Embracing AI and data-driven decisions

By Dani Sheehan. 

Understand the capabilities of technologies like artificial intelligence and data analytics to drive efficiency in your business operations. 

In a recent episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Karen Edwards sits down with Rachel Wrobel, director of product operations at Tremco Roofing, to discuss how her company embraces artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to drive innovation and streamline operations. Their discussion offers trends and tools to help you improve your business efficiencies. 

As part of her role, Rachel works very closely with a team that gathers information, analyzes it and uses data to help inform their business. “Data, as a lot of people in our industry are finding, is so important to incorporate in business decisions,” she explains. By gathering data, they can understand “the lagging indicators such as warranty calls and the leading indicators like project specifications at the beginning of a project.” With tools like Microsoft’s Power BI (Business Intelligence), they are streamlining their business analytics to improve product pricing, compare sales rep performance across regions and identify trends. 

But Tremco isn’t just leveraging data. They are also looking into the use of artificial intelligence – a hot topic across all industries. As Rachel explains, AI is a natural progression in the data-driven decision-making process. “AI is exciting and it’s moving fast. We need to be on the boat. We need to be looking into it,” she tells us. “[Our parent company, RPM Inc.] has an AI task force, which is there to help explore those platforms while keeping in mind the security and streamlining common ways for us to use AI.” 

One of the tools they are exploring right now is a platform called Scribe, which is a documentation platform. They’re using it to start documenting their internal processes, but making sure it’s being done safely and without sharing any proprietary information. The goal is to enhance efficiency without compromising security. 

Technology and data alone won’t solve every problem, however. Success depends on how companies manage the change process and ensure their teams are properly trained. Rachel asks, “How’s training look to support that technology? How are we managing that change with our people?” Training and change management ensure buy-in from employees, who will ultimately be the ones to determine how effectively new technologies are used. 

Read the transcript or Listen to the podcast to learn more about how Tremco Roofing is driving innovation with AI and project management.