Marty Osborn with Accenture

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

maintenance, talk, hexagon, marty, people, prem, evolving, customers, big, parts, world, systems, trends, cloud, conversation, atms, dots, years, teller, funny

SPEAKERS

Scott MacKenzie

00:04

Welcome to the Industrial Talk Podcast with Scott MacKenzie. Scott is a passionate industry professional dedicated to transferring cutting edge industry focused innovations and trends while highlighting the men and women who keep the world moving. So put on your hard hat, grab your work boots, and let's go. Alright, once again, thank

00:22

you very much for joining Industrial Talk. And thank you very, very much for your continued support a platform that is number one industry related platform in well podcast in the universe, where you go. And it's all backed up by data. Yeah. In line with all of the data collection stuff, and it is a platform that celebrates industry professionals all around the world, because you're bold, brave, you dare greatly you innovate, you collaborate, you solve problems, and you're making the world a better place. That's why we celebrate you. And we're also here on site, hexagon live, Las Vegas, Nevada. And what stays in Las Vegas. Well, not what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. But you need to put hexagon live on your bucket list to attend next year because the innovation is absolutely spectacular. He's a legend. He's brilliant. He's Marty Osborn. A center as a company, you might have heard of them. So let's get cracking with the conversation. They're worn out, Marty. Take. Just start. Yeah. What did you start rambling? Yeah,

01:23

I'm pretty good at that. What a great introduction. That's always good to be on the like the world's leading number one.

01:30

Number one industrial related podcast in the universe. It goes beyond the galaxies that goes to the universe.

01:36

You just never know where it's going. And no. And I guess that's why you know, what happens in Vegas is not going to stay in Vegas. We're going to talk about it. That's right, exactly.

01:44

What Why would we hold back this brilliant guy right here this? Marty,

01:49

I have to tell you that it's pretty funny. You get these date events, you go to these conferences, and I said they're like these witch's brew, you know, that's like, you take people customers, dinners, alcohol, you're not quite sure what you're going to get. Every day I

02:04

was in Barcelona, and they eat late, right? Yeah. And I remember, I'm just sitting there and you're tired, you're fatigued. And it's like 11 o'clock at night, and you've got to eat, you got to eat, or you die. You know, there's, there's a health reason there. And so, I've gone. Oh, 1130 I'm finally eating. I'm going to eat my arm off, and I'm just getting on it. But that's what this place is all about.

02:26

Yeah, it's um, I mean, conferences are great. I mean, I think we all agree with that. I mean, we. I mean, we missed it. I mean, we really did. You know, we went through that period. And, you know, there was a time where, like, we ever get together. And I think, you know, that's probably why these are so great is the connections that we do that we make. And I'll say a quick story. I heard something. Danny Meyer's, he, he's a restaurant tour out of New York. He has Yes, I know that name. Yeah, union Hospitality Group, runs amazing restaurants in New York. And he wrote a book called setting the table. And just some really great things about hospitality. But he had a thing called ABC D. Always be connecting dots. Oh, how about that. And that was one of his big sort of mottos is always be collecting dots. And, you know, one of the things that we do kind of, you know, as we grow our organizations, or whether we try to get better at maintenance systems, or whatever we do, one of the keys is how do you connect the dots? Right? How do you learn what's going on. And that's why I think these conferences are so important, because they allow us to connect dots, we would never connect, or we just don't have the opportunity, you know, FaceTime, and, you know, zoom and that kind of stuff, you can't do it. So I think that's what's exciting. And just being here for a couple days. I'm going to get to see old friends, I get to see you, I get to see people and we just the highlight of your visit exactly this podcast.

03:58

But that's interesting, because you're absolutely right. And I, I think as the world continues to sort of evolve and grow, and digitalize, and people are just constantly smart people are constantly sort of changing, disrupting the way we look at things. If you're not connected, if you're not collaborating, if you're not recognizing that that has to happen, then you're going to be left behind because there's just, there's so much out there. There's so much out there that I don't even know. It's just like, Yeah, you don't even know you don't know it.

04:27

I mean, we just I again, I think one of my big philosophies is also is just always be learning. Right? You know, I think if you look at truly successful people and all the best, they're always reading, they're listening, they're doing podcasts, they're, they're attending events, and so they're always connecting those dots and that's one of the things that I think is you know, my recommendation and people always ask sort of, you know, like what would be your some keys to success and it was that constant learning, right? Constant educating because we can't answer's no at all. And we there's so many great people that, you know, that can guide us. And so,

05:07

which is a great segue of so I was at the keynote, right? The opening keynote. And it was talking about, you know, all of the things that are taking place within hexagon, and, and the use cases in real life examples. And it just always blows my mind. Because it's like, what is this world going to be like? And how cool is it is it's it's like, what are younger kids or grandkids? Whatever it is? What is it going to look like? Yeah, and how they're going to just make decisions? And I think, Well,

05:39

I think they're going to be even better. I still think every day, you know, that that sort of sped up world? Yeah, we just keep getting better. We do cooler things, we learn new things, you know, whether it's even in just energy or, you know, power, or just, I think sustainability things that I think we just keep learning, and we get better at it. And some things work and some things don't, but you just have to be out there seeing what's going on?

06:07

How do you deal with? Yes, we're going to be talking about the state of VA. If we get to it, I'm not gonna hold my breath. How do you deal with the human side? I get the technology. I get I get the individuals and it says there's this human connect, or just the human side? Yeah. And do you get people talking about being displaced? Or where do we go? population is increasing? I'm just looking at it from just that perspective. Yeah. And as we become more efficient, more insightful, and more whatever, would tell me your thoughts on that?

06:48

Well, I think I mean, again, I think we're always, you know, going to be driving efficiencies, right. And I think that, you know, we see it in any kinds of automation, we see it, you know, from autonomous vehicles to autonomous loading. You know, we see it in maintenance, right, we see all kinds of things evolving, but we just sort of morph to a new area, like where people are when where the needs are, right. So it's funny as that's true, you think about the productivity gains and everything that we've made, yet, we still have a shortage of labor. And so I think that as we become more productive, we still require more people. And I give you a kind of a grid, that's good. Give you a great example is, and it's funny we run into this probably gets back to em. But, you know, when we start talking about mobile, like one of the things that I think one of the biggest trends is, is moving to mobile, right, cutting that cord, getting off the desktop, getting off paper, and we've been talking about this for years, forever, and it keeps evolving. And there's still challenges, right connectivity, dysconnectivity. But what happened, and I remember had this one client, and they said, well, we don't really like the mobile, we gave it to the mechanics, and I like it. I said, Okay. We know where this is kind of going. But it's sort of the example like around ATMs, right? If you think of an ATM, you know, and I asked the bank president, what do they think of ATMs, right? They're great productivity tool. They allow us to serve our customers better if I ask the customer, what do you think of the ATM, I can get my money anytime I want? I don't have to wait in line. It's always there. But then ask the teller. What do they think of ATMs? Right. And their first mindset is what's gonna take my job? I don't like it. Yeah. When in actuality, we have more tellers today than we did 10 years ago. Oh, no kidding. Because what happens is banks just sort of evolved, they didn't become, you know, just where you got money. When you go into a teller, you're more customer service, you start doing other things, and you really noticed, like, you don't see fewer banks. These days, you see more like, they're almost like micro to service the customer or whatever. And so I think it's sort of the same thing. I think we just don't do the same job. But I think we do better jobs, we do more efficient jobs. We do other things. So delivering man.

09:13

I was I was I was holding, keeping my powder dry. Because I said I'm going to be talking to Marty about this. Yeah, I just wanted to get his insights and and granted you didn't disappoint Doug gun it?

09:24

Well, we also have a saying business would be easy if people weren't involved. But but they are do Yeah, you know they are and we have to think about that.

09:33

And the analogy of the ATM. I'm a big big fan of the ATM because I don't have to talk to anybody. Yeah. Oh, well, how ironic is that? Yeah. Sit and talk to people. Yeah.

09:44

Well, you just you know, you need it's, it's a service you need quick, fast. You don't want to get out of your car. You don't want to go in Yeah, you don't want to talk to me. You just need to dial in and get your money. And so I think we continue as you know, getting back to him, but I do think that there As these efficiency trends and things that, you know, take time, like good old things, while we expect things to be overnight, they do take time to evolve and to learn. And, you know, infrastructure has to keep up with it, the devices are getting better. And so I still think probably mobile is still the, I would say it's number two. And you know, I think big trends and where people need to go, I still have a big believer in the cloud, right? The cloud, you know, the SAS model, like that's, you know, and it's funny, as it's an overnight success, I started with that. In 2000, or 1998, we actually set up our first wasn't called cloud, it was called hosting. But we started in 1998, building out the first online maintenance model. And, you know, here we are now, you know, 2023. And it's still, you know, gaining ground. I mean, but we're still even getting acceptance. Yeah, I mean, you I think, I think that don't

11:06

want any on prem, for me, no, on prem, I want cloud all the way, wherever it is, just because well, I can be here data access, I could be there and access it.

11:15

Yeah, I think it's there. I think a lot of it is back to the technology in and how you develop and how you deploy it. And it is a mindset, right to believe in that. And it's still not even over 50% And you would be shocked. But yeah, you still the big boys, the maximum is the saps those worlds, you know, they're still heavy, heavy, on prem customers, customized systems, those kind of things where hexagon am with its cloud, it's time to value I mean, literally, you can place an order and within hours, you have a link accessing your system. I mean, it's that quick, that easy. And I'm still surprised that it's

11:59

an any other thing that I always when we had on prem systems, which quite familiar with when you had updates, okay, here comes a stack of CDs, and you're coming on in and you're shutting everybody down, and okay, go out, we're going to be doing and we're going to do an update on this thing. The SAS model is like it just, Hey, check it out. That's new. Oh, I

12:23

think it's the part that kind of blows people's minds is used to think we get an upgrade, oh, it's going to take us six months, it's going to, we got to test we got to do all this stuff. And it's like, up and running. And but it was funny is even with Cloud customers, getting them to believe and accept that just says, this update. Let it run, you're going to be fine. You don't need to run all these tests. It took a lot. It's, it's still a battle. And I think that was one of the big things that within the EM team in training the customer and educating the customer, getting them to believe that was it took time. And once they did now, yeah, updates, basically get a link and say we did a patch. We did a we did.

13:09

It's like, way you deal with it today. I mean, it's like, hey, got an update with my word. And it's got the new little feature I which I'll never use. Yeah, same thing. But that's amazing. I didn't know that.

13:19

Yeah. So I think that's so I still think yeah, believe it or not, and you know, the thing I've been talking about this for 25 years. And you know, doing this, but it's just something that I've always believed in. And when people want to go on prem, I just shake my head, but there's, it's still baby protection of the IT team, it's still, you know, they want control over their servers. But it's like, why, and that's it.

13:46

It's going to ask the why. Yeah, go ahead. How do you how do you with all of this change with all of this stuff? How do you, I guess, inspire people to get as passionate as you are? And to backfill and to say, this is a great career, whatever. And that, how do you do that? It's a hard one, because every time I talk to you, I want to get back into EAA.

14:14

I know, okay, well, I guess maybe that's my job as an evangelist. And what I see in the tool set it is, I think, it just really takes, it takes a team it takes getting people excited. And again, it's sort of back to these conferences, right. When you talk to people, it's sort of like they come back together, and they remember why they did something or they think about it, and then they want to go back to the organization and, you know, get fired up, right. I think leadership has to help do that. And that's where I do think when I was I was laughed because people talk about change management, right? Yeah. And I'm mixed on it because nobody likes the word change and wants it. But it is a component of that. getting people excited, right getting people to see to rally around a cause. And I think if you remember one of the things we did, and initially, we roll out projects is we walk around and we'll say, look around, we see a quality banner, we see a safety banner, we see all kinds of banners. And we're like, well, where's your maintenance banner? And they'll look at us like, huh, we're like, no, where's your maintenance banner? Like, where's that rallying cry? Yeah, and they don't. And so what happens is, when we kick off projects, we start with basically a maintenance Summit. And over those Summit, as we talk about what is the maintenance and you know, the mission and the vision of the maintenance team, right? You know, a lot of them, it's, you know, to deliver capability to deliver productivity. And so I think what happened is a lot of people just start projects, and they just sort of walk in and say, you're going to use this maintenance system, and they don't understand why. And so it's kind of the Simon Sinek thing is start with why right up front, here is why we do it. And we used to call it pride, which is people really interested in delivering excellence. And when we say pride, maintenance, and so we would build these banners, coffee mugs, hats, and basically have this three-day summit where people get all excited about here's the tool, here's why it matters. And, and that's when we really found success is getting people to the why not just the how,

16:26

I don't see how you could get around that. And I mean, don't you think that that just saying, Hey, you got to use this system as the old way, I think that people have to state the why they have to also be able to identify the problem that's causing them pain to you in a way that is like, okay, that's tangible. I don't have to deal with that. I don't know, I just think it's just interesting. So there was the acquisition with hexagon? And, eh, that's cool. What are you excited about that sort of relationship?

17:01

I think it's a little bit of just baby rejuvenation, you know, back into the brand back into the product, you know, it really, I mean, the size of the deal was incredibly large. And, and, and so I think in one regard, you know, sometimes maintenance sits in the back corner, it doesn't, you know, people want to talk about ERP, they want to talk about CRM, they want to talk about design stuff, you know, nobody really wants to talk to your mechanic, right? You just want your car to run. And so what I really think is it brought and shine the light on on a group on an industry that has huge value. And I think that was one of the really cool things. Is it really hate to say it, we believe, I think what customers believe that maintenance matters is when they make a difference, right? You know, that word matter? Yeah, you know, it does maintenance matter. And when it does, right, then you provide the right tools, you provide the right training, you provide the right access to it. And so, again, I think that's, that kind of jumped out and helped us carry that theme of men, you know, when maintenance matters,

18:07

maintenance does, but there's always that, that that conversation around the cost of maintenance and the impact of the bottom line and but then they don't triangulate or translate it into a situation where if you have a catastrophic event, your facility is down. What's that cost? Yeah, you know, what's impacting you there?

18:32

Yeah. Well, it's, I think you hit it like, you know, maintenance. And again, you can get into all these debates, is maintenance a cost? Or is an investment. Right, right. And we truly believe it's an investment just like going to the gym, you know, working out that gym membership and investment are a cost.

18:51

It's a cost. I work out but internet says I have to work out. So I do what the internet. Yes,

18:57

I mean, but we know that. And so I think we try to do those things that prevent downtime. Now, I think the hardest thing is, if you don't know what that event is, and you can't quantify it, right? We just wait to a get hit with it. Where it gives you I'm going to give you a secret. This is for your listeners only. Right? And this is patented. Marty Osborn, okay,

19:18

and enter the promo code of

19:22

Well, one of the things that it's funny when that talks about maintenance, and we talk about ROI, one of the things that everybody sort of focuses on downtime and reliability, and it's all good stuff. But it's how do you measure that right? But if you think about just maintenance alone, when you think about how much spare parts and what we buy, to supply and what's happened and it was funny is we always people would say, Oh, it's just that Granger crap or it's just you know, that stuff over there. And if you walk into like storerooms, and we walk into plants, and there's parts everywhere, it's money. And so one of the things is we start to change the conversation and so I'll ask it, I'll go through the plan. And I'll say, you know, hey, Scott, have a notice in your part spin, what do you guys spend, you know, a year in parts. And I had a client one time, and they said 50 million. Right? And I guarantee if you ask every one of your listeners when they go and just ask a simple question, what did they spend in parts, and it's 20 million 30 million, I had a client $100 million in spare parts. So, think about they're writing a check. And so my key is, I always multiply, I call it the power of three. So, I say it's over the next three years, you're gonna spend 300 million in parts. And they're like, yep. 300 million. Yep. So if we can save you 10% through better tools, better planning, the right stuff, that's $30 million. That's real money. That's real bottom line. That's checks you're not having to write. And I tell you what, it changes the conversation, that power of three, you know, and it just Olson people don't realize that that Granger crap is expensive. And you got to do it. And so you know, that, you know, so I do think that that's a bigger trend here is when we just put it in the ERP and we just buy parts when we don't really track and I'm

21:17

surprised that people don't am surprised

21:20

at that's why I said this is the secret. This is the sauce I've

21:24

had those conversations is like, rarely do you have to buy the 25 pound bolt when you don't and it's been on the shelf for what how long? You know, things like that.

21:34

I'm surprised it's it's people buy motors they buy just in case inventory, right? Well, if I can't get it, they're gonna cut me back by two by three. Right? And MRO parts are not like, why they're not like wine. They don't get better with age.

21:51

Yeah. Are you still doing the wine? Now? We're

21:52

not gonna because, yeah,

21:54

I still haven't received my bottle. So

21:56

yeah, well, it's still there's still some in the shelf there. But yeah, that's I think one of the things that I've looked at is sometimes maintenance, we have to get better at Yes, selling and promoting, you know, I did a thing years ago with people when I was with data stream. And, you know, I was talking about, you know, the new features and functions, and you can do all these whiz bang things. And and I asked, the boss asked the real question, so what? Right, so what? So what if I can, yeah, you know, do this and that, and I get these features and slides that fail? So what? So, so as maintenance people, as a team, we have to be able to answer the so what we have to show the value that we're going to provide? And I think that just the simple part analogy. I mean, I've sold deals on six slides, because the slides are the opportunity is, is $300 million, right? The price is 30 million in savings. And if you do these things, you know, then you will. And I think it sort of comes to my last trend. And I think number three, and again, it's a question we constantly ask is, maintenance systems have to be mission critical. Right, they have to be part of the process. And if you don't believe it again, then it doesn't matter. So I think you know, that third trend, they know big trends going, you know, really going around, you know, the cloud, and I think that's simplicity. The second one is, you know, we're gonna keep evolving mobile. It's just gonna keep getting better. And then lastly is, you know, making sure how do we make that maintenance matters, right? How do we answer it, sir? Awesome.

23:40

I was looking forward to this conversation just because you're awesome. How do people get a hold of you now? Because I have my my contact information for Marley RS Osborn as well dated?

23:50

Yeah, well, it's still the same. I mean, you can reach me at Marty.Osborn@accenture.com or even my gold email address if you have it. I won't say it. But it still works.

24:03

I have that. All right. All right. Listen, we're going to have all the contact information for Marty because you can tell that he has mad skills. Thank you very much for joining. And we are once again broadcasting from hexagon live. It is a great event. Put that on your calendar. Look for it out there. Come in 2024. I don't have a date. But there it is. But anyway, Marty, you were always great.

24:25

Not Scott. It's great talking to you and right. And let me let me go out and out and I do I love it. My wife I

24:31

just said hey, I'm going to be talking to Marty, man. He's, he's going to be he's going to be chirping. Don't make it easy for me. All right, we're going to wrap it up on the other side. So stay tuned, we will be right back.

24:42

You're listening to the Industrial Talk Podcast Network.

24:52

I have one word, one. Well, I have multiple words, but this one word is great. Marty Osborn is good. Right. Every time, every time we start talking about maintenance, we start talking about asset management, and everything, everything in between whatever that looks like Marty delivers. He has seen so much he's experienced so much. Reach out to him reach out to team a center. And, you know, let's start managing our assets a little bit better. And he's, he's definitely the guy that at least begin that conversation. Marty Osborn All right. Hexagon Live. We don't have a date, but it's next year. And it was a fabulous event. And talking about sustainability, talking about innovation, talking about technology that really enables you to be a better company, or, you know, value your business. All right, be bold, be brave, daring, greatly hang out with Osborn and you're going to change the world. We're going to have another great conversation shortly.