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California’s new IoT Security Law, the first of its kind in the US, came into effect on 1 January this year. The legislation mandates all IoT devices sold in the US to have “reasonable cyber-security measures” embedded.
However, there seems to be a lack of clarity regarding what a “reasonable security feature” is, which makes compliance for organisations difficult. The types of IoT devices – to take the enterprise IoT environment as just one example – range from computers and copy machines to thermostats and personal fitness monitors. Under the new law, a reasonable security feature is outlined as one that is “appropriate to the nature and function of the device, appropriate to the information it may collect, contain, or transmit, and is designed to protect the device and any information contained therein from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure, as specified.” In other words, it depends…
The new legislation does take an important step in the area of password management, though. If a device’s authentication takes place outside a local area network, the device itself must either contain a unique pre-programmed password, or require a user to generate a new means of authentication.
The guidance in the new law, however, is specific to authentication. For cyber-security measures beyond password management, the Critical Security Controls of the Center for Internet Security (CIS) has been seen as the “floor” for reasonable cybersecurity and data protection since its inception in 2016.
The UK-based IoT Security Foundation has partnered with the IAMSE Consortium to develop a certification scheme for IoT products ahead of potential legislation. A set of 30 checks have been drawn up to provide manufacturers with a simple and cost-effective way to adhere to cyber-security standards.
A national network of bodies have been authorised to certify the various checks. The scheme is designed to increase IoT cyber security, as well as enable IoT manufacturers to take advantage of the so-called “trust opportunity”, by differentiating their products over those of rivals and showing that they’ve taken steps to ensure high security standards. The UK government announced plans to introduce new IoT security laws for manufacturers of connected devices, which will be developed from Secure by Design, the Code of Practice for Consumer IoT Security it published in October 2018.
The biggest technology event that took place at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January was showcasing IoT solutions on (as you would expect) the consumer side of the connected devices spectrum. But some of the innovations showcased there will have an impact on enterprise IoT as well. A case in point is be the world’s first 5G PC, unveiled by Lenovo. The Yoga 5G – just like previous models in the range – is a highly portable 2-in-1 device, with a screen that can be folded backwards to turn it into a tablet. It will go on sale in the first quarter of 2020 at an estimated £1,200.
Another IoT-related news from CES 2020 was the announcement of a new low-code IoT application development platform from New-York-based developer Arduino. The combination of Arduino’s low-code application development platform with its latest proprietary modular hardware will enable users to design, build, measure and explore various prototypes in a single day.
The biggest technology event that took place at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January was showcasing IoT solutions on (as you would expect) the consumer side of the connected devices spectrum. But some of the innovations showcased there will have an impact on enterprise IoT as well. A case in point is be the world’s first 5G PC, unveiled by Lenovo. The Yoga 5G – just like previous models in the range – is a highly portable 2-in-1 device, with a screen that can be folded backwards to turn it into a tablet. It will go on sale in the first quarter of 2020 at an estimated £1,200.
by Zita Goldman, Business Reporter
Roger Gardiner, Regional Director of IoT solutions, ADLINK
Whether exploring operational efficiencies in industrial automation or looking for digital transformation to drive business value in new ways, ADLINK Digital Experiments provide a secure and cost-effective place to innovate with IoT. Digital experiments help develop a comprehensive IoT business strategy and define a roadmap for implementing successful IoT solutions by thinking big, starting small and learning fast.
The industrial internet of things (IIoT) is the enabler for new types of business model that will increase the bottom line for businesses and improve the range of services they offer. Edge computing offers real-time insights and facilitates informed decision-making that ramps up your operational efficiency.
Full IoT solutions conventionally require significant investment, despite success rates for such projects only reaching 26 per cent, according to industry studies.
In response, digital experiments are a quick, repeatable and low-cost way to prove a business hypothesis around an IoT project. By following five simple steps, you can test the potential of possible IoT-based solutions, with none of the upfront costs and risk associated with a full commitment.
Manufacturers can start by considering problems to be solved, determine the processes that need to be changed and the benefits they hope to achieve. This will generate the maximum business value possible.
Operators can, with minimal upfront investment, take advantage of digital experimentation to collect and analyse valuable information. This helps to determine whether the projected outcomes, such as improved production quality and reduced labour costs, can actually be achieved.
As the saying goes: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Users should become comfortable with the idea of making mistakes, get accustomed to learning from them, and develop the resilience to keep trying.
The IoT value chain encompasses protocols and connections, security, data streaming, equipment management, power control, data transfer, machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), edge analysis, cloud computing and many other complex links. Without a complete ecosystem of partners, an individual supplier will not be able to manage everything on its own.
The ultimate goal of IoT implementation is to explore data and identify valuable information, rather than perform technological experiments.
ADLINK Edge™ software releases the power of operational data and enables intelligent decision-making by streaming to the cloud to give access to deeper insight from advanced analytics, AI and machine learning. With no programming necessary, ADLINK Edge™ quickly connects previously unconnected operational equipment and sensors. Then, by tapping into native communication protocols, data can be captured and streamed at the edge. This data can then be streamed securely between devices, databases and to the cloud, enabling analysis and easy visualisation to inform decisions and optimise operations. All in real time.
ADLINK’s solutions include hardware, software and support elements and are all vendor-agnostic, built on open standards and using modular components which allow for easy integration with any existing IT and OT system. Users are also able to benefit from IoT expertise within ADLINK’s extensive partner ecosystem, which includes AWS, Azure, Google, Thingworx, IBM Watson, Intel and SAS.
In this video learn how ADLINK is a leader in the global IoT market.
For more information, please click here.
Saverio Romeo, IOT Analytics
The internet of things, digital transformation, industry 4.0, the fourth Industrial Revolution – all are popular buzzwords used to describe a vision of industrial manufacturing in the 21st century.
IoT once promised to be a game-changer, delivering optimised efficiency and transforming business models. But is it living up to the hype? And who is actually making it happen and delivering value in the market?
First and foremost, the adoption of the industrial internet for manufacturing is about driving value by increasing profit and optimising resources across operations. Manufacturers want to maximise production line uptime, improve accuracy, quality and output and reduce waste.
They are investing in IoT technology to drive these improvements through greater efficiency. This efficiency can only be achieved by gathering data from machines and sensors and using advanced analytics, machine learning and AI to give a deeper insight into the operational environment and enable better decisions at every stage.
IoT bridges the gap between IT and OT – operational technology – because it harmonises the various systems of the organisation. On one side of the organisation is the operational technology – the production machinery; on the other side you have IT. IoT deployments can connect machines that were not connected before, gather data from them and combine this with data from IT then apply analytics for an informed decision-making approach. So IoT can unite these two functions within a manufacturing organisation to provide a holistic, integrated view.
In the rapidly evolving IoT landscape, the challenge for any manufacturer is to choose the right IoT vendor to meet its needs.
There are three fundamental factors. First, the vendor must understand the needs of the organisation. Second, it must have the right software solution specific to the manufacturing sector and provide a robust yet flexible industrial internet platform.
Third, the ecosystem surrounding the vendor must be rich and varied and draw upon the most relevant expertise and experience for your organisation. The vendor needs to have technology partners and vertical partners with deep knowledge of your specific industry. This is one of the most important indicators of how effective the vendor will be in delivering a solution that solves your problem and delivers value.
The cost, complexity and security of IoT have been identified as the three biggest barriers to successful IoT implementation within manufacturing, but they can be overcome with the right approach. For example, ADLINK offers the Digital Experiment which provides the opportunity to start with a small-scale IoT project to test its value and learn from it, before committing to a large-scale deployment. In this way it provides a lower-cost entry point to evaluate IoT investment. It also offers an incremental innovation process, which allows manufacturers to scale and solve problems at each stage. It takes manufacturers on a journey towards digital transformation, beginning with a small, lower risk deployment but with the flexibility to scale and reach the next level by delivering AI at the edge.
For manufacturers choosing an IoT vendor, there are many factors to consider. The optimum vendor will offer a value-driven approach which meets your organisational needs, possess deep sector experience and a rich partner ecosystem together with a flexible and scalable IoT platform which can deliver value now and into the future.
Jash Bansidhar, Associate Vice President of Industrial IoT, Advantech Europe
The potential positive economic impact of IoT is estimated to reach between £3-11 trillion a year by 2025. Despite this, the high barriers to adoption, along with a lack of trust in the systems, are discouraging many manufacturers from investing in IoT. Read on to find out how Advantech’s strategies aim to combat this resistance.
Usually when we analyse systems, the end-user knows the process well, while the system integrators know the technology well. In response to this, Advantech has launched a co-creation strategy to benefit from the domain competencies of both parties.
Advantech’s IoT software platform, WISE-PaaS, enables easy connectivity by creating fit-for-purpose applications with partners. Our co-creation strategy results in out-of-the-box, solution-ready packages for different scenarios and specific verticals, allowing the end-user to quickly deploy cloud solutions and giving them a far greater visibility of information.
WISE-PaaS is cloud-based middleware based on opensource, meaning it provides a large amount of information and quick deployment of new technologies. The end-user can implement this without having to worry about high costs, low levels of innovation, or investment in a product they may not actually need. With security being a huge concern for any business, we have ensured that our platform enables safe collaboration by creating solutions with an end-to-end secured connection.
We are creating various scenarios for a number of different applications seen in production environments. These will be created with specialised partners to eventually develop an industry for-all package to be easily deployed by end-users across a variety of applications.
Overall, it’s important to remember that IoT is not complex, and we can begin by connecting devices to the cloud, which is a cost-effective process with Advantech’s co-creation business model. On top of this, using several suppliers means using several technologies and offerings, while Advantech has everything under one umbrella, reducing implementation and initiation time and cutting costs.
Click here for more information on our IoT solution-ready packages.
The internet of things (IoT) is fraught with risks and uncertainties – but less so if you have experts holding your hand along the way.
6LowPAN, LPWAN, CoAP, JSON-LD – just some of the acronyms which identify the more than 70 protocols coming under the at least eight layers of an internet of things (IoT) system.
Complicated stuff. But with the value of the global IoT market forecast to reach £11.5 trillion by 2020, no business, least of all manufacturers of consumer goods or commercial equipment, can afford not to get involved in IoT sooner or later. And as IoT technology matures and offerings becoming more sophisticated, even a complex cross-platform deployment of embedded technology and cloud systems connecting in real time is becoming much more straightforward for IoT solution providers than it was just three years ago.
That’s not to say that building an IoT system is devoid of any risks, missteps or failures. Global management consulting firm McKinsey, for example, found that 17 per cent of IoT projects go so terribly wrong that they can threaten the very existence of a business.
Even some of the companies with the financial resources, expertise and confidence to go it alone using the IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service) solutions of major cloud service providers can often lack clarity on what is covered by the contract, and what aspects of the implementation and operation will fall on them. Not only that, but these services lack key application development capabilities that a platform such as Ayla Networks provides, and ultimately cost many times more to manage in the long term.
Businesses opting for do-it-yourself IoT are provided with the IoT building blocks, but they’ll need to do all the heavy lifting by integrating those blocks into a system via a lot of testing. Then, once it’s up and running, they’ll have to manage, support and maintain it to ensure optimal performance. Being left – both literally and figuratively – to their own devices they will face potential problems such as the failure to get OTA (over-the-air) software updates, inconsistent device data streaming or limitations to upscaling the system.
Thankfully, for more risk-averse businesses – and for those who learned the hard way – today IoT deployment can already be achieved on a platform-as-a-service basis too. Subscribing to platform services can enable IoT solution providers to get a fully-functioning, high-quality, supported and scalable product to market in a few months.
Contracts with platform providers will cover a range of microservices such as provisioning, application enablement, access control, device and data management. Maintenance and support are also covered by contracts. Bringing up new IoT services in new locations around the globe ceases to be a challenge and modularity ensures that products can be easily adapted to future requirements.
Silicon Valley-based Ayla Networks is a leading IoT platform & solutions provider that combines edge connectivity, device management and application enablement capabilities in a highly secure platform. With IoT driving digital transformation in companies worldwide, Ayla’s solutions give companies the boost they need, combining a higher opportunity for growth with a streamlined, lower-cost service and support framework. Taking reductions in IoT deployment costs and time-to market a step further with a robust ecosystem of partners and the agility of the Ayla platform, Ayla radically simplifies the building of IoT-enabled products, always finding innovative ways for businesses to easily and effectively gain value from IoT.
The most recent case in point is Ayla’s new, portable software agent. Software agents and hardware chips make up the modules embedded in IoT devices. Until now, software agents needed to be built and certified to work with chip and module specific types – a process that could take a year or more. Ayla’s portable software agent removes the need to test and certify a different software agent with every chip and module variation or to port the agent to a chosen module. From Fujitsu, Best Buy and Hamilton Beach to Shark Ninja, Kenmore, Carrier and Salus Controls, companies are discovering that this agnostic approach – any module, any device, any cloud – is a compelling differentiator.
Surveys show that 60 per cent of businesses substantially underestimate the complexities of building IoT services. Providing clarity regarding the risks of deployment and the services and tools with capabilities to mitigate these risks can ensure that, more businesses can take full advantage of the Goldilocks moment of low-risk, future-proof deployment prior to the imminent explosive growth of the IoT market.
For more information, please click here.
The IoT trend has made software the cornerstone of countless innovative projects. It first started to affect B2C areas and is now spreading into the B2B markets and complex industrial contexts. Adding intelligence into devices is a great opportunity to also add value. Software now impacts many non-specialist companies which master their innovation processes but not their software projects.
Witekio’s added value is in bringing a global software system vision to the table. It boasts the ability to manage global software projects for its customers, and also has in-depth knowledge of cutting-edge technologies.
Witekio has been dedicated to embedded software for 17 years. The company was formerly known as Adeneo Embedded, a low-level software expert with worldwide recognition for board support package development. At this time software was considered an expert’s business, but with the emergence of the IoT trend the company’s management team anticipated that software would “get out of the ghetto” and become key to many innovations and affect all markets.
When traditional industrial companies need to innovate, including intelligence and IoT scenarios, they need a co-pilot to take care of the software elements of their project with a global software system vision and know-how. Adeneo Embedded accompanied that change by progressively evolving from a software expert to a software system expert, designing and engineering complete embedded and IoT software systems for companies all around the world. The company changed its name to Witekio in 2016 to complete that transformation.
Witekio brings world-class and widely recognised technical expertise covering both low (OS, driver, firmware) and high-level software (application, connectivity, cloud). Combined with a wealth of knowledge from a variety of projects and specific markets this allows the best choices in technologies and architecture to be made to ensure the best performance and security. Witekio provides custom services for software development, integration, design, support and training.
Witekio applies its rich experience to a wide range of embedded solutions for the automotive, handheld, industrial, medical, mobile and wireless markets, while working closely with industry-leading silicon and software vendors, and its passionate teams based in Europe and the US. The company helps its customers in all stages of development to enable the success of their projects and maximise their efficiency.
Witekio assists industrial clients from all sectors around the globe, such as SoloProtect, SatMap, L’Oréal, Precor, Cerevast, Datalogic and Evoca, in the design and development of their innovative embedded IoT systems. Witekio’s skillset spreads from the hardware to the cloud, from UX design and system architecture to the development and integration of the full software stack. The company’s experts bring their knowledge into innovation projects to anticipate all crucial aspects such as real-time performance, power consumption, security, system update, connectivity and more.
The detailed knowledge of smart embedded and IoT systems, their software architectures and ambitious project contexts enables Witekio to play a leading role in the global software integration of connected systems. The company’s unique mastery of lower layers and hardware compatibility, essential for high-performance systems, coupled with its expertise in applications and interconnectivity, are a great asset to meet the challenges of today’s connected ecosystems.
This is why Witekio was acquired by Avnet late 2019. As part of the Avnet family, Witekio provides an unparalleled end-to-end ecosystem for IoT product development. Together with Avnet, Witekio aims to design, make and deliver high-quality technology solutions in every corner of the world.
Want to know more about our projects? Click here.
Samir Bounab, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer, Witekio.
Buisiness leaders looking for a roadmap to a successful digital transformation and the role of IoT could be interested in a new white paper from Georgia Tech IoT Research Center. Building on the premise that, although technology is “the core of IoT’s DNA, it is just a piece of the puzzle needed to deliver on IoT’s promise”, this white paper explores what else it takes to pull off a successful IoT implementation project.
The paper argues that both IoT programme owners and business leaders need to take a more holistic view and see IoT in the context of digital transformation. It identifies the main issues that inhibit IoT success as budget, the lack of interdisciplinary collaboration – such as that between IT and OT teams – a greater degree of complexity than expected, and a missing or weak connection between technology solution and the business problem.
However, leadership alignment, digital culture and employee engagement are also often neglected, the white paper attests, despite being key areas that need to form part of the transformation programme. Although the established term widely used is digitisation, the white paper includes a section on pointing out the difference in meaning between digitisation (“ the conversion of analogue material to a digital format or the creation of data and material in digital format”) and digitalisation (moving existing business processes from analogue to digital), the latter actually being the key term of business discourse in our era. To read the paper in full, click here.
Edge computing – where computing processes takes place “in the field” near where they are requested, as opposed to in a centralised data centre or cloud – could bring huge benefits to businesses and organisations everywhere, according to a report from HP.
Devices on the edge of an IoT stack were always intended to automate the collection and pre-processing of large amounts of data. But with an increase in the number of real-time applications, “insight often can’t wait for data to shuttle out to the cloud and back,” argues HP’s report. It predicts that by 2022 40 per cent of initial IoT data will occur at the edge.
The report also highlights a need for more efficient collaboration between IT and operational technology (or OT) departments when it comes to implementing greater edge functionality, noting that almost two-thirds of edge-computing projects are started by line-of-business managers, while the responsibility of implementation and maintenance lies with IT. The report also suggests a four-step action plan for businesses intending to deploy intelligent edge IoT projects. To read the report click here.
A new webinar from online publication IIoT World, Why Open Source Works for Industrial IoT,
aims to examine why so many manufacturers are locked in established data historian solutions that lack the methods needed to provide innovation and interoperability. Topics include how IIoT is innovating by using open source tools, how open source can provide real time visibility across the entire IIoT system, how open source software can help capture and analyse untapped data, and the business value of IoT data.
The fourth industrial revolution, as Shane Dewing of Intel explains, is set to eventually lead to a complete fusion of the physical and the digital worlds. This process, however, is still in its early days: we still have distinct physical and digital elements in factories, hardware controlled by programs that can only perform specific tasks. Dewing, however, forsees a more flexible software-centric approach heralded by the rise of Industry 4.0 tech.
Meanwhile, edge computing – the capacity to analyse and store data on the edge of an IIoT system – is also becoming a reality – the webinar supplies an overview of available open source projects in the edge computing landscape run by large open governance foundations, single companies or as umbrella projects within big foundations. Other discussions include how data challenges will impact IoT architecture, how time-series data storage can outperform traditional data stores, and the latest IIoT trends. To listen to the full webinar, click here.
by Zita Goldman, Business Reporter
There is a new reality emerging in venture investments, and it’s not virtual or augmented – it’s start-ups building real products. Dr. Peter Dudin, CBDO of EnCata, talks about a new trend favouring investments in IoT and other hardware start-ups.
Modern deep-tech start-ups are not just guys making a piece of hardware in a garage for fun. These are advanced, cohesive teams of like-minded people, who are building market-ready products to solve specific customer problems. They’re using dedicated hardware designs with core technologies (IP) transferred from research labs and seamlessly integrated with cloud software.
Today, IoT-connected hardware devices using core scientific technologies and fairly complex built-in software are one example of the trend in favour of hardware. Mobile applications and services are no longer in fashion, with competition high and barriers to market entry low. This new trend has deep-tech start-ups implementing fundamental IP in hardware devices as the main competitive advantage. Deep-tech hardware start-ups are about scientists and hardware and software engineers teaming up to disrupt old industries and change market rules. Such start-up teams are able to resolve R&D problems, pivot when needed, and transition from lab-scale technology to mass production and technology-as-a-service (TaaS) business models.
Deep-tech start-ups are inherently hardware-focused, which is not surprising since scientific advances are usually embodied in new hardware products or advanced materials. Many projects, however, do not reach the market because scientists and developers are not always also talented entrepreneurs. Moreover, the process of raising funds to transition a hardware product from R&D to a commercial scale product with stable revenue often becomes an intractable challenge, otherwise called the “valley of death”. Unfortunately, today, the venture capital model does not align well with the capital-intensive nature of hardware investments.
Start-up investments can be divided into three main stages:
Pre-seed
A start-up at the pre-seed stage has only a laboratory technology or concept. Investments are necessary to finish R&D and demonstrate the technology at lab scale. Professional investors rarely invest at this stage. Therefore, a start-up should count on friends and family, savings, grants, and angel investors (who, at this stage, are very difficult to find). Pre-seed investments are typically in the range of $150-300,000.
Seed stage
Here the start-up’s focus is on engineering a pre-production prototype with working software, filing patents to protect core technologies, and launching limited batch production. While some start-ups can use crowdfunding (such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo) to demonstrate first sales and/or test market demand, crowdfunding is typically not available for deep-tech start-ups because of their focus on industrial applications and B2B solutions, which are capital-intensive.
Start-ups should be actively searching for professional investors at the seed stage who recognise the new trend in favour of hardware investments. Hubs exist in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Shenzhen, Berlin and other locations with investors willing to invest in hardware and deep-tech start-ups. Venture investors typically invest from $1-5 million at the seed stage. Success is measured by finding the right product market fit and achieving pre-market launch sales. If all goes well, start-ups begin to hire additional staff to meet growing customer demand and ready their product for commercial scale production and sales.
Scaling stage – series A and B rounds
At this stage the start-up has achieved a market launch but needs to invest substantially more capital in marketing, sales and inventory to meet customer demand. Venture capital firms (such as Sequoia Capital, NEA) and emerging IP capital firms with a model focused on hardware investments (Cote Capital) are engaged in investing in scaling start-ups at this stage.
Alternatively, deep-tech start-ups may at this stage be purchased by a large corporation – Google, IBM, Walmart, Nestlé, Facebook or Boeing, for example – with a strategic need for the start-up’s IP and the team’s deep expertise. Why do large corporations prefer M&A over in-house development? Low appetite for risk among C-suite managers for the uncertainty present in developing new technologies is one reason. Another motivation is the size of the market opportunity a start-up offers for the acquirer’s well-established sales and distribution network.
Such M&A deals (at seed and series A or B rounds) are typically in the range of $10-80 million, with the internal development cost a lower boundary in value and the perceived market opportunity and timing advantage over competitors an upper boundary.
How to find a good start-up investment? This is both a complex and simple question. We typically look for three main factors:
• A professional team
Competent specialists, who truly believe in the company, demonstrate good character (high integrity, faith, resilience, creativity) and have the emotional intelligence to see challenges as opportunity, not roadblocks. Being an entrepreneur is an epic journey.
• Core technology
Is the IP really proven, working and a true competitive advantage?
• Market validation
The product should solve an existing problem in a large addressable market or make a business and/or industrial process more efficient. Also, the start-up must demonstrate the product’s market fit either through customer pilots or first sales.
Speaking about promising business models, one should have a “moat” principle in mind – having a competitive IP edge for long enough to deliver an appropriate return on investment. Examples include:
• Subscription-based models where start-ups connect clients to their ecosystem
This business model is extremely favourable to investors because it offers a more predictable future. Whether you are a new software-based platform, or a satellite-launch service, customers often persist for years.
• Unique technology
Possessing IP that no one else has provides a timing advantage over market competitors (remember, R&D is a long and expensive process).
With the new trend in favour of deep-tech start-ups, we are witnessing a fundamental shift in how we invest in emerging companies, taking us full circle from historical trends in favour of hardware, to software, and back again to hardware – this time for dedicated applications as the cost of hardware has lowered to enable deep-tech start-ups to take advantage of the higher performance inherent in application-specific hardware. With deep-tech start-ups starting to commercialise science in hardware devices, it’s getting real again!
To find out more about IP capital please visit https://cotecapital.com/
by Dr. Peter Dudin, Co-Founder CBDO, EnCata
Over the past decades there’s been a dramatic reduction in manufacturing across Europe, as the western European cost structure in particular struggles to compete with international low-income labour. Companies must outsource their manufacturing to low-income countries or shut down entirely.
Robotics, however, makes it possible to relieve people of unnecessary labour, increase productivity and drive revenue. Combining highly qualified factory workers with low-cost automation enables them to compete with low-income manual labour. New generation robotics can handle short production cycles, and those that require lots of minor adjustments. But even today, robotics technology remains a luxury for all but the largest multinationals and confined to a narrow range of industries. The most obvious and prevalent example is the automotive industry, although even here robotics has seen little development for decades. In-deed, robotics technology has seen little improvement overall, focusing on solutions that are remote from humans, costly, specialised and inflexible. These systems require not only six-figure investments, but also many weeks to be set up and programmed. Demanding extensive knowledge in the field, they allow for little flexibility in adjusting and re programming tasks, making the return-on-investment very high.
Franka Emika’s vision is to make robotics accessible to everyone. Our robotic assistants are affordable, as usable as a smartphone, and are designed for direct human-robot interaction while equipped with the highest capabilities. Our users from highly skilled robotics professionals to factory workers in firms of all sizes – are benefiting from this easy-to-use, flexible, cost-efficient and scalable approach.
Our revolutionary robotic system Panda has been specially designed to be deployed within the 3C (computer, communication and consumer electronics) industry. However, it is capable of automating various tasks within any given sector, relieving factory workers of tiresome, repetitive and potentially even dangerous tasks, therefore relocating human resources towards more engaging and impactful assignments.
As mentioned before, robotics has been stagnating for decades. But the industry is now at a stage comparable to the introduction of PCs, smartphones and the internet. Our robot systems can be used by everyone, with no need for specific know-how or integration methods. The future is already here. The plug-and-play or “out of the box” – approach is at the core of Franka Emika’s methodology and design.
Panda offers the easiest and fastest set-up – in under 15 minutes it easily integrates into any environment. It can be operated through any PC or mobile device and can be used by laymen or experts alike. Panda is the first system that can be operated via smartphone-like apps, with an engaging, intuitive dialogue menu. It can learn new tasks in minutes by direct interaction, such as hand-guiding. Apps and tasks can be easily purchased and/or shared through our novel digital robotics platform Franka World. Users can reuse or deploy taught tasks on multiple robots to reduce costs and increase profit significantly. It is a unique, powerful tool, and the first of its kind.
Panda offers human-like agility thanks to a full seven axes of movement, and has an inherent, even adaptive compliance with novel sensor technology, algorithms and machine learning.
Panda is not only revolutionary, it’s also affordable. At less than €11,000 it is considerably less expensive than other players on the market, and can be equipped with apps and services through Franka World.
Our team was among the researchers who invented physical human-robot interaction more than a decade ago. Most robots avail able on the market are pre-programmed positioning machines. We, however, see robots as power tools that serve humans and make their lives easier. More than 15 years of research made this concept possible, but as with any technological revolution, it takes time for it to be fully embraced by the market and the general population.
Panda represents a new generation of sensitive and versatile power tools with a unique sense of touch that supports humans in various tasks. It has shifted the perspective on robots from being dangerous job-killers to interactive devices comparable to smartphones.
Industrial robotics still requires a lot of safety regulation, predominantly the legacy of the metal giants of classical industrial robotics. But you can use our robots with minimised safety guards and in a collaborative way – the specifics depend on the application, the end-effectors, the level of trained personnel and other factors. However, we are on the verge of dramatic changes. It is just a matter of time when cyber-physical systems – devices that connect the digital with the real world – including robotics, drones and autonomous vehicles will be deployed in huge numbers.
Besides technological hurdles – mainly the visual perception – the biggest challenges will and should be the acceptance of the general population, as well as legal and liability issues. Europe is the technology leader in this field, but we are far behind when it comes to educating the population and setting up clear rules. This could be factor which will lose us the next battle in technology and become purely a bystander, as happened in the smart device era.
SMEs seek the simplest available solutions that allow for maximum flexibility and scalability. Most people are familiar with using technology, especially software, as a service (SaaS), and therefore RaaS definitely has great potential.
However, one must differentiate between the entire robot system as a service, which requires a certain logistical effort, and using robot functionalities as a service. For the first time, the latter is possible with Panda’s industrial-suited robot system. Franka World, the revolutionary platform we launched at this year’s Hannover Messe, enables community interaction between researchers, partners, customers, developers, suppliers and even robots themselves, to push the frontiers of Industry 4.0. Besides communication, everyone is able to easily gain integrated access to products, services and management of entire robot fleets, independent of their physical location.
Consequently, RaaS is an inherent part of our business model, and it will follow a similar success story as, for example, when expensive on-premises solutions were supplanted by enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. We strive for a world where everyone can use a robot, and we can reach that by connecting the world.
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Today’s mobile devices, global internet access and cloud-based applications are transforming how, where and when we work. More than ever, knowledge is key to an organisation’s success. For the past five years, AMA has therefore been investing in remote assistance solutions to help industrial organisations accelerate their smart workplace transformation.
AMA’s renowned XpertEye assisted-reality platform allows experts and field technicians to share real-time data and knowledge to increase their work efficiency, maximise uptime and reduce resolution time. AMA’s market-leading innovation, high-quality service and compelling total cost of ownership make it a perfect fit for any small, medium or large enterprise within verticals such as transportation, manufacturing, construction, healthcare or even education. The solution addresses a broad range of applications such as remote diagnostics, video conferencing, scheduling and workflow management.
AMA’s XpertEye remote assistance solution enables real-time or pre-planned remote visual guidance to check, monitor and improve industrial operations. Service technicians equipped with smart glasses who are working on complex repair or operational problems can be assisted visually by remote experts, while still having their hands free to execute guided instructions. Through live camera-sharing, voice and on-screen annotations a technician can resolve issues more quickly, thereby improving productivity and maximising uptime. Via an intuitive interface, it is possible for non-trained employees to work with and operate the solution right away.
AMA’s SaaS or on-premises platform is fully secured and encrypted and integrates with a growing ecosystem of hardware partners to provide customers with the most adequate solution, adapted to each use-case and work environment. For instance, video sources such as a thermal camera, microscope or endoscope can provide additional insights to make better-informed decisions.
The conference call availabilities of XpertEye allow users to, for instance, invite numerous experts simultaneously to view what the service technician is seeing, hereby guaranteeing the most suitable advice. The solution can even be used for training. The end-to-end encrypted peer-to-peer connections provide a secured videoconferencing solution with low-latency HD video streams.
The integrated scheduling software of XpertEye Schedule provides field technicians with real-time availability of a company’s experts. The solution synchronises with existing tools so that there are never double bookings, and seamlessly detects time zones so everyone is on the same page.
XpertEye Proceed allows companies to digitise work instructions, checklists and standard operating procedures in no time, and go through them step-by-step on any connected device. This results in significant efficiency improvements, increased responsiveness and reduced time spent on administrative processes.
The connection between the transmission device and the server is strongly encrypted in order to guarantee maximum data security. The AMA servers do not store any data and meet even all the requirements for sensitive health data transmission. They are certified for medical data hosting according to European legislation and are HIPAA compliant for North America.
Read more about AMA and XpertEye on amaxperteye.com
Esther Duval, Marketing Manager, AMA
2020 will see a further increase in the deployment of industrial digital technologies within UK manufacturing operations. These technologies can help manufacturers address some of their pain-points and create new gains for their customers, shareholders and workers.
Let’s face it, there’s been no shortage of excitement or promotion around so-called Industry 4.0 technologies such as the internet of things, robotics and automation, machine learning, 3D printing, artificial intelligence and augmented reality.
Cutting through all the jargon, we at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (the IET) would like to de-mystify some of the hype that beckons you to jump on the “digital bandwagon”, particularly if you are a small or medium-sized enterprise owner, manager or investor.
At any one time, there are a myriad of issues facing SME manufacturers, many of them completely beyond your control. The challenges are many, varied and specific to each firm and its niche or sector. And it’s no secret that with challenges come opportunities too!
• Lack of visibility
• Skills and staff shortages
• Fulfilling customer orders
• Rising costs, such as energy
• Purchasing/inventory
• Productivity improvements
• Product quality/consistency
• Machine downtime
• Power outages
• Legacy premises and old equipment not fit for purpose
• Retaining existing customers
• Getting paid on time
• Keeping a constant flow
• Prototyping costs and time
• Too much time spent firefighting
• Winning new orders
• Time to market taking too long
• Matching capacity to demand
• Limited funds for CAPEX
• Supply chain issues
Industry 4.0 technologies won’t necessarily solve any of these issues for you outright, but they will enable you to hone in on and quantify solutions to those things you can directly inspire, inform and influence. Harvesting, analysing and acting on the right data in real time offers increased speed and ability to address your pain points within the business and lies at the very heart of Industry 4.0.
You need to find out what’s really happening within your manufacturing operation, or as we say, create a single version of the truth.
Fundamentally, there are two reasons. First, reduced costs. Your operating costs should fall and your available time should rise as a result of using the right digital tools within your business.
Second, that you should stay ahead. It’s likely that many of your competitors, collaborators and clients may well be exploring or increasing their use of digital technologies within their businesses. Stay in the game, get yourself up to speed and avoid getting left behind by innovating before they do.
Set your sights high but start with a grounded view. Don’t spend money on “digital”, if you haven’t already optimised your “physical”. The adage remains: get lean, then get digital. You need to find out what’s really happening within your manufacturing operation, or as we say, create a single version of the truth. To do this you will need to digitally connect your existing machines and information systems across the business.
This used to be the privilege of big businesses that could afford expensive bespoke programmes to connect their systems. The new digital tools bring such connectivity between systems such as ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) within the grasp of any SME.
To complete this task, it’s likely that you will need to add some simple and relatively inexpensive sensors to your existing machines (at the cost of a few pounds) and some new connecting protocols to your network.
To do this and make sense of the data generated, you may need to get help. Challenge your new apprentices or latest recruits to work with your champion on this. Failing that, try contacting your local further education college, university engineering department, equipment supplier or catapult centre.
Having gained a better understanding of the key factors at play within the business, you’ll be in a much better position to shine the spotlight on those parts of your operation which require deeper examination, and that will give you savings and increased flexibility. It’s vital to act on these insights of your operation and reap the rewards before moving forward to the more advanced steps where you will need to invest your hard-earned cash on further technology.
As anyone who has ever been through a new ERP or control system implementation knows, there is no point at all in digitising poor productivity (at best) or digitising chaos (at worst).
Industry 4.0 is all about taking your existing human capital, shop floor equipment and back office systems and connecting these valuable assets, giving you a clearer and faster view of your world, and enabling your team to save money and time, invest your savings in the right technology at the right time with clear return on investment, and spend more time with your existing and new customers to grow your business.
John Patsavellas is a C-Suite manufacturing management and operations executive with 20 years’ experience, now Senior Lecturer at Cranfield University and expert panel member at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (The IET)
by John Patsavellas, Senior Lecturer, Cranfield University and expert panel member at the Institution of Engineering and Technology
The idea of the connected or smart home – in which the products and services we use in our homes are augmented by their connection to networks, increasing their ability to improve our lives by making them safer, more comfortable and more efficient – is a future that’s been visualised and imagined in popular culture for some time.
It seemed that this would come to fruition earlier than expected, with smart TVs looking to become the norm in homes very quickly. But since then, the uptake on other categories of devices seemed to slow dramatically. In order to understand this, techUK has conducted three years of research to better understand what can be done to improve market appeal, consumer understanding and ownership. In that time, we have already seen shifts to ease uptake, but there is much more to be done to improve this through collaboration between government and industry, and greater engagement with consumers.
According to this year’s research, progress is certainly being made in terms of uptake in connected home devices. With the industry doing very well in terms of improving consumer confidence in device security, increased interoperability leading to consumers purchasing a greater number of devices from different categories and becoming much more aware of how these devices can improve their comfort in the home.
We saw that a record eight out of 10 consumers now know something about the smart home. This is a positive step, one we feel will lead to greater numbers of consumers adopting new products.
The industry has worked closely with the government on its “secure by design” legislation, but more can be done in conjunction with the government’s National Cyber Security Centre to establish greater technical legislation covering products already on or going into market.
Another positive outlook from the market is that 52 per cent of consumers are willing to pay more for a smart rather than a non-smart product when it comes to home security. Consumers are also willing to pay premiums for health monitoring devices. Again, this shows a move towards maturity and increasing competition will help to improve offerings for consumers and provide greater value.
However, although we have seen improvements, our research shows that the top three key barriers to consumers when it comes to the connected home have been cost, privacy and lack of awareness and these have remained more or less the same for some time
So, what must be done?
If the industry is to convince consumers of the benefits of the connected home, it must be committed to develop its narrative around value. Our report showed that industry is still struggling to do this.
An active part of this will be addressing the concerns that consumers have around the security and privacy of the smart home. This will require collaboration with government. The industry has worked closely with the government on its “secure by design” legislation, but more can be done in conjunction with the government’s National Cyber Security Centre to establish greater technical legislation covering products already on or going into market.
The industry must also do more to encourage consumers so their ecosystem and network of smart home technologies can bring even greater benefits.
In conjunction with this we also see a role for government – firstly, in recognising the part smart home technologies can play in delivering the government’s Grand Challenges policy paper, such as the goal to be carbon net-zero by 2050. Smart meters can do a lot to encourage this, as well as other ways in which smart products can increase their own energy efficiency.
Secondly, we see an opportunity for government to work with connectivity providers and energy suppliers to provide the best ecosystem for the market to flourish. This includes pushing forward with commitments made in the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, such as new offers for consumers on home energy management systems, smart tariffs, smart appliances and electric vehicles.
The benefits of the connected home are real. Work from industry and government to foster this sector will make people’s homes more safe, more comfortable and more efficient. And, if we get this right, the growth in the market here in the UK could be extremely beneficial to our economy and society through efficiency improvements and our ability to share best practice with the rest of the world.
by Teodora Kaneva, Programme manager, SmarterUK
Ambient computing is a combination of hardware, software, user experience, machine-to-human (M2H) interaction and learning. It works in sync with users, and learns from them, while remaining invisible – combining machine-learning capabilities with a fully integrated smart workplace can lead to devices that will always be one step ahead of us.
Batch processing is the processing of previously collected jobs in a single batch.
A cellular (or mobile) network is a communications network where the last link is wireless. Cellular connectivity can send lots of data over long distance, but drains batteries rather quickly, which makes it more suited for IoT applications where devices are either connected to an energy source or can be easily recharged.
CIS or the Centre for Internet Security is a global non-profit organisation established to “identify, develop, validate, promote, and sustain best practice solutions for cyber-defence and build and lead communities to enable an environment of trust in cyberspace”.
The CIS Critical Security Controls or the SANS TOP20 are a recommended set of actions for cyber-defence that provide specific and actionable ways to stop cyber-attacks. It can also be an effective guide for companies that don’t have a coherent security programme yet. A principal benefit of the controls is that they prioritise and focus a smaller number of actions with high pay-off results. For more on why the 20 CIS Controls and Resources are important, click here.
Cloud computing is when data and applications are stored on remote servers instead of corporate “on premisese” servers. The hybrid cloud is a combination of on-premises infrastructure, private cloud services and a public cloud service such as AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Microsoft Azure. With a public cloud all hardware, software and supporting infrastructure is owned and managed by the provider and shared between its users or “cloud tenants”, while on a private cloud network hardware and software are dedicated solely to one organisation.
Private clouds are typically used by governmental organisations or financial institutions, as well as for mission-critical operations. This is the module where most of the data-crunching and pattern finding, as well as the application of AI and machine learning, takes place. Cloud APIs will enable your partners to interact with your devices or change data.
A data historian (also known as a process historian) is a software programme that records and retrieves production and process data, which then it stores in a time-series database that takes up minimal disk space and ensures fast retrieval.
Data ingestion is the process of obtaining and importing data for immediate use or storage in a database. Data can be ingested in real time or in batches at periodic intervals of time.
The original goal of edge computing was to save bandwidth costs by storing and processing most of the data as close to the point of request as possible, and sending only significant data to the cloud. However, the rise of real-time applications – where low latency is key – has given an additional boost to the use of edge computing.
Energy harvesting is the process of collecting energy from outside sources, such as light, heat and vibrations, to power IoT devices. Energy harvesters provide a very small amount of power for low-energy electronics.
Enterprise IoT enables physical “things” with embedded computing devices to participate in business processes for reducing manual work and increasing overall business efficiency. Typical Enterprise IoT areas are energy management, cyber-security, asset tracking and customer experience.
Using an ethernet is the wired method of connecting IoT devices in a Local Area Network. It performs well on data speed, security and latency and can deliver a consistent speed.
Fog computing is an extension to the cloud where data, applications and cloud computing capabilities are placed closer to where the data is generated. The term itself is associated with networking hardware and software giant Cisco.
An IoT gateway is a physical device or software programme that serves as the connection point between the cloud on one hand and controllers, sensors and intelligent devices on the other. Gateways usually have the capability to translate or transform one network protocol into the other, thus allowing different networks and applications to communicate. They can also provide the IoT network with additional security features.
Industrial IoT (IIoT) refers to the extension and use of IoT in industrial sectors and applications. IIoT ensures higher visibility and productivity, reduces the cost of quality management systems and increases efficiency by reducing downtime.
IoT platforms offer an end-to-end software framework that serves as the glue for pulling together information coming from sensors, devices and networks with software that turns data into actionable insights. The two biggest IoT platforms at the end of 2019 were Amazon AWS IoT and Microsoft Azure IoT. Users of IoT systems will interact with devices mostly through cloud applications.
Industrial computers, or IPCs, are designed to withstand harsh industrial environments, and are primarily used for data computing, remote monitoring and the integration of hardware and software technologies.
IoT, or the internet of things, in the broadest sense encompasses everything connected to the internet, but it is increasingly being used to define objects that communicate with each other directly without human involvement. More specifically, it can refer to a network of interconnected things and devices embedded with sensors, software, network connectivity and necessary electronics that enable them to collect and exchange data, as well as act on it.
Intelligent edge refers to the analysis of data and development of solutions where the data itself is generated. It reduces latency, costs and security risks.
The Open Process Automation Forum addresses industry pain points such as the need for interoperability at all levels of the IoT stack and portable software applications that run on multiple devices.
The IoT Security Foundation (IoTSF) is a collaborative, non-profit, international response to complex cyber-security challenges posed by the expansive hyper-connected IoT world. IoTSF has established an IoT Security Compliance Framework that IoT solution providers can certify against voluntarily and use the Best Practice User Mark, which is being developed into a certification scheme in partnership with the IAMSE Consortium.
LPWANs are networking protocols designed specifically for IoT. They connect devices required to send small amounts of data, often over great distances over many years, on a single battery.
A micro-controller is the brain an IoT device, a mini-computer with a microprocessor core, memory, and input/output (I/O) ports.
A time series is a series of data points indexed in time order. It enables time series analysis, which is a tool for understanding the past and predicting the future.
Sensors are devices on the edge of IoT systems that monitor for different environmental states, such as pressure, temperature, image or proximity.
Source: Zita Goldman, Business Reporter
Due to growing costs, unending political debate and uncertainty about the future of ACA (Obamacare), healthcare is one of the top concerns in the nation today. Another aspect is that baby boomers are reaching the age where chronic disease and illness are prevalent. Fortunately, the wearable technology is a growing industry seeking to fill in the gaps where traditional medicine is falling short. The wearable technology market grew by 29% globally in 2016, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC). IDC projects that the wearable market will have reached more than 213 million units sold by 2020. In the US, with an increasing number of patients, reduction in healthcare budgets and providers, the more ways patients can empower themselves, the better.
Government and private agencies alike are pressured by current protocols that use valuable face-to-face time for gathering data which could be much more efficiently collected via a connected device or wearable technology. For example, medical professionals can quickly access pertinent data for heart patients to determine if their existing treatment plan is working. Although vital statistics and blood work can provide valuable information, the addition of a healthcare wearable improves engagement and enhances physician actions.
When sharing medical information with providers, data security is another area of concern, with the private and government sectors both supporting research and implementation of security technology and standards.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a conceptual term relating to the technological connectivity of the modern world. Smartphones have already impacted virtually every aspect of human choices and interactions. From instant communication with family and friends to choosing a vacation, the uses for these small devices are incredible. IoT is one of the fast-growing areas of technology offering solutions for the health market.
What is the advantage of IoT-enabled wearable devices over the ubiquitous smartphone, you might ask. The simple answer is that wearables can provide an abundance of data that your smartphone simply cannot. Rather than you entering information into your phone if and when you remember, the wearables provide a continuous stream of information that both patients and providers can use to make better informed choices for improved health.
For instance, the data might lead to patient insights that their blood pressure always rises under certain circumstances or at particular times of the day. Healthcare professionals are able to objectively see how patients are progressing, even if some of them attempt to cover up their harmful habits. Some patients are notorious for following their treatment plan for a few days before a visit to create better test results. In such cases the use of wearable devices is an invaluable resource for treatment management to the benefit of the patient.
The abundance of wearables on the market today with features and apps to detect certain health markers gives patients and physicians the opportunity to choose fit-for-purpose smart devices. Smart shirts can detect respiration and heart rates while smart socks are designed to assist patients with their walking and running styles. Shoes, pants and belts are lesser known than smartwatches, but provide different or complementary statistics depending on which brand and style the patient chooses. One example of wearable technology that can save lives by early breast cancer detection is an iTBra, the wearable device at the intersection of IoT, Cloud and AI technologies. For more details about this promising device, read this feature in Cisco Focus Magazine.
One of the challenges that still exist in this developing technology is battery life. Researchers are working to maximize the amount of power available while at the same time reducing device weight and size. When sharing medical information with providers, data security is another area of concern, with the private and government sectors both supporting research and implementation of security technology and standards.
Communications between patients and practitioners are no longer limited to face-to-face encounters thanks to the smart glasses on the market today. The quality, accessibility and features of healthcare wearables are only going to improve in the future. Being an empowered consumer when it comes to health is ever more important. Taking a proactive stance on health is essential to a healthy life, and these wearable, connected devices are making it easier than ever before!
About the Author
Evan Kirstel is an internationally recognized thought leader and influencer in IoT, Cloud, Data Security, HealthTech, DigitalHealth, B2B Marketing, AI, SmartHome and more. With 25+ years of sales, alliances and biz dev experience, he brings a unique perspective on opportunities in the Unified Communications and Collaboration landscape, including deep knowledge of social, mobile, voice/video/web collaboration market and cloud technology. Evan’s been named the 5th most influential B2B marketer in the US. His social media “Klout” score is 81 and rising! You can follow Evan on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn.
by Evan Kirstel
New technologies are not just enabling optimisation of existing processes – companies are rethinking their processes, value chains and business models.
Smart manufacturing – a way to deliver the end product with intelligent, real-time orchestration and optimisation of business, physical and digital processes within factories and across the entire value chain – is the future. Resources and processes are automated, integrated, monitored and continuously evaluated based on high levels of transparency and data exchange as close to real-time as possible.
That is how the imminent future of manufacturing is seen by MESA International, a non-profit community of manufacturers, suppliers and consultants cooperating to accelerate innovation and IT adoption in manufacturing. It is a broad-system vision for efficient collaboration among stakeholders in the smart manufacturing ecosystem. It’s also a vision within reach in the next two decades, thanks to advances in platforms that are making integrated systems and technologies accessible to more manufacturers and further empowered by consortia focused on making available the knowledge required to run smart manufacturing systems and ecosystems.
Machines are getting smarter, with embedded computers, AI, and application program interfaces (APIs) ready to exchange data with MES and cloud platforms.
Several trends are fueling the optimism:
For many products, the market is switching from buying a mass-produced product off-the-shelf to buying a custom configured product as-a-service. These new blended manufacturing-service business models require more customer interaction and elevate the value of the digital data that goes along with the product during its service life. These ecosystems are forced to evolve to deliver the required data services.
New technologies are not just enabling optimisation of existing processes. Companies are rethinking their processes, value chains and business models. The proliferation of smartphones, IoT, cloud services, low-code platforms and DIY machine connectivity are causing manufacturers to empower the customer and citizen technologists (such as engineers, developers and data scientists) with more data and tools in order to accelerate the pace of innovation in the whole ecosystem.
When innovation led to the high use of robotics in factories in the 1980s, many people predicted that within 10 years all factories would be filled with robots, and there would be no human operators. Decades later, more than half of manufacturing tasks are still performed by human operators.
Rather than replace humans, robots will work collaboratively with a balanced distribution of responsibility. Technologies such as cobots, exoskeletons, artificial intelligence (AI), and augmented reality (AR) will augment, assist and empower the future worker.
There has been much progress in engineering, production automation and enterprise business systems in the last few decades. Manufacturing execution systems (MES) and paperless operations are the new norm in factories. Machines are getting smarter, with embedded computers, AI, and application program interfaces (APIs) ready to exchange data with MES and cloud platforms. Smart manufacturing eliminates manual steps and inconsistencies, bringing silos of information together to link them in a full digital thread of automated data exchanges.
The smart factory becomes a node in a connected smart ecosystem with API requirements for partner and customer interaction. The required data exchanges go beyond purchase order, shipment and warranty data if the ecosystem is delivering new data services with the product. For example, if a company is including a product digital twin as an additional service, it must be ready to make accessible, to the ecosystem and customer, 3D and simulation models of the product along with each unit’s unique as-built operational data.
The availability of low-cost sensing, pervasive connectivity and cloud computing services has made it practical to access and holistically analyse data across integrated systems. Unstructured datasets such as images, natural language and even messages in social media have become part of the data available for analysis. More integrated data and AI capabilities are bringing us closer to systems with automated routine decisions where humans intervene only when necessary.
The availability of low-cost sensing, pervasive connectivity and cloud computing services has made it practical to access and holistically analyse data across integrated systems. Unstructured datasets such as images, natural language and even messages in social media have become part of the data available for analysis. More integrated data and AI capabilities are bringing us closer to systems with automated routine decisions where humans intervene only when necessary.
The above trends are contributing toward the realisation of the smart manufacturing future. For more information visit the many open resources at MESA International’s resource portal at www.mesa.org.
by Conrad Leiva, MESA Smart Manufacturing Working Group Chairman
The concept of a circular economy is an indication that a ‘sustainable world’ doesn’t necessarily require a decrease in the quality of life for consumers. Its primary focus is to manage our resources systematically, and one way in which we’re able to maximise the output of our resources is through mass customisation.
Henry Ford initialised the concept of mass production with his standardised assembly line back in 1913, but we’re now interested in how we can normalise mass customisation. Mass customisation is often described as a way of adding mass value to a consumer in the most efficient manner. It is the process of producing goods or a service as and when a consumer requires it and simultaneously tailoring it to their wants and needs without disrupting the production process and keeping costs aligned. This may initially sound visionary, yet with the utilisation of the right technology we are closer to achieving this paradigm than we believe.
Also known as made-to-order, mass customisation has already begun its journey through various companies in tailoring products and services to suit each individual. The development of different social media platforms has exponentially increased the choices available for consumers and, in turn, their wants and desires. Modern society has become more informed and connected than in any other previous generation. A sense of individual empowerment can be achieved simply through being able to demonstrate to the world that something has been tailored directly to your needs or co-created by your own ideas.
With the technology readily available and generations becoming increasingly active on social media, both high productivity levels, and the ability to customise, are not only achievable but formulate the ultimate example of market segmentation.
With this in mind, does that complicate the ability to create a unique product for each customer? Perhaps it unlocks a horizon of opportunity? The developed technologies we have allow us to address the barriers of mass customisation that may previously have been a hindrance. The possibilities are now endless. With 3D modelling we are able to envision a product or service before an actual output, enabling a saving in both time and cost. For example, we can see what a particular item of clothing looks like on a replica of ourselves or even foresee any physical drawbacks of a mechanical construction before it has been developed. It promotes a buyers’ market where lean production is the ulterior motive.
Moreover, the data collected from allowing consumers to customise each item they purchase activates an ability not only to adapt to users’ habits but also to produce and store data that can be used to influence future research and development. This level of data can save initial development costs while also formulating a platform for dynamic pricing by which we can price according to spending behaviour. All this is achievable using minimum labour hours and with minimal resources. Using social media as a form of free marketing also allows an ability to fully understand the wants of a consumer – something that had not previously been a possibility.
Essentially, mass customisation is only as powerful as the outcome of productivity crossed with the ability to customise. With the technology readily available and generations becoming increasingly active on social media, both high productivity levels, and the ability to customise, are not only achievable but formulate the ultimate example of market segmentation. With artificial intelligence being utilised to enable the manufacturing process to learn from previous errors and collect data to customise before investment, the risk of overspending on R&D and stockpiling can be diminished. Many companies are already adopting methods of mass customisation and those who haven’t yet may find the steps are far more reachable than they ever have been before.
Nikesh Mistry is Sector Head – Industrial Automation at Gambica. If you would like to share your opinions with like-minded people as to how the digitalised world is evolving, visit gambica.org.uk. Contact Nikesh on LinkedIn or Twitter.
by Nikesh Mistry, Sector Head – Industrial Automation, Gambica
We waste 1,500 hours a year working inefficiently, unable or ill-equipped to grasp the opportunities that can be unlocked in the digital workplace. Many businesses continue with practices such as document version control, isolating the exchange of information (a process more commonly known as emailing), bouncing between local hard drives and the cloud, and so on. All in all, according to Gartner Research, 61 per cent of our valuable time is spent “managing” work and 39 per cent doing the actual work itself. But it doesn’t have to be like this!
The proliferation of applications and piecemeal digital solutions, while well intended, end up fuelling the fragmented workplace and piling more stress onto harried employees. The current mindset in the modern workplace is a strong desire to deploy an intelligent workplace platform (basically an intranet supercharged with intelligence) that accelerates our shift towards a singular, seamless experience where employees have all they need to do their best work. Here is how we can achieve this.
Work smarter, not harder
Improved “intelligent” technology solutions underpinned by artificial intelligence will reduce the noise of the modern workplace and pave the way for the resurgence of vibrant online and offline communities, which give users everything they need to do their job.
Employees are paving the way for the creation of a personalised portfolio of applications, supplemented with role-based functionality. The new digital workforce wants to work smarter, not harder. The goal of this transformation is to deliver a unified digital, physical and human workplace experience that catalyses collaboration and productivity while delivering an incredible employee experience.
Governance of sprawling digital infrastructure and the proliferation of solutions and platforms must be the new normal if we are to realise the potential the modern workplace holds for collaboration and productivity. To reach this promised land, one of the most important prerequisites will be to put in place systems that prevent the explosion of multiple channels, mute the noise of disconnected and distracting applications and set businesses up for success as they accelerate their digital workplace journeys.
Governance and compliance are bedfellows of effective collaboration and productivity. Businesses and their IT departments need to roll out processes and systems, governed by pre-determined rules of engagement, that mitigate the chaotic spread and duplication of channels. The good news is that smart governance systems exist and can be integrated into your existing or future operating systems.
Intelligent intranets are content services platforms that ignite engines of collaboration and innovation across organisations. While the term “intranet” is still broadly understood by a diverse range of professionals and verticals, it understates the increasingly strategic value of intranets in the modern workplace – especially when we consider a workplace set to go through the biggest changes in content management in more than 20 years. Intelligent AI-enabled solutions can solve the business-critical need to ensure content is delivered, shared and measured through the optimum (and most secure) digital channels, further enhancing engagement and employee experience.
Digital transformation is essentially about change management, and change management is essentially about people. The issue of execution and adoption of digital workplace platforms is often the biggest challenge for our customers.
Understandably some employees can negatively perceive new technologies, or siloed teams might see collaboration as a threat. This can be mitigated by better understanding and addressing the ecosystem of employee workplace influences and touchpoints, and ensuring your people are involved and empowered from the earliest phases of planning.
This feedback from our customers has led us to introduce discovery sessions for our clients. During these sessions we delve into the specific challenges and requirements that an individual organisation may be faced with. This could be the need to slowly transition legacy systems, to prioritise front-line workers, or the obligation to put governance and compliance in place before rolling out digital platforms.
These sessions have become an extremely enriching part of our work. We are now better equipped to provide solutions precisely to our customers’ problems, taking into consideration where they are on their digital journey, where they see themselves going and their absorption capacity for change.
Over-hyping AI or digital solutions helps nobody, and the most effective digital transformation projects will include people from all levels and stages. It may take more time, but it will inevitably be more cost-effective, successful and sustainable.
To learn more about how intelligent intranets can drive collaboration and productivity in the modern workplace please visit:
Written by Karl Redenbach, Co-Founder and CEO, LiveTiles
Markus Knigin, Head of Department – Secure Provisioning and Jessica Håkansson, Sr. Business Development Manager, Sony Network Communications Europe
Employees turning into contortionists to use their lanyard keycard to bundle their way through a security gate are a familiar scene at many workplaces. However, convenience is just one of the reasons why existing access control methods are due for an upgrade. With secured areas out-of-bounds for staff without the necessary authorisation, multi-level policies for access to premises, heavy visitor traffic and high staff turnover, physical access control can be both complex and challenging.
But now, with the help of an IoT-based platform that enables the remote management of access rights, organisations can cut through this complexity. There is no longer any need for face-to-face meetings between the on-site administrator and the employee or the visitor for key provisioning to take place. Instead, virtual keys can be sent to an app on a connected device or a wearable over-the-air – and access rights can be prolonged, adjusted or revoked as needed.
Download the full presentation of Criotive
The Criotive secure provisioning platform, developed and offered by Sony Network Communications Europe, ranges from a simple plug-and-play service for single storage cabinets to customised integration plans for multiple buildings. Designed in collaboration with clients, Criotive can be implemented on top of legacy electronic lock systems without the need for any new hardware investments.
Data security is becoming an increasingly important differentiator among IoT offerings. Sony’s solution meets high security standards, thanks to the encrypted channel through which access rights are sent using NFC (near-field communication) and BLE (Bluetooth low energy) technologies. Criotive works wherever there is mobile phone or wi-fi reception – which is almost everywhere these days!
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The world’s leading internet of things event covering the entire IoT ecosystem, ranging from manufacturing, transport, health, logistics, government, energy, automotive, insurance and more. Click here for details.
Covering big data, smart analytics, APIs and more, this year’s Smart IoT conference brings together a
wide range of exhibiting suppliers and speakers. A great event for businesses trying to develop a new connected product, or those who are either considering or are in the process of implementing IoT systems. Click here for details.
The Global IoT Summit (GIoTS) is an international conference established to attract and present the latest research results in IoT. It is endorsed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and aims to select the best papers through a systematic peer-review process. Click here for details.
The IoT Tech Expo brings together key industries from across the globe for two days of top-level content and discussion across five co-located events covering IoT, 5G, cyber security, cloud, blockchain, AI and big data. Click here for details.
by Zita Goldman, Business Reporter
Saša Muhič Pureber, VP, Manufacturing Intelligence, INEA
An average human’s working memory can only store between four and eight things at the same time. With the amount of information now easily available to us, the chance of reaching the best possible decisions is statistically becoming closer and closer to zero. This is especially true when taking into account that your data shelf life is, conversely, radically decreasing, and so shortening the reaction time window before crucial facts change and the entire process needs to restart.
Operators are also not immune to the exponentially growing “data-person-response time” imbalance. The number of operators on factory floors is decreasing with automation, and even more so with smart devices, products and services. The world each operator now has to master is far greater than ever before, with tens of thousands of tags per person and complex automation and IT systems.
Industry 4.0 guidelines and the associated smart factory principles normally discuss smart devices, connectivity, adaptability, analytics and predictive actions, artificial intelligence, data mining, cloud storage, smart services, smart products, smart supply chain and more. These paradigms include production resources, entities and products and their connectivity, but often do not touch production or control systems.
Some of the MES/MOM and SCADA system building blocks can, however, assist significantly in adding a more holistic, sustainable and “smart” note to the manufacturing execution solutions:
Operators are also not immune to the exponentially growing “data-person-response time” imbalance. The number of operators on factory floors is decreasing with automation, and even more so with smart devices, products and services. The world each operator now has to master is far greater than ever before, with tens of thousands of tags per person and complex automation and IT systems.
Industry 4.0 guidelines and the associated smart factory principles normally discuss smart devices, connectivity, adaptability, analytics and predictive actions, artificial intelligence, data mining, cloud storage, smart services, smart products, smart supply chain and more. These paradigms include production resources, entities and products and their connectivity, but often do not touch production or control systems.
Some of the MES/MOM and SCADA system building blocks can, however, assist significantly in adding a more holistic, sustainable and “smart” note to the manufacturing execution solutions:
The described information overload also naturally affects the decision-makers in their ability to make good choices when planning different investments in their factories. Experienced solution providers, if engaged early enough in the process, can bring their technology-specific and industry-specific experience to the table, and can often be the determining factor in the overall success of the investment.
The selected supplier should ideally be able to deliver a turnkey solution and have mechanical design teams working closely with automation and manufacturing intelligence experts. This capacity provides all the benefits of single-source responsibility and the advantages of the information closed loop with immediate feedback from commissioning to a design team, and vice versa.
A solution provider that understands their customers’ needs will be able to provide a holistic, sustainable solution that incorporates established tools (preventing customer lock-in) with good local support and that will best serve everyone’s purpose. Effective solutions should not only enable each key user but should also be elegant, goal-oriented and lifecycle aware, provide good system governance and be as sustainable as possible. The factory floor should be an efficient production environment, as opposed to a showroom of all the newest trends.
For more information, click here.
With unbiased IoT content, resources and news, technology media platform IoT for All is a great stop for C-suiters who want to make informed business decisions about the tech shaping our lives.
The site includes articles that explain and compare the technologies underlying IoT networks with compelling, easy-to-understand language. It also provides tips on the kinds of open source and unlicensed IoT technologies that can be leveraged to build simple in-house IoT systems. For a taste of IoT for All’s clear and informative “popular IoT” style, check out this article on satellite LPWAN, that can constitute a direct link between IoT devices and the telecommunications provider. There’s also a pertinent piece examining the IoT security deficit, and which also outlines where IoT legislation currently stands in the IoT-pioneering hotspots of California and the UK.
IoT for All’s podcasts are worth a listen too – Wienke Giezeman, CEO and Co-Founder of the Netherlands-based The Things Network, decodes what LoRa and LoRaWAN are, the role they play in the IoT connectivity space, and how they are fuelling the growth and adoption of IoT, while Vasileos Nasis from plug-and-play remote sensor company Netronix Inc, explains the common roadblocks in IoT adoption.
AIoT, or the Artificial Internet of Things, is arguably the most significant IoT trend for 2020. In the increasing deluge of data generated by IoT devices, finding efficient ways of crunching it is becoming ever more crucial, according to a survey of businesses by SAS, Deloitte and Intel. Research has found that enterprises deploying AI along with IoT systems have become more competitive than IoT-only businesses in terms of productivity, innovation and operating costs.
Standardisation is the next big hurdle to clear for IoT in 2020, predicts business technology website Information Age. It cites Lee Stacey, product evangelist at IoT Communication-as-a-Service Provider Thingstream, who believes that “fragmentation has been a barrier to progress in IoT since the very beginning, and messaging protocol is one area where standardisation would be massively beneficial.”
Recent developments in the messaging protocol arena seem to suggest that MQTT – a TCP/IP network protocol that transports messages between devices that’s been around for the last 25 years – is poised to become the de facto IoT protocol, while the emergence of 5G is expected to complicate choices even further, at least in the long run. 2020 is also expected to be the year when Industrial IoT takes the lead from consumer IoT.
IoT sensors are often small, and powering them can be a challenge – not every device equipped with IoT is plugged into the mains, after all, and batteries eventually run out.
One solution is to collect energy from outside sources to power the devices – known as energy harvesting. Energy can be harvested from numerous sources, from solar or mechanical to piezoelectric (an electric charge accumulating in certain materials in response to stress) or electromagnetic ones. Although the amount of energy generated this way is low, it can be sufficient for sensors that need to send data periodically.
To read more about additional forms of energy harvesting and emerging battery technologies click here.
Formula 1 teams are enthusiastic crunchers of data from races – the better they are at it, the greater the edge they get over their rivals. In this video Matt Harris, head of IT for Mercedes-AMG-Petronas Motorsport, explains why capturing data for future analysis can help with narrow margins in all kinds of businesses, not just motor racing.
Source: Zita Goldman, Business Reporter