Vanguard Magazine

GAME CHANGER 36 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 www.vanguardcanada.com See the full interview online Q How did you start out in this industry and how has it brought you to where you are today? When I was young, I always had a pas- sion for fast cars, motorcycles, snow- mobiles, and anything that had a mo- tor attached to it. I loved tearing them down, making minor improvements and figuring out how they worked. So natu- rally I was drawn to the manufacturing world. My journey in quality started many years ago when my father, who worked for Generals Motors at the time, recommended that I meet for dinner with one of their cutting tool suppliers to talk about the tool and die industry. I had friends starting in the trade, and of course, Windsor is well known for their expertise in tooling and advanced manu- facturing. I have always been interested in the business aspect of manufacturing and envisioned being in a business de- velopment type role even at 19. During the dinner with my father and the account executive, I was told to en- ter the trade, and learn and understand the manufacturing process, and bring credibility to your future customers. Sales is not only about a transaction. It is about building trust in the solution and creating a partnership. That meeting resonates with me to this day. It brought me into the precision gauging and check fixture world. I completed an appren- ticeship in Tool and Die and started as a fixture builder nearly 30 years ago. Pre- cision gauging and sheet metal fixturing was the primary focus for the company I worked for. The trend in manufacturing to move from hard fixtures to flexible, re-deployable non-contact scanning is what allowed me to move into a sales role. The rest is history. Q What is your role at your organization today? I am currently the Director of Commer- cial Operations for Hexagon Manufac- turing Intelligence, Canada. In 2017, I took the role of building a direct team to support our Canadian Manufacturers. Hexagon has a large customer base with- in Canada and always had local technical support. But our goal of opening solu- tion centers with sales, training, and the latest technologies had yet to take shape. In my current position, I have the oppor- tunity to work across different functions of our organization. I learn from and in- teract with some very talented people in services, application engineering, training and finance. In all honesty, being part of this journey to build out such an amaz- ingly talented team has been the best part of my job at Hexagon. Q What was your most challenging moment? This is an interesting question because life is full of challenges every day. To keep my answer in the theme of the manufacturing industry, I am going back to 2003. At this time, the com- pany I worked with became the Cana- dian distributor for a white light scan- ning technology. This scanner was really a game changing at the time and very new to industry. In my mind this tech- nology would be welcomed with open arms and people would be relieved, that finally we have a technology that makes life easier! I was wrong. It was met with constant skepticism around accuracy. I was dealing with comments such as "this technology shows too much." To call it a challenge would be a mild statement. The companies in the supply chain we were working with feared they would never achieve buyoff from their custom- ers because scanning showed the entire part. Out of tolerance areas were glaring. In contrast, today conversations around the digital twin are prevalent and laser scanning and structured light are utilized in all facets of manufacturing. Q What was your A-HA moment or epiphany that you think will resonate most with our readers? Tell us that story. Funny enough, my A-HA moment came from visiting a HxGN Live event in Las Vegas. This event focuses on everything Hexagon. I work in the Manufacturing Intelligence division of Hexagon which in itself is vast. When I toured the Vegas event and saw for the first-time what other divisions including Novatel, Intergraph, Geosystems, Safety Infrastructure pro- vided from a technology standpoint, I was blown away. Within the Manufacturing Intelligence division, it was an eye-open- er to learn how our solutions drive the manufacturing process from design engi- neering, production machine, to quality. I have always been very process oriented, so watching Hexagon acquire strategic companies over the years to build out our portfolio has been enlightening. Q What is the one thing that has you most fired up today? The advancements in technology contin- ue at a tremendous rate. The drive to uti- lize data for predictive quality, predictive maintenance and autonomous manufac- turing is where the industry is headed. We can measure faster and more accurately closer to the point of manufacturing, even on the shop floor. We have sensors gather- ing information and monitoring the pro- duction line. With access to the gathered from parts by scanners metrology instru- ments, and manufacturing systems this information can be utilized strategically to head off scrap before it happens is key to quality and profitability. The digitalization of operations and application of artificial intelligence (AI) is an exciting journey to be part of. DAVID HILL DIRECTOR OF COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS HEXAGON MANUFACTURING INTELLIGENCE

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