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cover of episode Prototypes, Pilots, and Polymers: Cooper Standard’s Chris Couch

Prototypes, Pilots, and Polymers: Cooper Standard’s Chris Couch

2021/5/11
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Me, Myself, and AI
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Chris Couch: 我是Cooper Standard的首席技术官，我们是一家全球一级汽车供应商。我还创立并领导着一家名为LiveLine Technologies的AI初创公司，该公司源于我们在Cooper Standard的研发工作。我们生产汽车密封件、外壳以及制动液、冷却液等各种流体系统组件。我们还投资于材料科学技术，我们相信这些技术可以对汽车行业以外的领域产生影响。许多产品消费者可能看不到，但它们对驾驶体验和车辆的安全可靠性至关重要。例如，我们开发了一种新型聚合物Four Tracks，它可以更好地密封车门和车窗，尤其是在电动汽车领域，这对于减少风噪至关重要。我们利用AI来改进聚合物配方开发流程，显著减少了研发周期（70%或80%）。我们通过开放式创新与大学、财团和初创公司合作，获取外部想法和技术，我们的第一个AI项目就源于此。开放式创新的成功关键在于专注，快速缩小投资方向，快速淘汰无效项目或将有效项目推进到成熟阶段。在AI项目中，需要平衡对ROI的关注和对突破性创新的追求，早期阶段可以探索更多疯狂的想法，但在产品化阶段需要清晰地评估ROI。AI技术应用普及率相对较低，这使得企业级AI应用的实施和扩展更具挑战性，但AI项目的试点成本相对较低，这使得探索和验证AI应用的可行性变得更容易。将AI试点项目扩展到全球规模需要谨慎选择用例，确保其具有现实意义并与最终的ROI相关联。LiveLine使用机器学习技术自动化复杂制造环境的自动化流程，并通过向工厂人员提供实时数据和控制权来促进AI系统的采用。为了促进AI系统的采用，关键在于向工厂人员公开信息，使他们能够实时查看数据流、理解系统决策，并拥有控制权（例如，紧急停止按钮）。通过向工厂人员公开AI系统的运行机制，可以获得宝贵的反馈信息，包括改进建议和新的数据来源。工厂人员的专业知识可以为AI系统的改进提供宝贵的建议，即使他们不是AI专家。在AI项目试点中，工厂人员对AI系统的积极反馈和高度依赖表明了该系统在实际应用中的价值。吸引和留住优秀人才的关键在于持续的创新投入和积极的企业文化。不同类型技术人才的吸引方法有所不同，但持续的创新承诺和积极的企业文化是关键。 Sam Ransbotham: 访谈中提到的实验性学习、聚焦扩展以及企业文化的重要性，与我们之前研究中关于AI价值获取的关键步骤相呼应。 Sherven Kodabandeh: Chris Couch展现了对AI的热情和耐心，他强调了聚焦的重要性，以及企业文化从高层到一线员工都必须相信AI技术应用的重要性。人才招聘和培养需要考虑不同人才类型的需求，但对创新的共同追求是关键。

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Chris Couch discusses how AI is indirectly benefiting consumers through advancements in automotive products like brake fluid and polymer seals, and how AI is used in the development of advanced polymer formulations.

Shownotes Transcript

Chris Couch has a unique role, serving as senior vice president and CTO of automotive supplier Cooper Standard as well as CEO of Liveline Technologies, a startup born from the CS Open Innovation initiative. Both organizations use AI to manufacture products the average consumer likely never thinks twice about, such as brake fluid and polymer seals for car doors.

In this episode, we talk with Chris about open innovation, automating rote processes without displacing human workers, and attracting talent by fostering a startup culture. Read the episode transcript here).

For more on how humans and machines can collaborate successfully, read the 2020 Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy report, “Expanding AI’s Impact With Organizational Learning)."

Read more about our show and follow along with the series at https://sloanreview.mit.edu/aipodcast).

Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast from MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group and is hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Our engineer is David Lishansky, and the coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Sophie Rüdinger.

Your reviews are essential to the success of Me, Myself, and AI. For a limited time, we’re offering a free download of MIT SMR’s best articles on artificial intelligence to listeners who review the show. Send a screenshot of your review to [email protected]) to receive the download.

Guest bio:

With more than 21 years of global automotive manufacturing experience, Christopher Couch serves as senior vice president and CTO for Cooper Standard, where he leads R&D, product development and engineering, product strategy, and program management. He also has P&L responsibility for Applied Materials Science, a venture business unit focused on the commercialization of unique materials developed by the company. Couch also leads the CS Open Innovation initiative, which aims to position Cooper Standard as the partner of choice for open innovation with startups, universities, and other suppliers.

Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast from* MIT Sloan Management Review *and Boston Consulting Group and is hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Our engineer is David Lishansky, and the coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Sophie Rüdinger.

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