Doug Power, Event Director: Why are Promark and ECI so committed to connected worker technology transformation? What key projects have you undertaken over the last two years, and which have been most important to the business?

Adam Prizio: ECI has a global footprint, and here at ProMark Electronics in Montreal we’ve been engaging in realigning all the digital solutions used across the company. That includes the front lines on the shop floor as well as back-office functions like finance, HR, and marketing. We’re essentially digitizing our entire operations—identifying the optimal digital solutions each department needs, then reviewing them collaboratively with all the department heads. The goal is to consolidate as many systems as possible so we don’t end up with a hundred different systems running in parallel, not communicating, and everyone working in different ways. That defeats the purpose of going digital. The main project, and the main focus, is production because that’s where connected worker technologies are the most important.

We’ve been identifying the full business capabilities of every department, including production: functions, responsibilities, deliverables, and the data and metrics behind them. From there, we shortlist the best digital solutions and review them as a collaborative team with IT to make sure we’re selecting what’s right for us. The aim is for everyone to go digital, everyone to be connected, and for information—aside from what’s confidential—to be accessible across the company. That way, internal clients and customers can all benefit, and we can leverage that shared information to drive the business forward, improve operations, and meet the targets we’ve set in our strategic plan and vision.

Doug Power, Event Director: What specific connected worker solutions have you used on the plant floor, and what results have you seen?

Adam Prizio: The most important solution from a production perspective is our connected worker technology. We use VKS (Visual Knowledge Sharing) as our core system, and it’s really been our pride and joy digitally. Most of the critical data we need comes directly from the production floor, so measuring company performance starts there. Metrics like on-time delivery, internal and external defect rates, scrap, overall output and capacity, productivity, and efficiency levels are all captured live.

That information can then be shared across the company, giving every department a clear picture of performance and showing where we’re on target, where we’re behind, and where focus is needed. Going fully digital has had a huge impact, especially in North America where skilled labor is declining as baby boomers retire. “Doing more with less” is very real in manufacturing today. Digital systems help us train and ramp up technical competencies much faster - what once took months or years of onboarding can now be done far more quickly. Work instructions, training, product introductions, even learning new equipment can all be delivered digitally, allowing unskilled or low-skilled technicians to become highly skilled in a short time.

It also lets knowledge flow between different technicians. For example, someone highly experienced on an aerospace program and someone equally experienced on a food and beverage program may not have shared knowledge in the past. Digital, interactive work instructions change that. Combined with HR integrations around skills and competencies, we can scale quickly, onboard large groups of staff, and stay agile compared to competitors still using paper-based processes.

On the equipment side, digital integration is invaluable. Spare parts are tracked, preventive maintenance notifications are automated, and overall equipment effectiveness can be measured in real time. That helps us assess performance, plan replacements, or retire obsolete equipment.

Essentially, we can see the company through a single pane of glass. For our workers, it means more control, more engagement, and a stronger connection to performance. For us, this has been the single most important improvement of the past few years - digitizing production, our largest department. Other departments are following, and the main challenge now is ensuring all the independent solutions integrate and connect smoothly.

Doug Power, Event Director: Many companies struggle with user adoption when rolling out digital transformation projects. What strategies have you used to ensure successful adoption across your workforce?

Adam Prizio: In a manufacturing environment, you’re often working with a blue-collar workforce - people who chose this career path because they want to work with their hands, not sit behind a computer. So when you bring a digital layer onto the floor, there’s always some hesitation at first. Our approach is based on the innovation adoption lifecycle—the typical bell curve of innovators, early adopters, early majority, and so on.

We start by focusing on those most eager to learn a new skill or try a new technology. Innovators are usually technicians, engineers, or quality reps who are naturally interested in experimenting with something new. They’re the easiest to onboard, they require little effort, and they tend to give the best feedback. Once they’re up and running, they become independent quickly - and importantly, they become ambassadors for what we’re trying to do. From there, we shift attention to the early adopters and early majority.

This is the biggest group, and also the one that needs the most support. They’re interested in change but not always sure how to approach it, so we spend most of our time working with them. We don’t focus much on the late adopters or laggards at first, because they tend to only get on board when they see the majority already using the system. By building up allies and ambassadors early, we make it easier to bring them along later. Typically, once 60 to 75 percent of the team is comfortable with the technology, that’s when we implement it more broadly.

You can’t wait for everyone to be ready - so we launch when the majority is on board, and then spend the rest of the time supporting those who were reluctant at the start. In the end, even the laggards come around - it just takes them longer.

Doug Power, Event Director: You’ve touched on onboarding, but let’s talk more about bridging skills gaps. When bringing digital technologies onto the plant floor, did you need to rethink your skills strategy to align with those changes?

Adam Prizio: Absolutely. Our production staff has always been, and always will be, our most important resource. Technology, whether it’s a piece of equipment or a new software tool, is only as effective as the people using it. That means their well-being, technical competency, and overall development are a constant focus for us. We’ve always invested in skills, training, and competency assessments, even without the digital aspect. But introducing digital technology brings a whole new layer of requirements. For example, we already had structured career development plans for welders. Adding a digital dimension meant figuring out how to integrate those tools into existing skill paths.

To address that, we’ve invested in having full-time instructors on-site as part of our operations and HR teams. Their sole focus is to continuously train and develop employees across both technical and non-technical skills.

On the technical side, that could mean meeting industrial standards, mastering a new piece of equipment, or learning a new technology. On the non-technical side, it’s about building leadership qualities, conflict resolution, and communication skills so team leaders can support adoption and onboarding more effectively. The reality is you’ll never remove the human element from manufacturing—even in highly automated or “dark” factories. That’s why our instructors spend time on the floor, working directly with technicians, coaching best practices, and gathering feedback. We take that feedback back to leadership and even to our technology providers, so they can improve their systems in ways that work better for our people.

The most impactful decision we’ve made has been dedicating resources to learning and development. Not every company can afford full-time instructors, but having people in your organization who are responsible for continuous training and growth is, in my view, essential to closing skills gaps.

Doug Power, Event Director: How important was it to strategically align IT and business to deliver rapid, measurable ROI across your digital transformation initiatives?

Adam Prizio: It’s critical… and honestly, it’s a common challenge across industries. Too often, IT gets seen as the group that just makes sure your Wi-Fi works or your laptop gets fixed. But we view IT as much more than that. To us, digital transformation is like the natural extension of our business operations, and IT is at the center of it.

They play a role in everything from implementing AI tools like Microsoft Copilot, to exploring how to leverage ChatGPT safely, to strengthening cybersecurity, improving shop-floor systems, and even managing smarter planning and quoting. In many ways, IT operates almost like its own company within the company, touching nearly every part of the business. At ProMark, we’re fortunate to be part of a larger global organization, which means we can tap into IT expertise across different facilities and regions.

That global connection is a huge advantage. But at the end of the day, it always comes down to collaboration. In my experience, leaving IT out of the loop is one of the fastest ways to set yourself up for failure. The reality is that in 2025, virtually every business improvement has some level of software involved. To treat IT as a support function instead of a strategic partner is a waste.

They’re arguably your most important ally when it comes to adopting and sustaining new technologies. That’s why we involve them as early as possible in any decision. Yes, IT teams may sometimes think a bit highly of themselves, but the truth is they’ll be your best friend in rolling out a new solution and the ones who keep it running afterward. Not bringing them in from the beginning is a recipe for disaster.

Doug Power, Event Director: What’s next in your connected worker journey?

Adam Prizio: It might not be the sexiest answer, but moving away from on-premise systems with limited cybersecurity and outdated capabilities is essential. The goal is to adopt tools that are scalable and easy to integrate with the rest of our digital ecosystem. That’s an ongoing process for us. Looking ahead, our strategic vision for digitization is about leveraging AI to augment the systems we already have. We’re not chasing “flashy” AI use cases - we see it as a practical tool. For example, we’re exploring AI for smarter aggregate planning, where the system can suggest the optimal combination of technicians for a project based on skill levels, part complexity, and available resources. AI can even propose different scenarios, like which parts to select based on cost and availability, or how to save time by adjusting team assignments. We’re also testing AI for predictive maintenance.

Many companies have already moved to preventive maintenance, where you get alerts ahead of calibration deadlines. But predictive maintenance goes a step further - your equipment management system can forecast when a machine is likely to fail, helping you plan budgets and replacement cycles in advance. The real benefit of AI here isn’t about doing something completely new, but about doing it faster. Instead of multiple meetings and brainstorming sessions to test out different possibilities, AI can run simulations in the background and present a range of options.

Managers still make the final call, but they’re making decisions with better data and more time to focus on strategic priorities - things like long-term planning or product development. For us, it’s all about testing and integrating AI where it can enhance what we already do well.

Doug Power, Event Director: And just one question off the back of that, Adam, are you also using it from a safety and quality control perspective, like computer vision solutions across your factory floors? Is that already in place, or are you looking at that?

Adam Prizio: Yes, absolutely. We’ve actually developed a machine vision system in-house with some partners in Montreal for visual inspections. A lot of the components we build are wire harnesses and cable assemblies, where we perform ultrasonic welds and crimp very small cables. These can be difficult to see with the human eye, and often involve multiple connection points within a single connector system. Traditionally, technicians would spend a lot of time inspecting under microscopes - it’s time-consuming, subjective, and prone to error. We also do cross-section inspections, similar to X-rays, where reports need to be carefully interpreted. That process can be equally subjective and labor intensive. When you’re building thousands of parts a year, even the best technicians will make mistakes. But in our world - where we supply aerospace, medical, and automotive components—mistakes simply aren’t an option. One small error can have massive consequences, and the pressure on individual inspectors is enormous.

That’s why we now use our own machine vision system for both in-process and end-of-line inspections. It removes subjectivity, improves speed, and ensures consistency. Beyond that, we’ve also integrated collaborative robots, Cobots, into production. Wire harness manufacturing is still highly labor-intensive and tough to fully automate, but Cobots can handle repetitive, physically demanding tasks like taping. That’s not only more ergonomic for our workforce but also makes the work more engaging. All of these projects are part of our push to do more with less.

Manufacturing today faces major labor shortages, and there’s also the broader geopolitical drive to keep production closer to home rather than outsourcing to lower-cost countries. By investing in digitization and automation, we’re not just addressing workforce challenges - we’re also realizing significant cost efficiencies and reinforcing our ability to manufacture in North America.

Want to hear more from Adam Prizio and other digital manufacturing leaders?

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