Tag Archives: innovation

Hardware

Augmented Reality Becoming a Focus in Maintenance Technology

Augmented Reality, “an enhanced version of reality where live direct or indirect views of physical real-world environments are augmented with superimposed computer-generated images over a user’s view of the real world.”

The fourth industrial revolution is upon us and industries like manufacturing are taking advantage of AR technology to enhance employee experience, keep employees safer, and also close the knowledge gap.

Maintenance plays a vital role in industries like manufacturing. It has a direct influence on performance, productivity, and product quality; maintenance is a craft that is always being improved upon and now with the innovation of augmented reality, it can take maintenance to a whole other level.

Augmented Reality in Maintenance

Augmented Reality allows users to enhance their field of view with real-time super imposed digital information. This allows users to gain any/all information on an asset or step by step instructions on how to repair an asset, for example.

But before we dig into practical applications, let’s discuss the proven advantages of augmented reality maintenance.

Benefits

  • Reduced human errors
  • Reduced execution time
  • Reduced breakdowns
  • Reduced downtime
  • Reduced cost
  • Increased productivity
  • Increased operation speed
  • Increased fix rates
  • Increased compliance
  • Increased profit

These benefits prove true for the companies below that have already implemented augmented reality technology in their facility.

GE Aviation – Experiences an average of 8-12% in efficiency

GE Renewable Energy – Wiring technicians are yielding a 34% increase in productivity

These are just two examples of how AR is impacting the industry, but much has changed since the origins of the industrial revolution. From physical documentation, moving to the desktop, to the progression of mobile, to now wearable devices/technology.

AR powered solutions for maintenance and repair operations include:

  • Preventive Maintenance
  • Operator assembly instructions
  • Service inspection instructions
  • Detailed instructions for unfamiliar procedures
  • Compliance checklist
  • Corrective Maintenance
  • Service manual instructions
  • Remote assistance
  • Predictive Maintenance
  • Performance Panels
  • Real-time access to data: monitoring, control actions, disruptions, analytics

All the above have their own unique value, but let’s take a deeper look into the workforce and how AR is impacting engineers.

Technology in the Workforce

Facility managers are constantly looking at ways to increase productivity, decrease costs, and keep engineers safe on the job. These technologies below integrated with an EAM CMMS system can help achieve all those goals.

Infrared thermography allows engineers and mechanics to see electrical systems, mechanical equipment, building applications, and fluid systems through the use of thermovision. Engineers can spot faulty connections, abnormal motors, pipe temperatures and tank levels through this equipment showing different colors without having to touch the equipment. This reduces the risk of engineers getting hurt on the job.

A company called DAQRI is focused on AR technology and developed a wearable AR tech smart helmet for industrial use. Engineers can see 4D images above assets in their facilities that prompt them with instructions and also give them a mapping of all asset functionality. This wearable technology allows engineers to discover asset information faster and closes the knowledge gap for new hires.

Another company called UpSkill connects the workforce through augmented reality in its wearable technology guiding technicians in real-time to complete tasks, checklists, work orders, and send media to managers.

Finally, a company called Worklink has made it possible for the user to create their own smart instructions for assets to allow for less human error, increase safety, and also walk engineers step-by-step on repair processes. This can increase the time it takes to complete work by also complying with facility procedures.

This equipment is becoming more prevalent and as more machines becomes connected to the internet, approximately 50 billion machines will be connected on the internet by 2020 it becomes imperative facilities and industries adopt these devices and make them apart of their facility operations.

A CMMS has the capability to provide maintenance management and staff with an automated tool capable of scheduling inspections, preventive maintenance, managing inventory, work orders, and retrieval of recorded asset history.

Technicians can perform actual work with instructions on handhelds, enter how long it takes to complete work orders, filter through past work orders, and close out of the system. All the information is recorded in real-time, so managers can access the information instantaneously.

The ability to track your work, document it, and send it to managers could be paired with wearable technology, like the companies above, to get engineers an elevated view of assets through thermal technology or the ability to see instructions on assets and use that data to train new hires and not have to worry about on-boarding.

A CMMS could also benefit from machine learning using algorithms to monitor assets like meter readings and the ability to calculate readings by the second which would be humanly impossible to do; this will cut down on extraneous labor costs and allow facilities to allocate dollars elsewhere.

The possibilities are becoming endless when it comes to how IoT, AR, VR, and Machine learning can help facilities with energy savings, labor savings, employee safety, and more. The future is a scary and exciting thing but ultimately inevitable for change.

 

CES

CES 2017: The Harman Announcements That Matter

The Consumers Electronics Show has returned back in town, and many of the larger companies have put the time and effort into Las Vegas, Nevada, as a launch pad for their major announcements.

Harman, a leading company that designs and engineers connected products for automakers, consumers and enterprise industries all around the world, has recently announced a whopping $8 billion acquisition by Samsung, although the deal is yet to be closed.

In addition to that, the company has also announced a massive growth among OEMs such as Lexus, Toyota, Hyundai, Lincoln, Kia, BMW, Subaru and more, with a positive demand from the consumer’s point of view, mostly for advanced in-car connectivity solutions.

For instance, Harman has recently announced a collaboration with Ford, to bring the B&O Play system to its cars, sometime in the Spring of 2017.

With the growing experience in innovation and technology, Harman will continue to expand car connectivity – Intelligent, personalized and professional experience, mainly in the sound management solution products.

The company is presenting a new level of innovation and In-Car Experience connectivity:

  1. Harman Summit Next – Is the new generation of a conceptual smart audio solution that offers Harman’s highest level of acoustic performance integrated with intelligent expandable features which are targeted for the luxury market and provides an immaculate way for people to engage and interact with their vehicles and their senses. The new solutions includes: Ambisonics Escape, Dynamic Sound Stage, In-Car Conferencing, In-Car Theater, and more.
  2. Harman Voyager Next – Harman’s award-winning industry’s leading audio solution in one advanced system. Connects your vehicle to your very own lifestyle via the industry’s first all-in-one audio and connected car Head Unit solution, which has been designed to meet the needs of today’s millennial’s ‘on-the-go’ lifestyle. Voyager Next provides OEMs the ability to offer cost effective and easy to implement premium audio solutions for their entry-level vehicle market. It also provides new levels of intelligent personalization and connectivity to the in-vehicle experience through advanced technologies, including the Voyager Next connect companion app, Harman proprietary micro speaker technology, Dual-core micro sub-woofers and a Voyager Next sub.

To highlight some of the company’s milestones from recent months, Harman has won some very notable automobile awards, as well as launching collaborations with myriad of vehicles and industry brands. It is also said to enhance in-car security with the acquisition of Israeli startup TowerSec for around $70 million or so.

Moreover, the company is unveiling at CES the future of mobility and car connectivity with the latest introduction of Rinspeed Oasis Autonomous car, that features the ultimate In-Car experience technologies (HARMAN LIVS). The Oasis, a result of a fruitful collaboration with industry engineering across the pond, is basically a concept car that offers a glimpse at the future of autonomous driving and how advanced, holistic vehicle intelligence will transform the driving experience.

“More than a technology supplier, HARMAN is an inspiration partner to the world’s automakers, and the Oasis is a testament to that vision – a vehicle that is contextual, personalized and highly connected” ~ Phil Eyler, president, HARMAN Connected Car.

“HARMAN believes autonomy should not equal monotony, and this vehicle offers an integrated cockpit and bleeding edge user interface that advances mobility and connectivity while providing an unparalleled user experience. This results in a driving experience that is more powerful, productive, personalized and protected than ever before.”

The Rinspeed Oasis autonomous vehicle user experience includes a series of modes and systems that elevate both the autonomous and manual driving experience including a Full Windshield Heads-Up Display, Autonomous Drive Readiness Check (handover to Manual), Augmented Reality Concierge, Predictive Collision Prevention, Intelligent E-Mirrors.

Bringing technologies from concept to reality, the company has also presented the new Intelligent cockpit (digital personal assistant, car-to home platform. Next gen Compute Platform), with distinct modes and highly connected iOT integration.

Furthermore, the company is said to invest a lot of its own resources in advanced connected in-car services, such as HCS Cloud, HCS OTA, HCS After Market and others.

In that regard, the company is also introducing the Harman Ignite, the first fully-integrated scalable and modular cloud platform for developing, managing and operating in-vehicle applications and services, combining Connectivity, Analytics, Device Management, Application Management, and OTA Updates.

Examples of automotive use cases for the Ignite platform includes Vehicle Connect, Cloud-Based Driver Profiles, Car-as-a-Service, Vehicle Health and Diagnostics features, Content Personalization, and Vehicle Analytics.

With that in mind, the company introduces some new hardware products such as Navdy: augmented reality display, JBL Legend CP100, automotive aftermarket Platform and a handful of interesting services and products which were the front and center at the major floor event.

General

An open ICT Platform and Ecosystem is Reshaping Business  

 

New Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is slated to disrupt the hi-tech industry and impact many other industries. The future of ICT lies in its ability to enable developers to take advantage the new technologies like Cloud Computing, Big Data, Software Defined Network (SDN), Internet of Thing (IoT) and Mobile Broadband to innovate their products and improve enterprise agility, efficiency and work in a more collaborative environment.

This revolution will only be possible when developers leverage the open platform and ecosystem to build their own solutions and realize their innovations under these technologies.

An ICT ecosystem is a business network that’s aligned among ICT vendor and solution partners to help enterprises work in an efficient manner. The business-driven ecosystem is lead by the enterprises who define their needs and look to solution providers to supply the relevant resources to enable their success.

Take supermarket shopping as an example. In the current system, the supermarket owners attempts to meet the needs of the consumer, often tweaking the solution without a clear vision or focus. The future will bring a personalized consumption model, in which customers choose products, identify purchase and delivery methods, and in real time their optimized shopping experience will be enhanced for future purchases.

Elion Resources Group in China is already testing this model out. The company uses the IoT technologies to bridge a connection between the farmer and the consumer, thereby fostering a collaborative environment that connects various relevant industries. In this new process, customers are transformed to active partners, allowing them to select the type of food that farmers should grow, allows them to track the growth of the produce, and allows the consumer to select the idea e-commerce platform and delivery service.

Similarly, banks are leveraging the new ICT ecosystem. Cloud computing allows omni-channel banking services, which manages customer data to reduce unnecessary steps in the banking process. Rather than going to an ATM or bank to withdraw cash, the connected consumer will be able to search for a vendor and process payments directly to the merchant. The streamlined process reduces any unnecessary steps and fosters direct communication between merchant and consumer.

The banking industry has always depended on data and security. With the new ICT, Big Data becomes an extremely powerful for the larger ecosystems that require responsive analysis of important data. It develops a variety of innovative services and improves the bank’s service accuracy, real-time performance and customer satisfaction. Banks such as the China Merchant Bank are benefiting from upgraded big data platforms, which can provide analysis of detailed queries and offer direct results. This increased accuracy enables a faster investigation of credit history and other important financial data and can provide accurate information in a matter of minutes.

In addition to showing the actual credit score, this data will highlight consumer patterns and behaviors to identify any risk factors. In China, the People’s Bank of China’s credit system uses data from other ecosystems and sources, including carriers and utility companies, to offer a complete overview of consumer behavior. The comprehensive data analysis enables the bank to look across systems and determine an accurate credit rating that is focused and responsive to specific customer trends.

Clearly, new ICT technologies are paving the way for new forms of cross system collaboration, agility and efficiency. This innovative approach is only possible when open ICT platforms and ecosystems are formed. Driving the New ICT technology forward is Huawei Enterprise Business. Their mission is to provide an open ICT platform and ecosystem where developers can benefit from building their solution using new ICT technologies. Once a specific industry has developed an application, it can be easily replicated and deployed on a global scale.

This new process is being accelerated by Huawei, who is working on driving innovation forward by creating strategic partnership with relevant companies. The ultimate goal of these strategic alliances is to develop an ecosystem that is sustainable and mutually beneficial to all partners. As the new ecosystem is formed, other industries including government and other complex enterprises will benefit from its success.