New committee to shed light on 21st century issues facing all GAWDA Members
By Steve Guglielmo, John Vrana and Hector Villarreal
During the 2024 GAWDA Spring Management Conference, GAWDA debuted its brand-new Technology Committee. The Committee will be co-chaired by Red Ball Oxygen’s John Vrana and Weldcoa’s Hector Villarreal and will tackle some of the industry’s greatest looming threats and challenges including cyber security, automation and AI. We were lucky enough to be able to interview John and Hector during the SMC for an interview that aired in the May 1st episode of GAWDA TV. To see the full interview, scan the QR Code below.
GAWDA TV: Hector and John, can you tell us a little bit about this brand-new committee?
John Vrana: This committee is going to be focused on helping GAWDA members build a knowledge base for emerging technologies and best practices and procedures.
Hector Villarreal: I think focusing on best practices and procedures is key to getting this off the ground.
I think starting off with cutting edge technology, when there are people who aren’t comfortable with the current status of technology, just doesn’t make sense, so best practices is certainly the best place to start. And starting in the area of cyber security, in particular, I think is very important, right now.
GAWDA TV: It has been a long time since GAWDA has added a new committee. How did the idea of adding this new committee come about and what attracted both of you to join it?
Hector: When it was brought to my attention, the GAWDA leadership was looking for people to talk about the new developments in technology and we both had been talking about AI quite a bit. COVID was the first wake-up call. “We need to be more digital.” Even though that idea had been out there for a while, I think that was when people really started to recognize that the need was immediate, and really started to step into it.
And now, AI has really come into the marketplace and people don’t know a ton about it. There is a lot of false information about it. But it is going to change things. And we all need to understand how it will affect our businesses. So, that is how I got into it. I have always been into technology. At Weldcoa, that is what we do. We push technology to our clients. And internally, we are big proponents of technology as well.
John: Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head there. With me, I have been in the technology field for 20 years now. I can remember back when technology was seen as overhead and just the cost of doing business. And now, since COVID, like you said, it seems like people realize that technology is something that can drive you and there is innovation there and it can help align with your company’s strategies and goals. And GAWDA, starting this committee, is seeing how it is important to continue to innovate and grow with technology as well.
GAWDA TV: How are you both utilizing technology inside your own companies?
John: Integration is a big part. Having the ability to, at any time, see where deliveries are. Having all of your systems being able to communicate so that your delivery routes are communicating with your ERP, and your ERP is delivering with your asset tracking, all of that at your finger tips to be able to get that information in real time is an important factor to be able to get what we call the perfect order. To be able to make sure things go out on time, every time, and being able to see that in real time, really helps us maintain that perfect order.
Hector: Weldcoa is all about technology. As a manufacturer, internally, we have several robotic work cells. We have a fiber laser. We have automated saws. Anywhere that we can automate, we have automated. And that includes in the office. We started to digitize the office process years ago. And that never ends. Anybody who has dealt with ERP systems, it’s a never-ending process. That beast must be fed every day.
Externally, providing the technology to move our clients into the future is what we’ve been doing. I remember spending the first ten years of my career in the industry telling anybody who would listen that you should consider automation. I never forget the day I got that first phone call where somebody said I want to automate and asking, “what do I do?” And I literally said, “I’ve been waiting for this phone call for ten years. Let me tell you.” So, we continue to push that process.
We have programmers in house. We have engineers in house. We have electrical engineers in-house. We’ve very much about technology.
GAWDA TV: You said it was ten years before you got the call about automation. What’s the next disruptor for GAWDA members that the technology committee will be focusing on?
Hector: In 2014, I was in Dubai for a gasworld conference and about a week earlier, I was working on my presentation and for the first time I added a five-minute piece on IBM’s Watson, which was just being developed. It had just beaten the Jeopardy champion and had just beaten the chess world champion and I was talking about how this isn’t just a fantasy anymore. This is coming and it’s going to be coming fast.
And I talked about co-robots in the same presentation. And fast-forward to today and co-robots are something that the industry has been pushing for a little while now. But what people don’t recognize is that we’re coming to this period in time where robotics, biology, AI, and Quantum Computing are going to come together and if you think things have changed quickly in the last five years, well you haven’t seen anything yet. It’s going to increase much quicker than anybody believes.
John: With the prominence of AI, even already, it’s been an exponential pace of how quickly everything is moving. And with that, another key factor is cyber security. With all this change you have to maintain your security as these technologies grow and are developed. That’s going to have to be something we keep on top of.
Hector: I’d like to add that, for better or worse, it’s historically been the illicit industries that are the ones to capitalize on new technology the fastest. And if you don’t believe that hackers are using AI to become better hackers, you are incorrect. So, yeah, cyber security really has to become a top of the list imperative for everybody in our industry.
GAWDA TV: For members who are hearing what you are saying and feel that they have something that they can add to the discussion, what is the next step for a member interested in joining the committee?
Hector: Please reach out. And don’t think you need to be a “techie” to join the group. If you have an interest in learning about technology and getting a better understanding, even if you don’t have a background, please join. This will be the perfect environment for you. This industry is great about sharing. I’ve been doing this now for 28 years and this industry is so different than any other industry. The success of everyone is on how much information you share. You see that in GAWDA. You see it in CGA. We’re very fortunate to have this society that really props each and everyone one of us up.
John: As Hector said, you don’t have to be a “techie” to join. We can give you all the information on technology and IT, but it’s also a question of implementation. We need that too. We need to know is this a best practice or procedure for implementation for your fill island, or how will this impact the drivers. So whatever skills you bring, we can definitely use those skills.
GAWDA TV: Gentlemen, we’re all very excited to see where this committee goes. Thank you so much for being with us. For more information about GAWDA’s Technology Committee, visit https://www.gawda.org/about/committees/ today.
