Ilhan Kolko Of ProGlove On The Exciting Developments In US High Tech Manufacturing

An Interview With David Leichner

Passion. Plain and simple. If you don’t love what you do, you won’t hit the heights. Make sure that you find joy in the relationships you build with your colleagues and lift each other up to achieve great results.

The global shortage of computer chip manufacturing has highlighted the urgency for the US to have a robust High Tech Manufacturing sector. As a result, the Biden administration has signed a bill to boost chip manufacturing in the US. In addition to computer chips, what other exciting advancements and innovations are US companies making in High Tech manufacturing? What is coming out in the near future? What would it take for the US to become a High Tech Manufacturing powerhouse? To address these questions, we are talking to leaders of High Tech Manufacturing industries. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ilhan Kolko.

Ilhan Kolko is the Chief Product Officer and President of North America for ProGlove, an innovative German engineering company bringing award-winning wearable technology to industry. Combining precision engineering and big data analytics with a focus on the human worker, their technology is reducing costs, redefining efficiency, and improving health and safety.

Based out of ProGlove’s U.S. headquarters in Chicago, Kolko oversees the company’s vision and growth as they continue expanding across North America. Kolko joined ProGlove in 2020 from Echo Global Logistics (Echo), a leading provider of tech-enabled transportation and supply chain management services.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started in manufacturing?

I have always been a builder. As a kid, I loved building and fixing things, and getting my hands dirty — much to Mom’s annoyance! This passion only grew as I did, and I realized my childhood dreams when I received my BS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue. Throughout my time at College, I became more interested in the business side of engineering, so after I graduated, I went on to get a M.S. in Marketing Analysis from DePaul University. Following college I worked for Echo Global Logistics, a leading provider of tech-enabled transportation and supply chain management services. Echo is noted for its meteoric rise from its founding in 2005 by Groupon veterans Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell to NASDAQ listing in 2009 and a 2020 revenue forecast in excess of $2B. At Echo I served as VP of Product and User Experience, leading the design and development of Echo’s digital freight marketplace and transportation management platform. I joined ProGlove in 2020, working out of North American headquarters in Chicago to lead product development. Today, I serve as Chief Product Officer and President of North American operations. While I’ve been here, we’ve grown tremendously with customers and employees across the globe thanks to the tireless work of our team. The manufacturing technology space is constantly changing and evolving, and it’s exhilarating to be at the cutting edge with ProGlove.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

As a matter of fact, I believe, we’re currently living in unprecedented times. Whether you want to call them interesting is a different story. But the industry is challenged on all sides by supply chain disruption, a vulnerable labor market, economic unrest, and ubiquitous uncertainty. That said, I think, there is still opportunity ahead. I find the rate of technical advancements in AI, IoT, and robotics inspiring to see. With this, however, we can’t lose sight of the reality that human workers remain indispensable in industry. Therefore, we must focus more on the human worker. The benefits of automation are irrefutable, but we must not get carried away and stick to what is feasible and makes sense.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Diamonds are formed under pressure,” I’d say is an old maxim that turns out to be true time and again. To me it also implies that it is necessary to be challenged. After all, you get a chance to reconsider and revise or substantiate your approach and stand your ground.

Ok wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview about High Tech Manufacturing. Can you tell our readers about the most interesting projects you are working on now? How do you think this will help people?

Everything we do at ProGlove begins with the human worker in mind. In that sense, we develop solutions that enable the human workforce to be more efficient, improve the quality of work, and support worker well-being.

Three of our latest innovations include a multi range scanner, multi scanning and extended photo feature capabilities. The extended photo feature allows workers to take pictures using ProGlove’s wearable barcode scanners. This may serve as a workaround for incidents such as when a barcode is dysfunctional, or product damage needs to be documented. When the picture is taken, operators can upload it to a repository where it may trigger additional workflows and processes. The multi-scanning feature allows users to capture multiple barcodes with a single scan. This will provide huge relief for workers in fast-paced environments with a high turnover of product, where various barcodes pile up quickly. Removing the additional decision and action time associated with these processes will further quicken operations and reduce pressure on workers. The multi-scanning system can process up to 6 barcodes simultaneously. And finally, our multi-range barcode scanner MARK 3 allows for effortless scanning of all 1D and 2D barcodes from 4 inches to 20 feet with no adjustments necessary. This saves up to five seconds per scan. With extended scanning range capability, MARK 3 is suitable for use cases such as scanning from a vehicle as it passes by or from a ramp into a truck. Optional feedback functionality combines visual, audio and haptic signal to help ensure correct picking routines and streamline workflows.

From your vantage point as an insider, what exciting developments will be coming out in the near future?

I think we will see many more useful applications of AI. That will be particularly helpful when it comes to recognizing patterns in the troves of datapoints organizations have available. After all, that data deep dive is still somewhat of a challenge. Yet it will be critical to contextualize the data and deduct actionable insights. In my experience, many businesses are often not aware of the potentials they have to tap into.

What are the three things that most excite you about the state of US High Tech Manufacturing? Why?

I think, US manufacturing has always found solutions for the challenges it faced because we have been able to embrace and deploy technology at a fast pace. Needless, to say, this country brims with state-of-the-art technology — and that is my second point. Finally, you can still dream big in America and pursue your dreams with vigor, and that certainly goes for US manufacturing.

What are the three things that concern you about US High Tech Manufacturing? What would you suggest needs to be done to address those concerns?

In short, I see three main concerns: labor shortage, worker protection, and supply chain disruptions.

Manufacturing jobs need to become more appealing again. Let’s face it ,many of the science fiction debates we had pertaining to AI and robotics generated the notion that humans have no future in manufacturing — and that is false. Period. What we need is an understanding that technology will not only be a massive help for the boots on the ground but generate opportunity. This coincides with another crucial step. We need to provide our shopfloor workers with the tools they need, not only to facilitate matters for them, but also to protect them. Even more so since the two sometimes go hand in glove — no pun intended there. Reducing the weight workers have to lift and cutting back the ways they have to walk is a great example in that sense. It will not only make things easier for them, but also prevent them from fatigue and exhaustion, two of the leading sources of injuries. As for the supply chain disruptions, I think it is important to focus on the things that business can influence. This has a lot to do with establishing data-driven reflexive processes in real-time. This will allow organizations issues like item misplacements or excessive stock in their warehouses for instance, but it certainly is no panacea.

Based on your opinion or experience, what would it take for the US to become a High Tech Manufacturing powerhouse?

To be a bit provocative here: Why should we attempt to do such a silly thing!? At the end of the day, it depends on what we mean by powerhouse. To me that evokes images of competing in numbers with low-wage countries regarding production numbers. And frankly, we will never be able to win that battle. However, if we are talking about manufacturing that attempts to deliver better quality and more exciting technology I’d say: Bring them on!

As you know, there are not that many women in High Tech Manufacturing. Can you advise what is needed to engage more women in these industries?

I think we need to provide more encouragement in school and adjust our gender role models as parents. To share some perspective: When we’re filling technical job openings at ProGlove, only one out of five applicants are women. We need more public and private collaboration to increase education of STEM for women and girls at an early age. I also think we need to provide more flexible environments so working parents — especially mothers, can balance family priorities with a healthy working environment. Lastly, equal pay is required, and we must work harder to remove gender biases at all levels of employment and leadership in manufacturing. At ProGlove, we strictly enact an equal pay policy, work hard to allow for a diverse working environment and establish a culture that respects all of the above.

Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In High Tech Manufacturing?

1. Understanding your industry. Go where the product happens and learn everything you can about your customers. For me, it’s critical to visit ProGlove customers as much as possible, and that means talking with frontline workers in the warehouse to distribution centers and logistics managers to supply chain operators and executives.
2. Know your customer. Building on the point above, learn everything you can about your customers’ needs. What problems do they face? What risks lie ahead? Where are the greatest opportunities to improve the experience for workers? How do we reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing on natural resources? From a business perspective, how do customers get ahead of competition? Those are the types of questions we should be thinking about and come to the table with solutions.
3. Adopt a stoic philosophy to that which you can’t control. Appreciate and accept an appropriate level of uncertainty. Use the uncertainty to try new things and embrace the “fail fast, fail often” mantra to accelerate innovation. Working in industry means that outside factors can often jostle you out of position, instead of throwing your arms up in the air, look at what you control. How can you be best prepared for the inevitable next crisis.
4. Put people first. High-tech doesn’t mean minimal human workforce. High tech means empowering human workers through cutting edge technology.
5. Passion. Plain and simple. If you don’t love what you do, you won’t hit the heights. Make sure that you find joy in the relationships you build with your colleagues and lift each other up to achieve great results.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger!

Great things often come from the little things you to do to make them better. So, it is ok to have big dreams, but you might want to get started with the little things you can do right away and take it step by step. At ProGlove we once filmed an assembly worker who used our scanner for the very first time, and this guy was literally dancing about the place because our technology made things so much easier for him. That was a truly expiring moment for me. But the point is: Once you get these kinds of confirmations you know you are on to something good. So, what I am saying is rather than wait for someone else to get started embrace the good things you can do. They may be bigger than you think they are.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Visit our website at www.proglove.com or engage with us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/proglove/

Thank you so much for the time you spent doing this interview. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success.

About The Interviewer: David Leichner is a veteran of the Israeli high-tech industry with significant experience in the areas of cyber and security, enterprise software and communications. At Cybellum, a leading provider of Product Security Lifecycle Management, David is responsible for creating and executing the marketing strategy and managing the global marketing team that forms the foundation for Cybellum’s product and market penetration. Prior to Cybellum, David was CMO at SQream and VP Sales and Marketing at endpoint protection vendor, Cynet. David is the Chairman of the Friends of Israel and Member of the Board of Trustees of the Jerusalem Technology College. He holds a BA in Information Systems Management and an MBA in International Business from the City University of New York.