, okay. It's revolutionizing all our lives. So, I'm convinced that during the next decades, we are going to see more applications of artificial intelligence in our whole lives.

And also I am a great convinced that robotics are going to take a fundamental role play in our lives. So, and also I have read about different studies that are seen, that are saying that during the next decades, we are going to experiment a different way of living. So, it's going to be common to be talking with a robot, to be in the market with robots.

Also, I would say it's going to be common to talk and to work with robots in the industry. I'm convinced that that's going to happen. During the two, two next decades. So, I would say that's going to be a new trend. So, and in that sense, it's important to be well adapted to that and well, to be ready because changes are going to happen definitely, but we need to be ready for that.

[00:19:37] Filip Popov: I am glad you said that. So, how is SKF preparing, uh, for that? How, how are you preparing to address these trends and continue delivering the value to your clients in Peru, Bolivia, and wider area?

[00:19:51] Lucio Corcuera: Yeah, I could mention two specific strategies that we are implementing. The first one is focused, is mainly focused on all the technology roadmap that we have for the future. Okay, we have a special division of technology that are constantly innovating, that are constantly thinking about our new partners and new solutions that we can synergize to our value proposition in order to strengthen this for our customers. So, we are working really hard with that. In that sense, we are developing new solutions. We are implementing artificial intelligence in all our different products. Also, we are doing some synergies with the companies that can help us to increase our value proposition. For example, we set that, okay, which we are working together for artificial intelligence solution, for predictive maintenance.

Okay. Uh, but also that is just one part, okay, of this interesting journey of adaptation for the future. But the second one, which is, I would say more important. For that, that we are doing as a company is to prepare ourselves. The key of the success of SKF is for people, definitely. So, what we are doing is constantly evolving related to our abilities and our knowledge.

For example, just to mention two specific cases. During the last week, well, the last month specifically, we have had, uh, we have taken, uh, a course focused on artificial intelligence, all of the workers, okay? We have taken a course that was delivered for the company, but not a course just for knowing what is artificial intelligence, what are the benefits, no. A practical course, okay, that taught us what are the different solutions that use artificial intelligence in the market that we can apply right now in order to be more efficient and more productive with our daily activities. So that, that strategy that we are constantly adapting to the new technologies is key for this transformation thinking in the future. And the second, the second example that I can mention is a specific course that we took two months ago. Its purpose in change management. An interesting topic that is key for all this transformation. So, with that we are developing new, a new mindset in order to be ready for all these trends. So, I could say this second strategy that I just mentioned is key and is part of the whole strategy that the company is doing, that SKF is doing in order to transform us as a company for being ready for everything that is going to come during the next years.

[00:23:09] Filip Popov: Thank you for, first of all, for the shout out. And secondly, uh, yeah, I, it looks like SKF is very forward thinking, uh, um, when it comes to actually having their employees future ready. I would say that. So, um, solving for future problems and, and, and, uh, having them attuned to what's possible, what will be possible, um, so that they can address the market properly. Okay. Well, Lucio, uh, I think we've covered the serious questions. Um, I do have two last questions, which are a little less formal, um, a little bit more lighthearted that I ask all of my guests at the end, uh, at the end of our coffee break. And, uh, the first one is usually what is a technology, a technological innovation outside of industry, uh, that you're most excited about?

[00:24:03] Lucio Corcuera: Well, I think I just mentioned it in some question and I could say it's the generative AI. Yeah, uh, specifically cases, we are seeing cases like ChatGPT, for example, and like all applications of these generative AIs that are really, uh, really revolutionary, uh, how we are working during these days. So, for me, it's, having that.

[00:24:32] Filip Popov: Do you, do you use it privately? ChatGPT?

[00:24:35] Lucio Corcuera: Um, honestly, honestly, no, uh, I would say, uh, I'm not using it. However, I'm going to start using it because I suppose I have been, um, I've been, have been rejecting this. Okay, so, but I need to use it because at the beginning, I confess to you, well, I thought, well, for example, many people use it for writing emails, for example, or for writing things. Okay, but in my case, I love writing. Okay. I like to analyze what I'm trying to do to try to communicate. So, at the beginning, I would say I used to say no, no please, but however, uh, I understood that in some cases, it's important to take advantage of this because that is the idea to be more productive, to be more efficient with your plan, with your resources.

So yeah, now I'm starting to use it, using it. And also some of the, some of those artificial intelligence solutions that you can use in your daily life. For example, there are some PowerPoints or presentations, uh, softwares that can help you too much with your time in order to be more efficient. Also, not only for presentation, you can see it for, for example, for images, for videos. Now that I have a podcast, for example, I use it for analyzing and creating automatically all the clips of my interviews, my general interviews. So, it helped me too much in order to analyze that interview to also to tell me what is the key part of the interview that could be more attractive to my audience. So, it's, it's really amazing. Uh, those, uh, tools I'm using right now, and I'm really open to, to all the new tools.

[00:26:33] Filip Popov: I have to also make a confession. I actually recently paid for my subscription for ChatGPT and I use it for everything. Um, ideas for gifts. I use it for, uh, thinking of my workout routine, uh, for recipes. I put down in a prompt what I have in my fridge and I'm like, what do I make with this? Uh, all kinds of stuff. Travel agenda, all these things. My wife is joking right now. She says we have a third person in our marriage now. Um, but yeah, it's uh, it's pretty useful.

[00:27:06] Lucio Corcuera: Yeah.

[00:27:06] Filip Popov: Okay. And the second question is if I called you at 2PM on a Sunday, what would I be interrupting you in?

[00:27:13] Lucio Corcuera: Well, that's a good question. Maybe I could be taking a nap at that time. Well, in general, yeah. To be honest, uh, I like to take some naps on weekends in order to recharge my energies. I believe it's important. Or maybe I could be, uh, at the street, just, uh, relaxing some time. Or also uh, doing some exercise. Some physical exercise. I believe it's important to have a balance in life. Okay, so you just cannot be living, just working. So, or just with something. So, it's important to develop different aspects of your life, your personality and of your person in general. So, in that sense, I try to make a balance between my work life and also with some sports that I like to practice, like swimming, for example, I just, I usually swim almost every single day and, and yeah, and also on weekends I try to spend time with my family.

[00:28:23] Filip Popov: Got it, okay, fair enough, no? So, basically if I called you at 2PM, I'll either you won't answer or you would answer and you will be very grumpy because I woke you up.

[00:28:33] Lucio Corcuera: Yeah. Yeah. It's possible, yeah.

[00:28:36] Filip Popov: Excellent. Um, well, I'll try to remember that. Okay, Lucio, thank you very much for joining me for a coffee break today. And thank you very much for sharing your experience with us, uh, here at Espresso 4.0. We hope to, uh, have you in the episode, uh, sometime in the future. And yeah, let's keep in touch.

[00:28:55] Lucio Corcuera: Thank you, Filip. And well, congratulations again for your podcast and for your project and it's been a good time for me.

[00:29:03] Filip Popov: Thank you.

[00:29:05] Lucio Corcuera: Bye bye. Bye.