Church & Dwight (C&W), the company behind the brand Arm & Hammer, plans to strengthen the consumer goods company’s cybersecurity program. The goal was to gain a deeper understanding of its manufacturing risk profile by identifying critical assets, vulnerabilities, and security gaps.

It has chosen Rockwell to help build resiliency and minimise risks in its operational technology (OT) manufacturing security practices. The two collaborated to develop a remediation roadmap, new security policies, and other measures to minimize risks.

With several global consumer brands under its umbrella, C&W recognised the critical impact and importance of a strong OT security posture and enlisted Rockwell.

“We selected Rockwell Automation because we were looking for a new partner to help us uplevel our OT and manufacturing security posture. We knew we needed the best of the best who understood our vision,” said David Ortiz, chief information security officer (CISO) at Church & Dwight. “Throughout our work with Rockwell Automation on our OT cybersecurity program, we’ve gained a thorough understanding of our cybersecurity landscape and the tools needed.”

Commenting on the collaboration, Mark Cristiano, global commercial director at Rockwell, says: “We have implemented new security controls and processes and have already seen a dramatic shift in the company's OT practices. We are proud to leverage our best-in-class partnerships to help Church & Dwight achieve its cybersecurity goals.”

As a longtime Rockwell Industrial Solutions customer, C&W expanded its partnership in 2020 to advance their Manufacturing Cybersecurity Program initiative. Since then, Church & Dwight has achieved its cybersecurity objectives in mitigating risks and understanding its OT landscape.

Once threat detection capabilities were in place, Church & Dwight implemented continuous monitoring through managed OT services from Rockwell.

These managed services integrate and support Church & Dwight’s current IT Security Operations Centre, bridging the gap between IT and OT networks, and mitigating cyber risks across the enterprise.

The post Leader Church & Dwight uplevels OT and manufacturing security posture appeared first on FutureIoT.

Consumer goods company, Church & Dwight recognized the critical impact and importance of a strong OT security posture and enlisted Rockwell. The goal was to gain a deeper understanding of its manufacturing risk profile by identifying critical assets, vulnerabilities and security gaps.

To strengthen the company’s cybersecurity program, Church & Dwight has chosen Rockwell Automation to help build resiliency and minimize risks in its operational technology (OT) manufacturing security practices.

“We selected Rockwell Automation because we were looking for a new partner to help us uplevel our OT and manufacturing security posture. We knew we needed the best of the best who understood our vision,” said David Ortiz, Church & Dwight CISO.

Rockwell’s global commercial director, Mark Cristiano, says: "Over the course of our partnership with Church & Dwight, we have implemented new security controls and processes and have already seen a dramatic shift in the company's OT practices. We are proud to leverage our best-in-class partnerships to help Church & Dwight achieve its cybersecurity goals.”

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Nearly 60% of executives say that they have moved beyond ideation and brainstorming to building out use cases, with 55% reporting they expect to have multiple proof-of-concept or minimum-viable product builds by the end of 2023.

“Over the next six to twelve months, leading companies will move from cultivating isolated pilots to scaling for results,” said Eric Berger, a partner in Bain & Company’s Healthcare & Life Sciences practice.

He added that as leadership teams move beyond experimentation into pilots and launches, they are thinking carefully about when and how to communicate their AI journeys to investors.

“Those that can signal a structured, scalable enterprise-wide program, rather than a smattering of standalone initiatives, will reap the rewards in the next phase of AI.”

Eric Berger

Data science and machine learning are not new to pharma executives who have been investing in productivity enhancements for years, primarily in the drug discovery space. Bain research shows that 54% of pharma companies have automated biomedical literature review solutions, and 46% are using AI as part of their process to find potential disease targets.

Old purpose; New drive

GenAI is broadening the aperture of use cases with new opportunities across the value chain. Biomedical literature review and preclinical research remain among the most popular use case areas, although we’re also seeing high investment in IT and competitive intelligence.

Within these top areas, more than 60% of executives say they have at least a proof of concept in development, and around 10% have already rolled out tools. These early adopters have moved swiftly, often reaching a working pilot within about eight weeks. Already, many are seeing tangible value.

Strategies beyond top of mind

GenAI is top of mind for most pharma companies, with 75% citing it as a C-suite and board priority. And investors are watching closely to differentiate the pioneers from the followers. If pharma companies want to generate value from GenAI as fast as the technology allows, they need to ensure the organisation is ready.

Approach to scaling GenAI

Bain suggests taking a three-tiered approach to prime their operating model for GenAI at scale.

Determine your strategic posture. Leading organisations will establish decision-making and funding models that prioritize high-return use cases, ensuring that those use cases fit within their investment themes around bold bets for the future of the business.

Lead through change. GenAI at scale requires strong internal leadership and cross-functional alignment. The best companies will establish an organisational centre of gravity with several executives who act as generative AI champions.

Build the foundations. In addition to the right technology, data, and models, generative AI at scale requires reorienting the organisation to support big visions. This includes recruiting aggressively for data scientists to work on AI initiatives, building strategic partnerships with external vendors for support, and thoughtfully engaging on ethics and regulation by going a step further with a companywide risk management approach.

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“Supply chain organisations may have been expected to take a step back in pursuing DEI objectives in light of increased scrutiny and economic pressures,” said Dana Stiffler, distinguished VP analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain Practice.

“Our data instead showed strong gains, with a steep increase in representation of underrepresented races and ethnicities at every level of the supply chain. The key driver of these gains is an increase in accountability via formalised management goals.” Dana Stiffler

Figure 1: Growth in general and formal accountability for DEI, 2021-2023

The survey data revealed major DEI gains, including that the percentage of full-time employees of underrepresented race/ethnicity in the supply chain organisations evaluated increased from 32% to 48%. Compared to 2022’s survey sample, the average representation of talent of underrepresented races and ethnicities is 1.5 times what it was in the 2022 sample.

The data showed a strong alignment between DEI and broader business objectives. Among those who have either formal or general DEI objectives, respondents provided the following reasons for having such goals:

• Attract new talent (68%)
• Engage and retain new employees (64%)
• Improve business performance (58%)
• Attract customers (48%)
• Reflect and support local communities (44%)
• Attract investors (40%)

Stiffler noted that the recruitment focus of DEI initiatives is crucial, with a higher percentage of supply chain employees actively seeking a new job at the highest rate since 2021. “The focus on engagement and retention is also well-placed with supply chain employees less likely than other professions to be highly engaged or have a high intent to stay. Their discretionary effort in mid-2023 was at its lowest point in the past two years,” she added.

“Say-Do Gap” closing; attrition remains high

Beyond formal objectives, a second reason pushing representation higher in 2023 was a greater emphasis on actual DEI initiatives within supply chain organisations. In 2022, while 75% of supply chain organisations reported that they focused on some dimension of diversity, only 40% reported working on specific DEI projects or initiatives. Gartner refers to this gap between intention and tangible action as the “say-do gap.”

“While nearly the same proportion of organisations focused on one or more aspects of DEI in 2023, we saw a much higher percentage of supply chain respondents working on specific DEI projects and initiatives with measurable outcomes, jumping from 40% to 73%,” said Stiffler. “In 2023, the ‘say-do gap’ was reduced to nearly half of what it was in 2021; the connection between tangible action and improved DEI outcomes seems increasingly clear.”

The top four DEI initiatives invested in were learning and development (L&D), benefits, employee engagement and recruitment. In terms of effectiveness, employee engagement and L&D led the list, which is a departure from previous surveys, where inclusive leadership and recruitment were most effective.

While top-line findings in the survey showed progress on diversity efforts, 43% of respondents reported that the attrition rates of underrepresented talent were somewhat or significantly higher compared to their majority workforce. The data suggests talent pipelines need to be assessed and strengthened further to maintain recent gains.

Chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) seeking to reduce attrition must evaluate several potential root causes, including the desire among these employees to seek career changes, the most highly cited reason underrepresented talent left their roles in 2023.

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Source: Exploring the industrial metaverse, Deloitte 2023

Others are also investing in digital twins, 3D modelling, and 3D scanning, all serving as building blocks for the immersive 3D environments of the industrial metaverse.

The industrial metaverse (IMV) is set to greatly enhance manufacturing engineering, training, safety, and production. ABI Research forecasts spending on industrial metaverse solutions and services to grow at 22.8% to reach US$6.3 billion by 2030 as immersive and collaborative capabilities come to the forefront of industry 4.0 software development efforts.

IMV solutions use immersive technologies and digital twin initiatives, integrating data virtualization, Artificial Intelligence (AI) simulation, business operations systems, and external data sources to enable connectivity between digital twins and other systems.

“Top IMV use cases for 2024 will be in training, collaboration, and production planning, with a strong emphasis on solutions that drive positive business outcomes in a short timeframe,” explains Ryan Martin, senior research director for Industrial & Manufacturing at ABI Research. “Large deployments that are costly or take a long time to demonstrate value will be avoided in favour of smaller projects that drive incremental results that scale.”

Examples include Norwegian clean battery producer FREYR equipping its gigafactories in Norway and in the U.S., Siemens Industrial Operations X, AWS IoT TwinMaker, and NVIDIA Omniverse are creating immersive metaverse experiences.

Danone is using Matterport Pro3 cameras to capture 3D imagery of its facilities so authorized users can virtually visit and explore the production site using a computer or mobile device. Burckhardt Compression uses PTC’s spatial computing services for remote assistance and automated report-generation scenarios involving a supertanker in the middle of the ocean. Other notable providers include AVEVA, Dassault Systèmes, Ericsson, Microsoft, and Nokia.

Martin opines that the dream to enable full factory metaverse experiences is far from realized, but the work has begun. He concludes that initial implementations will start with a portion of a factory or production line, likely on an as-needed basis. The broader environment is well-suited to partnerships that ease points of integration and enable marketplaces in the long run.

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Through collaborating with infrastructure engineering software company, Bentley, SAMI created a complete digital model for a RMB 3.9-billion, 750 000 square meters aluminium factory of Shanxi Chinalco China Resources Co., Ltd.

Digital Twins technology, according to an article by AL Circle “creates a virtual replica of physical equipment, processes, or systems… such as smelting furnaces, conveyor systems, and other machinery in the aluminium industry.”

Sensors and physical records of design specifications are paired with the digital twin for the collection of real-time data from the actual equipment. 

Digital twins can generate real-time insights and recommendations that can improve data interaction, access to information, decision-making, operational efficiency, and equipment monitoring. 

It can also aid in resolution planning, workflow management, visualisation, simulation, projecting future changes, and cost-efficiency. 

Resolving challenges

Before venturing into a digital twin application project of electrolytic aluminium engineering, SAMI encountered challenges in their workflows. 

Fangbo Liu, the Project Operation director of the Digital Engineering BIM Centre of Sami, says one of their biggest challenges is learning to make use of 3D software in a short period.  

“How can we quickly establish a huge plant and a big factory? How do we get this data during the modelling stage? How do we put these into the model?”

He explains that the construction phase in China is usually very short; they knew they needed to use digital technology to improve their efficiency and quality. 

Liu also recalls being challenged with improving their Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and efficiency. He says they needed “to reduce cost, reduce the burden onto the environment, and reduce energy consumption” pushing them to explore new technologies.

Practical benefits

Liu recalls resolving design and quality issues SAMI encountered through the digital twin method. He says the technology ensured accuracy, especially when some of their devices had collision problems with factory devices.  

“With this digital twin technology, our engineering output can precisely know how much materials we need, how much reinforcement, how much steel, how much pipes, etc. It is very precise. This is a great benefit for the construction of a factory.” 

He adds that the technology enables them to monitor their construction progress. 

“For construction, I will work on the model and simulate it. It makes my construction more efficient and effective.”

Through Bentley Open Applications, SAMI developed a virtual reality (VR)-based simulation and training system. Liu says it helps them integrate VR technology in training their employees to enhance onsite and inspection safety.

Liu says the technology also allowed them to build a digital management system. 

“I can select a device or facility and know who produced that facility, who installed it, the problems during installation, the current status, and the relevant related materials needed.”

Reaping the rewards

Reports show that Shanxi saved six million yuan, or a reduction of 10% in its management costs through digital twin tech. A 40% reduction in the company’s non-predictive equipment failures and more than 15% improvement in efficiency saving 200 working days, compared with the traditional three-dimensional plant design, were also logged.

Further, the project led to a decrease in fluoride emissions by 5% and, headcount reduced by 10%, saving RMB 1 million in annual labour costs. 

Since starting the project’s 3D design in 2017, it took 5 years for it to reach the final implementation of the digital twin plant operation and maintenance application in 2022. Half a decade of efforts won SAMI an award in the Bentley Systems 2023 Going Digital Awards in the Process and Power Generation category for its outstanding contributions to infrastructure design, construction, and operations. 

Next steps

In line with China's recent promotion of the digitalisation of factories, Liu says it is a ripe time to explore digital technologies to enhance management efficiency. He looks forward to a future where SAMI will not only be known for deploying technology in design and construction but also expand in the field of O&M.

“In the past, we were never involved in O&M. Now that we have this technology, we can provide digitised O&M services to our customers,” he says.  Liu says in the future, SAMI desires to continue to advocate for digitised deliverables, strengthen its technology deployment, and expand its market overseas. 

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The latest Nozomi Networks Labs OT & IoT Security Report revealed that “network scans” topped the list of network anomalies and attack alerts, followed closely by “TCP flood” attacks which involve sending large amounts of traffic to systems aiming to cause damage by bringing those systems down or making them inaccessible.

“TCP flood” and “anomalous packets” alert types exhibited significant increases in both total alerts and averages per customer in the last six months, increasing more than 2x and 6x respectively. 

"These trends should serve as a warning that attackers are adopting more sophisticated methods to directly target critical infrastructure, and could be indicative of rising global hostilities,” said Chris Grove, director of cybersecurity strategy at Nozomi Networks.

He posited that the significant uptick in anomalies could mean that the threat actors are getting past the first line of defence while penetrating deeper than many would have initially believed, which would require a high level of sophistication. “The defenders have gotten better at protecting against the basics, but these alerts tell us that the attackers are quickly evolving to bypass them,” he added.

Alerts on access control and authorization threats jumped 123% over the previous reporting period. In this category “multiple unsuccessful logins” and “brute force attack” alerts increased 71% and 14% respectively.

This trend highlights the continued challenges in unauthorized access attempts, showing that identity and access management in OT and other challenges associated with user passwords persist.

The top critical threat activity seen in real-world environments over the last six months:

1.            Network Anomalies and Attacks – 38% of all alerts

2.            Authentication and Password Issues – 19% of all alerts

3.            Access Control and Authorization Problems – 10% of all alerts

4.            Operational Technology (OT) Specific Threats – 7% of all alerts

5.            Suspicious or Unexpected Network Behaviour – 6% of all alerts

ICS vulnerabilities

With this spike in network anomalies top of mind, Nozomi Networks Labs has detailed the industries that should be on highest alert, based on analysis of all ICS security advisories released by CISA over the past six months.

Manufacturing topped the list with the number of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) in that sector rising to 621, an alarming 230% increase over the previous reporting period. Manufacturing, energy and water/wastewater remained the most vulnerable industries for a

third consecutive reporting period – though the total number of vulnerabilities reported in the

The energy sector dropped 46% and Water/Wastewater vulnerabilities dropped 16%. Commercial Facilities and Communications moved into the top five, replacing Food & Agriculture and Chemicals (which both dropped out of the top 10).

Healthcare & Public Health, Government Facilities, Transportation Systems and Emergency Services all made the top 10.

In the second half of 2023:

• CISA released 196 new ICS advisories covering 885 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) – up 38% over the previous six-month period
• 74 vendors were impacted – up 19%
• Out-of-Bounds Read and Out-of-Bounds Write vulnerabilities remained in the top CWEs for the second consecutive reporting period – both are susceptible to several different attacks including buffer overflow attacks

Data from IoT Honeypots

Findings reveal that malicious IoT botnets remain active this year, and botnets continue to use default credentials in attempts to access IoT devices. From July through December 2023, it was revealed that:

• An average of 712 unique attacks daily (a 12% decline in the daily average compared to the previous reporting period) – the highest attack day hit 1,860 on October 6.
• Top attacker IP addresses were associated with China, the United States, South Korea, India and Brazil.
• Brute-force attempts remain a popular technique to gain system access – default credentials remain one of the main ways threat actors gain access to IoT. Remote Code Execution (RCE) also remains a popular technique – frequently used in targeted attacks, as well as in the propagation of various types of malicious software.

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Dedicated structural engineering software helps structural engineers perform their duties like Bentley’s Structural Analysis and Design software (STAAD), which “helps structural engineers perform 3D structural analysis and design for steel and concrete structures”.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd  (Hyundai E&C) won Bentley Systems’ 2023 Year in Infrastructure and Going Digital Awards in the Structural Engineering domain by using STAAD and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to automate shelter and pipe rack designs. 

“The result was an error-prone resistant, integrated solution of 3D modelling with intelligent digital workflows that provided accurate design information and accelerated front-end engineering design by at least 30%. A database of 1,680 scenarios was created, generating 27 million prediction models, that can automatically convert design information into a 3D model for real-time synchronisation of maintenance prediction and improvement work of buildings in similar projects in the future, ” reports The Structural Engineer.  

Deciding to use STAAD

According to Dongwon Kim, the general manager of Hyundai E&C South Korea, they decided to use STAAD to carry out modelling automation. 

“The modelling program has to provide Application Programming Interface (API) because we can use that API to customise. It provides countless APIs. That is the core factor why we leverage STAAD very well,” he explains. 

Kim claims that without the software, it will be impossible to carry out structural designs. 

“Without STAAD, you have to come up with other modelling programs. Using STAAD without automation, working on modelling may take three days. If you use automation, you can complete your job within a day and save time by 30% to 60%,” the Hyundai E&C executive adds. 

STAAD, automation, AI

Kim says using STAAD and automation has worked miracles for them but they are still looking for ways to step up the game. 

“To further ourselves to the level of AI, we had to take one step ahead by accumulating good data,” he explains. 

He adds that enhancing the prediction accuracy of AI requires an excellent database. 

“Maybe, for now, our AI is not perfect yet, but accumulating a good database will enhance prediction accuracy. Even if it does not reach a 100% level, as long as that prediction is better or higher than humans, it is better.” 

Benefits of STAAD

Kim says the main advantage of STAAD is its various functions. 

“There is a variety of APIs available from modelling to analysis, geometry modelling loading, input setting, boundary condition, design parameter, and analysis,” he lists.

Bentley notes that STAAD “can design, analyse, and document structural projects – anywhere in the world, with any material. It also offers a flexible solution to cover all structural engineering needs from the foundation up. STAAD is a comprehensive structural finite element analysis and design application that allows users to analyse any structure exposed to static, dynamic, wind, earthquake, thermal, and moving loads. 

Kim adds that STAAD supports various coding languages. According to Bentley Communities, C, C++, VB, VBA, FORTRAN, Java, and Delphi “can tap into STAAD’s database and seamlessly link input and output data to third-party applications.”

“The developers who can converse in different languages can use its programming benefits,” Kim says. 

The future of STAAD and automation 

In the future, Kim hopes to collaborate more with Bentley to discuss plans and innovations at Hyundai E&C. 

“We want to extend automation into a variety of structures. We need to collaborate to make our designs and how we can automate. We have to develop a lot of ideas. We can work on them to be better.”

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“CSCOs see GenAI as supportive of their broader digital transformation objectives,” said Noha Tohamy, distinguished VP analyst in Gartner’s supply chain practice.

"Many supply chain leaders were already leveraging supply chain technologies and advanced analytics, and it’s clear from this data that the majority also see the value in GenAI to enhance productivity, improve business agility and reduce costs."

Noha Tohamy

“The challenge for many of these organisations over the next 12 months will be in scaling their pilot projects to broader adoption,” she continued.

Gartner surveyed 127 supply chain leaders in November 2023 on their plans to utilize GenAI within their function for 2024. Nearly two-thirds of respondents plan to, or are already in the process of, implementing the technology, with just 2% of respondents having no plans to do so over the next year (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Supply chain leaders’ GenAI utilization plans

Tohamy noted, however, that the survey responses show that the supply chain lags behind other enterprise functions, like marketing and sales, in adoption. This could present an opportunity for supply chain organisations to be “fast followers” by capitalizing on early learnings and technology investments from other functional partners.

The survey data showed that the most impactful supply chain use cases for GenAI include areas such as code augmentation, providing more insights into supply chain key performance indicators and staff assistance chatbots.

The survey also showed that supply chain leaders are backing up their implementation plans with significant budget allocations. Supply chain leaders will allocate 5.8% of their budgets to the technology, as well as incremental employee spend to deploy GenAI. Sixty-five per cent of respondents said they will hire dedicated staff and experts to help deploy the technology in 2024.

Tohamy said that the projected budget data shows that supply chain leaders are serious about making progress on GenAI solutions this year and that they also recognize the need for additional resources to successfully move beyond small-scale pilots.

“CSCOs may also be factoring in impacts on employee roles required of their staff as they shift to higher value-add activities, while lower-level tasks are increasingly automated,” concluded Tohamy.

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Syed Najam us Saqib, a senior technical team lead – IoT Operations at Vision Valley in Dubai, believes that Yes, the Internet of Things (IoT) can play a significant role in addressing climate change challenges by providing data-driven insights, improving resource efficiency, and enabling smarter decision-making in various sectors. In his LinkedIn posts, he lists 13 use cases – an interesting read IMHO.

IoT driving green

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the operations of buildings account for 30% of global final energy consumption and 26% of global energy-related emissions1 (8% being direct emissions in buildings and 18% indirect emissions from the production of electricity and heat used in buildings).

When incorporated into building automation systems (BAMs), Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are helping to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance building operations.

Lian Jye Su, chief analyst for applied intelligence at Omdia says the primary role of IoT technology in building and infrastructure energy consumption and monitoring is data collection. More and more enterprises are deploying an intelligent energy management system that can control energy consumption depending on ambient conditions and automatically report defects or malfunctions.

He adds that data from various IoT sensors are consolidated to provide a better picture of overall usage. He noted that the number of sensors being deployed is directly proportional to the granularity and comprehensiveness of energy utilization patterns.

“In some cases, drones and automated aircraft with infrared sensors have been deployed in industrial and commercial buildings to detect potential leakage and wastage,” he added.

Tsubasa Bolt, a senior ESD consultant for Surbana Jurong, explained that IoT devices are being used to monitor systems at a more granular level compared to traditional building management systems (BMS).

“One such example would be smart branch circuit monitoring systems or smart sockets. This allows for the monitoring of receptacle loads at higher resolution which can then be fed back to users to modify their behaviour to eliminate standby power.

“Smart lighting systems also have more granular sensor coverage which reduces the size of lighting zones (sensors are per fixture). This means that the sensors are monitoring and responding to much more localised occupancy and daylight which reduces overall lighting consumption,” he continued.

IoT in waste management and recycling

Asked in what ways is IoT contributing to the optimisation of waste management and recycling processes, Bolt pointed to IoT devices being used at weighing stations to monitor waste production at facilities where devices are fitting onto bins or at collection points where bags may be weighed.

He added that digital tracking and associated data provide critical insight into:

• The proportions of the different waste streams.
• Frequency of recycling bins contamination with non-recyclable waste.
• Opportunities for cost optimisation.

“With this data, interventions could be made upstream at the source of the waste with the aim of overall reduction. Contaminated recycling bins are also a major issue and data can be used to provide user feedback to educate and initiate behavioural change,” he elaborated.

IoT in air and quality monitoring

“Like IoT in energy consumption monitoring, air and water quality in urban environments are tracked through different sensors, such as humidity, chemicals, and light, to detect pollutants, turbidity, and hazardous content,” said Su.

Surbana Jurong’s Bolt confirms adding that these provide user feedback on various indoor air quality (IAQ) metrics (CO2, VOCs, PM2.5, PM1, Radon, etc.) to raise awareness on the importance of IAQ concerning human health in office spaces.

The WELL Certification standard, which allows organisations to demonstrate their commitment to the health and wellbeing of occupants, includes IAQ monitoring as achievable credits. IAQ metrics must be kept within specific thresholds which incentivise building operators to regularly maintain air handling unit filtration systems.

Another exciting application of IAQ sensor data is CO2 data as a data domain for airside system AI optimisers. Bolt explains that CO2 is a better measure of occupancy than traditional occupancy sensors since CO2 is correlated to the number of occupants.

“Aside from demand-controlled ventilation, this has the potential to ensure enclosed office or meeting room ACMV systems only operate when CO2 levels are rising instead of the triggering of motion detectors,” he continued.

When it comes to water quality, IoT devices could be deployed to obtain more granular datasets that can provide insight into the maintenance health of a distribution network. Bolt noted, however, that water quality generally has to be tested in a certified lab for verification.

IoT in supply chain

The supply chain is arguably one of the earliest use cases for IoT in the form of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Indeed, nearly everyone in the supply chain ecosystem depends on RFID tags to track product and equipment movement.

Chan Hsien Hung, vice president of Integrated Enterprise Services & Sustainability at AETOS, says transportation is recognized as a critical factor in Scope 1 carbon emissions within the supply chain.

“Without IoT integration, the management and measurement of carbon emissions would heavily rely on manual processes, introducing inaccuracies and inefficiencies,” he added. “Traditional methods like manual log books and even GPS tracking, while capturing digital data, often fell short by omitting crucial information such as fuel consumption, influenced by variables like vehicle efficiency, fuel type, and driver behaviour.”

He cites the integration of IoT sensors within AETOS fleet of 200 operational vehicles. “This IoT-driven approach enables real-time tracking through a cloud-based platform, offering a comprehensive and accurate overview of our environmental impact in supply chain operations.

“This not only enhances efficiency but also empowers us to make informed decisions aimed at reducing carbon emissions and advancing sustainable practices,” he continued.

IoT in transportation

The US government, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, defines sustainable transportation as low- and zero-emission, energy-efficient, and affordable modes of transport, including electric and alternative-fuel vehicles, as well as domestic fuels.

“IoT platforms help to track fuel usage better,” reveals Su. “They can identify driver behaviour, such as heavy acceleration or vehicle idling, increasing fuel costs, and contributing to emissions. Fleet platooning is also an area of autonomous trucking that many believe will reduce emissions by programming the vehicles to maximize fuel efficiency.”

AETOS’ Chan says in promoting sustainable transportation, IoT applications monitor driver behaviour in real time. “IoT sensors in our vehicles track events like harsh braking, fast acceleration, speeding, and idling,” he revealed.

“This information is crucial in influencing driving habits to improve fuel efficiency and subsequently reduce carbon emissions. Through the utilization of data from our advanced smart telematics system and increased data transparency, we observed a 20% decrease in negative driver behaviour and a notable reduction in carbon emissions.

“Any reduction in carbon emissions contributes to achieving carbon emission reduction certifications, which can be utilized for green financing,” he concluded.

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ABI Research says the market is facing a period of significant evolution due to the growing presence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions acting as an enabling technology, which will fuel growth in the quality control machine vision market to reach US$7.2 billion by 2028, up from US$2.3 billion in 2023.

“AI is accelerating and improving the efficiency of the MV market. It increases inspection speeds and enables the movement of quality upstream, and AI systems are more adaptable than traditional software,” explains James Prestwood, industrial and manufacturing industry analyst at ABI Research.

“Although many AI solutions can easily integrate with existing MV hardware and software, making it a low-hanging fruit for manufacturers to leverage, its lack of explainability can be challenging. Without this functionality, AI could struggle to make traction in high-regulation markets.” James Prestwood

“While some AI vendors are making great strides to support their software with explainability functionality, such as Neurala, it is not a standard feature on all solutions yet,” said Prestwood. 

The MV ecosystem comprises a wide range of vendors, with many specializing in providing best-of-breed components, such as Neurala, Intel, Google, Landing AI, Instrumental for AI, and Sony, Teledyne, and Nikon for cameras. Other vendors focus on providing robust end-to-end MV solutions, including Aqrose Technology, Cognex, Basler, Keyence, SICK, Omron, and Elementary Robotics.

“For most manufacturers, budget and build complexity will be the defining factor for choosing off-the-shelf solutions and build-your-own with best-of-breed component deployments. Smaller manufacturers will likely find the greatest use for off-the-shelf solutions due to their lower cost and simpler requirements,” Prestwood concludes.

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In the region, Thailand is a major motorcycle manufacturing hub ranking 5th place in production capacity (2 million), after China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. After a decline by over half a million in the last decade, the 2-wheeler industry in the country is now recovering, reports MotorcyclesData.com.

One of the seven motorcycle-manufacturing companies in Thailand is Ducati, an Italian company headquartered in Bologna, Italy. Bruno Marvisi, the Asian suppliers development director for Ducati Motor Holding Thailand, says that the rising market demand, coupled with the pandemic brought about surprising challenges and innovations in the supply chain.  His experience with purchasing specialised motorcycle components during the pandemic led to a strategy he describes as "explore and evaluate."

"We produce, design, and assemble motorcycles in two locations. Our facilities are in Italy, and Thailand. Here at Ducati Motor Thailand, we produce bikes mainly for the Asian market, mostly ASEAN and Chinese markets, and some models also for the US market and the Australian market."

Bruno Marvisi

"My role in Thailand involves managing the supplier base in Asia: we have suppliers based in Thailand, Vietnam, China, and Taiwan," says the Ducati director. "We manage and follow all the activity for the complete group, including Italy."

Marvisi says that they receive the timing from the project manager and then they send their requests to the supplier of each commodity. "Our Italian colleagues send them to European suppliers, and we send the same requests to our Asian suppliers. Then we determine which would be the best supplier to develop with us—for example—a new part."

He adds that the main activity of the purchasing department is to try to find the right Original Equipment Manufacturer supplier for new parts.

Southeast Asia: Manufacturing Hub

Marvisi explains that Ducati Thailand was created to guarantee a certain level of local content and to leverage a more favourable tax position for the company when selling and shipping motorcycles within Asia.

"Manufacturers now have production plants here in Thailand or elsewhere in Asia: Triumph, BMW, and KTM each have a plant in the Philippines—all the European manufacturers operate plants in Southeast Asia so they can sell and ship bikes without passing duties and taxes onto their customers." Bruno Marvisi

The Ducati director explains that Asian suppliers must deliver the quality and technology standards that Ducati needs and must give feedback to their colleagues in Italy on Research and Development, and quality issues.

Pandemic Sales Boom

Ironically, during the pandemic, Ducati experienced its best year ever in terms of sales and revenue, according to Marvisi. "As people weren’t able to travel on holidays, they had more discretionary income," he says.

Stellar Market Research reported that the motorcycle market "is expected to witness growth post the pandemic since people will steer clear of public transportation to protect themselves from catching or spreading the virus."

During this time, both the motorcycle market and the bicycle market saw gains. However, this brought about some challenges that pushed Ducati to brainstorm innovations in the management of their supply chain.

"We have many suppliers in common with the bicycle industry, and we had a big supply chain problem with a Taiwanese supplier of parts and components," he says. "They told us that the bicycle market absorbed all their capacity."

Marvisi recalls how they also had problems outsourcing electronic parts like semiconductors. "We had a critical situation where we had to produce bikes that were essentially complete but missing one or two components due to supply chain issues."

He says that this created additional warehousing costs. "Fortunately, we benefitted from our synergy with Ducati Group, which is part of Volkswagen Group. Volkswagen offered a portion of their automobile production so that Ducati could use the requisite parts—which are common to both VW automobiles and our motorbikes." The company is directly owned by Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini and is connected to the Volkswagen group.

The pandemic also enhanced communication. "For two or three years we had daily calls with our suppliers—trying to find space in their pipelines, trying to find an alternate solution, looking for some way to feed our production lines," he says. "It was challenging, but it was also rewarding to learn how motivated our suppliers were to help us during this time."

New Normal

Things have righted themselves post-pandemic, but Marvisi says the rebalancing created additional supply chain problems. "Now we must slow our demands on our suppliers because of two factors. One is decreased customer demand because travel is once again possible, which attracts some of their income. The second is logistics, which are returning to pre-pandemic patterns."

"Transit during the pandemic was over 100 days of transhipment time from Asia to Italy, whereas now it’s more like 30-40 days," he says. "This creates high inventory stock, which we want to reduce to ease congestion at the warehouse. So, we ask our suppliers to slow production and we open discussion to find the right balance."

"The motorcycle market is seasonal," says the Ducati director. "If a certain model isn’t available during the summer, for example, customers may switch to one of your competitors. Every year we launch new models, but unlike the automobile market, consumers won’t wait four or five months—we must be agile and proactive."

Marvisi reflects on the realisations the pandemic taught them, such as strength, transparency and openness with their suppliers.  "It’s a partnership. The pandemic taught us that we need suppliers that are partners who understand Ducati and want to work with us."

"Now we go deeper with the details, and are willing to share information," says Marvisi. Transparency in the manufacturing process gives the chance to all parties to find alternative solutions, which led him to conclude that this kind of information exchange is crucial for them in the future.

Going Forward

The Ducati director says that they still apply the lessons they learned during the pandemic. "You must be open to listening, in a proactive way," he says. "Don’t just pretend to listen."

"Know what your colleagues—and your competitors—are doing," he says. "Understand the pros and cons of each alternative scenario, so you can help your company adapt. This is the way we can help suppliers, and leaders can help the team to find the right solution.

"Now that—post-pandemic—we can travel and visit suppliers in person, it’s imperative that we try to understand each step of each process in their manufacturing because that is where we might encounter bottlenecks," says Marvisi.

He says that they are more aware now that they need to understand the capacity of the supplier and detect any possible weak links within the organisation.

"If any given supplier has a problem, then it’s a problem for our company—we must be ready to have an alternative. We must be ready to explore and evaluate alternatives," says the Ducati director.

* Editor's notes: This article is part of the Cxociety Coffee Table Book project (The Project) which chronicles the journey and experiences of senior business, operations, finance and technology leaders in Asia in recent years. The Project illustrates the tenacity, ingenuity and resiliency of the human spirit in the face of seemingly endless challenges.

With nearly 50 stories chronicled in The Project, it is a must-read compendium of learnings and experiences from seasoned professionals in the region.

Click on the link here to order your copy.

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As a result, cyberattacks targeting manufacturing sites in industries such as semiconductors and automobiles have increased, leading to production disruptions and highlighting the growing need for more robust security measures in factories.

Mitsubishi Electric and TXOne Networks have signed a long-term cooperation agreement covering technology development and marketing, aiming at expanding the operational-technology (OT) security businesses of both companies.

The collaboration aims to create innovative new value in OT security by combining Mitsubishi Electric's assessment, maintenance and operation services as well as control equipment and systems with TXOne's OT security products.

The new OT security solutions are expected to improve manufacturing productivity, efficiency and safety as well as security levels throughout the supply chains of various industries.

"We look forward to creating new value in OT security by combining OT technology and expertise for manufacturing, infrastructure and building automation with security technology for information systems," said Kunihiko Kaga, Mitsubishi Electric's representative executive officer and industry and mobility business area owner.

"With the continued evolution of DX and the increasing sophistication and complexity of cyberattacks, OT security measures must extend from the information communication layer to the control communication layer and deeper into the network layer.” Kunihiko Kaga

“We are confident that our synergy with TXOne's OT network segmentation and defence technologies will enable us to contribute to greater safety and security in OT environments and the world beyond," he continued.

Dr. Terence Liu, CEO of TXOne Networks, concurs adding that the collaboration between Mitsubishi Electric and TXOne Networks creates a unique value with our deep-rooted expertise in both IT and OT, forming comprehensive and holistic security services to safeguard manufacturing assets against the ever-evolving cyber risks at once."

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But we’ve noticed just how hard it is to achieve the same consistent result from using natural ingredients. For example, each batch of apples I use to extract apple juice for delicious Rheinisches Apfelkraut varies in sweetness, and I always have to adjust the recipe accordingly.

The cabbage varies in crispness, and I have to modify the method for each batch. George has the same experience trying to duplicate my kitchen experiments, with the added disadvantage of converting to different units of measure for his ancient kitchen equipment.

He tells me that the natural gas that he uses to cook also varies in calorific value, so sometimes it takes longer to reach the right temperature. It made me think about the challenges that our clients face in scaling up laboratory trials to guarantee consistent production at scale from local raw materials in factories across the globe.

Application portfolio gaps mirror business silos

Usually, corporate enterprise resource planning or digital operations platform systems generate dynamic recipes based on the raw-material batch characteristics, such as sweetness or potency. But they still face challenges in managing laboratory trials and adjusting recipes to local taste and regulation, let alone orchestrating all the data flows and applications in an end-to-end manner.

We described challenges in this research and some innovation best practices to harness information technology/operational technology and edge technologies for scalable manufacturing. We also described the trend to simulate plant and production processes in product lifecycle management.

Process simulation is underestimated

What we both ended up doing was experimenting with smaller batches and isolating individual steps of the cooking process to understand the impact of ingredient specificities and incremental recipe variations on the final product.

This is also known as process simulation, and for process manufacturers, it can even anticipate the environmental footprint of changed recipes, manufacturing processes, or resources from new suppliers before putting them into production.

Next year, I’ll further explore process simulation because I think it gets underestimated as a tool for manufacturers, in particular, as they need to prepare their data to get ready for generative AI.

We would love to hear from you about the platforms, practices, and partners that you use to solve this puzzle. In the meantime, please look out for new research next quarter on the journey from manufacturing execution system record-keeping to manufacturing operations management laboratory and process control.

First published on Forrester Blog

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Getting better with time

IoT elevators are proving to be more efficient than traditional elevators compared to next-generation elevators.

With a growth rate valued at US$18.4 Billion, in 2022 the hardware demand has boomed significantly in the past few years. Based on the data that is being collected from daily usage of elevators, artificial intelligence is currently being used to assist both operators and mechanical contractors in keeping up with their daily routines finding ways to manage the flow of elevator traffic better and finding ways to prevent problems before they occur.

The integration of third-party systems with elevators is expected to become more prevalent as technology develops in the future. In addition, construction companies are raising their demands for efficient and safe technologies in the global elevator market.

The growth of the market will be driven by the increase in urbanization and the increased demand for residential & commercial amenities will significantly raise the market for IoT in elevators markets. These trends will likely lead to traction for the IoT market in elevators.

Devices powered by IoT technology can manage big data streams and perform predictive maintenance in elevators.

Key takeaways

• India to emerge as the dominant IoT in elevators market, reaching US$ 6.0 Billion by 2032
• China is the fastest-growing market, registering a CAGR of 14.6% across the decade

By component type, hardware to register maximum IoT in elevator usage, growing at a 12.1% CAGR

Preventive maintenance to emerge as the top application, growing at a rate of 13.9% through 2032

“With growing technology, AI and machine learning can be used to simulate the adoption and growth of smart elevators in the future,” remarks an analyst at Fact.MR.

Competitive landscape

Prominent manufacturers of IoT in elevators are eyeing technological innovations to provide their customers with the most accurate and precise elevator system arrangements. To enhance their presence across significant geographies, companies are forging collaborative agreements with government entities.

The need for smarter elevators has led to innovative IoT solutions being developed by several players in the current market landscape which will further boost various innovations over time.

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A survey of 400 manufacturing leaders on their thoughts around technology, business strategies, workers, and industry, and reveals several important trends that may influence how manufacturers will forge ahead in 2024:

Key takeaways on technology include:

• 67% of manufacturers are embracing a data-first strategy.
• 61% of manufacturers are heavily embracing automation.
• 49% of self-described modern manufacturers are employing AI.

Key takeaways on the workforce include:

• 77% of manufacturing leaders say their company is prioritizing upskilling.
• 60% of manufacturing leaders anticipate increasing budgets for hiring new talent.
• 44% of manufacturing leaders say that turnover has remained the same at their organization.

Key takeaways on priorities and challenges:

• The biggest priority for manufacturing leaders is quality control.
• The biggest daily challenge for manufacturing leaders is hitting product targets.
• Another big challenge is ensuring workplace safety and compliance.

These insights can help manufacturers benchmark themselves against their peers and help them navigate the many evolving challenges, opportunities and unpredictable futures that lie ahead.

Click on the link to download this report to help you guide your strategies in the coming years.

The post Voice of the manufacturing manager appeared first on FutureIoT.

The Gartner CEO Survey shows that business growth remains the CEO's highest priority. Simon Bailey, VP analyst at Gartner reveals the first trend as showing leading chief supply chain officers playing their part by identifying where the supply chain can seize opportunities to support growth while mastering the risk that could undermine business performance.

Click on the video to watch Bailey elaborates on three points:

1. Identify and seize new opportunities for growth while mitigating risks

2. Transform how organisations work by reshaping skills, roles and relationships

3. Drive collective progress, leaving a lasting impact on industries and societies through ecosystem partnerships

“Leading supply chains drive customer retention through increased customer satisfaction and reduced customer effort,” said Bailey. “Those with a deep understanding of their customer needs also unlock new opportunities through customer enablement.”

By mastering risks through supply chain agility and resilience during times of disruption, they (supply chain) are also able to exploit emerging opportunities quicker than their competitors.”

The second trend sees leading supply chains transform how their organisations work by redefining the skills roles, relationships, and structures within them.

Bailey noted that to accelerate cultural transformation and enable innovation, the leaders are focusing on creating a new intersection between people and technology. “They enable employee autonomy and flexibility with enhanced employee value propositions and use digital tools to reduce fatigue whilst increasing productivity,” he added.

Gatner’s third trend is about driving collective progress. The analyst says leading chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) are delivering valued business outcomes like innovation, sustainability, and resilience through the power of ecosystem partnerships.

“By leading their supply chains to shift from independent networks to interconnected ecosystem, they're delivering in ways that no one company could do on its own,” said Bailey. “Take the learnings from our top 25 and master supply chains and use them as a resource to show you the way to solve problems and unlock opportunities in today's disrupted environment.”

The post Game-changing strategies in the supply chain in 2023 appeared first on FutureIoT.

From AI and machine learning to physical robots and the industrial metaverse, smart manufacturing technologies play a role in helping the manufacturing sector respond to this unfamiliar scrutiny.

As we look ahead to 2024, we predict that a healthy pragmatism will take hold in the manufacturing sector: The prior bold claims on everything from generative AI and the industrial metaverse to reshoring of manufacturing jobs and autonomous vehicles will be toned down as the painful realities of grappling with issues such as technical debt, legislation, and global supply chains bite. This is definitely to be welcomed, but it’s just unfortunate that it took so long.

For 2024, we predict:

Over 75% of industrial metaverse projects will rebrand to survive the metaverse winter. The metaverse — the 3D experience layer of the internet — was the ChatGPT of late 2021 and most of 2022. It dominated newspaper headlines, and startups with even the most tenuous of connections to it attracted unsustainable valuations.

A year ago, Forrester predicted the “metaverse winter” in 2023, and now we see that same chill spreading to the industrial sector. The industrial metaverse builds on a number of existing — and proven — technologies and is quite different from the consumer or enterprise metaverse, but the name is becoming a liability. In 2024, watch most of these projects quietly drop the metaverse label to ensure that they are able to keep their funding and executive sponsorship.

Among Fortune 500 manufacturers, 30% will dilute plans to bring manufacturing home. COVID-19, post-pandemic supply chain disruptions, container ships stuck in canals, and fractious geopolitics have combined in ways that make governments understandably nervous.

And now they’re rushing to respond by identifying strategic industries (batteries, pharmaceuticals, etc.), offering cash and tax breaks, and generally cajoling manufacturers to “come home” and bring manufacturing jobs back from offshore locations they were sent to decades ago.

Automation plays a big role in making manufacturing cost-effective in an expensive labour market, but just throwing robots at a poorly designed workflow is never going to end well. We’ve been buried under a mass of bullish headlines about new factories and big investments, and we’ve also seen some expensive embarrassment as overconfident early movers failed to get (individually great) machines, software, and people working together quite as well as they expected.

A lot of those plans are now being re-examined with greater care: In 2024, expect some Fortune 500 manufacturers’ boldest promises to be quietly diluted.

First published on Forrester blog.

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The report offers guidance for policymakers to address severe disruptions and long-standing development challenges in cities for a sustainable urban recovery in Asia and the Pacific.

The problems and challenges of governments and city developers are nothing new. But with new technologies and lessons learned from other countries, Asia may yet to reap the benefits of not being the first mover.

Jacques Beltran, VP for Cities and Public Services at Dassault Systèmes says what is happening in Asia is not local to the region. It is a global trend. “Asian cities face two major challenges – demographic growth and climate change,” he called.

“Today, half of the world's population lives in cities, and it’s expected to reach 80% of the population by 2050. This creates huge demographic pressure on existing and new cities being built. Cities are also facing enormous challenges related to climate change and all the natural disasters that come with it.”

Jacques Beltran

Previous top priorities of urban planners

Beltran says due to urban demographic growth, urban planners have much work to do to ensure that citizens living in cities have a good life, and that has to do with meeting fundamental needs like housing and mobility.

“Mobility is probably the top issue globally and in Asia. Cities need to ensure that people can go from one point to another in a reasonable time and a sustainable manner. There are also issues with car traffic and air pollution. Mobility, housing, and access to energy and clean water are issues at the heart of urban planning worldwide,” he continued.

Climate change and its impact on city living

Asked how significant the impact of climate change on cities in Asia, Beltran was quick to pronounce: Major! He explains that the number of natural hazards hitting cities has multiplied by five since the 1980s. Flooding is probably the top natural hazard that's hitting cities, particularly in Asia. There are also extreme temperatures or wildfires.

“Such natural hazards have become a key focus for urban planners and agencies. We are doing everything we can to find ways to help cities adapt to those risks and climate change challenges. Cities need to become more sustainable and resilient,” he elaborated.

Sustainability aspirations and its influence on urban development

According to Beltran, people living in the cities are increasingly conscious of sustainability challenges, and they are increasingly thinking about their impact on climate change. He acknowledged that this is a major challenge not only for urban planners but for city governments themselves.

“What’s obvious now is that transformation will not work without a strong political will to change how cities are managed. We firmly believe that technology, supported by a strong political will, can help those cities become more sustainable and resilient,” he added.

The influence of evolving technology

Reflecting on the past 20 years, Beltran acknowledged a huge acceleration in technology that can help cities transform how they operate and plan for the future.

“For mobility, intelligent transportation systems have been developed for public transportation. Mobile apps help people find their way around traffic jams. Smart grid technology is helping cities cope with the ever-increasing energy demand. IoT sensors capture data on how a city is functioning, and that data, together with data analytics, helps city authorities plan for the future."

Jacques Beltran

“To help your city adapt to future challenges, you must first understand the reality now. Today’s technology helps us do that tremendously well,” he continued.

Challenges for urban planners

Beltran cites two main technological building blocks that urban planners can use today:

Data analytics and AI. Once city data has been captured widely, these technologies can be used to interpret, understand and transform that data into actionable information.

3D modelling and 3D simulation. One of the biggest challenges that cities face is breaking the silos. Everybody sees the city from a certain perspective. 3D simulation technology, or digital twinning, helps different stakeholders see the city through a common view by aggregating all available data into one single 3D referential. This lets all stakeholders move ahead as one.

Ownership and stakeholders of 3D models

3D mockups and 3D representations of the city are easy to do. What’s more complex and adds much value is identifying the types of data to inject into the 3D model.

“We can connect different dimensions, such as safety, environmental, and economic development in a 3D model. From there, entire city ecosystems can be improved, covering aspects such as diverse administration, businesses, and citizen comfort,” said Beltran.

He commented that all stakeholders involved in city planning and development should have access to such a 3D modelling and simulation system.

Challenges ahead for urban planners

Beltran says one of the major challenges for urban planners is building what-if scenarios. He opines that 3D modelling and simulation can help cities design future products like infrastructure.

“The beauty of such technology is that you can do virtual testing of different policy options – by setting up each scenario, assessing the merits of each scenario, and seeing what will happen when each option is selected,” he elaborated. “Aircraft manufacturers use the same technology to circumvent crashing their planes. Such what-if scenario enablement and testing are invaluable to city planners.”

Click on the PodChat player to listen to Beltran elaborate further on smarter ways for modernising urban development.

1. Give us a state of city growth in Asia.
2. Before sustainability became the buzzword, what were the top priorities of urban planners?
3. How significant is the impact of climate change on cities in Asia?
4. What mindset is needed to make cities sustainable for the long haul?
5. Beyond mindset, do we have the technologies and skilled/experienced people available/ready to make the change towards more sustainable urban development?
6. Can we go into a little bit of detail in terms of what technologies are available today for urban planners?
7. Describe the challenges urban planners face in Asia in the coming years. What can we learn from global cities when it comes to sustainable development?

The post PodChats for FutureIoT: Smarter ways for modernising urban development appeared first on FutureIoT.

MBI segments AEC services into building design (35%), infrastructure design (25%), and product design (20%). The firm says the remaining share is accounted for by other services such as 3D modelling, data analytics, and construction management.

MBI says demand for smart cities, infrastructure and development initiatives and technological advancements are fuelling demand for AEC services with Asia Pacific growing fastest in part due to the rapid growth of urbanisation and infrastructure development in the region.

At the 2023 Year in Infrastructure and Going Digital Awards, FutureIoT spoke to Lori Hufford, vice president for engineering collaboration at Bentley Systems for her take on engineering trends in Asia, and how efforts to modernise are developing.

According to Hufford, the rapid population growth in Asia has fuelled the increased need for infrastructure in the areas of water, transportation, and energy. Even as governments invest in infrastructure projects, the size of these developments coupled with the scarcity of skilled resources present a conundrum to authorities tasked with city development.

She opines that the use of technologies to drive forward these developments is influenced by the maturity of the market to adapt or integrate these innovations into existing practices.

“At Bentley, what we are working to do is to close the adoption gap,” said Hufford. “That’s the gap between available technology to provide innovative results and the design firm’s ability to consume that technology.”

“One of the ways that we're doing that is we're delivering innovative iTwin data-centric workflows into existing Bentley applications. We believe that by augmenting users’ existing workflows with new data-centric workflows with incremental advancements, through solutions like Projectwise powered by iTwin, the new iTwin advancements and MicroStation, into their existing workflows, these will be able to help close that adoption gap.”

Click on the video to see Hufford’s responses to the following:

1. What is your observation of engineering projects in Asia?
   a. Where do you see projects showcasing the creative use of technology?
   b. Where are the areas that remain isolated or not taking advantage of innovations in technology and process?
2. What remains the top holdouts for organisations in Asia leveraging technologies like AI, digital twins, IoT, etc?
3. Can organisations continue investing/pursuing modernisation projects, including advanced construction projects, while supporting commitments towards sustainable development and ESG?
4. Coming into 2024, what is your outlook on engineering projects in Asia?

The post Enterprise engineering trends in 2024 appeared first on FutureIoT.

“The results revealed that investments made by ArcelorMittal, Glencore, and Vale have not yet significantly grown the bottom line. While correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation, BHP Billiton is deploying digital technologies across its operations and achieving some impressive financial metrics,” says Michael Larner, industrial and manufacturing research director at ABI Research.

He added that the exercise highlights that some mining firms are more digitally mature than others, and in the case of BHP Billiton, data analytics is being utilized to support operations in real-time and underpinning efforts to improve safety and the mine’s overall capacity.

Further use cases that data analytics underpins include Rio Tinto automating large parts of their operations, while Anglo American has developed digital twins of their equipment and control systems.

“As much as we’d like to believe that digital transformation is the sole component delivering to the bottom line, numerous other factors contribute to the firm’s financial performance,” continued Larner. “But suppliers such as Hexagon, with a broad portfolio of applications that support individual workflows (such as sequencing blasts and creating 3D models of a mine), and the likes of ABB, GE Digital, Honeywell, and Rockwell Automation can support the miners’ asset performance and operational goals.”

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The 'Big 4' manufacturing nations (China, the U.S., Japan, and Germany) now contribute a higher share, accounting for 57% of the world's manufacturing value added, reflecting an increase from the previous year.

“The primary change to the largest manufacturing companies globally is the absence of electronic companies in the top 10,” says James Prestwood, industrial and manufacturing markets industry analyst at ABI Research. He listed petroleum refining, mining, and automotive manufacturers as continuing to dominate the top 10 spots.

He added that while automotive manufacturing still boasts the largest factories by size, its dominant status at the top is contested by the construction of massive semiconductor plants in the United States.

“TSMC’s Pheonix Arizona Plant, for example, is now the third largest factory in the world at over 5.1 million square meters. Samsung and Texas Instruments are also constructing large manufacturing plants in the United States,” he continued.

Asia’s manufacturing landscape

Vietnam has the second largest manufacturing sector by employment in the APAC region, second only to China, employing more people in manufacturing than Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and South Korea combined. The country has also seen its MVA double from 2015 to 2022.

The revenues of Chinese metal products manufacturers saw an excellent recovery in 2021 compared to its disastrous 2020 levels, jumping back up to US$680 billion from US$56 billion. 

The Japanese market has not been so fortunate, with 8 out of the top 10 largest manufacturing markets seeing revenue fall between 2020 and 2022.

The United States showed interesting trends in the petroleum and coal products manufacturing market, with MVA more than doubling from US$65 billion in 2020 to US$144 billion in 2021. However, CAPEX has not seen the same growth rate in the same period, with expenditure on machinery equipment dropping from 2020 to 2021 by US$1.3 billion.

“CAPEX in other markets has similarly seen a lack of return to pre-COVID levels, with expenditure on data processing and communication services for the transport equipment and electronics markets remaining lower in 2021 than 2019,” Prestwood concludes.

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Warehousing today, of course, is much more convenient with innovations around track and trace, robot automation, wearables and warehouse management systems (WMS) coming together under hybrid, multi-cloud to facilitate improved optimisation of assets.

The Zebra Technologies paper, Warehousing Vision Study 2023, reports that warehouse leaders are investing in technology and intelligent automation to increase inventory visibility and resiliency.

State of warehousing in ASEAN

Vivien Tay, vertical solutions marketing lead with Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific, observes that while warehouses in the ASEAN market are growing, growth rates have slowed when compared to during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She recalls that during the pandemic when people stayed home, there was a sharp increase in online shopping. Businesses responded by stocking up on inventory and building more warehouses. Post-pandemic, fewer new warehouses are being built.

“The ASEAN market is very diverse. On one hand, we have the developed markets like Singapore, which are more advanced in their modernisation plans, compared to a less developed market like Vietnam, where most businesses we speak to have a general understanding of modernisation but are unclear of where and how to begin,” said Tay.

She cited the example of Alpro Pharmacy, a diversified community pharmacy chain in Malaysia, that saw the limits of pen and paper to manage inventory movements. Increased demand promoted the chain to deploy mobile computers and RFID. The modernisation increased the operational efficiency of order fulfilment in the e-commerce division by 80% and allowed them to meet the increase in orders without additional workers.

Challenges to modernising

The path to modernisation is not going to be easy. Tay noted that even in mature markets like Singapore, there remain industries that hold on to their legacy warehouse management systems. These do not integrate well with modern devices in the warehouse.

She opined that employees are the most important asset of a warehouse. “For many warehouses, associates have often been working for a long time and are used to manual operations, which may cause them to be averse towards adopting new technology on short notice,” she continued.

“The barriers to entry are often not as high as they’d think, as there are some devices in the warehouse that are specifically designed to be user-friendly, such as the Android devices which use the same operating system as many smartphones out there.”

Vivien Tay

She posits that adopting a phased approach is the key to implementing modernisation plans smoothly. “Warehouses that want to kickstart the digitalisation process can start with basic scanners before moving on to sensor-based technologies like RFID,” she suggested.

Automation and robotics in ASEAN

Mordor Intelligence estimates the warehouse robotics market at US$6.74 billion in 2023 and forecasts this to more than double to US$15.22 billion by 2028.

The analyst cites the emergence of industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the advent of a network of connected systems as helping industries perform a multitude of tasks, such as material batching, picking, ordering, packaging, warehouse security, and inspection, as well as improve the operational efficiency by huge margins.

Tay says for operators who have not begun their automation journey, the main challenge they might face is the integration of hardware devices and software solutions.

She opined that empowering employees is also a key aspect to consider. She adds that once operators receive the buy-in of their associates and begin upskilling them with smart devices, associates can move on to engage in higher-value tasks in the warehouse.

“The other challenge I foresee is related to the e-commerce boom. While the e-commerce boom is slowing down due to growing competition in the space, many businesses are struggling with returns management. Efficient handling of returns management is key to managing evolving consumer demands,” she continues.

In terms of robotics, she comments that while markets like China are ahead of the curve and deploying robots beyond the warehouse, such as in consumer-facing roles in shopping malls and restaurants, it is not as prevalent in ASEAN yet.

“The main obstacle to the widespread adoption of robotics in ASEAN is typically the cost in investment and lack of knowledge in the implementation and integration with existing systems,” says Tay.

Sustainability and warehouse modernisation

According to Tay, sustainability has emerged as one of the top priorities for warehouse decision-makers in the upcoming years, led by recent government regulations and sustainability directives, such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and Net Zero by 2050 commitments.

Southeast Asia is beginning to catch up on sustainable warehouse operations, says Tay, deploying technologies like solar panels, efficient lighting, and connecting to energy monitoring software to maximise efficiency.

Warehousing in 2024 and beyond

A central theme of Zebra’s 2023 Warehousing Vision Study is supply chain agility and resilience. The study found that decision-makers are accelerating modernisation projects to meet evolving consumer demands and reduce operational challenges.

Tay explains that returns management is one of the top challenges that businesses face, especially for e-commerce. “Interestingly, research has shown that return rates for e-commerce sales are between 15 and 20%, more than twice the median return rate for all sales categories,” she comments. “Decision-makers recognise they are under pressure to improve performance in returns management, inventory management, and warehouse productivity and output while adjusting to shifting consumer e-commerce demands.”

According to Tay, the warehousing landscape will continue to expand over the next five years. A slowing e-commerce boom notwithstanding warehousing will continue to experience an upward trend.

She predicts that businesses will build more warehouses closer to the consumers, moving away from a large, centralised warehouse system to multiple smaller distribution centres. “Another trend we see in last-mile delivery is the availability of drop-off options for consumers,” she continued.

On the topic of automation, businesses are beginning to empower their employees with automation and technology. The study concurs with this – as it found that employees are happier when they are equipped with technology.

RFID will continue to be a key technology in the warehouse, helping to increase inventory visibility and reduce out-of-stocks. Robots will also increasingly have a larger role to play in the warehouse alongside humans, taking over simple tasks in the picking process to free up associate’s time to move up the value chain.

The post Modernising warehousing in 2024 appeared first on FutureIoT.

“Weak enforcement of security standards for IoT device manufacturers coupled with the proliferation of shadow IoT devices at the enterprise level poses a significant threat to global organisations. Often, threat actors target ‘unmanaged and unpatched’ devices to gain an initial foothold into the environment,” said Deepen Desai, global CISO and head of security research at Zscaler.

He encourages organisations to enforce zero trust principles when securing IoT and OT devices - never trust, always verify, and assume breach. “Organisations can eliminate lateral movement risk by utilizing continuous discovery and monitoring processes to segment these devices,” he continued.

Consistent growth in attacks

With the steady adoption of IoT and personal connected devices, the report found an increase of over 400% in IoT malware attacks year-over-year. The growth in cyber threats demonstrates cyber criminals’ persistence and ability to adapt to evolving conditions in launching IoT malware attacks.

Additionally, research indicates that cybercriminals are targeting legacy vulnerabilities, with 34 of the 39 most popular IoT exploits specifically directed at vulnerabilities that have existed for over three years.

The Mirai and Gafgyt malware families continue to account for 66% of attack payloads, creating botnets from infected IoT devices that are then used to launch denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against lucrative businesses.

Botnet-driven distributed DDoS attacks are responsible for billions of dollars in financial losses across industries around the globe. In addition, DDoS attacks pose a risk to OT by potentially disrupting critical industrial processes and even endangering human lives.

Industries favoured by attackers

Manufacturing and retail accounted for nearly 52% of IoT device traffic, with 3D printers, geolocation trackers, industrial control devices, automotive multimedia systems, data collection terminals, and payment terminals sending the majority of signals over digital networks.

However, the quantity of device traffic has created opportunities for cybercriminals, and the manufacturing sector now sees an average of 6,000 IoT malware attacks every week.

Moreover, these substantial IoT malware attacks can disrupt critical OT processes, which are integral in many industrial manufacturing plants like automotive, heavy manufacturing, and plastic & rubber.

This creates long-term challenges for security teams at manufacturing businesses but also demonstrates that industrial IoT holds a substantial lead in adopting unique IoT devices (nearly three times more than other sectors). This increase is critical as manufacturing organisations continue adopting IoT tools for automation and digitization of legacy infrastructure.

Education is another sector that suffered from outsized attention from cybercriminals in 2023, with the propagation of unsecured as well as shadow IoT devices within school networks providing attackers with easier access points.

The wealth of personal data stored on their networks has made educational institutions particularly attractive targets, leaving students and administrations vulnerable. In fact, the report found IoT malware attacks in the education sector increased by nearly 1000%.

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To overcome this challenge, German steel manufacturer, thyssenkrupp Steel selected Samotics’ SAM4 Health solution to monitor its hot rolling mill at its Duisburg plant in Germany—Europe’s biggest steelmaking site.

SAM4 Health delivers continuous insight into the health and performance of the rolling mill. This empowers maintenance teams to take proactive measures against developing faults and prevent unexpected breakdowns.

Continuous monitoring also enables teams to detect and address root causes that might lead to future degradation, leading to extended equipment lifetime and better performance. This way equipment runs more efficiently and saves energy.

Samotics’ SAM4 technology achieves this by using a technique called electrical signature analysis (ESA). ESA analyses current and voltage data of electric-driven motor systems using sensors installed in the motor control cabinet, rather than on the asset itself. This enables continuous monitoring of assets operating in extreme temperatures, hard-to-reach places and ATEX zones.

Christian Weiß, lead engineer HTM1 at thyssenkrupp Steel said: “Industrial analytics underpin our mission to improve delivery performance and reduce energy waste. The capability of Samotics’ SAM4 system to operate effectively in extreme environments made it the obvious choice to help increase the reliability and efficiency of our hot rolling mills. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Samotics and continuing to improve our service to our clients”.

Commenting on thyssenkrupp’s commitment to the digitalization and automation of the steelmaking process promises environmental, safety and commercial benefits, Samotics’ founder

Simon Jagers, says Samotics's technology helps thyssenkrupp Steel address a fundamental challenge by identifying and resolving developing faults before they happen.

"With accurate health and performance data, maintenance teams can schedule maintenance at their convenience rather than reacting to an unforeseen fault. We’re delighted to join them on the journey toward creating a smarter, safer and more sustainable future for steel production."

Simon Jagers

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The SiTime Epoch Platform is a Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)-based, oven-controlled oscillator (OCXO) that delivers an ultra-stable clock to the datacentre and network infrastructure equipment, unlocking a cumulative US$2 billion served addressable market (SAM) in the next decade.

SiTime confirmed that it plans to extend the Epoch technology to other high-growth electronics markets, such as aerospace and defence, industrial controls and more.

Declaring that precision timing will be a catalyst for innovation in all electronics and drive the company's future success, Rajesh Vashist, CEO and chairman of SiTime, says the Epoch Platform delivers higher performance and reliability with lower power that was unavailable until now. These benefits are a result of a half-decade of engineering investment and a systems-based development approach that combines MEMS, analogue, packaging, and algorithms.

The value of precision timing

Precision timing is critical to network performance and reliability. All nodes in the network must be synchronised in time. In the case of a 5G network, nodes must always be synchronised within hundreds of nanoseconds – 10X more stringent than 4G. Just as important the synchronisation must be maintained despite network outages.

The company says by delivering up to 2X better performance, 9X smaller size and 3X lower power in applications such as data centre switches and routers, 5G base stations and core infrastructure, the Epoch Platform sets a new bar in performance and reliability.

“As the world embraces next-gen technologies, like the explosion of AI, the reinvention of the cloud data centre, and high speed 5G/6G cellular networks, advanced circuit and network timing solutions have become critical in ensuring performance, fault tolerance and reliability,” said Dave Altavilla, co-founder, president and principal analyst at HotTech Vision & Analysis.

Citing the example of AI, he commented that the high bandwidth, low latency data centre infrastructure needed to support AI will require robust precision timing for critical wired and wireless network connectivity. "These technologies will also be deployed at the edge and in the field, where tough environmental conditions will require more ruggedness and higher reliability than ever before,” he added.  

Quartz just doesn't cut it

A synchronised network relies on multiple, redundant timing sources to ensure continuous operation. One of these sources is an ultra-stable, local oscillator, typically an OCXO, which will “holdover” the network and ensure continued operation when other timing sources are impacted.

Legacy quartz OCXOs are inherently unreliable and prone to performance degradation due to environmental stressors such as temperature changes and vibration. To date, electronics companies compromised on real-world performance, reliability, size, power, and warm-up time, to get the one thing that an OCXO delivered – a stable clock reference.

With the Epoch Platform, SiTime is breaking through all these limitations of quartz OCXOs. Epoch delivers 2X longer holdover, even under environmental stress, enabling telecom and cloud service providers to provide service continuity in real-world conditions.

Key Features of SiTime Epoch Platform

• Any frequency between 10 and 220 MHz, programmable up to 6 decimal places of accuracy.
• 8 hours of holdover, up to 12 hours with ageing compensation – 2X better than other solutions in real-world environments.
• ±1, ±3, ±5 ppb frequency stability over temperature
• Highest operating temperature range: -40 to 95°C
• 2.5, 2.8, and 3.3 operating supply voltage
• 3X lower power: 420 mW
• 3X better ADEV under airflow: 5e-12 at 10 seconds averaging time
• 3X lower aging: ±0.08 ppb/day
• 2X faster time to stability – 60 seconds
• 9X smaller, 3X lower: 9 mm x 7 mm x 3.73 mm
• Digital control with 5E-14 resolution: I2C and SPI interfaces

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According to GlobaData Vietnam is projected to see a 5.1% growth rate in 2023, exceeding the 4.5% three-year average (2020-22). The government’s proactive measures, including monetary easing and increased public investment, are set to further drive growth at a rate of 6.5% for 2024-25.

The GlobalData report, Macroeconomic Outlook: Vietnam, reveals that the country’s domestic demand remains resilient due to the combination of easing inflation and reduced borrowing costs. During the first half (H1) of 2023, final consumption experienced a notable uptick of 2.68% compared to the same period in 2022.

The value added in agriculture and services witnessed a growth of 3.1% and 6.3%, respectively, contributing to the overall expansion of the GDP by 3.7% in H1 2023. However, the industrial sector's value-added saw a modest increase of 0.4% during H1 2023, marking the lowest growth during 2011-23 due to subdued trade.

This was reflected in a significant decline of 10.0% in exports of goods and services, along with a notable drop of 13.2% in the import of goods and services on an annual basis throughout H1 2023.

Maheshwari Bandari, economic research analyst at GlobalData, posits that if external demand remains subdued or investment remains constrained, there is a possibility that growth could fall short of expectations.

"The ongoing issues in the real estate sector, including the suspension of US$34 billion worth of projects as of June 2023, along with a rise in non-performing loans, have the potential to negatively impact Vietnam's economic prospects.”

Sector activity

Sector-wise, mining, manufacturing, and utilities contributed 35.0% to Vietnam’s gross value added (GVA) in 2022, followed by wholesale, retail, and hotels (13%), and financial intermediation, real estate, and business activities (12.6%).

In nominal terms, the three sectors are forecast to grow by 12.8%, 12.8%, and 12.4%, respectively, in 2023 compared to 14.2%, 20.5% and 11.7%, respectively, in 2022.

Vietnam's semiconductor sector is poised for growth as Samsung invested US$3.3 billion (August 2022) and Intel considers a US$1 billion increase in its US$1.5 billion chip production investment (February 2023). Amid the supply chain disruptions and trade conflicts, Vietnam aims to be a key player in the semiconductor industry.

Between January and July 2023, Vietnam welcomed around 6.6 million international visitors, hitting 83% of its yearly goal, as reported by the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism. GlobalData anticipates international arrivals to surge from 2.2 million in 2022 to 11.4 million in 2023 and even higher, reaching 19.5 million in 2025.

Bandari concludes: “Vietnam is becoming a pivotal figure in the redirection of worldwide supply chains, moving away from China. The focal point is the Deep C Two industrial estate in northern Vietnam, a hub for major global suppliers. The escalating demand in this zone emphasizes its importance as businesses aim to diversify beyond China's reach. Vietnam's advantageous geographical position and growing industrial areas, managed by entities like Deep C, are drawing manufacturers. This transition highlights Vietnam's escalating role in the reconfiguring global supply chain scenario, signifying a fresh phase in its economic journey.”

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ABI Research says manufacturers can tie investments in GenAI to additional revenues with a significant spike of US$4.4 billion from 2026 to 2029. By 2033, revenue added from the use of generative AI in manufacturing will reach US$10.5 billion.

“Generative AI has growth that will derive from functionality and use cases across market verticals. The deployment of generative AI will come in three waves as the technology matures, with manufacturing seeing the largest revenue growth during the second and third waves,” explains James Iversen, manufacturing and industrial industry analyst at ABI Research.

He further posits that during the second and third waves of adoption, generative AI will be deployed into four domains of manufacturing: design, engineering, production, and operations.

Design will see the fastest mainstream deployment with use cases such as generative design and MBOM (manufacturing bill of materials) and EBOM (electrical bill of materials) reductions already having existing solution offerings from companies such as Siemens and Microsoft.

Engineering, production, and operations use cases will take longer and require further maturity from GenAI providers due to the complexity of the tasks and required model training.

Use cases for generative AI in manufacturing can be compared by looking at expected TTV (time to value) and ROI (return on investment). For the four domains, the top performers are:

Design: Generative design, part consolidation

Engineering: Tool path optimisation, part nesting

Production: Product quality root cause analysis, correction of bugged software code

Operations: Inventory stock and purchasing period management, employee work path optimisation

Both manufacturers and manufacturing software providers should prioritise top-performing use cases as they yield the highest returns and can be easily built out with existing GenAI capabilities.

Iversen opines that starting from the ground up, implementing these use cases will lay the groundwork for more extensive use cases.

"It is important not to jump the gun and develop high-functioning use cases that will see little implementation as trust in generative AI will need to be built up before overhauling significant portions of current manufacturing operations." James Iversen

James Iversen

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Gartner forecasts that shipments of all electric vehicles (EVs) - cars, buses, vans and heavy trucks - will total 18.5 million units in 2024, with electric car shipments will representing 97% of total EV shipments next year (see Table 1).

Table 1. Electric vehicle shipments by vehicle type, worldwide, 2022-2024 (actual units)

Globally, battery electric vehicles (BEV) shipments are forecast to grow from 9 million units in 2022 to 11 million units by the end of 2023. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are expected to grow at a slightly slower rate, from 3 million units in 2022 to 4 million units in 2023.

“The proportion of PHEV, as a percentage of total EVs in countries like the U.S., Canada and Japan will slightly grow as consumers in those countries prefer PHEVs to BEVs. U.S. consumers who are transitioning from a pure internal combustion engine (ICE) car are choosing to adopt PHEVs over their BEV counterparts because PHEVs combine the ability to deliver emission-free urban driving, with the convenience of gasoline-powered propulsion for longer journeys,” said Jonathan Davenport, Sr director analyst at Gartner.

“The situation is different in Western Europe, China and to a lesser extent India, where consumers favour BEV’s lower overall running costs, quieter driving experience and green credentials.”

EV models to represent over 50% of car maker models by 2030

Governments’ decisions to reduce particulate matter emissions from vehicles and some country-level initiatives, such as implementing legislation to only allow the sale of zero-emission vehicles and seeking to enforce PHEV as a minimum, led to changes in automaker behaviours.

Some automakers are looking to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035 and others are aspiring to achieve sales of 40% to 50% of annual U.S. volumes of electric vehicles by 2030. In addition, the growing importance of EVs has led to new market entrants launching EV platforms.

“Ever-tightening emission regulations will lead automakers to pivot more than half of the vehicle models marketed to EVs by 2030,” said Davenport.

By 2027, BEV Prices to Reach Parity with ICE Vehicles of Similar Size and Configuration

Gartner analysts expect that by 2027, the average price of a BEV will reach parity with ICE vehicles of similar size and configuration, which will accelerate the global adoption of EVs. However, by 2030, power generation and network capacity have the potential to act as inhibiting factors to mass EV deployment regardless of price.

“Unless countries take actions to incentivize EV drivers to charge outside peak electricity consumption periods, the switch to EVs may put an additional strain on both the power generation capacity and the distribution infrastructure,” said Davenport.

“Using dual day and night or even half-hourly electricity tariffs can incentivize EV drivers to charge outside peak times, which would require a mass roll-out of smart metering,” added Davenport. “Likewise, the ability of utilities to control EV chargers directly via application programming interfaces (APIs) would enable EV charging to be momentarily curtailed at peak consumption times to ensure grid demands weren’t exceeded.”

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In a survey of 1,350 technology decision-makers, only a minority of SMBs and enterprises (8% and 4% respectively) had yet to experience the benefit of ERP applications in the cloud. The rest have their ERP system either entirely in the cloud (13% and 6% respectively) or hybrid mix (79% and 89% respectively).

This Epicor report reveals:

• The top triggers for re-evaluating an ERP solution
• Five things manufacturers value most in an ERP provider
• How the partnership you have with your ERP provider can help you elevate your performance and results

Click on the link to download your copy of the Manufacturing Industry Insights 2023.

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Sponsored by Epicor, this IDC research paper reports that manufacturing companies using Epicor Kinetic solutions achieve strong value by enabling more efficient and reliable manufacturing operations and improving their overall business results.

Epicor customers achieved benefits worth an annual average of UD$2.90 million per organization ($866,800 per 100 users of Epicor for Manufacturing) through increased their manufacturing operations throughput, operational quality and continuity, the automating of inventory activities and equipment monitoring, and winning more business and improving margins.

Click on the link to download your copy of Enhancing Your Business Value with Epicor for Manufacturing.

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In its report, Hype Cycle for Mobile Robots and Drones, 2023, Gartner experts said that many organisations already deploying mobile robots will expand their fleet in the next three years. It’s likely companies will have hundreds, if not thousands, of mobile robots in use, while drones will be deployed in more targeted ways, such as for inspection at a location or delivery of critical goods like medicines to remote areas.

“By 2027, over 75% of companies will have adopted some form of cyber-physical automation within their warehouse operations,” said Dwight Klappich, vice president and fellow in Gartner’s Supply Chain Practice. “Labour shortages and challenges retaining talent, coupled with technology advances such as machine learning and AI, will continue to drive adoption of smart robots.”

The 2023 Hype Cycle includes several technologies that have been rated “transformational,” including machine learning (see Figure 1), which is expected to hit mainstream adoption within the next five years. Additionally, many technologies with “high” impact will also mature within the next few years, creating an accelerated market for increasingly capable smart, autonomous and mobile robots and drones.

Figure 1: Gartner Hype Cycle for Mobile Robots and Drones, 2023

Advanced technologies accelerate the adoption of smart robots

Smart robots are nearing the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” where early publicity produces success stories, but expectations rise above the current reality of what can be achieved. These AI-powered, often-mobile machines help supply chains automate multiple physical tasks.

Smart robots can rely on advanced technologies such as machine learning to incorporate tasks into future activities or support unprecedented conditions.

As companies expand their use of robotics, most will eventually have heterogeneous fleets of robots from different vendors performing various tasks, which will require standardized software that can easily integrate into a variety of agents and robot platforms.

As such, multiagent orchestration (MAO) platforms, which help orchestrate work are “on the rise” in this year’s Hype Cycle. MAO platforms will reduce the time, effort and cost to onboard new robots and will lower support costs, ultimately making organisations more efficient.

Klappich noted that in the past year, we’ve seen increased interest in smart robots and MAO platforms as companies are looking to further improve logistic operations, support automation and augment humans in various jobs.

“Rapidly emerging and evolving technologies, like MAO, will enable organisations to leverage heterogeneous fleets of mobile robots to assist with more complex activities, delivering cost savings and productivity benefits.”

Dwight Klappich

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Drivers of growth

With few alterations to the market structure, factory automation has developed gradually. However, due to technological disruptions, macro trends including reshoring, a worldwide shortage of trained workers, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, the rate of change is quickening.

Over the course of the projection period, it is predicted that the factory automation market will grow significantly because of the increased need for automation for reliable and high-quality production.

Additionally, industry participants are focusing on improving the manufacturing process efficiency to produce goods that are both affordable and of high quality, which has a big impact on the size of the factory automation market.

Factors influencing factory automation

The demand for factory automation solutions is driven by the development of 5G wireless technology and the adoption of Industry 4.0 in several industries, including fibre & textiles, infrastructure, plastics, pharmaceuticals, and others.

Industrial IoT, digital twin, and digitization The rise of teach-less robots, soft programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and digital twins are predicted to be the three major trends in the factory automation sector. This factor is expected to drive the Factory Automation Market.

Factories with fully functional automation systems will unquestionably outperform businesses with fewer or no robotics. Theoretically, those with the most advanced automation systems may generate more than three times as much as their rivals.

Systems that automate tasks can also operate for longer periods of time. Even if factories with fully developed automation systems must produce more complex items, this helps to boost the volume of output.

Additionally, since machines are programmed to operate with extreme precision and exceptional efficiency, automation systems guarantee that there is little room for human error throughout manufacturing. It is also known that one robot can produce at a rate comparable to three to five workers. This factor is expected to drive the Factory Automation Market.

Modern automation makes it possible for factories to run considerably more cheaply. Nowadays, a few individuals and a few robots produce goods instead of hundreds of workers on an assembly line.

Gaining a profit and a return on investment (ROI) will be simpler for businesses. Payroll, benefits, insurance, and sick leave costs can all be decreased by using more robots and fewer workers. This factor is expected to drive the Factory Automation Market.

The automation systems in factories can now be upgraded continuously to work in a more environmentally responsible manner. Modern systems are known to have a smaller environmental impact.

Modern machinery is more accurate and controlled, uses less power, and produces less waste heat. Machines can also be mounted on walls, which are typically underused in traditional factories and can be placed in tight corners to save even more floor space.

Additionally, it permits businesses to add more machines inside the plant. Additionally, robotics' accuracy reduces the amount of scrap produced during production. This factor is expected to drive the Factory Automation Market.

Not only will manufacturing be more affordable because of robots, but it will also be much safer. The days of factory workers accidentally hurting themselves while the product was being made are long gone. Humans are still required, but only to manage and supervise production, apply the finishing touches, and check and guarantee the quality of the final items. This factor is expected to drive the Factory Automation Market.

Market segmentation

The factory automation market is segmented by component (sensors, controllers, switches and relays, industrial robots, drives, others), control and safety system (distributed control system (DCS), supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA), manufacturing execution system (MES), systems instrumented system (SIS), programmable logic controller (PLC), human-machine interface (HMI)), and by industry verticals (automotive manufacturing, food and beverage, oil and gas processing, mining, others).

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As a vendor-agnostic solution, MSS fits into an organisation's existing IT/OT infrastructure, scaling to their budget and maturity.

"Managed Security Services will help our customers implement cybersecurity practices, proactively address risk, and align to regulatory requirements, giving them the ability to focus on their core operations," said Jay Abdallah, vice president of cybersecurity solutions and services at Schneider Electric.

With the manufacturing industry reporting the highest share of cyberattacks in 2022, business owners increasingly recognise the need for innovative cybersecurity solutions to help minimise downtime, loss of intellectual property and other disruption caused by system vulnerabilities.

"As part of our wide range of solutions to make organisations run more efficiently, this new cybersecurity offering is continuously evolving, helping to protect our customers against new cyber threats that can, and will, arise."

Powered by Schneider Electric's global Cybersecurity Connected Service Hub (CCSH), the new MSS offering provides technologies as flexible services to monitor cyber threats and proactively respond on behalf of customers.

It monitors known risks and protects networks, systems and data across IT, OT and cloud environments – each of which has specific protocols and attack vectors. This new service can help customers to reduce the risk of emerging threats and sophisticated attacks that these unique technical and operational environments face.

Backed by advanced machine learning capabilities and trend analysis, MSS continuously optimises processes and addresses real-time threats. The services include 24/7/365 support through Schneider Electric's CCSH, with a global engineering and support team available around the clock.

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Redefining global market share

Chinese EV manufacturers have rapidly gained traction in international markets, significantly reshaping global market dynamics. While EV sales currently represent only 4% of all light vehicle sales in Southeast Asia, Chinese brands are dominating the charts in the EV segment (including BEVs and PHEVs) in the region. This shift indicates a disruptive force that is challenging established automakers and propelling Chinese EVs to the forefront of the global EV revolution.

Elevating technological perception

With a strong foundation in the technology sector, Chinese automakers are capitalising on consumers’ positive perceptions of Chinese technology products. As Chinese EVs enter new markets, they have the potential to redefine global consumers’ perception of Chinese automobiles, shedding the image of inexpensive and unreliable vehicles. These EVs serve as a springboard for Chinese automakers to enter higher price bands and gain a foothold in the premium segment, fundamentally altering the global automotive landscape.

Accelerating global expansion

Intense competition within China has forced automakers to seek growth opportunities abroad at an accelerated pace. Leveraging their improving EV technologies and robust supply chains, Chinese automakers can deploy aggressive strategies in international markets. External acquisitions, such as Geely’s ownership of Volvo Cars, give Chinese automakers a powerful advantage when expanding globally. Global players are reacting to the threat. They are forming strategic partnerships with Chinese manufacturers for battery and EV platforms, narrowing the gap and ensuring a competitive landscape on the global stage.

The European market focus

European markets have emerged as a key battleground for Chinese automakers. These markets offer EV tax incentives, a growing acceptance of electric mobility and rapidly expanding charging infrastructure. Chinese manufacturers are strategically targeting Europe with an increasing focus on premium vehicles. Success in Europe not only enhances their reputation but also contributes to economies of scale, bolstering their global and domestic market presence.

Technology leadership

Chinese automakers are leading the charge in deploying Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and digital cockpit features. By collaborating with local solution providers, such as Horizon, Haomo and iMotion, they have developed intelligent driving features tailored to the domestic market. To achieve success globally, they must fine-tune these features to adapt to diverse driving habits and environments, ensuring their technology is relevant and competitive on a global scale. Chinese automakers’ more aggressive stance regarding technology integration will force competitors to follow suit, benefiting the technology supply chain.

Nurturing ecosystems abroad

To overcome initial challenges, Chinese automakers are forming regional technology partnerships outside of China. These collaborations enable them to gather valuable data and insights to further improve their vehicles and understand local market differences. By actively investing in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Chinese automakers are spearheading the global push for EV development, receiving warm welcomes from governments seeking investment opportunities.

Making the right compromises

Chinese automakers face the challenge of managing high expectations while delivering innovative ADAS and digital cockpit features. Building a well-established ecosystem of EV infrastructure and connected services is a journey that requires collaboration with local partners. But this opens up opportunities for partnerships and investments, ultimately making Chinese automakers stronger in the global market.

Building trust and overcoming hurdles

Despite the emergence and growth of Chinese EVs in global markets, building consumer trust remains vital. Chinese manufacturers must focus on reliability and brand recognition to overcome hesitation among consumers. Collaborating with global automakers to address data privacy concerns and co-develop technologies can help instill confidence and build acceptance of Chinese EVs worldwide.

Pioneering change for a sustainable future

The rise of Chinese EVs signifies a transformative shift in the automotive industry, driving efforts to combat climate change. With advanced ADAS and V2X technologies on the horizon, Chinese automakers are poised to play a vital role in enhancing safety and addressing congestion issues. To discover the opportunities and challenges faced by the Chinese automakers and supply chains, read the Canalys report on The rise of Chinese Automakers.

In conclusion, the expansion of Chinese EVs is not only disrupting the global automotive landscape but also stimulating innovation and progress. As the world embraces electric vehicles during this decade, Chinese manufacturers are at the forefront, pushing boundaries and setting new benchmarks for the future of sustainable transport. Embracing these changes and fostering collaboration will be key to unlocking the full potential of EVs and achieving a greener, more connected automotive future.

First published on Canalys Insights.

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Globally, automation will account for 25% of capital spending, and companies expect to reap rewards in terms of output quality, efficiency, and uptime. In Asia alone, the warehouse automation market is estimated to be worth US$10.76 billion and will reach US$23.89 billion by 2028. However, there are questions that need to be addressed when it comes to adoption, especially in terms of costs and level of understanding.

The survey highlighted another key challenge - the implementation of new technologies in setups consisting of legacy technologies and different interfaces. 42% of surveyed noted that they face challenges in (i) getting access to end-to-end solution providers capable of customising solutions to their needs.

There are concerns regarding the (ii) seamless integration of robotics into existing spaces and manned operations, and (iii) compatibility between machines and products. These concerns are compounded by (iv) the expected return on investments and (vi) the lack of implementation experience.

Overcoming barriers to automation adoption

This article details the potential solutions to enable companies in reaping the rewards of automated solutions.

In response to the lack of access to customisable solutions that support traditional warehouses, more global OEMs are establishing partnerships with robotics startups to offer innovative solutions. Their goal is to offer hardware and software solutions while providing a seamless operational experience and faster deployment in the warehouse.

To address the challenge of integrating robotics and automation into existing spaces and manned operations, companies could explore brownfield-friendly solutions that require minimal reconfiguration.

Essential features like real-time obstacle avoidance should be included in the chosen autonomous solution to enable safe operation within a hybrid environment of both manned and unmanned operations, optimising productivity while maintaining a safe and harmonious coexistence between human and machine-driven tasks.

Companies could also adopt intelligent warehouse control systems to ensure compatibility and interoperability between machines and products. By integrating diverse warehouse sub-systems and equipment into the control system, companies can then facilitate seamless coordination of workflows without manual intervention, thus resulting in increased productivity and throughput.

When it comes to costs associated with automation, there are two schools of thought. From a traditional ROI perspective, the upfront investment needed to automate processes might seem greater than traditional methods solely based on capital expenses.

However, an increasing number of companies acknowledge that the ultimate cost implications of not implementing automation can surpass the required initial investment. Through automation, businesses can enhance efficiency, mitigate risks related to labour scarcity, and ultimately attain long-term cost reductions.

Lastly, to address the challenge of a lack of implementation experience, companies could seek collaboration with experienced automation firms that have a good track record.

Starting with pilot and small-scale automation projects will allow companies to identify potential issues before scaling up. This process allows for a controlled environment where companies can learn, iterate, and fine-tune the implementation process for larger and more complex automation endeavours.

Enhancing scalability and adaptability through automation

Automation, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning algorithms, and integrated advanced sensors, optimises production schedules, allocates resources efficiently, and allows companies to swiftly respond to market conditions and unexpected disruptions, ultimately driving higher levels of productivity and output.

Without automation, companies risk relying on error-prone manual processes, leading to higher costs, extended production cycles, and difficulties in responding to changes in customer preferences or disruptions in the supply chain.

Embracing automation can be challenging, but partnering with like-minded intelligent solutions providers can pave the way for a successful business model, especially in today’s evolving business landscape.

The post Intelligent solutions for complex challenges: A path to automation success appeared first on FutureIoT.

ABI Research forecasts automated storage & retrieval system (AS/RS) revenues are expected to surpass US$15 billion globally by 2030, and warehouse management system (WMS) revenues are expected to exceed US$10 billion by the same period.

“Global supply chain challenges over the last three years have highlighted the need for digitalisation and a deeper restructuring of inventory management. Labour constraints, geopolitical trade shifts, and inventory gluts continue to pressure warehouse operations, and the most impacted organisations continue to be those with lower focus on digital transformations,” states Ryan Wiggin, supply chain management & logistics industry analyst at ABI Research.

Competitive landscape

AS/RS vendors, including AutoStore, Ocado, and Swisslog, as well as autonomous mobile robot (AMR) vendors such as inVia Robotics, Locus Robotics, and Vecna Robotics, are leading the structural automation charge.

Established and emerging WMS vendors such as Blue Yonder, Manhattan Associates, and Snapfulfil continue to add new functionalities to orchestrate and optimise both manual and automated workflows.

The growth in automation and management systems and high investment in hardware and devices are expected to increase worker productivity, as manual worker involvement remains necessary alongside the adoption of automated equipment.

Global shipments of handheld devices for warehouse workers will grow at a CAGR of 20% to 2030, led by market leaders such as Zebra and Honeywell.

The new warehouse building is expected to drop by as much as 35% in 2023 compared to 2022. It is creating an even greater incentive to invest in the automation of current facilities to ease operational constraints.

Disruption to new developments will be short-lived, with steady growth in warehouse construction expected to 2030, led by a much greater CAGR in global e-commerce fulfilment centre development at 18%.

“Successful deployments by Tier One organisations continue to spur the adoption of technologies within small-medium enterprises. Solutions providers must continue to offer accessible adoption through as-a-service models and scalable structures, and exploring partnerships with complementary technology will be key to deploying market-leading end-to-end solutions,” concludes Wiggin.

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"The last few years have shown that connecting with a digital infrastructure is no longer a luxury, but a necessity," said Carlos M. González, research manager for the Internet of Things at IDC. "For organisations to excel in data-driven operations, investing in IoT projects is essential."

"Connecting devices to data networks to gather insight, expand operations, and increase performance are the hallmarks of executing an IoT ecosystem."

Carlos M. González

Industry perspective

Discrete and process manufacturing are the industries that will see the largest investment in IoT solutions in 2023 and throughout the forecast period, accounting for more than one-third of all IoT spending worldwide.

Professional services, utilities, and retail are the next largest industries in terms of overall IoT spending with roughly 25% of the worldwide total. State/local government and telecommunications will deliver the fastest spending growth over the five-year forecast with CAGRs of 12.0% and 11.7% respectively.

IoT investment is a key building block to supporting an increasingly digital and distributed organisational footprint. Most of these investments are seeking solutions that can help organisations achieve a specific business goal or customer challenges, such as cost savings or supply chain efficiency. As such, use cases are the focus of most IoT investment plans.

Use cases

The two IoT use cases that will receive the most investment in 2023 are both closely tied to the manufacturing industries: manufacturing operations (US$73.0 billion) and production asset management (US$68.2 billion). The next largest use cases – inventory intelligence (US$37.6 billion), smart grid (electricity) (US$36.9 billion), and supply chain resilience (US$31.6 billion) – will benefit from strong investments from the Retail and Utilities industries.

The use cases that will experience the fastest spending growth represent the diverse application of IoT technologies – electric vehicle charging (30.9% CAGR), next-generation loss prevention (14.5% CAGR), agriculture field monitoring (13.9% CAGR), and connected vending and lockers (13.8% CAGR).

The influence of digital transformation is evident

IDC says updates to the IoT use case taxonomy in this release of the IoT Spending Guide reflect the evolving digital transformation investment objectives of enterprises.

Thematically, greater investment in goods production and supply chains resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and global reactions that caused massive business and societal disruptions are evident in the new use cases.

"These production and supply chain-related use cases can be seen in the discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, retail, and transportation industries," said Marcus Torchia, research vice president with IDC's data & analytics group. "Meanwhile, digital business investments are ramping up in other industries such as the resource industries. For example, IoT is helping to improve upstream supply chain processes in agriculture, such as growing, harvesting, and delivering higher quality products to market."

Technology view

From a technology perspective, IoT services will be the largest area of spending in 2023 and through the end of the forecast, accounting for nearly 40% of all IoT spending worldwide.

Hardware spending is the second largest technology category, dominated by module/sensor purchases. Software will be the fastest-growing technology category with a five-year CAGR of 11.0% and a focus on application and analytics software purchases.

Regional view

Western Europe, the United States, and China will account for more than half of all IoT spending throughout the forecast.

Although Western Europe and the United States currently have similar levels of spending, Western Europe will expand its lead with an 11.0% CAGR over the 2023-2027 forecast, compared to an 8.0% CAGR for the United States.

China's IoT spending is forecast to surpass the United States by the end of the forecast due to its 13.2% CAGR.

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This alliance will bring together Paessler’s expertise in IT network monitoring and PATLITE’s capability in operational technology (OT) to help enterprises across Southeast Asia accelerate digital transformation in OT.

“The convergence of IT and OT is proving to be a boon for enterprises, whether it is optimizing operations or gaining a competitive edge. However, siloed stacks of IT and OT can result in challenges that prevent organisations from reaping the full benefits of digital transformation at scale," said Jim Lee, business development manager of Paessler for Asia Pacific

He claimed that tje partnership with PATLITE is designed to help customers take a comprehensive and coordinated approach to monitor both IT and OT systems which will enable organisations to better understand their infrastructure, increase business agility and ultimately drive business growth.

The partnership will enable Paessler to combine its PRTG network monitoring solution with its extensive experience in OT to provide its customers with comprehensive visibility into their entire infrastructure.

Paessler's PRTG network monitoring solution is designed to help organisations monitor their IT infrastructure, which includes servers, switches, routers, and other devices, while PATLITE’s expertise in OT includes signalling devices, industrial network devices, and other products that can help organisations gain visibility into their operational infrastructure.

“We fully comprehend the significance of technology and expertise in driving successful transformation journeys for industrial businesses,” said Edmund Gan, general manager of PATLITE Singapore.

He added that the collaboration between PATLITE and Paessler will benefit all its customers with the simplified joint solutions, namely the PATLITE Network Tower Light and Paessler PRTG monitoring software.

He further noted that these solutions are easy to understand and facilitate improved productivity and comprehensive process understanding for our customers.

The alliance is said to help organisations across the Southeast Asia region achieve a holistic view of their entire infrastructure, enabling them to make better decisions and improve operational efficiency.

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Companies that are solving climate challenges for customers are enhancing and marketing current sustainability-focused solutions while also generating new business units and revenue opportunities from decarbonisation activities.

In a new report, ABI Research establishes the sustainability positioning of 10 of the world’s largest industrial manufacturing conglomerates and lists company-wide best practices and external customer use cases for reducing carbon emissions, water use, and waste across multiple industries.

Sustainability Leaders: Schneider Electric, Siemens, ABB, and Bosch

Sustainability Mainstream: Hitachi, General Electric, Honeywell, and LG

Sustainability Followers: Mitsubishi Corporation and Rockwell Automation

Kim Johnson, sustainable technologies principal analyst, explains, “Our assessment highlights that all the conglomerates in the index are building businesses to decarbonise society. However, several have communicated ambitions to be global climate change leaders. They also do very well financially, even in a tumultuous market environment.”

Schneider Electric is a sustainability and energy management-focused company, targeting carbon neutrality within its own operations by 2025. In 2022, with sustainability at the core of its business, Schneider Electric had all-time high revenues and net income, despite global inflationary pressures; their energy management unit is up 13%, and industrial automation is up 10%.

Siemens ranked second in the index in industrial digital automation and green buildings and vehicles while receiving solid scores for renewable energy use. In 2022, Siemens had record profits, with their digital business up roughly 15% and the industrial business up 17%.

ABB was also a leading technology implementer for industrial automation and robotics with year-over-year revenue increases in 2022.

Bosch, which has already achieved carbon neutrality for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions (in 2020), had strong sales in 2021 and 2022 with climate response driving sustainable product development.  In 2022, Bosch’s corporate leadership stated that “climate action is driving the business forward” in mobility solutions, industrial automation, and building technology and appliances.

Hitachi has also made significant investments in recent years for decarbonisation, purchasing ABB’s energy and power grids business for expanding renewable energy, producing electric vehicle (EV) systems and infrastructure, and improving its Lumada solutions for industrial digitalisation.

For sustainability-focused efforts and revenue opportunities in the near term, ABI Research highlights increases in both industrial Information Technology (IT) investments, such as 5G connectivity, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and edge compute, cloud infrastructure and mobile applications, and Operational Technology (OT) investments, including digital platforms to conserve energy, promote greener buildings, enhance automation, and improve factory efficiencies.

For manufacturers, many of these IT and OT investments can help address the effects of inflation, skilled labour shortages, and supply chain constraints while also addressing climate change by enabling the reduction of energy consumption, water use, and waste.

Surprising revelations

"What surprised us was the depth and breadth of new decarbonisation business units, products, software solutions, and consulting services, each directed at solving climate-related issues for customers. These solutions ranged from national-level mobility and infrastructure projects to greener chemicals used in consumer goods. These companies are all investing in a lower carbon future,” Johnson concluded.

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Additionally, owing to the locations where most industrial facilities are built, remote access to OT assets and operations is all but mandatory. The TakePoint Research report, The State of Industrial Secure Remote Access, states that remote access is now a universal and fundamental requirement for most industrial enterprises.

The same report, however, noted that ensuring all access is safe and secure and cannot be exploited or abused by malicious actors, whether external or internal, remains a challenge.

The report concludes that industrial secure remote access (I-SRA) strategies have become a critical building block for every OT environment. The report recommends that securing remote access and building an overall cybersecurity strategy should be approached like any other business decision, with advantages and associated risks that must be reviewed.

The report cautions that many challenges around people, technologies, and processes need to be considered and that these will likely vary between and within industries. It also recommends that organisations begin by identifying their operational objectives and risk appetite to develop an appropriate strategy.

"A diverse, multidisciplinary approach will help organizations align with various stakeholders and expectations while successfully deploying and securing remote access to industrial environments."

TakePoint Research

The sponsor of the report, Cyclo, picked three key findings:

1. Third-party access is the top reason for enabling I-SRA

Across all industries, 72% of respondents ranked third-party access as the number-one reason for securing remote access.

"This isn’t too surprising, as OT environments tend to depend heavily on third parties due to a significant skills gap, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) maintenance requirements, and risk mitigation, among other factors," said Kevin Kumpf, chief OT/ICS security strategist at Cyclo.

2. I-SRA is not just a “big company” problem

The TakePoint report reveals a linear relationship between company size and the sheer volume of remote connections: the bigger the company, the more connections (see Figure 1).

Kumpf acknowledged that larger companies may have a larger attack surface to secure, but they are also more likely to have teams robust enough to do so. "In contrast, small companies may lack the budget, headcount, and experience necessary to adequately defend their systems," he added.

Figure 1: Concern about remote access threats to OT/ICS systems

3. Across all industries, concerns outweigh confidence

Kumpf says the most striking finding of the survey is that across all industries, respondents were more concerned about threats than confident in their current I-SRA solutions. "A common practice is to give teams remote access to critical systems because operations depend on it. However, that access is far less secure than these organisations would like them to be," he noted.

Figure 1: Concern about access risks vs confidence in current solutions

Kumpf opined that industrial settings have built brittle workarounds for securing remote access, like firewalls and virtual private networks (VPNs), and have sought to implement frameworks like NIST 800-82 or ISA/IEC62443.

"Still, they recognise that the problem is not solved," commented Kumpf who wrote that VPNs struggle to scale and cannot cover the full range of OT use cases.

"Due to a lack of SRA solutions built specifically for OT, there’s a frequent need to rely on tools designed for IT. These are far from ideal because they often require a cloud connection, need regular patching that requires downtime, or interrupt sensitive OT processes."

Kevin Kumpf

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About 12.4% of telecom carrier respondents in Asia/Pacific consider Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT) as one of the important reasons for rolling out 5G services according to IDC’s 2022 Telecom Carrier Transformation Survey.

According to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, sustainability is the fundamental business strategy for the future. These involve supporting initiatives, such as smart manufacturing, energy-efficient construction, and low-impact industrialisation. Industry 4.0 fills this gap by fusing traditional manufacturing processes with digital technology, AI, and IoT.

IDC forecasts that Asia/Pacific 5G connections, both mobile subscriber and IoT connections, will grow from 574 million in 2021 to 3,234 million in 2025, growing at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 87.9%. According to the IDC Carrier Transformation Survey 2022, most telecom carrier companies saw vital industries, including manufacturing, Smart Cities with smart mobility, and smart buildings, as the most critical use cases for the introduction of 5G.

"The shift to a greener, lower carbon future will be made possible through digitisation and connectivity," says Piyush Singh, IDC senior market analyst for telecommunications and IoT in Asia Pacific. "One of the concepts in Industry 4.0 is efficiency equals energy saving. Anything and everything organisations do to save energy ultimately increase efficiency,” Singh ends.

5G plays a key role in bringing a whole set of new ecosystems for organisations, which can help in achieving their sustainability goals in much easier and more robust ways. Manufacturing facilities all throughout Asia/Pacific have implemented private or dedicated networks for controlling various pieces of equipment on-premises. Unstable wireless communication and latency are the barriers for the adoption of digital transformation in any firm which can be solved with the help of 5G. IoT devices require very dependable communication, which may also be provided via private 5G network easily.

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Organisations have set up their digitalisation departments and created positions such as the Chief Digital Transformation Officer. For guidance, many rely on consulting firms, which happily charge high hourly rates to develop “strategic digitalisation frameworks.”

Many companies start their digital transformation by buying software: Laboratory Information Management (LIMs) systems for R&D, for example, or manufacturing execution systems for factories, plus various types of customer service software.

But what does all this software do? Captures data from business practices, sure. Makes it all permanent, accessible, and sharable – yes.

But will it fundamentally change business practices? Will it, as the consultants like to say, add value to the final product or service?

Too often, digital transformation is an easy sell that does little (or nothing) to change the status quo.

What are we trying to transform?

Digital transformation is frequently confused with digitisation, but they’re not the same thing.

Digitisation is simply converting information into a digital format. This has value: it makes information easier to share, trace, and analyse.

But digitalisation shouldn’t just be about going paperless. It’s a trajectory or path.

That path starts with getting different elements of the business interconnected so that data becomes easier to collect. It culminates in the organisation’s acquiring better decision-making capabilities because of analysing the data it has collected.

We believe that less than 5% of “digital solution companies” can deliver actual digital transformation. Most offer plain digitisation.

So, what does the real thing look like?

The strategic use of real-time data and wireless connectivity is key to transforming the way a warehouse is run. For example, Thingple’s electronic warehouse management system (E-WMS system), doesn’t just digitise warehouse stock data. It simplifies and replaces previous operational processes to track goods flowing into and out of a busy warehouse.

Instead of physically searching for space in a large warehouse, operators need only view the 3D digital twin of a constantly updated stockpile in the warehouse to find vacant slots.

With real-time data on hand, an artificial intelligence (AI) system directs forklift operators to pick the right goods every time – and advises on the timely movement of goods to avoid expiry.
Real digital transformation, in short, should lead to increased efficiency and productivity, fewer manpower requirements, less waste, and less human error.

Digitalisation is about changing how business gets done

Ironically, digital transformation isn’t really about technology. Rather, according to the MIT Sloan Management Review, it’s about “how technology changes the conditions under which business is done, in ways that change the expectations of customers, partners, and employees.”

And here’s the cruel truth: most digitalisation efforts fail – 84% of them, according to one estimate.

Weighed down by the need for copious data entry, and hobbled by a lack of interoperability across platforms, most digitalisation projects don’t deliver the hoped-for transformative results.

For that reason, we need to look at digitisation differently.

Start with a clean slate and ask what’s the best digital tool for revolutionising your business operations. Can you leverage advances in sensor technologies, computing, automation, or AI to improve your operations – in ways that change the expectations of your customers?

Since digital transformation’s purpose is to help improve businesses in meaningful ways, DX companies with deep industry insights/experience tend to offer better, more targeted solutions. Cloud infrastructure providers like Amazon Cloud or Huawei Cloud, for example, can partner with industry-specific solution providers to offer insightful value to industrial clients.

The question should not be, “How do I digitise my company’s operations?” but, “How can I improve operations through technology? How to use tech to enhance efficiency, output, and added value?”

So if you want to digitalise, start by figuring out how technology can help you do those things.

Avoid digitisation – the mere conversion of paper into bits and bytes – and the adoption of digital technology for its own sake.

First published on Transform by Huawei Technologies

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Common challenges in insect farming include mortality and disease arising from environmental conditions or insect feed, which typically cause 25-50% losses, as well as human error when managing populations of millions of insects. With an ERP and access to 2 supercomputers, the Entograte system provides powerful AI-driven solutions to address key production challenges in insect farms, increasing efficiency in insect egg production and larvae rearing.

CEO of Entoverse, Rudolf Davidov, said: “Our species-specific ERP system will make day-to-day operations of insect farms more efficient and automated, while our AI-driven solutions will help resolve the challenge of early mortality and optimising product quality.”

Following the introduction of GPT intelligence towards the end of 2022, Entoverse’s latest innovation seeks to apply the technology to overcome the challenge of human management of increasingly large and complex insect farms. Fast communication and reaction to changes in farming conditions are key, and FarmGPT is being integrated into Entograte’s chatbot function to achieve this.

It will deliver data-driven actionable insights that address insect cultivation challenges in real-time. FarmGPT will be trained by a combination of proprietary and white-label open-source training datasets, environmental data from IoT sensors and internet data, and insect behavioural data from live video camera farm footage.

Entoverse CTO and Co-Founder Dr Dmitry Mikhailov says "ChatGPT and now GPT-4 have proven the potential of AI in changing the way we approach the problems of today.

He explains that one of the problems Entoverse is solving is improving the efficiency of insect egg production and larvae rearing for maximum protein mass output. This cannot be done with manual farm management alone.

"This is why we have built Entoverse, which automates the farming process and improves yields. FarmGPT will now take this automatization one step further, and we are excited to witness how it will transform current approaches to insect farming for better output.” Dmitry Mikhailov

FarmGPT is being prepared to be tested at CricketOne, a cricket farming company based in Vietnam. The trials will study the efficacy of GPT-driven insect farming processes and how it will benefit farmers. Future applications of FarmGPT potentially include the breeding of other species in closed, controlled environments, such as bees, mealworms, shrimp and fish.

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The key findings include:

• "Balancing quality and growth," and "tracking or quantifying sustainable practices" are the biggest internal obstacles inhibiting progress for Asia-Pacific (APAC) manufacturers this year, compared to deploying and integrating new technology in 2022.
• Globally, twice as many manufacturers believe their organisation lacks the technology needed to outpace the competition, as compared to 2022.
• Four out of five manufacturers still lack an end-to-end supply chain planning solution.
• 44% of APAC manufacturers plan to adopt smart manufacturing within the next year; out of this, China (80%), Australia (60%) and India (59%) are already using some components of smart manufacturing.
• The biggest barriers to adopting smart manufacturing for APAC manufacturers are employee resistance to technology adoption and change, lack of skill set to manage smart manufacturing implementation, and lack of clear definition of the value/ROI of smart manufacturing.
• Quality management system (QMS) is the smart manufacturing system that APAC respondents have seen the largest ROI, followed by manufacturing execution system (MES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP).
• Cybersecurity risks rank highest as the obstacle all respondents are looking to mitigate with smart manufacturing initiatives.
• 88% of APAC manufacturers plan to maintain or grow employment due to technology adoption. Additionally, 39% of respondents believe they will be able to repurpose existing workers due to their increasing use of technology.
• Of the 94% of APAC manufacturers who have formal or informal environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies in place, 48% cite "a competitive differentiator" as the top driving factor for pursuing ESG initiatives.

"Manufacturers are continuing to seek opportunities for profitable growth but are realizing that uncertainty in workforce availability is impacting quality, along with their ability to meet evolving customer needs," said Veena Lakkundi, senior vice president for strategy and corporate development at Rockwell Automation.

"The survey found that smart manufacturing technology is enabling manufacturers of all sizes to optimize more resilient, agile, and sustainable solutions that accelerate transformation. If we've learned anything from history, it's that organisations that invest in innovation, with a bias for action, during times of uncertainty can outpace competitors."

Veena Lakkundi

The survey concludes that technology is crucial to mitigating risk and delivering growth. However, for one-third of manufacturers globally, the range of available systems and platforms is leading to "technology paralysis" – an inability to decide between solutions.

Manufacturers can overcome this indecision by choosing a partner with relevant industry expertise and experience who can advise and guide them in implementing a fit-for-purpose solution to achieve desired outcomes.

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Successful smart factory initiatives require accompanying cultural and operational transformations that are slow by nature and in many cases will require entirely new organisational designs to integrate the new capabilities within the broader supply chain.

“Smart factory operations hold the allure of numerous benefits for supply chain leaders, from expanding lights out manufacturing capabilities to improving quality and solving labour challenges,” said Simon Jacobson, VP analyst in Gartner’s supply chain practice.

“The potential for transformational benefits can also present the biggest pitfall, as organisations may rush into launching smart factory initiatives without a clear understanding of the extent of the challenges facing them.” Simon Jacobson

Five top risks to avoid when launching new smart factory initiatives

Confusing factory optimisation with business model transformation: The optimisation benefits of a smart factory are confined to that single site. When smart factory initiatives are disconnected from the rest of the supply chain, the site level benefits can come at the expense of creating costly constraints elsewhere in the business. This risk can be mitigated by ensuring factory objectives are synchronised with supply chain operating models and enterprise digital ambitions, flexibility and automation opportunities.

Overlooking the scope of change management: New technology acquisition may be straightforward and relatively cheap. Underestimating the resulting changes to existing processes, integrations and new performance targets can drive up both cost and time. This risk can be managed in part by treating such changes as part of an enterprise-wide initiative that requires alignment between senior leadership and the utilisation of continuous improvement teams to ensure initiatives are properly sequenced. 

Underestimating the complexity of aligning and converging IT, OT and ET: Governance for smart factories is not just centred on plant-business connections but also on how IT, operational technology (OT) and engineering technology (ET) are managed. These three are inseparable, and their convergence and alignment are critical as production models change.

To mitigate the complexity of this risk, supply chain leaders should familiarise themselves with alternative organisational models for IT/OT alignment and evolve governance and organisational structures in line with new production models.

Insufficient funding for upskilling, reskilling and talent development: Modernising learning and development (L&D) programs to help associates learn, acquire and retain knowledge to acquiesce to new experiences is essential. So too is enabling employees to execute the work they are aligned to support through additional education and upskilling.

Narrowly focusing on a single use case and technology: As technology options increase and expand, too much focus on enabling technologies and the “art of the possible” can expose organisations to a significant IT backlog and technical debt.

The environment is complicated by the fact that there is no single dominant technology or vendor that fulfils all smart factory requirements. Technology purchases must be balanced between strategic considerations such as the ability to scale, along with the pragmatic, such as planning appropriately for operational disruptions.

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Technology suppliers must help I&M firms evaluate the signals from outside their organizations and add agility to their operations to take out the guesswork on how issues will affect inbound supplies and their ability to meet customer needs.

Following an evaluation of the effects of macro (i.e., inflation and demographics) and micro (i.e., supply chain and talent) factors on executives and operational staff, Michael Larner, industrial and manufacturing markets research director at ABI Research, concluded that these factors do not occur and impact a firm in isolation, and this report highlights the intensity of factors when combined with one another.

I&M firms can do very little to influence macro factors, but they can work to anticipate and contain their impact. “Conversely, micro factors, such as managing supply chains, can be, and should be, strategically optimised,” added Larner.

Use cases

Successful firms can adeptly understand the trade-offs involved and devise strategies that suit their individual needs. For example, the re-opening of the Chinese economy is concentrating the minds of executives and operations teams alike.

Do I&M firms resume their activities in a market where the Government has significant sway over international firms or favour locations that provide relocation incentives? Tesla is advancing in the country by opening a facility in Shanghai, whereas Apple looks to diversify risk by having its products assembled across China and South-East Asia.

From a technology perspective, the I&M firms which are more digitally mature can better manage short-term disruptions and plan for the longer term.

“Technology suppliers must align their solutions with managing the effects of multiple factors. Investments in data analytics are essential for I&M firms to understand their operations in the short term and undertake scenario planning to align their operations to opportunities and threats in the medium term."

Michael Larner

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“Global robot installations grew tremendously throughout 2021 and have continued to do so in 2022, reaching record levels for industrial and collaborative robots,” explains ABI research director Lian Jye Su. He concedes that this recent boom is expected to fade a bit in 2023 due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and inflation.

In this PodChats for FutureIoT, Su discusses the latest trends in industrial automation, artificial intelligence and robotics in Asia.

1. Describe the state of industrial automation in Asia in 2023?
2. How has robotics technology evolved in recent years? (types and applications)
3. Beyond Korea and Japan, how are other markets in Asia adopting/deploying robotics?
4. Most “hardware” robotics use cases are designed to perform a single specific task (for example moving goods or welding components). As AI and machine learning matures, do you ever see robotics taking on more sophisticated functions?
5. Are cobots a sign of things to come?
6. In IT, we’ve seen the rise of “as-a-service”, what will robotics-as-a-service look like?
7. The terms industrial IoT, industry 4.0 and robotics – how are all these connected?
8. Where are the hurdles in the evolution of robots or robotics in industrial applications?
9. What is your advice for organisations looking to integrate advances in robotics into operations further?

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However, as more IoT and V2X applications emerged, data loading has increased potentially resulting in latency and unsatisfactory experiences. To overcome the problem, Antzer Tech introduced its new CAN FD solution to overcome the limitation of data transmission speed and increase the data payload capacity by eight times compared with the CANbus network.

Taking the telematics system as an example, it collects multiple system data of power management, radar sensing, cameras, and GPS non-stop. Despite the data transmission complexity, the new CAN FD solution can break through the limitations of CANbus and contribute to unmanned transformation systems in smart manufacturing and logistics scenarios. In addition, the CAN FD solution comes with high fault tolerance and debugging capabilities to enhance data reliability.

Besides the performance enhancements, the CAN FD solution also meets safety requirements. The solution complies with the industry-level wide-temperature standard. And it features GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and UDR/ADR functions to offer accurate positioning in tunnels, mountains, and other environments with unstable signals, which helps increase transportation safety and optimise management as a strong backing force for unmanned telematics systems.

With the new CAN FD Series, companies in self-driving cars or smart logistics fields receive a high-efficiency, safe, and flexible option of solutions for fast and stable data transmission. The GADN-FD7L0 and FARO-FD700 offer high-speed, excellent performance, and CAN standard downward compatibility for a painless smart upgrade.

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“The top spending manufacturing markets on SCADA/HMI software are computer and electronic manufacturing, machinery manufacturing, and other transport manufacturing (which includes aerospace, ship, and railroad manufacturing),” said James Prestwood, industrial and manufacturing technologies research analyst at ABI Research.

SCADA/HMI competitive landscape

The SCADA/HMI software market is not incredibly expansive, with prominent vendors holding a significant proportion of the market share. While there are pure-play software vendors, they have less market impact than those within the MES market.

The most significant market shares are held by Emerson, Siemens, and Mitsubishi Electric, with 17.3%, 12.1%, and 11.6%, respectively. Other notable players within the market are Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, and Honeywell.

Modularity and integration are the two main design elements being championed by technology vendors for their SCADA/HMI offerings. Software is designed with open standards that allow for easy operability with the manufacturer’s pre-existing production processes.

“These vendors are designing their solutions to meet both modular and holistic frameworks, designing end-to-end portfolios that can be deployed holistically or used to fill gaps in pre-existing systems. Siemens' Xcelerator, GE Digital’s Proficy, and Mitsubishi Electronics’ ICONICS suite are primary examples,” concluded Prestwood.

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ABI Research says as a new tool in the IoT toolbox, these devices promise a significant expansion in the use cases and corresponding value that can be generated – initially in the supply chain market but with substantial opportunities beyond.

“Over the past 15 years, the printed electronics market for asset tracking has been driven by RFID. This will continue to remain a dominant technology. Still, the evolution of low-power IoT technologies from Bluetooth through to cellular and non-cellular LPWAN technologies is making possible the creation of RF labels with enhanced capabilities,” explains Tancred Taylor, industry analyst at ABI Research.

“The cost, simplicity, and enhanced features of these devices – including range, lifespan, and data throughput – will enable enterprises to address entirely new use cases which have previously not been possible.” Tancrid Taylor

Bluetooth labels like Wiliot and Reelables have driven awareness around the emerging possibilities from printed IoT. These are already seeing substantial adoption volumes thanks to the technology's maturity using very low-power chip designs.

In contrast, the market for WAN labels has been more complicated due to a higher engineering burden. The alignment of printable batteries, connectivity protocols, reel-to-reel printing, and device provisioning has proven a significant obstacle in the past three years.

While some impressive initiatives have been successful, particularly in China, it is only in the second half of 2022 that significant progress has been made on major LPWAN protocols. Announcements by Sigfox operators and partners, SODAQ (most recently with Qualcomm), NNNCo, and many others have shown that products are nearing readiness for major adoption. Behind the scenes, numerous vendors across the value chain are working on bringing to market their own designs.

Cost is only one of the many aspects of smart labels that make them attractive. Taylor says smart labels are already evolving in numerous directions from features and form-factor perspectives, which will entirely change how enterprises gather data on their assets, which will be the greatest driver of value.

"Initially, the use cases that present themselves most clearly are in the supply chain. Still, opportunities exist in retail and industrial management markets, and even in B2C markets in the not-so-distant future,” he added.

“The key is for companies to target the right use cases, understand how smart labels will function alongside the rest of IoT, and position themselves actively within the value chain to take advantage of this fast-developing market.”

Tancred Taylor

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ABI Research forecasts that global deployments leveraging the newly available Standard Power 6 GHz APs will multiply almost six-fold between 2024 and 2028, from just over 52,000 to more than 0.3 million.

Automated Frequency Control (AFC) Systems certification will facilitate the rollout. These database lookup schemes enable higher power transmissions by preventing interference with incumbents by national regulators worldwide beginning in 2023.

“AFC Systems are especially vital for industrial environments not only because mission-critical applications demand the higher power 36 dBm transmissions, but also because they will permit the finely tuned external antennas that OT requires for optimal operation and avoidance of interference hazards,” says Andrew Spivey, Industry Analyst at ABI Research. “One consequence of the resultant performance and range boosts of Standard Power 6 GHz will be the partial diminishing of 5G’s advantages over Wi-Fi in OT environments.”

The advances brought by Wi-Fi 7 and Standard Power 6 GHz will drive the adoption of Industrial Manufacturing WLAN access points. ABI Research forecasts annual shipment growth from 3.5 million in 2022 to 5.5 million in 2028.

Major Vendors in the Industrial WLAN market include the likes of Siemens and Moxa, with Enterprise WLAN leaders Cisco and Aruba continuing to service the industrial market.

A new generation of connectivity solutions

These next-generation high-performance WLAN APs will not only support emerging use cases like Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) but also allow machines that have traditionally relied on Ethernet to finally transition to 802.11, helping to reduce network installation costs, operational complexity, maintenance requirements, and the physical footprint.

The industrial manufacturing and logistics verticals are desperate for the additional capacity of 6 GHz, and so will be the first OT sectors to adopt 6 GHz-compatible equipment. The mining and oil & gas sectors are comparatively less congested, therefore, will migrate later.

Industry business models are also transforming as OT clients prefer Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) solutions. NaaS models are favoured over outright ownership because they offer reduced financial risk, rapid deployment, greater scalability, and negate the need to expand headcount or train staff on new complex equipment.

Drivers of this interest are more significant short-term financial pressures, labour shortages, and the fact that the ecosystem has now developed sufficiently to support these offerings. Part of this development is advancements in industrial Network Management Systems (NMSs), which enable the centralized, remote management of dispersed networks powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) automation.

Spivey adds that strategic partnerships across the entire value chain – from the system integrators delivering NaaS solutions to the AFC System Operators enabling Standard Power 6 GHz operations – are becoming increasingly important for ecosystem vendors.

“The strengths of these partnerships will ultimately determine a vendor’s ability to deliver end-to-end solutions to their clients, and thus will become a strong vendor differentiator going forward," he concluded.

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ABI Research forecasts the machine tool market to grow by a CAGR of 4.3% from 2022 to 2032 and reach US$245.2 billion in manufacturing value added.

“This is driven by new product design facilitating the need for new machine tools, old equipment reaching the end of its lifecycle and requiring replacement, and new machine tool solutions being provided and incentivizing upgrades,” explains James Prestwood, industrial and manufacturing research analyst at ABI Research.

The overriding challenge for machine tool builders is the split attitude about digital transformation within the industry, with a climate of complacency being propagated by machine tool builders, particularly within the United States, who, due to their long histories with customers, have taken a reserved approach to innovation. In the long run, companies like Hardinge and Hurco will lose market share to more forward-thinking firms like EMAG and Makino.

Machine tool manufacturers, such as DMG MORI, GROB, and Gleason Corporation, now realize that more than simply providing the hardware is needed to remain competitive.

“Further challenges simmer under the surface with manufacturers struggling to manage legacy equipment lifecycles and overcome uncertainty around cloud usage on the factory floor, whereas machine tool builders have to contend with redesigning their go-to-market structure away from being product-oriented to a new solution-focused design.”

James Prestwood

Where DX is visible

Digital transformation in the machine tool industry is manifesting in three mains ways: improved data coherence and availability for digital twin enablement, software integration and support for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) use cases, including Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) optimization, and faster time-to-value by providing turnkey solutions that scale up or down based on demand.

“To keep driving digital transformation to machine tools in production processes, machine builders should be adopting solution-based business models, technology vendors must act as the technical bridge between the old and new forms of manufacturing, and manufacturers should invest in new machines and work with vendors championing open and connected ecosystems,” concludes Prestwood.

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Digital transformations are being used to ensure not only supply resiliency but also competitive differentiators. ABI Research says Cold Chain Track & Trace revenue for refrigerated containers (reefers) in the pharma industry is expected to reach US$2.9 billion globally by 2027 as companies look to tackle the US$35 billion worth of products lost to failures in temperature-controlled logistics within the industry each year.

“Both profit and human well-being play a role in the industry's structure and development. Pharma companies seek to innovate and deliver new drugs to the market. In contrast, governments and healthcare systems seek to regulate and ensure that drugs and medicines are verified and effective when reaching patients,” explained Ryan Wiggin, supply chain management & logistics industry analyst at ABI Research.

He added that digital transformations offer a means to achieve both, helping to guarantee end-to-end (E2E) product integrity while delivering effectively and at a fair price. "Comprehensive solutions tackling contemporary pain points are critical for pharma companies to achieve the most efficient and robust routes to market," he continued.

One of pharma's most pressing issues is the need for increasingly granular traceability. Regulations such as the EU Falsified Medicines Directive (EU FMD) and the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) push companies away from manual processes and toward more sophisticated digital solutions.

These include Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), such as SnapFulfil, offering inventory management and stock flow optimisation, Internet-of-Things (IoT) enabled traceability at a unit level from companies like Wiliot, reefer telematics from companies like Motive, and supply chain control towers from the likes of Optel Group that provide a layer of orchestration by bringing together systems and data siloes into a centralised platform.

In addition, pharma companies and retailers are also revolutionising their picking operations through robotic picking solutions from companies like RightHand Robotics, alongside Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) in warehouses and healthcare facilities. On top of higher speed, accuracy, and picking time, robotic deployments are helping to facilitate protected environments for temperature-controlled products and better resiliency to labour supply fluctuations.

Wiggins opined that out of necessity, cold chain infrastructure and product traceability will see strong investment in support of growing biologics drug development and tailored medicines.

"From a retail and e-commerce perspective, big players like Walgreens and Amazon operating in the generics and prescription markets will continue to lead direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels with higher automation initiatives," he commented.

He further posited that as competition increases and operational requirements evolve, end users must focus on internal alignment and incentivise cooperation with close trading partners to support E2E solutions.

"Technology vendors should utilise strategic partnerships and explore as-a-service offerings to offer companies a comprehensive and managed transformation with simplified adoption,” concluded Wiggin.

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“2023 is the moment of truth to drive full electrification forward,” said Pedro Pacheco, VP Analyst at Gartner.

“The spike in electricity prices in Europe makes BEV running costs less attractive, some countries, like the U.K., Switzerland and Australia, are starting to introduce EV taxation. In addition, China ended electric vehicle subsidies at the beginning of 2023 and global charging infrastructure still has many coverage gaps and the average quality of service is poor.”

Pedro Pacheco

In addition, the sharp increase in raw material prices like lithium and nickel will inherently drive BEV costs higher, which will make it harder for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to close the price gap with internal combustion. As a result, BEV sales may grow at a considerably lower pace or stall in some markets, making investments related to BEVs take longer to achieve break even.

Gartner expects supply chain shortages in the automotive industry to continue through 2023. “More than two years after the pandemic began, carmakers still cannot forecast an end to shortages of semiconductor chips or the subsequent shortage of vehicles they can produce. They also face a short supply of key materials for BEV batteries, causing the prices of commodities to surge,” said Mike Ramsey, VP analyst at Gartner.

Pacheco believes that the digital transformation of automotive retail has not stalled, simply reduced speed. “As the challenging economic environment is slowly moving the automotive market from supply-constraint to demand-constrained, automakers and retailers will refocus on the transition to online retail sales. They will also do so to reduce sales costs,” he added.

This downturn period provides an opportunity for automotive CIOs to help their companies grow their market share through technology. For instance, several established automakers are trying to transform into technology companies, but their corporate culture has been a major obstacle to their ambitions. “This must be their starting point to avoid widening the gap with digital native automakers and grow their revenue via the use of technology even further,” said Pacheco.

Beyond 2023

Gartner predicts that by 2026, more than 50% of EVs sold globally will be Chinese-branded automobiles. “There are more than 15 Chinese companies selling EVs and many of these are smaller and much less expensive models than those sold by foreign rivals,” said Ramsey. “While foreign automakers like Tesla, VW and GM are selling a lot of EVs in China, the growth is much faster with Chinese companies.”

As demand grows around the world for EVs, Chinese firms are well-situated to take advantage of the growth with good access to key minerals and battery manufacturing capacity in China. Gartner recommends that automotive CIOs focused on EVs, integrate supply chain planning and visibility software to ensure better business decisions about where key materials are sourced and ensure resiliency for key materials.

Gartner analysts estimate that by 2025, tech giants will own a part of the operating system for 95% of new cars on the road.

Tech giants have begun to displace established automotive Tier 1 suppliers as in-vehicle software providers (e.g., Google Automotive Services and CarPlay), and are also using their ecosystems to claim a larger share of the vehicle operating system territory (e.g., Renault’s partnership with Google and VW’s partnership with Microsoft). Furthermore, several tech giants are directly involved in the development, manufacturing and sale of cars. Foxconn, Huawei, Alibaba, Xiaomi, Tencent and Sony are all examples of this trend.

“Succeeding alone won’t be possible for a traditional OEM or supplier,” said Pacheco. “Each of them must forge partnerships with at least some digital giants if they want to remain profitable and competitive in the industry.”

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From avionics and automotive to steel manufacturing and shipping, hoisting applications play a critical role in supply chain and manufacturing operations, where heavy materials and goods are transported over what can be hundreds of meters. These crane applications are designed to operate in challenging industrial environments, for example, under extreme temperatures and over large distances.

The three companies say they are pleased with the test results of the 5G-enabled automated hoisting solution and plan to pilot it in several end-user sites this year with an eye on eventual global deployment at scale.

Schneider Electric, Capgemini and Qualcomm Technologies designed and installed the solution at Schneider Electric’s hoisting lab in Grenoble, France.

Replacing wired connections with wireless and unifying existing wireless connections from Schneider Electric’s industrial automation system, the 5G Private Network solution shows how it can simplify and optimise digital technology deployment at scale across industrial sites — from steel plants to ports.

“Digital transformation is helping Schneider Electric customers generate step-change advancements in productivity, efficiency, and sustainability, but not one company can do it alone,” said Marc Lafont, vice president for innovation Innovation and upstream marketing at Schneider Electric. “This breakthrough end-to-end 5G private network hoisting solution is a perfect example of the power of working together as we pilot it at end-user sites this year.”

The private 5G automated hoisting solution was unveiled today at the Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona.

“In the short-term, we will validate more industrial 5G use cases in various discrete manufacturing, hybrid automation, and process automation applications. In the mid-term, we will experiment with deeper integration of 5G technology inside our automation equipment.”

Marc Lafont, Schneider Electric

The 5G private network hoisting solution:

• Replaces wired and other wireless connections for several critical PLC control flows and time-sensitive video flows powering numerous use cases
• Operates in the 3.8GHz radio frequency band, with an enterprise-grade Athonet core network and Airspan Small Cells using the Qualcomm FSM100 5G RAN Platform, significantly improving connectivity performance and enabling new use cases

Innovating with 5G and edge computing

Capgemini has worked closely with Schneider Electric to design an optimised end-to-end 5G solution and identify business outcomes on Schneider Electric’s industrial use case. It has also provided the systems integration support based on Qualcomm Technologies' latest innovations and assisted Schneider Electric to integrate the 5G network with their use cases, to characterise and optimise the system.

“This collaboration with Schneider Electric demonstrates Capgemini’s unique ability to partner with clients to take advantage of technologies to innovate and create new use cases for their industry. The 5G end-to-end solution customized for Schneider Electric’s hoisting system is a good example of the added value of 5G for industrial communication and really illustrates its potential to transform an industry segment,” said Fotis Karonis, group leader of 5G and edge computing at Capgemini.

“Advanced connectivity, 5G, and edge computing technologies are strong enablers and accelerators for this move towards a digital economy and innovative use cases. They allow industrial clients to redesign systems and processes and make them more efficient, agile, and intelligent.”

Fotis Karonis, Capgemini

Automated hoisting systems increase productivity, safety, and operational performance but require fast reaction times, high precision and reliability, 24/7 availability, and both manual and autonomous capabilities.

Furthermore, several systems need to coexist on the same network with video cameras for monitoring and remote operation, and PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) for various control functions, including automation, remote control, and safety functions.

5G’s native low latency characteristics allow the system to replace fibre cables in remote-control operations, addressing the need to simplify network complexity, reduce wires, and provide long-term reliable connectivity.

“The opportunity to use 5G to propel enterprise connectivity forward is tremendous, thus we are investing in this emerging ecosystem by providing practical innovations for 5G Private Networks,” said Enrico Salvatori, senior vice president, Qualcomm Europe and president, Qualcomm Europe/MEA.

Schneider Electric’s expertise in industrial automation combined with Qualcomm Technologies’ heritage in wireless technologies, compute and AI innovations, plus Capgemini’s hands-on experience of network deployment and systems integration intersect to improve performance while eliminating complexities, resulting in faster time to market and improved KPIs for automated hoisting customers.

“By enabling a pre-integrated solution with multi-vendor choice along with Open RAN automation and management technology to streamline deployment, management, and customisability of private networks, we’re helping reduce complexities and accelerate time to market globally.”

Enrico Salvatori, Qualcomm

 Beyond its core industrial functions, the Private 5G automated hoisting system can now be leveraged to deliver additional digital use cases, such as augmented operators enabled by XR (eXtended Reality) and wearable devices.

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Automotive took the lead with an index of 3.7, followed by Electronics/High Tech at 3.3.

“There are massive differences in digital maturity and needs across companies and industries,” explains industrial & manufacturing research director Ryan Martin.

“An industry like automotive is going through tremendous change in the shift to electric and autonomous vehicles that presents a unique opportunity for companies like Ford, GM, and Hyundai to completely revamp operations as new cohorts of suppliers join rising OEMs other than Tesla, including Rivian, Polestar, and Fisker.”

Ryan Martin

He opines that the manufacturing requirements for these companies is unique compared to precision agriculture companies John Deere, AGCO, and Caterpillar; pharmaceuticals made by J&J, Pfizer, and Merck; and fast-moving consumer goods from the likes of Unilever and P&G.

“Some of these companies are still transitioning from paper lists to digital work orders while others are formulating strategies and use cases for the industrial metaverse,” he continues.

About the Digital Transformation Index

The ABI Research Digital Transformation Index measures and benchmarks digital maturity along the lines of seven key criteria, including robotics, manufacturing process, software, control, data management and analytics, connectivity, and worker enablement. The scale ranges from level 0 (human controlled) to level 5, lights out manufacturing.

An increasing number of examples stand out in terms of next-level digital integration and autonomy, including Mercedes’ Factory 56 facility in Sindelfingen, Germany, and the new Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin; however, these remain outliers that others hope to emulate.

Most facilities are brownfield environments that need to retrofit sensors and manage the machines they have relied on for years. The accelerant in the mix is a new and growing cohort of industrial cloud software offerings ranging from CAD and PLM to MES and plant-scale Simulation that are becoming increasingly attractive to manufacturers of all sizes and industries, albeit varying degrees, and with varying rates of adoption.

Martin observes that big Return on Investment (ROI) projects with undefined or lengthy periods of return simply does not cut it in the current macroeconomic environment.

“Manufacturers need to improve or maintain the current order of business through quick wins that solve immediate challenges and pain points. At the same time, suppliers want to ensure they deliver that same value to the customer. Level 5 lights out manufacturing at scale is still a way out,” he concludes.

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IoT Analytics market research, Matthieu Kulezak, observes that within the (ICT) supply chain there are three distinct submarkets: software, hardware, and connectivity. The software itself is further segmented into sourcing software, supply chain planning and design software, and supply chain execution software.

This software is then connected to hardware like packing and place machinery, and automatic sorting and retrieval machinery for logistics. Finally, there is the connectivity submarket such as IoT-based track and trace devices. Network operators fit into the connectivity submarket.

Changes introduced during the pandemic

According to Kulezak, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, CEOs and CFOs assumed that supply chains just operated unencumbered by the day-to-day problems of running a business. The pandemic revealed just how complicated supply chain issues were – vulnerable not just to business cycles but to operational issues of suppliers and business parties.

“They realise that supply chains are important, and they need to work to have their business working so that that's clear. And they'll ask way more questions on supply chain visibility,” he added.

He concluded this is why supply chain managers are undertaking digitisation.

Digitalisation and transformation of the supply chain

Kulezak noted the recent big push for digitisation in part to support remote work and to gain supply chain visibility.

“There's been a lot of issues on the structures of the supply chain, on the networks. For example, an automotive or pharmaceutical manufacturer realised that they could not produce, not because of their own production capabilities, but because of a supplier that couldn't produce,” he added.

He acknowledged that at times, it’s the very little things that can stop an entire production system. He noted that the adoption of digital twins is enabling manufacturers to create replicas of the entire supply chain network to identify and pinpoint where the issues are.

Trends influencing the digitisation of the supply chain

He reiterated the big push towards visibility across the supply chain. He observed that the different players in the supply chain will have their view, albeit narrow, as to what constitutes visibility within their supply chain.

This complicates the challenge for IT vendors who, according to Kulezak, face a “fight for semantic” where depending on the business of the party in the supply chain will have a different interpretation of what visibility within the supply chain is important.

By way of example, a transportation company may have a different track and trace requirement compared to a manufacturer or warehouse distribution hub or parts supplier.

The cybersecurity angle

Complicating the digitisation journey for organisations in the supply chain is cybersecurity. Kulezak concede to have a functioning supply chain requires that all parties are connected.

“For example, an automotive manufacturing company will need to have all of the inventory of production capability data from suppliers, as well as the suppliers of its suppliers, in order to have a good prediction of the future,” he elaborated.

The predicament here is that some organisations may not be so open to sharing their data with others in part because they are concerned about cybersecurity risks. He called out efforts in some industry sectors to create third-party platforms that allow for data to become available to participants in the supply chain in a secure fashion.

Conclusion

Kulezak sees healthy growth in the software and hardware sectors of information technology supporting the supply chain.

He sees a growing demand for the simplification of technologies that deliver supply chain visibility. This, in turn, is resulting in a consolidation of the technology solutions marketplace. He foresees pe challenge for ICT players – choosing the right product to go for.

Click on the PodChat player to listen to Kulezak’s observations and recommendations for supply chain leaders in 2023.

1. Define Digital supply chain.
2. Looking back from pre-pandemic to this period (mid-August 2022), how have things changed regarding digital supply chains?
3. In accelerating digital transformation, which areas of the software have gained relevance in the industry verticals of the supply chain?
4. Which trends are helping in terms of digitisation of the supply chain?
5. How are companies approaching the topic of cybersecurity in the supply chain?
6. In summarising everything we’ve discussed, what are IoT Analytics’ recommendations for business, operations and technology leaders?

The post PodChats for FutureIoT: Changing the future of global supply chains appeared first on FutureIoT.

The firm says COVID-19 has increased the adoption of connected devices across various end-user industries with their ease-of-use feature. Connected devices help in improving customer experience and provide enhanced services. The increased use of IT devices will likely spur demand for IoT device management.

China

GMI noted that in China, smart manufacturing applications will achieve nearly 30% gains leading up to 2028 fuelled by digital transformation efforts across the manufacturing sector. These include the adoption of advanced technologies like augmented reality and remote control among others.

The 2021 Ericsson IndustryLab report forecasts that manufacturing enterprises will become 80% automated in the next 10 years. Among the tools said to see greater use include AI software, video recognition, augmented and virtual reality, co-bots, video recognition, digital twins, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and exoskeletons.

As many as seven-in-10 manufacturing enterprises say that they plan to deploy five or more production tools enabled by advanced wireless networks, such as 5G, within five years.

The Ericsson report pointed out that most manufacturing enterprises have emerged largely unharmed from the worst effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic, with 69% reporting an unchanged, or even improved, financial performance since lockdowns began.

Device management

GMI says industry participants are forming strategic partnerships to develop advanced and integrated IoT device management platforms. In February 2022, Device Authority and Avnet for end-to-end IoT security management. Avnet has integrated Device Authority’s KeyScaler platform into its cloud computing IoT device management platform to help customers manage their IoT devices.

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In the IoT markets space, 2023 will be an excellent year for Energy Harvesting startups, but Printed Electronics will not reach the mass market – yet. This is the prediction from ABI Research analysts who together came up with 74 Technology Trends That Will—and Will Not—Shape 2023.

“War, inflation, political upheaval, energy shortages, and the ongoing fallout from a global pandemic are still creating a persistent sense of uncertainty says Stuart Carlaw, chief research officer at ABI Research.

“Labour shortages, supply chain issues, falling consumer sentiment, and rising input costs are squeezing many markets. However, the common aspect between all of these is that technology can either be the anchor dragging down operations or the mainsail powering companies forward.”

Stuart Carlaw

“The devil is in the detail of the how, who, what, and when of technology investment and implementation,” he added.

A bumper year for IoT energy harvesting startups

Energy and batteries for the IoT will continue to be an important topic for 2023 and will become a more central consideration for IoT designers. In the past three years, energy harvesting companies for the IoT have started to proliferate.

During this time, these companies have all tended to be engineering experiments; however, many are reaching a stage when products are being commercialized at scale. In 2022, around US$110 million was invested in energy harvesting startups.

In 2023, this number will continue to grow with ever larger funding rounds, helping to scale the technologies and popularize the concepts of Massive IoT and Ambient IoT. As the technology approaches and production processes mature, semiconductor manufacturers' acquisition of energy harvesting companies is expected in the 2023 to 2024 period.

Printed Electronics will not happen in 2023

One of the most exciting areas of growth for the IoT will come from printed electronic designs. This has multiple components: conductive inks, metal etching, or Laser-Direct Structuring (LDS) for electronic circuit designs or developments in printed batteries.

Each of these will revolutionise what is possible from the IoT, enabling no-touch IoT embedded in various types of assets, such as envelopes or packages, at the production line, and at massive volumes. 

The market is still in its infancy, and 2023 will not be the year when the industry is transformed; however, 2022 has given us some of the first glimpses into what new printing technologies could bring to the IoT, and as the market matures in the coming years, technology vendors and adopters should start assessing considering what position they want to occupy.

The post Two IoT tech trends that will deliver in 2023 appeared first on FutureIoT.

While the forecasted total available market has contracted, especially in the smart home, retail, advertising, and supply chain spaces, secure MCU shipments will only be temporarily adversely affected. ABI Research forecasts the secure microcontrollers market will grow to US$2.2 billion by 2026.

ABI Research’s trusted device solutions research director, Michela Menting, attributes this to the niche nature of security demand which commands a higher value proposition.

He predicts that in the short term, supply chain issues due to trade embargoes and pandemic quarantines at manufacturing sites will affect availability.

“Demand for security, especially in general purpose microcontrollers, will ensure the secure MCU market continues to be a high priority for device OEMs,” he continued.

Strong market demand will stem from utilities and industrial IoT and smart cities and buildings, notably for MCUs with Trusted Execution Technologies that can securely run mission-critical and highly-sensitive applications at the edge.

Opportunities driving secure MCUs

Several opportunities will continue to drive demand for secure MCUs. On the one hand, a growing body of policy and regulation supports secure semiconductor investment, including a range of EU and U.S. tools such as the EU Cybersecurity Certification Framework, the EU Cyber Resilience Act, and the EU Chips and the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act.

On the other hand, the demand for secure IoT lifecycle management capabilities, from provisioning and onboarding for cloud and network services to OTA firmware updates and patching, means security IP choice for MCUs become primary product differentiators in an increasingly competitive market.

Competitive landscape

The secure MCU market is responding to this continued demand. An increasing number of semiconductors have launched numerous new products in the last two years, catering to various IoT device types and use case scenarios. These include Renesas (RA), NXP (i.MX), STMicroelectronics (STM32), Microchip (SAM), Infineon/Cypress (PSoC), among many others.

The market has coalesced around Arm Cortex processors, in part due to the rich security IP available with TrustZone. Still, there is growing competition from the secure RISC-V movement, directly challenging Arm’s dominance in the space.

The post Drivers of secure MCU through 2026 appeared first on FutureIoT.

Advances in modular and customisable robots are expected to result in the growing deployment of robotics in the oil and gas industry.

GlobalData’s thematic report, ‘Robotics in Oil & Gas’, notes that, while robotics has been a part of the oil and gas industry for several decades, growing digitalisation and integration with artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and Internet of Things (IoT), have helped diversify robot use cases within the industry.

“A huge number of robots are now being deployed in oil and gas operations, including terrestrial crawlers, quadrupeds, aerial drones, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs),” said Anson Fernandes, Oil and Gas analyst at GlobalData. Robots have applications across the oil and gas industry in various tasks ranging from surveys, material handling, and construction, to inspection, repair, and maintenance. They can be customised for various tasks to ease the work and improve efficiency.

During the planning phases of an oil and gas project, robots can be deployed to conduct aerial surveys, or they can be employed to conduct seismic surveys during exploration. Aerial or underwater drones can be adopted depending on the project location and work requirements.

Robotics is a fast-growing industry

GlobalData forecasts robotics to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% rising from US$52.9 billion in 2021 to US$568 billion by 2030.

“Robots will be the industry’s growth engine, and the oil and gas sector will greatly benefit from emerging use cases,” said Fernandes.

Data analytics and robotics improve insight obtained from surveys and surveillance exercises. This symbiotic relationship between robotics and wider digitalisation technologies is expected to be further evolved through collaborations between technology providers and oil and gas industry players.

“The volume of robotics use cases in the oil and gas industry is expected to grow rapidly, in tow with digitalisation. Industrial robots with analytical support from digital technologies are expected to become the mainstay across the oil and gas industry, especially in the upstream sector, where personnel safety and operational security concerns are heightened.”

Anson Fernandes

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The Deloitte report, 2023 manufacturing industry outlook, predicts that manufacturers will likely continue progressing toward smart factory transformations, as these initiatives drive future competitiveness.

Many manufacturers are making investments in laying the technology foundation for their smart factories. One in five manufacturers is already experimenting with underlying solutions or actively developing a metaverse platform for their products and services.

Trends influencing ASEAN’s manufacturers

According to Euromonitor International’s Voice of the Industry: Digital survey, around 62% of companies globally plan to increase their investment in cloud computing over the next five years, while around 50% of companies plan to invest in Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and production automation tools.

Pavan Mahajan, VP of solutions delivery for APAC at Belden observes that the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies gaining momentum among manufacturing companies in the region. He attributes this trend to manufacturers seeking to accelerate their journey towards full digital transformation.

Boston Consulting Group observes that harnessing Industry 4.0 will be key in helping the ASEAN manufacturing sector become more competitive and move up the value chain, with Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam among countries that are already investing in smart manufacturing solutions such as smart factories, industrial IoT, advanced robotics, and cloud computing.

“Customers are beginning to embrace the desire for digital transformation and are looking to transform their manufacturing ecosystem with industrial automation and smart solutions,” added Mahajan.

Industry 4.0 investment priorities

According to Justinas Liuima, insights manager, industrial with Euromonitor International, says to partly solve the problem and compensate for rapid wage growth, companies are forecast to accelerate their investment in production automation tools in 2023.

“Production automation in many cases could be the only viable option for companies to ensure productivity growth,” opined Liuima.

Mahajan says among Belden’s customers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, a key investment area is IT/OT convergence.

IDC predicts that by 2024, 50% of industrial organisations will be integrating data from edge OT systems with cloud-based reporting and analytics, moving from single-asset views to sitewide operational awareness. The IT/OT convergence market in APAC is estimated to develop at the highest CAGR of 7.1% from 2022 to 2027, from US$49,195 million in 2021 to US$73,523 million in 2027.

“As data becomes increasingly crucial for manufacturing companies to solve business challenges and achieve greater operational efficiency, performance, safety, and profitability, having access to an optimised, convergent network is key,” noted Mahajan.

With both IT and OT data available, he opined that companies could collect, move, integrate, and analyse data to automate processes and make better, more informed business decisions. “The additional capabilities in an IT/OT converged network, such as edge computing and analytics, will also usher in even greater opportunities for productivity and problem-solving,” he added.

Mahajan said that another key area of investment for manufacturers is in edge-to-cloud environments, especially edge technologies. We are seeing a higher level of acceptance and readiness among our manufacturing customers to invest in industrial edge solutions, with an increasing adoption rate over the past two years.

This is happening worldwide as well as in APAC, with GlobalData predicting that the global edge computing market will reach US$17.8 billion by 2025, with APAC sales accounting for 26.4%.

“As Industrial IoT (IIoT) and Industry 4.0 continue to gain momentum, investing in industrial edge capabilities will be key in enabling fully connected operational systems, reducing latency and cost of data processing while maintaining security and communication with the cloud,” concluded Mahajan.

Core competencies needed to benefit from Industry 4.0 innovations

Katarzyna Grzybowska and Anna Łupicka, authors of the report, Key competencies for Industry 4.0, noted that the demand for special skills will drive the shift of job creation within Industry 4.0 requiring more qualified managers.

For his part, Mahajan believes that to benefit from industry 4.0 manufacturers will need to have skills in network security, and data management and governance.

“The expanded, highly connected networks with more data transmission points, which are characteristic of Industry 4.0, create a greater need for security. This only grows with the integration of cloud computing, edge computing and the presence of older devices on an industrial network that can be more vulnerable,” he explained.

“Manufacturers need to have proper security measures in place to ensure network security, including the implementation of advanced network access control systems, industrial cybersecurity firewalls, and other hardware components to secure network infrastructures.”

Pavan Mahajan

He added that manufacturers also need to place more emphasis on industrial data management and governance. “With the adoption of smart technologies and IIoT, more and more devices are getting networked and connected. Organisations need to have a strong data governance policy that outlines how data needs to be stored, managed, accessed, and analysed and by whom to ensure data isn’t lost, stolen, or misused,” concluded Mahajan.

Top recommendations for ASEAN manufacturers

According to Mahajan, the pandemic has shown that digitisation which leads to digitalisation and usage of advanced technologies is key to staying resilient and agile in the face of major disruptions.

“As we move into a 2023 full of uncertainties, manufacturers in ASEAN need to further accelerate their digital transformation journey, prioritising the adoption of technologies such as warehouse automation and connected manufacturing,” he opined.

Mahajan posited that moving towards full automation for warehouses will help boost productivity and operational efficiency for manufacturers at the material handling level.

“Beyond being able to streamline workflows, eliminate waste and maximise output, smart automated warehouses will also be flexible and robust enough to support future technologies and processes, effectively futureproofing network infrastructures against changes and disruptions,” he continued.

“Depending on their focus and goals, manufacturers could also consider making the leap towards connected manufacturing, which harnesses the power of data to transform operations as well as customer and employee experience. With many uncertainties and challenges facing manufacturers now, it can be difficult for them to focus on the future,” he cautioned.

“Transitioning to connected manufacturing will ultimately enable manufacturers to stay ahead of the curve with significant long-term benefits such as boosting efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing communication across all stages of manufacturing.”

Pavan Mahajan

“As the threat landscape is becoming more sophisticated than ever, manufacturers should look to reinforce their network security. Security should be taken into account at the initial stage of network design for a more holistic and effective approach to securing modern industrial networks.

“At the same time, security best practices such as implementing firewalls and continuous monitoring of potential threats should be applied in day-to-day operations to minimise security risks,” he concluded.

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As Asia comes out of the three-year economic slump because of the pandemic, what lies ahead for businesses? What is the role of IoT in the return to some form of normalcy?

FutureIoT spoke to Danny Mu, principal analyst at Forester Research on recent trends around IoT adoption in Asia and where this will lead us in 2023 and beyond.

Drawing from the Forester Report, state of IoT in Asia Pacific in 2022. Where is the concentration of IoT?

We have seen that companies in Asia-Pacific are shifting the share of IoT engagements toward production deployments.

Five years ago, in 2017, production deployments comprised just 25% of engagements, and these were predominantly POCs or pilots.

But in 2021, 61% of engagements were production deployments. That is a clear indication that Asia-Pacific firms are getting more confident in the potential of IoT initiatives to generate business value.

Among all the IoT use cases, smart industry, smart consumer services, and smart infrastructure are popular in Asia-Pacific.

Why do you say the smart city industry in Asia Pacific's leading the world in terms of IoT?

As we know, Asia Pacific contributed 35% of the world's GDP, but when focusing on industry value added, including manufacturing, construction, and utilities, Asia Pacific contributed 44%. That is why the smart industry is a leading IoT use case.

What’s driving this deployment of IoT?

Three drivers. The first appearance and rising maturity of specialised IoT solutions and cloud-based IoT. Second, connectivity technologies such as 5G. Third capabilities and offerings of IoT consultants and service providers.

In Asia, which industries are leaving the deployment?

In Asia Pacific, two-thirds of telecom decision makers say their firm is currently adopting IoT solutions.

Adoption and investment are highest in high-tech manufacturing, 81% followed by telecom, 71%. General manufacturing and pharma are broadly in line with Asia-Pacific outreach.

Adoption rates below the average are found in financial services and insurance, 60%, and retail in wholesale 56.

Compared to other regions outside Asia, how sophisticated do you see the level of use of IoT in our part of the world?

According to the survey data, the IoT solution and application adoption rate in Asia Pacific is higher than in Europe and North America. Particularly in the high-tech manufacturing sector, the adoption rate in Asia Pacific is more than 10% higher than in Europe and North America.

Within the leadership at organizations deploying IoT, what do you see are the primary motivations most surveyed?

Asia-Pacific Telecom decision-makers are confident that IoT solutions will generate significant operational efficiency. Half of them expect IoT initiatives to significantly improve customer experience and increase revenue.

How do you see these IoT deployments impacting other initiatives like digital transformation and modernization, for instance?

Impacted by IOT solutions, enhancing customer experience in public places is the most often mentioned. Other use cases related to smart consumer services are also popular.

The two years of the pandemic have likely driven this trend as customer experience in public. It's driven by private companies, public infrastructure operators, and governments.

IoT Solutions also help to enable new business models, particularly in financial services and insurance – a clear indication that those firms will spend the extra IoT budget on usage-based insurance financing and lending.  

Given that security is a rising concern among business leaders, how should enterprises deploying IoT manage the security strategy of the company? 

Security is on top of the concerns with deploying IoT 10% higher than the second option. To help protect data in IoT scenarios, confidential computing can help to isolate sensitive operations in a trusted execution environment during processing.

To support the transfer of data between edge and cloud while appearing seamless to the developers, two networking markets, zero trust/edge, and multi-cloud networking will combine to create a business-wide networking fabric.

Finally, as we step into 2023, how should enterprises review IOT deployment strategies to ensure that these initiatives meet expectations?

We have found that Asia-Pacific companies are less confident in their in-house skills to deliver IoT solutions successfully. These points will need for consulting partnerships.

We also predict that the adoption of in-region digital industrial platforms will gain significant growth. Embracing these in region platforms and industry-specific cloud solutions will help Asia-Pacific firms meet their expectations.

The post PodChats for FutureIoT: IoT in Asia in 2023 and beyond appeared first on FutureIoT.

ABI Research forecasts revenues for 5G private network and 5G network slicing deployments in the Asia-Pacific region will increase from US$732 million and US$151 million in 2022 to over US$13 billion and US$12 billion by 2028, respectively.

“5G-to-Business applications have been shown to improve productivity and reduce costs for enterprises across different verticals,” says Matthias Foo, 5G markets industry analyst at ABI Research.

“Beyond that, 5G enterprise deployments were also shown to reduce power consumption by improving equipment efficiency through data analytics and workplace safety with machine vision and AI.”

Matthias Foo

Within the private 5G cellular space, manufacturing is projected to be the vertical with the highest revenue potential for 5G-to-Business applications in the Asia-Pacific region.

Use cases

Key use cases utilize the capabilities of 5G to enable real-time robotic control for remote-controlled operations, autonomous vehicle operations, extended reality technology for training and support applications, and the collection of a large amount of sensor data for developing digital twins. Some relevant case examples include South Korea’s LG Smart Park and Japan’s Fujitsu Oyama Plant.

In the 5G network slicing domain, the logistics vertical is forecast to be the highest contributor to revenue.

Key use cases for 5G adoption include vision-based inspections for autonomous and/or remote-controlled operations, asset tracking, and smart transport applications, as illustrated by China’s Ningbo-Zhoushan Smart Port and Australia’s drone delivery operator Swoop Aero.

Opportunities ahead

While the 5G-to-Business market in Asia-Pacific is currently driven by several key countries, there continues to be a large opportunity for 5G-to-Business growth in the region as more countries, like India, begin to roll out their 5G networks and more Communication Service Providers (CSPs) deploy 5G Standalone networks.

“While the economic outlook in many regions has become more uncertain, 5G cellular coverage and innovations continue. Those firms and countries implementing 5G-to-Business applications are most likely to secure first mover advantages,” concludes Jake Saunders, vice president of Asia Pacific and research director for ABI Research’s 5G markets research service.

The post US$25 billion 5G-to-business opportunity for APAC appeared first on FutureIoT.

However, the expanded use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), server acceleration and memory expansion combined with the quest for efficiencies in hyperscale, edge, and private cloud infrastructure are causing disruption. These market factors are forcing the industry to reinvent and logically disaggregate the interconnect based on technologies such as Ethernet and Compute Express Link (CXL) to create better economies of scale and efficiencies.

The 650 Group report, Interconnect Semiconductor Market 2022-2027, forecasts the worldwide market for the portion of semiconductors used for interconnect in data centres will reach US$25 billion in revenue by 2027.

“The interconnect technologies that currently sit in disparate systems and silicon will need to come together to address the scalability and sustainability of cloud and data centre computing,” said Alan Weckel, a technology analyst at 650 Group.

“Similar to the offload that occurred in NICs and the scale of Ethernet in the cloud, which allowed those markets to double in size, we expect that the interconnect market will have a higher growth rate than the overall systems market and nearly double in size by 2027 as new products and solutions enter the market.” Alan Weckel

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“The short-term outlook for semiconductor revenue has worsened,” said Richard Gordon, practice vice president at Gartner. “Rapid deterioration in the global economy and weakening consumer demand will negatively impact the semiconductor market in 2023.”

Global semiconductor revenue is forecast to total $596 billion in 2023, down from the previous forecast of $623 billion (see Table 1).

Table 1. Semiconductor revenue forecast, worldwide, 2021-2023 (Billions of U.S. Dollars)
Source: Gartner (November 2022)

Gartner warns that the semiconductor market is polarised between consumer-driven and enterprise-driven markets.

Weakness in the consumer-driven markets is being driven largely by the decline in disposable income caused by rising inflation and interest rates, but also by the reprioritization of consumer discretionary spending to other areas such as travel, leisure and entertainment, which are having a negative knock-on effect on technology purchases.

But in the enterprise-driven markets, such as enterprise networking, enterprise compute, industrial, medical and commercial transportation, companies have remained relatively resilient despite looming macro-economic slowdown and geopolitical concerns.

“The relative strength in the enterprise-driven markets comes from strategic investments by corporations looking to strengthen their infrastructure to continue supporting their work-from-home workforce, business expansion plans and ongoing digitalization strategies,” said Gordon.

Memory revenue to decline 16% in 2023

For the remainder of 2022, the memory market is witnessing faltering demand, swollen inventories and customers pressing for considerably lower prices. As a result, the memory market will remain flat in 2022 and is forecast to decline by 16.2% in revenue in 2023.

The worsening economic outlook is negatively impacting smartphone, PC and consumer electronics production which is positioning the DRAM market for oversupply for the remainder of 2022 and the first three quarters of 2023. Gartner analysts foresee DRAM revenue to decrease 2.6% to reach $90.5 billion in 2022 and will further decline 18% in 2023, to total $74.2 billion.

The NAND fab outage which occurred in the first quarter of 2022 increased prices and masked the rapidly deteriorating demand environment, resulting in excess inventory in the third quarter of 2022 which is expected to carry into the first half of 2023. NAND revenue is projected to increase 4.4% to $68.8 billion in 2022, but it will decline 13.7% in 2023 to $59.4 billion.

“While the deterioration in the macroeconomic environment will weaken consumer demand, we expect relatively better semiconductor consumption from business investments. Consequently, markets such as industrial, telecom infrastructure and data centres will be less impacted by consumer sentiment and spending in the short term,” said Gordon.

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But with the US-led trade tension with China, Southeast Asia or the ASEAN region is presented with a golden opportunity to take a bigger slice of the manufacturing demand in the years ahead. Of course, to do this most of the ASEAN member nations must move up the value chain stepping out of the shadows of what is primarily viewed as – a location for low-wage assembly work.

Next-generation Industry 4.0 technologies and mounting pressures on companies to lower their greenhouse gas emissions, meanwhile, are creating new opportunities by changing the game.

In line with its rebirth as a more modern manufacturing base, the Boston Consulting Group forecasts that by 2030, the manufacturing industry in SEA will see an increase in foreign direct investment by up to US$22 billion, potentially generating up to US$600 billion, and see and create up to 140,000 new jobs annually.

But what will it take to become the factory to the world? And how will advances in information technology, particularly software, help Asia’s manufacturers to compete globally amid the continuing macroeconomic uncertainties.

Chris Lee, regional vice president, Asia Pacific for the software business unit at Rockwell Automation, noted that the region is seeing a rapid transformation both in smart manufacturing and the workflow across various industries.

ASEAN as a manufacturing hub for the world

For decades, the ASEAN region has served as a manufacturing hub for companies in North America, Europe and even North Asia. With the ongoing trade tensions between China and the US, there is an even greater opportunity for ASEAN to pick opportunities from companies that are shifting their base out of China.

Lee claims that among customers it surveyed, 75% of those in Asia Pacific are looking at some form of smart manufacturing technology. He attributes this interest partly due to COVID-19 and how it impacted supply chains.

Challenges ahead for smart manufacturing

According to Lee, one of the main challenges is understanding what technologies are available to facilitate this transition to smart manufacturing and identifying partners to help them cross the chasm. He also sees education and building the talent pool to implement smart manufacturing.

He also acknowledged the diverse economic structure of Southeast Asia presents disparities when it comes to technological maturity.

“Digitisation and digital transformation are key to allowing customers or these countries or manufacturers to transform themselves,” said Lee. But the challenge, and opportunity will be in how to bridge the technology and skills divide in the region.

Modernisation-ESG conundrum?

Asked whether manufacturers can pursue a modernisation strategy while complying with evolving regulations and the recent spike in interest around environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, Lee acknowledged that ESG is top of mind among CIOs and CEOs.

Click on the PodChat player for more details on Lee’s observations, opinions and recommendations on how industrial IoT is transforming Asia’s manufacturing sector.

1. What is the significance of smart, connected factories?
2. In terms of Southeast Asian as a manufacturing hub, where do we stand?
3. What are the challenges that Asian manufacturers will face, as they try and adapt these new technologies to their existing operations in the region, including the partners in the ecosystem?
4. What do you see is the role of government in supporting these manufacturers?
5. How do you see Asian manufacturers adopting new technologies while complying with ESG requirements as demand for a more sustainable manufacturing practice rises?
6. How should manufacturers accommodate concerns around cybersecurity?
7. Is reshoring going to be a concern for manufacturers in Asia?
8. What are your thoughts on rising inflation in 2023?
9. What is your advice for Asian manufacturers as they start to look to implement or integrate these new technologies be more competitive, efficient, and productive, as a supplier to the world?

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According to Counterpoint’s Global IoT Module Manufacturing Tracker, original design manufacturers (ODM) saw the fastest growth in H1 2022 at 45% YoY, followed by electronics manufacturing services (EMS) at 30% and in-house manufacturing at 21%.

After declining in Q1 2022, the global cellular IoT module market recovered in Q2 2022, despite macroeconomic headwinds and lockdowns in China, the largest IoT market.

Speaking on ODMs and EMSs, senior analyst Ivan Lam noted that in the past few years, leading Chinese OEMs have grown significantly in size.

“They have experience in managing supply chain partners and manufacturing allies. Leading OEMs have brought in multiple supplier policies to maintain their cost competitiveness, which gives them an advantage in terms of cost offering.”

Ivan Lam

Competitive landscape

The top 10 ODM/EMS players captured two-thirds of IoT module outsourced manufacturing in H1 2022. The leading ODM/EMS suppliers for IoT module manufacturing, such as BYD Electronics, TDG-Tech and Qisda, are mainly from Mainland China and Taiwan.

Among traditional EMS companies, Zollner, Jabil and USI led the top IoT module OEMs in their global expansion.

Lam added that manufacturing cost is still one of the key elements of an IoT module’s cost structure, apart from the cost of the components.

He explained that leading OEMs are growing rapidly in China, and they are likely to predominantly hire manufacturing partners that have production sites within the country.

“However, we observed that OEMs also hired EMSs with global production sites, such as production facilities in Mexico or Brazil to cater to the North America and LATAM markets. We forecast the manufacturing capacity utilization in India, Southeast Asia and LATAM will continue to grow given the significant increase in IoT module applications in these markets,” Lam continued.

Looking ahead

Commenting on the outlook for IoT module manufacturing, senior analyst Soumen Mandal said the firm expects outsourced manufacturing shipments to grow at a CAGR of 17% between 2021 and 2026.

He added that the soaring IoT module market, driven by innovation and digital transformation, especially in the enterprise segment, will play a pivotal role in IoT module manufacturing.

“IoT module players may focus on building platforms and services instead of manufacturing IoT modules as they present recurring revenue generation opportunities. This will also be an opportunity for ODM/EMS players to increase their footprint in the IoT module market.”

Soumen Mandal

“However, module players will try to increase control over the supply chain and look for vertical integration even for small components. This will help IoT module players reduce costs and remain competitive in the market," he cautioned.

“With higher demand in the market, top OEM players are also looking to expand their EMS supplier base to tap global markets,” Mandal concluded.

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In its whitepaper, 4 Key Industries Embracing Industry 4.0, ABI Research forecasts that this sector’s spending on Industry 4.0 technologies will approach US$100 billion in 2022 and grow to over US$238 billion in 2030. The main reason for this is that OEMs and their suppliers need to adjust for the move away from the internal combustion engine to electric powertrains.

“The automotive industry is not alone in its digital transformation acceleration,” says Ryan Martin, industrial and manufacturing markets research director at ABI Research.

“Industry 4.0 – also known as smart manufacturing, connected manufacturing, the Industrial Internet of Things, and other monikers – has revolutionised the way companies manufacture, enhance, and distribute products using new technologies.”

Ryan Martin

Michael Larner, industrial and manufacturing markets research director at ABI Research, adds, “This transformation is not just limited to the manufacturing sector, it has begun shaping other industries and markets throughout the globe.”

Automotive

ABI Research forecasts spending in the sector to reach US$100 billion in 2022. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) need software to design new types of vehicles and work with their Tier One Parts suppliers to ensure the components used will meet not only performance requirements but also sustainability considerations while ensuring that each vehicle produced is as unique as its customers.

Electronics & High Technology

Manufacturers of electronic goods must produce items in the millions to increasingly exacting standards. Automation has a growing role to play, as the sophistication required is moving beyond the capabilities of humans on the production line, and automation manufacturers must invest in Machine Learning (ML) to maintain quality levels.

Oil & Gas

Oil & Gas producers use digital technologies to monitor their operations to ensure they get the maximum yield from each location. However, the industry is something of a pariah, so it must invest in technologies to monitor emissions and conditions in the local area.

Fast-Moving Consumer Goods

Manufacturers of FMCG products must find a balance between the rising cost of raw materials and retailers refusing to accept price increases. They are also under pressure from an ESG perspective to adjust their packaging and use less water in their operations.

Technology has a role to play in meeting these challenges, be that supply chain visibility and forecasting or re-designing the packaging. But manufacturers are especially concerned that their recipes do not fall into the wrong hands and, similar to oil & gas firms, continue to prioritise spending on cybersecurity.

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The digitalisation of manufacturing and maintenance services to counter costs will result in an increase of IT workload by 32 % in the industry and 21 % in manufacturing on (mostly) private clouds by 2025, as predicted by McKinsey in their recent “Cloud in China” outlook.

Startup Factory is an incubator for small and mid-sized European enterprises that are looking for assembly or production facilities, a repair workshop or a “job shop” in China to expand their business. At present, Startup Factory operates subsidiaries for 38 European companies on 40,000 sqm with a total of more than 350 employees at its site in Kunshan, near Shanghai.

Smart Factory Kunshan IIoT Hub is an open ecosystem for Industrial IoT technologies, especially for medium-sized manufacturing companies and a lighthouse project of bilateral cooperation on intelligent manufacturing between China and Germany.

The purpose of the demonstration and integration factory is to create an innovative environment for Industrial Internet of Things/ Industry 4.0 from research to demonstration and education in a real-life production environment.

Startup Factory China signed an MOU with Tencent Cloud to empower Chinese and German small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions and cloud technologies.

By joining Smart Factory Kunshan's partner program, Tencent Cloud becomes an active member of the IIoT Hub community from day one and gains access to a powerful platform for various events and real-life demonstrations of its IIoT solutions on the manufacturing shopfloor towards Chinese and German SMEs.

Both parties also aim to co-host IIoT events in Smart Factory Lab and real-life demonstrations on the manufacturing shopfloor of Tencent Cloud’s IIoT solutions.

The MOU is a step towards the migration of Startup Factory Kunshan’s IT systems to Tencent Cloud. “We are very proud to have yet another global technology company join us as a strategic partner,” stated Bernd Reitmeier, founder of Startup Factory and co-founder of Smart Factory Kunshan.

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One such recent innovation is the Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS), which has seen accelerated by pandemic-mandated measures such as social distancing, border closures, and remote work.

ReportLinker forecasts the global market for ASRS is estimated to reach US$10.5 billion by 2027, up from US$6.8 billion in 2020. In Asia Pacific, ASRS is projected to reach US$1.2 billion by 2027, led by countries such as Australia, India, and South Korea.

Seeing the opportunity, cube storage automation company, AutoStore opened its office in Singapore to address the market opportunities in Southeast Asia. It also has operations in Japan and South Korea.

“We have already witnessed the rising demand for automated warehouse solutions in Asia Pacific. With Southeast Asia being one of AutoStore's core markets in Asia Pacific, it makes perfect sense to expand from Singapore with a team of capable people. I am confident that Clement will add value to AutoStore, and be the anchor for our expanding team," said Philipp Schitter, vice president of business of development for APAC at AutoStore.

AutoStore will vie for the business with competitors Kardex, Vallen, Muratec and Hai Robotics to name a few.

Recent deployments

According to Mordor Intelligence, many of the food and beverage industry companies have recognized the advantages provided by the ASRS systems and have increased their focus towards market adoption.

In Australia Cadbury Schweppes upgraded its national distribution centre in Melbourne. The upgrade resulted in a 20% productivity improvement to its warehouse's automated storage and retrieval system while maintaining full distribution capability. It involved refurbishing and upgrading four ASRS cranes and modernising the distribution centre's conveyor and sortation system.

South Korea has always been one of the world's top automotive manufacturing countries and one of the largest automotive exporters since the 1990s. Eco-friendly vehicles, including electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel-cell electric vehicles, are expected to be the fastest-growing automotive end-user segment in South Korea during the forecast period. This provides a massive opportunity for automation in the automotive industry in the country.

With Japan’s adoption of lean manufacturing concepts in intralogistics, the close-knitted structure allowed the nation to adopt AS/RS systems at every level, economic and efficient.

Indonesia has recorded increased robotic usage for industrial work. Since Japan is both its supplier and consumer, Indonesia is expected to benefit from the trade with Japan. Thus, increasing the demand for automation in the region.

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To keep up with renewed consumer demands and expectations, companies are increasingly investing in digital technologies such as new manufacturing methods, human-robot collaboration, and advanced analytics and intelligence to overcome supply chain disruptions and productivity challenges.

These businesses are supported by governments in the region, who have implemented progressive digitalisation plans to accelerate their digital economies, such as Singapore’s Smart Nation Plan and Australia’s Digital Economy Strategy.

However, despite having more data and workflows digitalised, complete confidence in the numbers reflected in inventory management systems is still lacking. Many businesses are not yet reporting 100% inventory accuracy or the ability to sense demand, which underlines that more work needs to be done to improve inventory planning.

Furthermore, according to Zebra’s 14^th Annual Global Shopper Study, retail associates surveyed increasingly feel the pain of inventory issues, ranking it their top complaint. From the consumer’s point of view, inventory visibility is also key to shopper satisfaction, as it helps connect shoppers to what they want and gets them in the door in the first place.

As highlighted by my Zebra colleague Suresh Menon, senior vice president and general manager of software solutions, data fragmentation remains an issue for most organisations. Information systems are siloed both within and outside the four walls even though operational functions and supply chain organisations have become more co-dependent than ever.

Fortunately, the introduction of technologies such as read-to-cloud radio frequency identification (RFID) application programming interfaces (APIs), handheld RFID sleds and readers, and affordable RFID tags and labels has made it easier for retailers of all sizes to leverage RFID to improve operational visibility, inventory management and process execution.

RFID systems can automatically read thousands of tagged items and provide highly accurate information about the location of an item, helping to increase the accuracy and reliability of quality control and track and trace processes.

Beyond automating data capture

Online shopping in Southeast Asia is growing at a significant rate. In Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, the demand for both e-commerce and m-commerce is on a huge growth trajectory and is poised to be one of the fastest-growing markets in the world.

With the exponential rise of e-commerce activity, retailers in the region realised that they needed to employ technologies such as barcode-based track and trace solutions to keep up with renewed consumer demands.

With just a single scan, these solutions allow multiple data fields to be automatically and accurately captured, recorded, and effectively interpreted by the relevant stakeholders, such as inventory and operations managers, buyers, and planners.

The introduction of RFID technology has allowed data capture to be further automated. Thousands of tags could be read each second by fixed readers strategically placed throughout facilities or handheld readers operated by workers, and recorded data could be fed in bulk into inventory management systems with increased accuracy.

To be able to sense, analyse, and act on both supply and demand trends in real-time, automating data capture is not enough. Retailers need to start automating analytics too.

Making sense of inventory data

Real-time inventory transparency is key to making the right labour, procurement, merchandising, pricing, and promotion decisions which hardware components like barcode and RFID systems provide to a certain extent.

However, these hardware components still lack the ability to analyse, or action-captured data. As such, retailers need to invest in software and independent software vendors (ISV) to analyse the captured data.

Modern inventory management capabilities have greatly improved since cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms became available at scale. As structured and unstructured data generated by the Internet of Things (IoT) components can now flow freely through a data pipeline or directly to a data lake, APIs and machine learning algorithms can be leveraged more extensively to access and mine data in a cost-effective manner.

The system is designed so that anyone and everyone at each stage of the fulfilment process can plug into the same information systems via APIs and extract actionable insights most relevant to their roles.

Workflow applications can also be customised to help drive the best next actions from different stakeholders, including operations managers, associates, and delivery drivers. A prescriptive analytics platform, for example, can be taught to detect certain patterns in the data and assign tasks to employees anytime an inventory-related issue or opportunity arises.

Furthermore, an intelligent demand sensing platform can aggregate inventory data from multiple business systems and analyse it alongside external data such as weather, traffic, holidays, and other demand-influencing events to prescribe calculated best actions when it comes to procurement, merchandising, pricing, or promotion.

Designing a personalised inventory management system

Led by advancements in technology, the progressive shift in focus from automating data capture to data analytics has been key to improving inventory availability and performance in the last decade.

An improved inventory management system offers universal accessibility to workers who are increasingly mobile, even automating decision-making to a certain extent, removing manual processes and legacies from inventory planning and management.

Inventory transparency is a key pillar driving the future of store operations. When designing inventory-related solutions, retailers need to adopt a forward-thinking approach to store and inventory management. Moving forward, better inventory management tools will improve accuracy and availability, increasing satisfaction levels for both shoppers and associates.

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Industry 4.0 initiatives across various regions such as; China and Europe are the most important key drivers of IoT implementation, thereby, benefitting the market in the forecast period. According to Accenture, 60% of manufacturing organisations are already involved in IoT projects, and more than 30% are at a nascent stage.

With rising urbanisation and population, several countries across the world are implementing Smart City projects. Connected devices like smart meters, smart lights, sensors, and others are helping to enhance the efficiency of infrastructure and other services.

By the numbers

• The global IoT sensors market to secure US$173.7 Billion by 2032
• The IoT sensors industry to exhibit a CAGR of 20.3% from 2022-to 2032
• The accelerometers segment is to experience a 20.7% growth rate during the forecast period
• The consumer electronics segment is to exhibit a CAGR of 21.4% from 2022-to 2032
• Market in India to expand at 30.3% CAGR from 2022-2032
• The growth rate of China is projected at 22.2% from 2022-to 2032

“Favourable initiatives by governments such as smart city projects, across the globe are supporting the growth of IoT-based equipment. Governments are seeking innovation in areas such as energy conservation, smart traffic management, security system improvements, and others. Such actions are likely to offer various remunerative opportunities to the market in the forecast period,” Fact.MR analyst.

Competitive landscape

Key players in the global IoT sensors market are focusing on product development and carrying out various advanced research and development programs. Enterprises are making several efforts to collaborate with various technology providers to give innovative results. Recent key developments among players are:

• In February 2022, Siemens updated its NX Software under the Xcelerator portfolio, with attributes like intelligence-based design. This update allows the application to use AI and modern simulation technologies, offering efficient insights to consumers.
• In January 2022, PTC disclosed an alliance with the Schaeffler Group. It is a Germany-based manufacturer that implements an absolute IT landscape. The new partnership focuses to support Schaeffler’s initiatives for digital twin and visualization of 3D models.

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To capitalise on the opportunity, Mitsubishi Logisnext Asia Pacific (MLAP) and XSQUARE will collaborate to provide businesses with a solution to overcome labour shortages while increasing warehouse productivity and operational efficiency by:

• developing a new line of Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) based on Logisnext’s brands of forklifts, and
• distributing xSQUARE’s intelligent warehousing solutions through MLAP’s distribution network in Asia, Oceania, and South Africa

The solution is implementable across all types of warehouses, factories, and dynamic environments, seamlessly supporting daily operations and making safety an integral part of the logistics value chain. 

Yasuo Kubota, managing director of Mitsubishi Logisnext Asia Pacific, said, “We believe that our partnership with xSQUARE will help strengthen our ability to expand the product and service offerings in the material handling equipment industry. This collaboration will also enable us to be a complete solutions provider in this domain.”

“We’re excited to work with xSQUARE to bring new cutting-edge solutions to the market so that our customers can manage high order volumes in a seamless manner while reaching their sustainability goals.”

Yasuo Kuboto

XSQUARE’s intelligent warehousing solutions enable warehouse operators to overcome automation fragmentation and achieve full interoperability – all while dealing with high volumes of goods movement.

XSQUARE CEO, Jens Bohnwagner, says the company’s intelligent warehousing solutions have been specifically designed to deliver benefits that impact not just companies in the industry but also their customers and the environment.

“Our shared vision with MLAP is to become market leaders that will push the boundaries of innovation and transform the warehouse automation industry with solutions powered by intelligent systems and pioneering technology.”

Jens Bohnwagner

Going forward, the two companies intend to roll out the solution in the Asia Pacific market according to the partnership agreement.

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“Moving from the cloud to the factory floor, some manufacturers are turning to a micro-factory model, which relies on automation and robotics to create more flexible manufacturing frameworks that can be deployed in a fraction of the time and at scale.”

CB Insights

IoT Analytics forecasts the Internet of Things (IoT) market will grow by 18% to 14.4 billion active connections. It also posits that by 2025, as supply constraints ease and growth further accelerates, there will be approximately 27 billion connected IoT devices.

These billions of connections are a natural magnet luring cybercriminals looking for new targets and new opportunities.

According to CB Insights this “plunging deeper into virtual worlds opens up the playing field to more cybercrime: security solutions will become a major priority, especially as crypto hype and data privacy controversies continue to boom.”

Creating awareness about IoT vulnerabilities

BlackBerry EVP and CTO, Shishir Singh says the massive network of connected things will require interoperability between systems. He posits that organisations need to sensitize employees to the fact that IoT introduces unprecedented safety and privacy risks.

He believed that employees in government and enterprise organisations need to wake up to the fact that bad actors can now access records from any device, anywhere, in real-time, and cautioned that more worrisome is the fact that IoT device makers oftentimes omit rigorous testing and support just so they can get products out to the market sooner.

“They also frequently abandon development of software and security updates the moment products are released, leaving customers—both enterprise and consumers—with an ever-increasing number of unsecured devices in their environments,” Singh continued.

But while IoT is proliferating in any enterprise, it is on production floors of industrial operations where industrial IoT (I-Iot) is rapidly becoming an integral part of the Operational Technology (OT) landscape,” said Rafael Maman, vice president of OT security at Sygnia.

He posits that it is this risk related to I-IoT that is not well articulated, resulting in low awareness.

“These I-IoTs must be considered as part of the OT environment, both to work towards better cyber preparedness and resilience, and organisational awareness."

Rafael Maman

According to Srinivas Kumar, VP of IoT solutions at DigiCert, vulnerabilities in IoT extend beyond published exposures and exploits. He noted that the “closed” and “siloed” nature of OT/IoT ecosystems provide limited visibility through on-device logs or control through third-party intervention.

“OT/IoT devices are micromanaged by the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in production environments. This creates a blind spot for NOC/SOC supervision and mitigation. Application security by design and a security profile for device field operations are essential to qualify and certify IoT devices for compliance and achieve cyber resilience in connected systems.”

Srinivas Kumar

“A comprehensive approach to digital trust ensures that all access points and data are properly authenticated and encrypted, and that identity- and access-based attacks are given an extra layer of protection that can be enforced and monitored throughout the organisation,” said Kumar.

Recommendations for creating sustained awareness around IoT security

Sygnia’s Maman recommends considering IoT, specifically I-IoT, as an integral part of the OT environment, and managing the related risk landscape as part of the overall OT security framework.

“And include it in all your cyber awareness campaigns and training programmes – again, as an integral part of your operational technology – and make sure to highlight the additional risk it introduces to your OT environment,” he pushed forth.

Kumar adds that cybersecurity in multi-vendor and heterogeneous device ecosystems is a collaborative effort and requires OEMs, device operators, device owners, and regulators to set mandatory compliance standards and best practices for endpoint security on headless field devices.

“The paradigm shift in OT/IoT ecosystems is to harden devices for protection throughout the active service life that may span 10-30 years,” concluded DigiCert’s Kumar.

BlackBerry’s Singh believes that an effective way to drive greater awareness about IoT vulnerabilities is to inform employees about their responsibilities from day one – adapting cybersecurity processes and policies as part of the company’s onboarding is a good method to educate users.

“Besides regular and mandatory training programmes that all employees must undertake, conducting cybersecurity drills like simulated crisis management exercises can raise awareness, preparedness, and ultimately reduce the impacts of critical events.”

Shishir Singh

“Lastly, ensure that IoT security training is targeted and easy to consume. Sharing irrelevant and confusing details about the threats of IoT vulnerabilities can be counterproductive. Communications should be kept simple, concise, and easy to understand as not every employee is an IT expert,” concluded Singh.

The post Creating cybersecurity awareness for IoT appeared first on FutureIoT.

This is the case of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government's Flood Control System in the Jakarta Smart City application. Developed by Jakarta Smart City in collaboration with the Jakarta Water Resource Service (DSDA) to optimise flood risk management in Jakarta, the project involved the use of IoT, AI and ML as part of an early warning system against the risk of floods in the city.

As more organisations deploy IoT in commercial and industrial environments, the amount of data that is derived from these devices and sensors may prove important in improving quality, operational efficiency, and in the case of Jakarta – saving lives and property from natural disasters.

Kenneth Koh, head of industry consulting at SAS Institute, argues that the speed and accuracy with which an IoT system reacts to its environment is critical. However, with the devices and other sensors in a typical system generating overwhelming amounts of data, traditional tools and methods can slow down the process of making sense of that data.

Can you explain what AI-embedded IoT is?

Kenneth Koh: Processing data at or near the edge allows IoT systems to be nimbler and more impactful. But the quality of a data-led action is only as meaningful as the quality of the data-based insights it is acting on.

IoT by itself is not new to manufacturers. Manufacturers have been collecting and storing sensor data from machines for decades. The value proposition for them is in AIoT -analysing that data, at the edge in real-time, using AI and ML to drive efficiencies and value.

By equipping IoT systems with AI capabilities, a wide variety of data, both structured and unstructured, can be processed on the edge. High-quality insights are made available at increased speeds for systems to act on.

AI-embedded IoT and how it unlocks business value

Kenneth Koh: AI-embedded IoT improves operational efficiency and productivity while reducing costs. It also drives innovation towards better customer service, better products, and faster product deployment to the market.

Embedding AI in IoT devices enables edge computing, allowing for the deployment of IoT systems in situations where consistent 5G networks are unavailable. For example, logistics providers can use IoT sensors in their transportation fleet to monitor the internal and external conditions in their vehicles, even in remote parts of the latter's routes.

Aside from edge computing, AI-embedded IoT utilises machine learning to develop actionable insights from the terabytes of data an IoT system generates daily. In the example above, data collected from these sensors are sent to the cloud in real-time, enabling technicians to address vehicle breakdowns more accurately and much faster.

Manufacturers can also use these insights to predict when a particular factory system or piece of equipment would fail, allowing technicians to implement preventive maintenance. Proactive detection of faulty equipment saves precious man-hours while reducing costly unscheduled downtimes.

On the retail side, insights from IoT systems can be used to identify optimal prices for products and minimise disruption to their supply chains.

ML and its role in IoT analytics

Kenneth Koh: Machine learning is the edge AI-embedded IoT has over other IoT deployments. Systems can learn as it processes sensor-generated data using diverse advanced analytical methods such as decision trees, random forests, gradient boosting, neural networks, support vector machines, and factorization machines.

This creates savings for enterprises in terms of man-hours and specialists in the organisation. Without the need to extensively train AI systems, specialists can focus on other critical tasks as non-data scientists can access, view, and process data.

Machine learning capabilities also increase the range of data that AI systems can access and process: visual images online and offline, text, and even verbal speech. The increased volume and quality of available data increases the value and impact of insights derived from it.

Combined, these machine learning capabilities enable both increased speed and volume of data processing, enabling real-time actionable insights which are crucial in many IoT systems.

How AIoT supported Jakarta Smart City: Using SAS's AI-powered platforms, Jakarta Smart City was able to integrate multi-source data in real-time and provides advanced analytics with IoT, machine learning & AI technology to provide emergency/disaster predictive capability and optimisation to serve the public. The result is a flood emergency response to mitigate the risk of floods in Jakarta.

Given that IoT historically falls under operational technology, who should own the securing of IoT?

Kenneth Koh: The introduction of IoT is blurring the lines between IT and OT across enterprises. Sensors and devices are connected to the network to create new systems and improve processes. At the same time, this convergence exposes traditional OT equipment and systems to threats they were previously insulated from.

The fact is that true device security is a combination of technologies, processes, and best practices. Thus, securing IoT systems should not be the sole domain of either OT or IT teams but engendering closer, more effective collaboration between both.

However, this is easier said than done, as IT security teams and OT security teams often don't speak the same language and find it difficult to understand each other's point of view.

Responsibilities are distributed quite differently; priorities often diverge and regulations governing OT security and IT security can sometimes contradict one another. Gaining an overview of all assets within the given environment makes clear what assets and processes must not fail under any circumstances.

By doing this, organisations can establish and practice unified cybersecurity that ensures the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data.

Name one best practice for IT and operational technology staff working together.

Kenneth Koh: In manufacturing, data is very time sensitive. For example, if the chemical concentration of a process is drifting away from optimal, the engineer may have only minutes to react to save many tons of product. 

In many semiconductor processes, engineers have only seconds to react. In such situations, Analytics needs to move to the ‘edge’ which means the data must be analysed and decisioned at the machine or on the shop floor, not in the back office or engineering.

This requires the ability to do analytics wherever it is needed –at the machine, on the production floor, in the cloud or the back office.

One of the major challenges faced is data silos. For organisations that are not implementing IT/OT convergence, due to a patchwork of unintegrated or partially integrated apps and enterprise systems. Without careful planning, introducing new sources of data (e.g. IoT sensors) will compound the problem.

Implementing a data integration platform to connect IoT systems with organisations' existing technology stack breaks down silos between historical and future data while providing all teams the same access through a single point of control. This ensures that IT and OT teams are with the same page, establishing a foundation for better IT/OT convergence.

The post The value of AI in IoT analytics appeared first on FutureIoT.

To be clear, enterprise 5G goes beyond standard consumer 5G service. In an enterprise 5G, the enterprise has complete control over the network assuming the company forks out the money to have its infrastructure, radio devices, mobile core, and management software.

The possibility of having private 5G networks means an enterprise will have better control over how it scales its network in addition to better control over cellular resources.

This will grow in importance as enterprises adopt IoT sensors into the workflow and gain real-time insights for improved efficiency and preventive maintenance.

One of the challenges this opportunity presents is around network management. Fortunately advances in artificial intelligence and automation may present a solution in the form of autonomous systems for managing network resources.

IEEE posits that autonomousity is not just making the network capable of managing resources, but rather making the network learn and adapt itself to the dynamic environment.

“In networks, the autonomous tasks refer to self-healing, self-diagnosing, and self-provisioning. With the help of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and Blockchain, autonomous tasks can be realised in current network systems.”

Autonomous Networks: Opportunities, Challenges, and Applications

Richard Howe, chief technology officer for Kyndryl Singapore, says an autonomous network is a self-configuring, or self-healing network that runs with minimal to no human maintenance. The network adapts to changes in devices being added, or degradation of network performance such as data throughput due to packet loss.

“Having a network that keeps devices consistently connected, and transmits data to an edge computing platform, enables fault detection. It ensures worker safety in industrial and manufacturing plants and facilities – you can add new drones to monitor whether employees are wearing hard hats or are in dangerous areas.”

Richard Howe

Benefits of autonomous networks for the manufacturing ecosystem

According to Deloitte, to remain competitive, manufacturers must absorb digital and advanced technologies across their business operations, including production.

The 2019 Deloitte and MAPI Smart Factory Study noted that connecting to an ecosystem was a hallmark of the Trailblazers (pioneers in smart factory adoption), a cohort of manufacturers that were making great strides by adopting Industry 4.0 technologies to solve specific business problems and opportunities.

The manufacturing ecosystem today is no longer limited to the manufacturer and its suppliers of raw materials. In smart manufacturing, an ecosystem is formed when different entities come together in meaningful ways to solve shared challenges and meet shared objectives.

Because the ecosystem comprises several companies, many independent from others in the network but sharing common interests, having a way intelligently manage some of the systems and processes automatically just makes sense.

According to Howe, autonomous networks enable scalable automation and add real-time intelligence to industrial processes, ensuring manufacturing quality, speed and efficiency without the need for much manual and human management.

“It enables fault detection and works safety, and for a manufacturer, this means more reliability and resiliency. For example, you can add cameras inside the manufacturing facility/plant for fault detection,” he added.

The use of 5G permits the use of mobile endpoints capable of collecting vast amounts of real-time data from industrial processes at low latency and taking advantage of local edge computing.

Machine learning leverages the experience of industry specialists at scale humans can’t match given the high data rates possible with 5G.

Use cases of autonomous networks

Asked where early applications of autonomous networks, Howe noted that in the manufacturing sector, these would include remote production monitoring using portable and deployable sensors.

He also highlighted use cases in predictive asset monitoring and condition-based maintenance, as well as vision analytics to ensure quality management.

He also highlighted the use of advanced robotics and human worker coordination (cobots), that can enable worker safety through wearable sensors, or support real-time worker augmentation via low-latency augmented reality/virtual reality that can either troubleshoot field problems or enable knowledge transfer between workers

“It is important to understand that successful integration of such autonomous networking applications will require the migration to cloud-native technologies and robust deployment of 5G. Such a foundation increases the speed and efficiency of properly integrated use case rollout that can be adjusted for specific operating environments,” he explained.

Integrating autonomous networking

Howe warns that implementing autonomous networks and also other related intelligent edge solutions can be a daunting task.

He stressed that a foundation of different technologies across the autonomous network’s application stack will be required like specialised compute infrastructure, wireless network connectivity like Wi-Fi 6 or 5G, along with IoT devices, data acquisition protocols, and lifecycle management tools in which volume of data can be compiled and processed by cloud-based Artificial Intelligence (AL) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms.

“Such an undertaking will certainly require the right expertise for building applications on the autonomous network, and knowledge of the latest orchestration techniques. A majority of these technologies have only recently evolved and developed over the last decade, there is also an existing shortage of skill sets that can support these emerging use cases,” he added.

He posited that introducing and deploying autonomous networking to tomorrow’s industrial and manufacturing environments is a challenge that will require concerted support from an ecosystem of multiple vendors and partners.

“Such an ecosystem will include the major hyperscalers, vendors that provide low latency connectivity or analytics, AI and ML, and also managed services providers that can interconnect elements across all application layers,” he continued.

Economic implications of autonomous networks

Citing a 2021 study, Statista researchers noted that the concept of autonomous networks implemented in the sector of telecommunications may have a global economic impact of 13 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, and it is forecast that the implementation of this concept could have an economic impact of more than 800 billion dollars by the year 2030.

Howe believes that autonomous networks will simplify and enable the full extent of what can be possible in industrial and manufacturing environments by replacing costly, inflexible workflow processes that are manual and rely on legacy technological deployments.

“Aside from the direct benefits such as cost and workflow improvements, autonomous networks will enable the acceleration of a range of IoT, application and data use cases; this, in turn, will provide the basis for new revenue streams and products,” he added.

Advise for decision-makers

Asked what senior business, technology and operations leaders should bear in mind when evaluating autonomous networks as a solution to solve current business/operations challenges, Howe recommended that for organisations big and small, the transformation of network architectures and technologies can be uniquely challenging – yet imperative.

He further added that it is important to select vendors and partners that provide unbiased guidance and deep knowledge.

“Organisations have broad footprints, and each has the potential for thousands of edge environments needing deployment and management. Every manufacturing floor, every distribution hub, warehouse, or airport terminal counts as a single edge environment.”

Richard Howe

“The adoption of autonomous networks will enable organisations to speed system deployments and service activations, avoid failures and slowdowns, enable more dynamic operations, and operate at a greater speed and scale,” he concluded.

The post Why autonomous networks are important in Manufacturing 4.0 appeared first on FutureIoT.

However, indirect communication via the cellular network (e.g., V2N2X, I2N2V) still constitutes the most significant yet untapped vehicle-to-everything (V2X) opportunity. Cellular connectivity will be available in 346 million vehicles by 2025, and smart city cellular connections will exceed 165 million.

Europe’s short lead getting shorter

In 2021, Europe was the region with the largest fleet of short-range V2X communication-enabled cars, but all from a single automaker, Volkswagen.

Maite Bezerra, smart mobility and automotive industry analyst at ABI Research, attributes this decline in Europe to a lack of commitment of more automakers. She predicts that by 2023, China alone will have overtaken Europe.

“The inauspicious scenario in Europe is leading industry players to place more emphasis on cellular network tests for the time being. However, there are still fundamental business model challenges to be overcome with this route.”

Maitê Alves Bezerra

“Although a truck and a private vehicle OEM may deploy ITS-G5 in 2023, the crucial market driver for mass adoption will be the V2X inclusion in the Euro NCAP scoring, as is currently happening in China. Lagging, the United States now has a solid regulatory framework for C-V2X, paving the way for deployments," she added.

Restarting the V2X momentum

There are suggestions in the industry that the V2X inclusion in the 2025 Euro NCAP rating scheme will be delayed to 2027 due to insufficient time to develop new test protocols. This includes establishing enough labs and validating new vehicle capabilities.

"If this the case, it would conveniently coincide with New Radio technologies' readiness (802.11bd/NR-V2X PC5), meaning that carmakers could 'skip' the implementation of existing/legacy radios – provided backward compatibility with current ITS-G5 infrastructure and vehicles is not required. However, it would delay the take-off of the technology even further," says Bezerra.

While the NCAP has not officially confirmed any changes, there is consensus that if the 2025 timeframe is maintained, it will focus on Day One use cases. There is also consensus that 2027 will be the inflexion point for mass adoption because a complete range of Day Two use cases will become part of the Euro NCAP scoring.

The spectrum wars

The recent dismissal of the appeal against the FCC's 5.9GHz spectrum proceedings means that C-V2X has a clear path in the US and should spur the FCC to grant the existing C-V2X waiver requests faster.

On the downside, the US may not have enough spectrum for some advanced cooperative perception/Day 2 use cases in the future.

In China, C-V2X is currently found in low-volume premium vehicle models, but there are at least 25 OEMs in different stages of V2X production in the country. COVID-19 lockdowns and discussions about the GNSS positioning standard slowed down deployments in 2022. However, shipments of vehicles with C-V2X will grow exponentially in 2023, surpassing the one million mark as carmakers prepare for China NCAP 2025.

V2X has significant potential to increase traffic safety, optimize traffic flow, and reduce traffic congestion and emissions.

Bezerra posits that the long wait for mass adoption should not discourage interest in the technology. Instead, it should motivate players to leverage the sizeable installed base of vehicles and infrastructure with embedded cellular connectivity.

“This will deliver immediate value through basic V2X services that do not rely on low latency and can greatly increase driver awareness scopes, such as road, traffic, traffic-light, and weather hazard alerts and information," Bezerra concluded.

The post China to lead the global deployment of short-range V2X appeared first on FutureIoT.

The second, and arguably more dramatic, are the nearly persistent cyberattacks against private businesses and the continued operation of critical infrastructure. Nearly all industries are unable to escape unscathed from these attacks.

IoT adoption in manufacturing

Specific to Asia’s manufacturing sector, IDC is projecting continued growth in the integration of IoT technologies into the region’s manufacturing sector.

IDC estimates that in 2020, US$83.4 billion was spent on IoT technology by manufacturers in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) with discrete manufacturing accounting for 60% of spend. Process manufacturing spent more than US$33 billion in the same year.

By 2025, IDC expects discrete manufacturers will send US$88.7 billion compared to US$51.9 billion among process manufacturers. The analyst says manufacturers can profit greatly from retrofitting smart sensors to old equipment because of the insights they can obtain about their equipment

FutureIoT touched base with Piyush Singh, senior market Analyst for IoT Insights, IDC Asia/Pacific to discuss how IoT is trending within the manufacturing sectors of Asia.

Manufacturers, whether in process or discrete, have used instrumentations to get feedback and provide some control over the production line. How can a manufacturer introduce IoT technology without disrupting the production line?

Piyush Singh: Industrial IoT uses a network of sensors to gather crucial production data, and cloud software to transform this data into insightful knowledge about how well industrial activities are run. The primary use case for expenditure was operations, followed by production asset management, maintenance, and field service.

Most of the manufacturers start with pilot testing by upgrading the existing legacy machines with the implementation of various hardware products. Additionally, it is true that replacing a plant entails a lengthy period of machine downtime.

In terms of time, this is frequently unsustainable. In this regard, a refit operation evaluation would be helpful. The most difficult barrier to a retrofitting effort is that a legacy system has machine tools from many manufacturing eras with various connection protocols.

Process control must be carried out manually by monitoring, sensing, estimating, and modifying the machine parameters due to the lack of sensors and actuators.

"Usually, in Asia, the retrofitting is completed in a phased manner wherein one production line is taken for the upgradation to avoid unnecessary downtime in production. Once the transformation of machines is completed in one production line, later the retrofitting of other machines will be considered."

Piyush Singh

Specific to manufacturers in Asia, do you see information security including cyber security, as a priority over production? How has the perception/acceptance/attitude towards security changed over the last five years?

Piyush Singh: The fourth industrial revolution, often known as Industry 4.0, is the logical outcome of the third revolution and is primarily focused on two key elements: the Internet of Things and Services (IoT) and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS).

In Asia, retrofitting is not only the key concept of factory automation. Cyber security, data security, and enhanced data privacy are all covered under one umbrella called industry 4.0.

With the growing demand for IoT in various sectors, the demand for robust cyber security is also the need of the hour. Spending on security solutions and services in Asia/Pacific is forecasted to exceed $31 billion in 2022, an increase of 15.5% from 2021 in which almost $2 billion in security spending would be under the discrete manufacturing section, according to IDC's latest Worldwide Security Spending Guide.

Despite headwinds such as looming global recession, geopolitical conflicts, and rising inflation, investments in hardware, software, and services related to cybersecurity are expected to reach US$ 57.6 billion in 2026, with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 16.4% for the period of 2021-26.

China will continue to be the region's largest market, accounting for more than 40% of total Asia/Pacific* security spending in 2022, with a five-year CAGR of 21.2% during the forecast period. This clearly showcases that the demand for security infrastructure is increasing in the Asia Pacific manufacturing sector.

If you think of IoT integration in the manufacturing process as a timeline, what IoT technologies do you see being deployed over time and what other technologies do you anticipate will follow because of IoT?

Piyush Singh: Most of the downtime and accidents are caused by the wear and tear of machines in many manufacturing plants. By virtualizing the plant and averting high-risk operator occurrences, the retrofitting goal is to ensure predictive maintenance applications.

Remote monitoring and management system, digital connectivity, cloud storage and robotic process control are some of the IoT retrofitting trends seen in manufacturing processes. 

To identify and detect upcoming errors, Deep Learning algorithms and Digital Twin (DT) approaches is something which is being used and have the tendency to grow exponentially in future. Artificial neural networks (ANN) for detecting the tool wear in a CNC machine after retrofitting is a concept which is in great demand in many production plants.

The post The IoT horizon for Asia’s manufacturers beyond 2022 appeared first on FutureIoT.

We have heard about 5G for a few years now. Newer smartphones are all 5G-enabled. Service providers want you to get that new phone and experience 5G. If you have a 5G phone, you may have even noticed that downloads are faster (much faster if you happen to be in certain areas). However, 5G is probably not changing your life (yet). Better than 4G? Yes, but perhaps not a transformative experience.

While most consumers think that 5G is all about them, the truth is 5G is ideal for addressing the networking needs of business and enterprise. Many of the new features of 5G may not even be noticed by consumers but will be game-changing for some companies. Some of these new capabilities will be offered by communications service providers (CSPs) to enterprises utilizing public 5G networks, but there is now an even more transformative option: private 5G networks.

Companies have long employed private wired and wireless networks (primarily Wi-Fi), as well as other network types, for their data needs, but why would an organization employ a private 5G network for data? A private 5G network is isolated and restricts the devices that connect to the network.

Wireless networks (of any type) add a level of flexibility not available with wired networks. Moving a connected device with a wired network may involve moving the network as well. This process is often expensive and, in certain situations, not possible. Wi-Fi works great in many situations, but it cannot scale to the same levels that cellular achieves.

Cellular network technology provides several advantages, including being designed for mobility (moving devices) and connection reliability, supporting greater coverage due to increased power levels, and allowing for much higher device density. Private 5G networks are not likely to replace Wi-Fi and wired networks entirely; instead, they will cover use cases that the other technologies do not cover or do not cover well.

Industries to benefit early from wireless networks

In the telecom industry, technologies are often debated and discussed in great detail. However, the reasons an enterprise decides to install a private 5G network is NOT about technology but about addressing business requirements that current networking options (Wi-Fi or wired networks) are not handling.

Public and private 5G networks enable use cases that other wireless technologies do not, and those use cases pay dividends that can be measured financially and with improvements in efficiency and safety. Small improvements in efficiency can add up to millions of dollars in savings. Keeping employees safe is more important than just the financial impact. These dividend-paying use cases may sometimes be solved with public 5G. However, there are other situations in which private 5G networks become the best solution. For instance:

Coverage issues may limit the public option. This is often the case in certain industries where public cellular coverage at a location is limited or non-existent, e.g., underground mines or offshore oil rigs.

While a facility may have adequate coverage outside, inside may be more challenging. Factories or warehouses are good examples, with both the building shell and contents as potential sources of interference.

Control of data can be a deciding factor. Some businesses require that their data never leave their control (for competitive or security reasons).

Most of the current activity in private 5G networks is with large enterprises in certain industries, such as mining, energy, manufacturing, and more. As 5G evolves over the next decade or so, private 5G networks will evolve to support smaller companies in almost all industries.

The consumer market has long been the bread-and-butter for CSPs. The telecommunications industry is capital-intensive and requires heavy investment to compete. CSPs have invested significantly in 5G. The stark truth is those CSPs depending just on the consumer market for a return on investment will fail.

5G is designed with the enterprise market in mind and provides new capabilities that no other networking technology can provide. To achieve an acceptable return on their 5G investments, CSPs must better serve customers outside of the consumer market. This may be with the public 5G networks. Or it may be by providing enterprises with private 5G networks. (Or perhaps some combination.)

Not all private 5G networks will involve CSPs, but perhaps the most lucrative will. CSPs must take advantage of this opportunity, and the most successful CSPs globally are actively involved in growing this market.

All private 5G networks will involve network infrastructure suppliers. As more of the world rolls out 5G, there will come a time with slower growth for network infrastructure suppliers and public 5G networks. With private 5G networks growing strongly, suppliers may not even notice the slowdown.

Private 5G networks have the potential to transform enterprise data communication needs AND enable CSPs to continue providing consumers and industry ever-evolving communications services. First published on Frost & Sullivan

The post Private 5G networks will be game-changing for some companies appeared first on FutureIoT.

Gathering, analysing, and utilising vast amounts of data from equipment, processes, customers, and suppliers also drive this transformation. Broad, organisational information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) convergence, in which data-centric IT systems integrate with operations equipment and technology, can provide a huge competitive advantage when executed successfully.

IT-OT convergence is cited as one of the most important factors for organisations to achieve their strategic goals—68% of respondents—with a majority implementing or annually reviewing some form of this process.

Integration challenges range from getting old equipment to work with new systems and platforms to bridging the different goals and priorities of IT and OT teams. Others include:

• Technical and cultural integration issues.
• Incompatible legacy applications.
• Security vulnerabilities and concerns integrating IT and OT systems.
• Lack of expertise in IT/OT integration.
• Organisational complexity.

Despite these hurdles, many industrial organisations are working to excel at their IT/OT convergence strategy.

“Addressing these challenges requires investing in complementary solutions such as digital technologies and risk management, and ensuring that IT/OT convergence has clear, quantifiable business advantages by creating strong data monetization strategies and being responsive to evolving customer needs,” said Roberta Gamble, partner and vice president at Frost & Sullivan.

She added that reducing production downtimes and increasing competitiveness through optimizing operational performance (by reducing OPEX, and faster time to market) are the most common OT investment drivers across industries.

“Initiatives are led at the C level, with CEOs being the most common champions. Interestingly, they have a balanced view of achieving convergence across all three types; IT-centric roles tend to have physical convergence goals.”

Roberta Gamble

Recommendations

Frost suggests that Oil & gas industries must build industry-appropriate apps and systems that build value from data, prioritize creating operations and production performance views, and bridge growing skill and workforce gaps limiting IT/OT potential.

Utilities industrials must transition from silos to a matrix of multidisciplinary teams focused on end-to-end business goals, create strong defences against cyber threats, and harmonize data collection protocols.

Among the automotive industrials, Gamble suggested these prioritise automation to improve quality, reduce OT costs, and build workforce flexibility; use advanced connectivity for reliable, real-time connectivity; and build or partner with a solution provider to create industry-focused tools.

“Manufacturing industrials must create continuity and visibility across a disparate organisation, work with value chain partners on data/digital transformation strategies, adopt cohesive and integral cybersecurity solutions across platforms and networks, and opt for open systems that easily integrate across different equipment generations and legacy data systems,” she concluded.

The post Edge to drive industrial IT-OT convergence in key industries appeared first on FutureIoT.

Lower latency and support for Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) afforded by a 5G network can further enable wireless process automation for robotics use cases and increase bandwidth support for data-heavy applications, such as video analytics.

ABI Research predicts that in 2030, manufacturing and industrial firms globally will have more than 49 million 5G connections inside their facilities. This will generate US$2.4 billion in global connections revenue for suppliers.

Michael Larner, industrial and manufacturing research director at ABI Research, says progressive advancements to network performance (from Wi-Fi to Long Term Evolution (LTE), and from LTE to 5G) can underpin improvements to customers’ operations.

“But to maximise the benefits to their operations, customers will need to invest in ancillary technologies, such as edge networking, data management, and data analytics, to accelerate data collection and create a digital thread,” he added.

Hurdles ahead

However, a lack of 5G industrial devices has stalled manufacturers’ interest in 5G private wireless. In turn, the lack of enthusiasm has discouraged hardware suppliers from creating the necessary devices.

As a result of the state of flux, equipment vendors, such as Nokia, have launched converged devices supporting Wi-Fi, LTE, and 5G connectivity.

Suppliers need to showcase the attributes of a 5G network and prove how a 5G network can upgrade operations.

“The lack of 5G devices is a genuine drag on adoption, but suppliers (telcos such as Nokia, Ericsson, NTT), Information Technology (IT) providers (HPE, DXC, Dell Technologies), Operational Technology (OT) specialists (Bosch, Siemens, Honeywell) and System Integrators (SIs) such as Accenture and Deloitte) should be working with prospective customers to educate them today about 5G’s potential,” Larner cautioned.

The post 49 million 5G connections to bring US$2.4 billion in connection revenues appeared first on FutureIoT.

ABI Research suggests that by reformulating business models, operations, and strategic goals, shared micro-mobility companies can unleash the potential of a market worth US$9 billion in ride revenues in 2030.

Maite Bezerra, smart mobility & automotive industry analyst at ABI Research, explains that after years of rapid but disorderly expansion, most players have high idle vehicle rates and low profitability in various markets due to a mismatch between vehicle supply and demand.

She opines that to thrive in the shared micro-mobility market, operators must optimally relocate or expand operations based on data-driven insights and analytics rather than intuition.

"It is also imperative to adopt measures to reduce costs that have skyrocketed with the enhancement of vehicle durability, safety, electrification, and recent restrictions and demands made by city authorities,” elaborated Bezerra.

By the numbers

Vehicle charging accounts for 50% of the operating costs per vehicle. Combined with rebalancing, they are the highest operational costs in shared micro-mobility. These costs can be significantly reduced by outsourcing field operations and adopting swappable batteries.

Swappable batteries reduce recharge costs by 30% to 60% because vehicles do not need to be transported to the warehouse to be charged.

At the same time, charging time can be cut from 4 hours to 15 minutes. When embedded connectivity is available, operators can use cloud-based fleet management platforms to automate vehicle rebalancing, charging, and servicing tasks, reducing vehicle downtime by up to 80%.

Moreover, location information enables the development of a plethora of services, such as demand heatmaps, which can increase fleet usage by 22% in six months.

Competitive landscape

Data analytics and fleet management platforms, like the ones offered by Otonomo, Anadue, Targa Telematics, and Autofleet, use machine learning and predictive analytics to maximize operational efficiencies, and optimally expand or relocate existing operations, and ultimately increase ROI based on data-driven insights.

Moreover, they provide quantifiable impact metrics, which are advantageous assets for competitive tender applications. Business model reassessment is another urgent need because presently, ride revenues are insufficient to cover their costs.

Advertising-led revenues, gamification, dynamic pricing, and diversification into last-mile delivery or vehicle manufacturing for the consumer markets are some tools that can significantly increase profitability.

"Shared-micro mobility operators have a tough road ahead, including the need to downsize/restructure, consolidations, and slower growth rates. However, those who are quick to understand the importance of data analytics and implement efficiency and profitability-based goals will be able to navigate the market successfully,” Bezerra concluded.

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According to a Digitimes research report, the country’s ICT industry has shifted from focusing on hardware to hardware/software integration models. The industry is combining big data analysis and AI applications in public IoT to facilitate the development of smart city management.

Tools such as IoT, AI, cloud computing, and communications technologies are efficiently integrated with urban infrastructure to produce economic benefits and improve quality of life.

“Taiwan's expertise in semiconductor and hardware is important to smart cities' development as more data is being used to improve AI systems, resulting in rising demand for stronger infrastructure and hardware with next-generation AI semiconductors,” said Dr. Ayesha Khanna, co-founder and CEO of Addo, an AI consulting firm based in California.

Khanna will be one of the speakers at the upcoming smart city webinar in Taipei later this month to be hosted by Digitimes Asia.

Khanna believes that whether it is AI, robots, 3D printing, Internet of things or 5G, smart city's development should not start purely with technologies but the idea of assisting people to solve their problems or become the aspirational goal for citizens.

It is estimated that the business opportunities of smart cities will reach US$2.6 trillion in 2025, mainly in the Asia Pacific region. This includes sectors such as smart poles, building, parking, monitor, government, transportation, fire protection, water conservancy and WITMED.

“When people want to have better energy and waste management in their city, designers can create an AI solution for monitoring energy usage that can turn streetlights on and off with a built-in smart lighting system. They can also build a centralised trash collection mechanism with sensors and have robots powered by AI to collect waste all around the neighbourhoods to reduce traffic and road congestions,” Khanna said.

Collecting and integrating public and private data

Khanna pointed out that it also important to collect and integrate publicly available data and data from the ecosystem's private firms to form a system.

For example, by combining data of taxi companies and traffic light operation, it reduces people's waiting time for taxies, while traffic congestion can also be significantly lowered with the system's assistance in rerouting or changing the traffic lights.

Technologies for smart healthcare

Nowadays, because of the pandemic, the number of hospital visits via online meeting software or telemedicine services increased dramatically as people find it more convenient and efficient.

The technologies used by medical care system are also making improvements with some designers beginning to adopt biometric sensors onto the terminals for the machines to collect more patients' data, giving doctors more information to make intelligent diagnosis, such as handheld ultrasound products that can be connected via smartphones for patients to check on themselves via AI or by medical staff nearby and then send results to their doctors.

“Technologies for remote medical care are a key area that many IT companies have devoted their R&D effort to. Ambulances built with remote medical care system can connect doctors with ambulances care assistants for them to do check-ups while transporting patents to the hospital. The doctors can also make an examination over patients' injuries via a head-mounted display (HMD) to save time,” said Khanna.

Vital role of 5G in smart city

However, Khanna said all these innovations still rely on 5G, which allows devices to communicate with each other with its fast transmission speed, and has brought a revolution to the manufacturing industry and factories.

In Singapore, a lot of investments are being made for deploying 5G infrastructure throughout the city. This is also the case for many countries including the US.

As smart systems are adopting more sensors to enhance their data collection ability, 5G's commercialisation has become the key to unlock the potential of IoT.

With telecom carriers worldwide keenly expanding their 5G infrastructure, Dr. Khanna is optimistic about the birth of more new smart systems and the rapid development of smart cities worldwide.

“The future of smart city will not be operated by one large central AI, but multiple small ones. Issues within smart cities' key sectors such as healthcare, energy and education will continue to be overseen by government departments or public sector companies with them using AIs to optimise and create innovations for their services,” said Khanna.

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“Wi-Fi has been a key enabler of the global IIOT market, which is on track to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 23% between 2017 and 2023. Wi-Fi 6 and 6E are expanding capabilties by providing the multi-Gb/s data rates, additional spectrum, deterministic performance and other advanced capabilities necessary to support demanding applications such as Industry 4.0,” said Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.

Entitled “Wi-Fi 6/6E for Industrial IoT: Enabling Wi-Fi Determinism in an IoT World”, the white paper delves into the efficacy of using the latest Wi-Fi standard for new IIoT applications deployed manufacturing/Industry 4.0 and logistics, involving autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), automated ground vehicles (AGVs), predictive maintenance and augmented/virtual/mixed reality (AR/VR/MR).

“As more equipment is monitored, wiring becomes prohibitive,” the paper says. “Industry is moving towards the inclusion of wireless technologies to lessen the cost of obtaining more information about their processes. In one recent case in the oil and gas industry, moving to a wireless installation resulted in a 75% cost reduction in installation.”

For example, manufacturers are increasingly using IIoT sensors for vibration, temperature and lubricant viscosity to catch emerging equipment problems before they result in extensive, expensive downtime. Other IIoT sensors provide real-time insights about production output, inventory levels and asset locations. Wireless has become the preferred way to network these sensors because it’s faster and cheaper to deploy than copper or fibre.

Industry-wide initiative towards next-generation Wi-FI

According to Eric McLaughlin, vice president of the Client Computing Group and general manager of the Wireless Solutions Group at Intel Corporation, said that Wi-Fi is an essential ingredient in enabling the major transformation now happening in the industrial IoT market.

“Applications like Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) and Remote Human Management Interface (HMI) industrial devices require the mobility, functional safety, high reliability, low latency, robust security and determinism that Wi-Fi 6/6E can deliver particularly when combined with TSN (time sensitive networking) solutions. We are pleased to be leading this Wi-Fi technology evolution, and applauds the work that the WBA is doing in this space.”

Produced by WBA’s Wi-Fi 6/6E for IIOT work group led by Intel, Cisco and Deutsche Telekom, the report provides an overview of Wi-Fi 6 and 6E capabilities that are ideal for sensors and other IIoT applications, such as:

• Scheduled access (SA) enabled by trigger-based (TB) uplink (UL) orthogonal frequency domain multiple access (OFDMA) in Wi-Fi 6 provides the ability to reduce or eliminate contention and bound latency (e.g. 99 percentile). This leads to increased levels of determinism applicable to all real-time and IIOT applications.
• Wi-Fi 6 provides many deterministic QoS capabilities, such as the traffic prioritization that is a key component of Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) for Industry 4.0 applications. Another example is Multi-link operation (MLO), a capability that helps provide high reliability for applications that cannot tolerate any packet loss.
• The Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) protocol specified in IEEE 802.11-2016 enables both time-synchronization but also precise indoor range and position/location determination. This can be used for Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) and Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGV) applications such as route planning, exception handling and safety-related aspects including collision avoidance based on proximity. This capability does not require additional Wi-Fi infrastructure, so manufacturers can implement it immediately, for instance as part of their Industry 4.0 migration.
• The target-wake-time (TWT) feature added to Wi-Fi 6 provides more efficient power-save and scheduling enhancement. This capability is a good fit for battery-powered IIoT nodes that need to transmit only infrequently, such as a sensor that uploads data only when a motor’s temperature exceeds a certain threshold.
• Wi-Fi 6E supports up to 1.2 GHz of spectrum, making it ideal for use cases that require both multi-Gb/s throughput and determinism, such as industrial AR/VR/MR and sensor fusion.

The 52-page report also includes RF/network deployment guidelines for factory, warehouse, logistics and other use cases. For example, it provides recommendations for leveraging 802.11ax/Wi-Fi 6 scheduling capabilities to optimize traffic patterns and manage critical QoS requirements. Another example is using high-gain directional antennas to increase channel re-use rates and work around metal racks and other signal-attenuating features commonly found in warehouses.

Ongoing projects around next-gen Wi-Fi

The WBA said there are over three dozen vendors, service providers and other organisations participated in developing the white paper.

Some current projects around the new Wi-Fi standards that have been mentioned in the paper include:

• Cisco, Intel and partners are working on use cases involving AMR and AGV, where key requirements include <10-20ms latency, <50km/h speed and .99.9999% reliability.
• Cisco and Mettis Aerospace are working on sensor applications, where requirements include very high reliability, low power consumption and high device density.
• Further work taking place on video-AMR fusion use cases such as collision avoidance, where technical requirements include <20ms latency and <1ms jitter.
• Cisco is working on safety control applications, which require <1-ms latency for applications such as automatically stopping a machine after a sensor detects that the person has left the operating position.
• Cisco, Mettis Aerospace and Intel are working on AR/VR applications with resolutions up to 80K and 90fps, where throughput requirements can be as high as 100 Mb/s.
•  Cisco is working on automotive uses cases such as logistics in high-density storage lots, where <60dBm interference is key for reliable operation.

 Matt MacPherson, CTO, Cisco Wireless, said: “The next industrial evolution will not only depend on the ability to connect more things, but to also add greater reliability, intelligence and security. This can only be done when the world’s leading companies work together with progressive Industry 4.0 customers to explore and implement new, game-changing technologies.”

He added: “We are proud of the work we have done with the WBA to ensure customers understand how, when and where to apply the latest innovations. It is because of advancements in wireless technology that Industrial IoT sits at the centre of the forthcoming industrial revolution."

 Ahmed Hafez, vice president of network convergence at Deutsche Telekom said: “Deutsche Telekom’s industrial partners are demanding ubiquitous high performance wireless connectivity to take their production processes to the next level. Converged Access combining 5G cellular and Wi-Fi6/6E Networks will play a vital role to deliver comprehensively on their application and process demands in the near future”.

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According to Mark Verbloot, senior director of  product, solutions and systems engineering for Asia Pacific Region at Aruba Networks, the turbulence in manufacturing and the supply chain seen in the last two years have underscored the need for manufacturers to accelerate their transition from “mass production and economies of scale to prioritizing market and customer responsiveness".

"In response to the issues they face, high-tech manufacturers are increasingly aligning their technology investments to secure and optimise operations while addressing data privacy and security concerns even as they build greater resilience in the long-term,” said Verbloot.

The study, entitled “High-Tech Manufacturing Begins with High-Performance Networking and Security Solution”, was conducting by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Aruba – a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, surveying more than 270 business and IT decision-makers from high-tech manufacturers in Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand in the first quarter of 2022.

The study found three in four manufacturers in the region are prioritising innovation and automation for greater operational efficiency and resilience over the past 12 months.

It also found that edge solutions, IoT applications, and networks were essential to driving innovation for 63% of respondents, with 61% indicating they had optimised manufacturing processes with automation and robots. Meanwhile, 69% of respondents said they were either piloting or already using cloud-managed networking and security solutions to benefit from improved flexibility, scalability, and defense capabilities.

Furthermore, 64% of respondents who indicated their intention to build on previous investments in AI-powered software to optimise operations, implement predictive capabilities, and optimise productivity.

Data privacy and security concerns

With the increased connectivity and digitalisation of processes and operations, the study states that the collection, transmission, and utilisation of the breadth of data is becoming critical to the sectors' ability to scale operations and address the challenges posed by privacy and security concerns.

Indeed, more than half (52%) of APAC decision-makers ranked data privacy and security concerns within their top five challenges when implementing networking solutions, while 48% said the lack of cybersecurity features in legacy IoT devices is one of their top five challenges. About 18% ranked information technology/operational technology (IT/OT) divide as one of their top two networking challenges.

In response to data privacy and security concerns, manufacturers have plans to leverage emerging technologies and automation to secure their operations in the next 24 months.

These solutions include cloud-managed networking (38%) and SD-WAN (37%). More than 50% of manufacturers are also expanding, upgrading, or planning to invest in Zero Trust Edge solutions in the same timeframe, while 57% said identity-based traffic segmentation helps them to achieve their business goals.

"As we emerge from the pandemic, there is a need for the manufacturing industry to develop greater agility and flexibility in their operations. Innovation is at the heart of decision-makers’ priorities but manufacturing leaders need to act now by leveraging high-performance network and security solutions to help the smart manufacturing industry scale effectively,” said Verbloot.

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Collectively called “OT:ICEFALL”, all 56 vulnerabilities are divided into four main categories: insecure engineering protocols, weak cryptography or broken authentication schemes, insecure firmware updates and remote code execution via native functionality.

The 36-page report from Vedere Labs underscored the impact of “insecure by design” legacy of OT devices which leave them exposed to real-world OT malware such as  Industroyer, TRITON, Industroyer2 and INCONTROLLER.

“The rapid expansion of the threat landscape is well documented at this stage. By connecting OT to IoT and IT devices, vulnerabilities that once were seen as insignificant due to their lack of connectivity are now high targets for bad actors.” said Daniel dos Santos, head of security research, Forescout Vedere Labs. 

He added: “We a very long way to go to reach the summit of these OT design practices. These types of vulnerabilities, and the proven desire for attackers to exploit them, demonstrate the need for robust, OT-aware network monitoring and deep-packet-inspection (DPI) capabilities.”

The products affected by OT:ICEFALL are known to be prevalent in industries that are the backbone of critical infrastructure such as oil and gas, chemical, nuclear, power generation and distribution, manufacturing, water treatment and distribution, mining and building automation. Many of these products are sold as ‘secure by design’ or have been certified with OT security standards

Shifting threat landscape

The report by Vedere Labs has identified a shift in the community toward recognising “insecure by design” vulnerabilities.

“Only a few years back, well-known vulnerabilities like some that can be found in OT:ICEFALL would not get assigned a CVE ID because there was the assumption that everyone knew OT protocols were insecure. On the contrary, we believe a CVE is a community recognised marker that aids in vulnerability visibility and actionability by helping push vendors to fix issues and asset owners to assess risks and apply patches,” the report said.

The vulnerabilities and associated issues disclosed in this report range from persistent insecure-by-design practices in security-certified products to inadequate attempts to fix them.

It is crucial for asset owners to understand how the opaque and proprietary nature of these systems, the suboptimal vulnerability management surrounding them, and the often-false sense of security offered by certifications complicate OT risk management efforts.

Although the impact of each vulnerability is highly dependent on the functionality each device offers, they fall under the following categories:

• Remote code execution (RCE): Allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the impacted device, but the code may be executed in different specialised processors and different contexts within a processor, so an RCE does not always mean full control of a device. This is usually achieved via insecure firmware/logic update functions that allow the attacker to supply arbitrary code.
• Denial of service (DoS): Allows an attacker to either take a device completely offline or to prevent access to some function.
• File/firmware/configuration manipulation: Allows an attacker to change important aspects of a device such as files stored within it, the firmware running on it or its specific configurations. This is usually achieved via critical functions lacking the proper authentication/authorization or integrity checking that would prevent attackers from tampering with the device.
• Compromise of credentials: Allows an attacker to obtain credentials to device functions, usually either because they are stored or transmitted insecurely.
• Authentication bypass: Allows an attacker to bypass existing authentication functions and invoke desired functionality on the target device.

A full list of devices affected by OT: ICEFALL is available here, while details of each vulnerability are discussed in Forescout’s technical report.

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This was one of the key takeaways from a newly released global study entitled “The Race to Decarbonization”, which evaluate progress companies have made in pursuing  their sustainability goals.  Forrester Consulting in collaboration with Johnson Controls conducted an online survey in September 2021, polling over 2,348 sustainability strategy leaders in 25 countries  and across 19 industries.

“The survey clearly shows that business leaders in Southeast Asia see sustainability as the number one business priority now. And among the different key sustainability initiatives, energy efficient buildings and workspaces is high on the agenda, with 91% deeming this an investment priority within three years," said Charles Lim, leader, Southeast Asia, Johnson Controls. “More than three quarters of respondents have goals to reduce carbon emissions across their portfolio of buildings by 26% or more; and 11% are gunning for net zero or carbon negative.”

The global survey found that North America is the most aggressive with their carbon reduction goals. While the urgency among the private sector is picking up in Southeast Asia, more is needed. The ASEAN State of Climate Change Report noted that “there are still large gaps in implementation and ambition” based on emission reduction targets in 2030 and emission trends up to now.

Where to start a challenge

Although organisations recognise the benefits of implementing sustainability practices, many companies do not know where to start in preparing for critical business transformations. Top five hurdles today relate to managing multiple parties involved, lacking strategic plan, lacking external partners, understanding of changing policy requirements, and struggling to scale up.

The survey further found that only 18% of respondents in Southeast Asia have ESG reporting software to help measure their progress while 41% of respondents believe their organizations have a shortage of internal expertise, preventing them from tracking their carbon emissions effectively.

"In the race to decarbonisation, companies must align priorities to the demands of many stakeholders, work with partners to develop transparent sustainability roadmaps, and identify  metrics and adopt tools to track progress," said Mei Peng Hor, business development director, sustainable infrastructure, Asia Pacific, Johnson Controls.

She added: "More customers are looking for ways to make this process easier, and are transferring their sustainability commitments and the risk to reach these targets to an external partner that has the capability, scale and ecosystem. Our OpenBlue Net Zero Buildings as a Service, for example, has helped the University of Hawaii reduce energy use by 80% across four campuses, saving US$80 million, through energy retrofit and renewable energy solutions."

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"Many manufacturers are considering introducing smart factory technologies that incorporate information technology into their manufacturing processes to flexibly respond to changing markets and strengthen competitiveness through continuous innovation," said Yong-ha Lee, regional director, Rockwell Automation Korea.

"The CEC provides a one-stop location where customers can physically and virtually interact with our cutting-edge solutions and understand the value of the connected enterprise. I hope the centre will be a place where customers can experience how digitalisation can address real business problems and immediately begin developing tailored strategies together with us," added Lee.

The centre consists of five zones where customers can experience Rockwell Automation's latest smart factory technologies first-hand, including the motor control centre, Independent Cart Technology, Internet of Things (IoT) control systems and cybersecurity systems, distributed control systems, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications.

Hands-on demonstrations will be administered by Rockwell subject matter experts and visitors can download an AR-enabled app to experience the solutions for themselves. In addition, all solutions are operated based on real-time data, so visitors can behold the actual operation status of facilities.

With over 120 years of experience, Rockwell Automation provides cutting-edge smart factory solutions to companies in more than 100 countries.

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The companies will also collaborate around creating and deploying smart factory IoT solutions for VinES batteries manufacturing and VinFast electric vehicles manufacturing.

“Vingroup has always been a pioneer in bringing consumers smart products and services integrated with world-class technologies, advanced features and outstanding experiences to improve their lives. We work towards realising this vision through partnerships like this, to create a smarter and more sustainable future for everyone,” said Le Thi Thu Thuy, vice chairwoman of Vingroup.

The collaboration is part of a continued effort from Vingroup to work with top tier global suppliers who can aid with manufacturing development, smart services and electric vehicle initiatives.

Vingroup recently adjusted its orientation and redefined three key groups of activities, namely technology and industry, trade and services, and social enterprise.

To develop the technology and industry group, Vingroup focuses on two main strategies: building Vingoup's technology ecosystem and connecting global intelligence – cooperating with the world's leading technology partners to accelerate the application of the most advanced and new technologies to Vingroup's products and services.

Advancing automotive technology

Under their new MOU, Vingroup and Intel will also  collectively define and build both an optimised and scalable computing architecture for AI training and inference for Vingroup's in-vehicle and cloud applications.

The applications will enable a specific in-vehicle experience for consumers and an optimised multi-cloud strategy to potentially migrate and deploy open-source in-vehicle and in-building applications. They can include high-performance data management systems for ADAS and Infotainment, manufacturing and supply chain management along with enterprise solutions for Vingroup facilities.

Both companies will also work together to define a shared vision of future in-vehicle computing platforms and build scalable in-vehicle computing platforms for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) based on Mobileye technology and infotainment systems that deliver a unique in-vehicle experience for Vingroup and VinFast customers and create a suite of services that will differentiate them from competitors.

"The digitisation of everything is contributing to the insatiable need for semiconductors, especially in the automotive sector. Intel has the depth and breadth of software, silicon and platforms, and process with at-scale manufacturing our partners need for their next-generation innovations. This collaboration with Vingroup can help deliver needed technology innovations for safer roads, more sustainable manufacturing and smarter cities," said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO.

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These bioinspired sensors could usher in the next generation of artificial-vision systems used in autonomous vehicles and manufacturing, as well as finding exciting new applications in edge computing and the Internet of Things.

"They will greatly improve machine vision systems used for visual analysis and identification tasks," said Dr. Chai Yang, associate professor at the Department of Applied Physics, and Assistant Dean (Research), Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles, PolyU, who led the research.

Improving machine vision

Machine vision systems are cameras and computers that capture and process images for tasks such as facial recognition. They need to be able to "see" objects in a wide range of lighting conditions, which demands intricate circuitry and complex algorithms. Such systems are rarely efficient enough to process a large volume of visual information in real time—unlike the human brain.

The new bio-inspired sensors may offer a solution through directly adapting different light intensities by the sensors, instead of relying on backend computation. The human eye adapts to different levels of illumination, from very dark to very bright and vice versa, which allows us to identify objects accurately under a range of lighting conditions. The new sensors aim to mimic this adaptability.

"The human pupil may help adjust the amount of light entering the eye," said Dr. Chai, "but the main adaptation to brightness is performed by retina cells."

Natural light intensity spans 280 dB. The new sensors developed by Dr Chai's team have an effective range of up to 199 dB, compared with only 70 dB for conventional silicon-based sensors. The human retina can adapt to environments under sunlight to starlight, with a range of about 160 dB.

Light detectors developed

To achieve this, the research team developed light detectors, called phototransistors, using a dual layer of atomic-level ultrathin molybdenum disulphide, a semiconductor with unique electrical and optical properties. The researchers then introduced "charge trap states"—impurities or imperfections in a solid's crystalline structure that restrict the movement of charge—to the dual layer.

"These trap states enable the storage of light information," the researchers reported, "and dynamically modulate the optoelectronic properties of the device at the pixel level." By controlling the movement of electrons, the trap states enabled the researchers to precisely adjust the amount of electricity conducted by the phototransistors. This in turn allowed them to control the device's photosensitivity, or its ability to detect light.

Each of the new vision sensors is made up of arrays of such phototransistors. They mimic the rod and cone cells of the human eye, which are respectively responsible for detecting dim and bright light. As a result, the sensors can detect objects in differently lit environments as well as switch between, and adapt to, varying levels of brightness—with an even greater range than the human eye.

"The sensors reduce hardware complexity and greatly increase the image contrast under different lighting conditions," said Dr Chai, "thus delivering high image recognition efficiency."

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The Nokia MXIE is a future-ready, high-capacity and highly-resilient as-a-service OT on-premise edge solution that accelerates the digital transformation of operational technology (OT), and is powered with 4.9/LTE and 5G connectivity provided by the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC).

Through the expanded  partnership with Microsoft, Nokia MXIE and private wireless solution customers have seamless access to the full Azure ecosystem offering on MXIE. For one, the integration will allow Nokia customers in industries such as automotive, manufacturing, energy, logistics and government to run Industry 4.0 applications in the traditional cloud, as well as directly on their premises. It will also provide numerous benefits such as increasing worker safety through AI and automation, while decreasing the amount of needed backhaul with local data processing.

“Our extended collaboration with Microsoft will enable and enhance the performance of Industry 4.0 mission critical applications allowing our customers to tap into Microsoft Azure Arc in the cloud and on the customer premise’s edge,” said Stephan Litjens, vice president, Nokia Enterprise Solutions.

Nokia has deployed mission-critical networks to more than 2,200 leading enterprise customers in the transport, energy, large enterprise, manufacturing, webscale and public sector segments around the globe. It has also extended its expertise to more than 450 large private wireless customers worldwide across an array of sectors.

Microsoft Azure Arc offers a simple way to deploy and manage Azure applications on-premise with multi-cloud resources, such as virtual or physical servers and Kubernetes clusters. It simplifies governance and management by delivering a consistent multi-cloud and on-premise management platform.

Microsoft Azure Arc running on Nokia MXIE provides enterprises with added access to Azure capabilities while benefiting from private wireless connected assets’ real-time data and on-premise, highly-resilient OT-centric edge processing. Keith Sutton, CTO, telco service line at Microsoft said: “Nokia is an established leader in fully integrated industrial edge and private wireless solutions to provide features and automated management tools that accelerate OT digitalization. With Microsoft Azure Arc, a wide ecosystem of applications, and our long standing work with Nokia, we can provide AI-powered insights and identify solutions to workflow issues for mission critical Industry 4.0 applications running at the edge.”

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Tracr is the world's only distributed diamond blockchain that starts at the source and provides tamper-proof source assurance at scale, enabling Sightholders to provide an immutable record of a diamond's provenance, and empowering jewellery retailers to have confidence in the origin of the diamonds they purchase.

The platform brings together a range of leading technologies – including blockchain, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and advanced security and privacy technologies – to support the identification of a diamond's journey through the value chain.

De Beers has already registered one quarter of its production by value on Tracr in the first three Sights of the year in preparation for this first scale release.

Delivering100% source assurance

With more end clients wanting to know the source of the products they buy, the deep meaning associated with a diamond purchase requires a technological step-change to meet their expectations. The introduction of Tracr at scale delivers immutable information on the source of De Beers' diamonds across the value chain and makes source assurance for 100% of De Beers' production possible.

Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: "De Beers discovers diamonds with our partners in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa and, with our long-term investment in Tracr, we are proud to join with our Sightholders to provide the industry with immutable diamond source assurance at scale.

“Tracr, which will enable the provision of provenance information from source to Sightholder to store on a secure blockchain, will underpin confidence in natural diamonds and represents the first step in a technological transformation that will enhance standards and raise expectations of what we are capable of providing to our end clients."

Advanced data security and privacy

The Tracr platform combines distributed ledger technology with advanced data security and privacy, ensuring that participants control the use of and access to their own data. Each participant on Tracr has their own distributed version of the platform, meaning that their data can only be shared with their permission, and only they choose who can access their information.

The advanced privacy technologies used by Tracr reinforce data security on the platform. The immutable nature of each transaction on the platform ensures that the data cannot be tampered with when the diamond progresses through the value chain.

Moreover, the decentralised nature of the platform ensures its speed and scalability, with the ability to register one million diamonds a week onto the platform. With centralised platforms, dealing with large volumes of data can cause bottlenecks, but the decentralised model used by Tracr avoids such issues and enables rapid scaling.

The scalability, speed and security of Tracr are combined into an intuitive user experience to support ease of use for platform participants.

Lefoko Moagi, Minister of Minerals and Energy, Government of Botswana said: "The introduction of this advanced provenance technology is extremely exciting and we are very pleased as a large diamond producing country, and shareholder in De Beers, to be a part of this development. Confidence in diamond origin is extremely important and we look forward to seeing the roll out of this new programme delivering new benefits to the diamond industry and giving more assurance to consumers."

De Beers' provenance claims have been certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council and trust in the De Beers source of diamonds is also assured by the business's Pipeline Integrity programme which involves annual third-party verification visits of participants by independent auditors.

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Lee Kum Kee (Hong Kong) Foods Limited has earmarked HK$46 million to build its new oyster sauce smart production line, which is scheduled to start operation in the first quarter of 2024.

The new fully automated production line will produce 20,000 bottles of oyster sauce per hour, doubling the production capacity of the company's oyster sauce manufacturing plant at Tai Po InnoPark. Artificial intelligence (AI) will be deployed in the new line to monitor the production process and to gather real-time data to enhance product traceability and overall operational efficiency.

The  company last week received HK$15 million under the RFS to partially fund the project.

“We are glad to receive funding support for our new Oyster Sauce Smart Production Line project under the RFS. We are committed to implementing digital upgrade and smart factory transformation, in order to enhance our production efficiency and satisfy consumer needs,” said Kathy Lam, CEO, Lee Kum Kee International Holdings.

Launched in July 2020 under the auspices of the city’s Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC), the RFS provides subsidy to manufacturers in Hong Kong who are upgrading their factories into smart production lines. The scheme offers a matching financial support amounting to one-third of the approved project cost, capped at a maximum ceiling of HK$15 million per project. Projects under the scheme are expected to be completed within 24 months.

Upgrading production processes

Lee Kum Kee (Hong Kong) Foods is the latest local food manufacturer to avail of the RFS initiative.

In January of this year,  the ITC approved a HK$14.9 million RFS project to help Leun Tai Hong Kong Fresh Liquid Eggs Limited to establish its smart production line  for its fresh liquid egg products. The new smart facility will be similarly located at the Tai Po InnoPark.

The smart production line project is expected to increase the daily production of fresh liquid eggs by two to three times, while lowering the production cost by 20% to 30%.

Established in 1957, Luen Tai Hong is  a key local supplier of fresh liquid eggs (with a market share of nearly 30%) for many restaurants and food manufacturers in Hong Kong. It established the first pasteurised liquid eggs factory in the city in 2013.

Leun Tai Hong last month has enlisted the help of the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) to customise the design of its new smart production line.

“At present, 30 tons of fresh egg liquid are produced every day, mainly relying on manual supervision and productivity is limited. With intelligent production, the production capacity can increase by 2 to 3 times, with 60 to 70 tons of fresh egg liquid to be produced per day,” said Young Kam-yim, managing director of Luen Tai Hong.

He added:  “At the same time, manpower, production time and human error will be reduced, achieving overall cost saving of up to 30%. Staff can also be deployed to handle high-tech work, reducing costs and raising efficiency. Intelligent production will also diversify our business. In addition to expanding from B2B to B2C retail business, high production capacity will also help the brand enter the huge and potential Greater Bay Area (GBA) market with a population of more than 86 million, making Hong Kong’s food manufacturing industry shine on the global stage.”

By applying HKPCs one-stop integrated technical support, Leun Tai Hong will be able to optimise its production process through the adoption of  sensors, Internet of Things and machine vision. Furthermore, the production process will be monitored with real-time data to ensure product safety and traceability, while increasing productivity and stability.

“The food industry is one of the top four sectors boosting the largest value growth among local manufacturing. We determined to lead the food industry gradually move towards advanced manufacturing so as to strengthen the ‘Made in Hong Kong’ brand and let it shine in the international market,” said Edmond Lai, chief digital officer, HKPC.

He added: “With the advanced manufacturing technologies of i4.0, HKPC helps the manufacturing industry to streamline the traditional production process. Through data-based real-time monitoring of product quality, operators can also flexibly deploy according to the data of each position, and establish predictive maintenance to avoid losses incurred by unexpected downtime, making enterprise management more handy.”

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While Southeast Asia remains an attractive region for manufacturers, the rapid growth and digitalisation in ASEAN countries are adding to the region's sustainability challenges. Despite the rising concerns on sustainable practices in ASEAN, sustainability ranks high as government agencies are committed to combating climate change.

Many approaches to environmental best practices have evolved over the years. The region continues to set energy and emission targets to demonstrate its efforts in protecting the environment. 

With the rise of the term "sustainable manufacturing", defined as the manufacturing of products using processes that minimise negative environmental impacts, manufacturers are introducing innovative solutions to their factory floors.

Sustainable manufacturing has spread far beyond the niche groups of organisations that positioned themselves as environmentally friendly and encompass many notable firms from a wide range of industries. This is a goal sought by manufacturers that aim for a competitive advantage in the market while considering the negative impacts their operations have on the environment. 

Few people connect collaborative robots (cobots) and sustainability, but Earth Day has given manufacturers a chance to pause and reflect on the difference that cobots can make. Celebrated on the 22nd of April each year, Earth Day is an annual event to demonstrate the support for environmental protection at an individual and societal level. This global day has initiated organisations to explore ways to improve their operations, allowing for increased productivity and efficiency while adopting sustainability. 

Reducing waste in manufacturing 

In the manufacturing process, turnaround time (time taken for a product to be produced) must be fast, and defects and raw material wastage minimised to meet production targets consistently. Manufacturing defects and discarded raw materials are not only costly to companies, but they also become waste which impacts the environment.

One of the most effective ways to reduce both cost and waste in this sector is to improve the quality of manufacturing processes. This is where collaborative robots, or cobots, can offer manufacturers a helping hand.

Cobots are built for repetitive actions. Cycle after cycle, the most efficient actions are repeated at the same pace, and with the same precision. This reduces wastage in industries such as welding, dispensing and material removal, and minimises the number of defective products.

Production output becomes more predictable as takt time (cycle time for a specific process) is stabilised, which allows for more efficient and optimised logistics arrangements. 

For example, Hyundae Induction Hardening Heat Treatment (HIHHT), a Korean company that provides induction hardening heat treatment process, deployed two UR10 cobots in their process. These cobots place an untreated component into the treatment machine and then remove the treated component to a conveyer belt. As a result, HIHHT’s product failure rate decreased from 0.03% to 0.01% and production efficiency increased by 31%.

While the impact on waste at each workshop or factory may seem insignificant in the context of the world’s challenges, on a global scale, the environmental impact could be considerable.

Reducing emissions from transportation 

Minimising distances in the supply chain reduces carbon emissions and are better for the environment. Coupled with the vulnerabilities of the global supply chain highlighted during the pandemic, more companies are re-examining their production processes, supply chain and business models to be more self-reliant, cost-efficient and environmentally friendly. There is an increasing interest in “reshoring”, as bringing production home is a way to achieve these goals. 

Robotic technology, such as cobots, has enabled manufacturers to move production processes closer to home and become more resilient in the process.

Space-saving

Manufacturing automation requires robots in the process, and traditionally this requires a significant amount of space allocated in the production facility for the robot and cages for safeguarding. Manufacturers today can deploy lightweight cobots that require no safeguarding for some operations. Cobots can work alongside humans safely and move between applications without costly facility redesigns. 

Reducing energy consumption 

Typically, cobots consume less energy compared to traditional robot counterparts. Manufacturers can minimise energy consumption in their cobot-powered applications by running the cobot at 70-80% of its maximum speed and payload. 

With the digitalisation of the manufacturing processes, remote access tools are introduced to further aid manufacturers in achieving sustainability. For instance, the UR+ ecosystem offers a wide range of remote monitoring and access solutions to track and monitor cobots without having to be onsite. These tools enable manufacturers to program cobots remotely, reducing travel costs and optimising energy consumption.

The demand for sustainable manufacturing will continue to rise as consumers begin making decisions based on companies’ efforts in demonstrating sustainability. Cobots’ ability to mitigate errors, reduce waste and increase efficiency can play a critical role in reducing carbon footprints.

Moving forward, the number of companies leveraging on the perfect human-machine collaboration to maintain the longevity of their businesses will rise.

The post Earth Day Reflection: Is ASEAN on track to sustainable manufacturing? appeared first on FutureIoT.

"Global manufacturing took a hit during the beginning of the pandemic. Businesses in Southeast Asia started facing supply chain disruptions, lower productivity, and rising manufacturing costs," said Marcelo Tarkieltaub, regional director for Southeast Asia, Rockwell Automation. "As we recover from the pandemic, businesses must address these key issues, improve their manufacturing capabilities, and supply chain processes, and build resilience to withstand unexpected disruptions. Digital technologies, smart manufacturing, human-machine interaction, and advanced analytics are helping manufacturers optimize processes and strengthen their position as 'factories of the world.'"

He added: "Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing sub-regions for us. We are very pleased to partner with CAD-IT who is well-versed in the region. By combining our technologies and expertise with their strong regional network and execution competency, we can make smart manufacturing and digital transformation solutions more accessible to businesses in Southeast Asia.”

The partnership will see CAD-IT offer Rockwell Automation's smart manufacturing and automation solutions: newly acquired Plex Systems, a cloud-native smart manufacturing platform; and Fiix, a cloud-based, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered computerized maintenance management system. Both Plex and Fiix cater to the food and beverage, household and personal care, and automotive industries across Asia Pacific.

CAD-IT delivers end-to-end Industry 4.0 solutions encompassing additive manufacturing, augmented reality (AR), industrial internet of things (IIoT), engineering simulation and more. With manufacturing expertise gained through its production facilities in China, the company has delivered numerous multi-factory digital transformation projects in various verticals across Asia Pacific.

CAD-IT has a wide network in Southeast Asia, with presence in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam, serving more than 1,000 customers. Beyond the sub-region, it has offices in China, South Korea, and Australia to serve Asia Pacific customers.

Rising demand for automation and Industry 4.0 solutions

CAD-IT joins the growing PartnerNetwork of Rockwell Automation channel partners to support the increasing demand for industrial automation and Industry 4.0 solutions in Southeast Asia, with plans to expand the coverage across the rest of Asia Pacific in the near future.

The region's industrial automation and process control market is expected to be worth US$4.97 billion by 2025. This demand is driven by high technical awareness around the usage of robotics and the manufacturing sector's robust production capabilities.

Additionally, the demand for Industry 4.0 solutions is on the rise. According to Mordor Intelligence, Asia's Industry 4.0 market is expected to reach US$71.59 billion by 2026.

"Partnering with Rockwell Automation gives us the opportunity to expand and build our product and services suite of Industry 4.0 solutions. Besides enhanced manufacturing and digital transformation, businesses in the region will benefit from our local market presence with implementation, support, and maintenance from our on-ground team of experts across the region," said Terence Chan, CEO of CAD-IT.

Rockwell Automation has been in Asia Pacific for over 40 years and continues to invest in its vision of expanding human possibility and digital transformation for its customers across the region. With over 5,800 dedicated employees in the region and a robust ecosystem of partners collaborating towards delivering value for our customers, Rockwell Automation continues to transform the industry, unlocking potential and productivity through automated and connected innovation.

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It’s priority is to cut down its own carbon emissions – known Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from company-owned and controlled resources. They are emissions released into the atmosphere as a direct result of a company's activities. Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy from a utility provider. They are GHG emissions released in the atmosphere from the consumption of purchased electricity, steam, heat and cooling.

“The impact of climate change is an urgent global threat. Protecting our planet demands immediate action and fresh thinking about how the world operates. Intel is in a unique position to make a difference not only in our own operations, but in a way that makes it easier for customers, partners and our whole value chain to take meaningful action too,” said Pat Gelsinger, Intel chief executive officer.

To realise this ambitious goal, Intel has set the following interim milestones for 2030:

• Achieve 100% renewable electricity use across its global operations.
• Invest approximately US$300 million in energy conservation at its facilities to achieve 4 billion cumulative kilowatt hours of energy savings.
• Build new factories and facilities to meet U.S. Green Building Council LEED program standards, including recently announced investments in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
• Launch a cross-industry R&D initiative to identify greener chemicals with lower global warming potential and to develop new abatement equipment.

Intel’s net-zero emission announcement follow on the heels of tech giants that have come out with  the same commitment. Microsoft vowed to be carbon negative by reversing carbon emissions for its corporate lifetime by 2050. Apple committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2030. Google claimed in 2020 to have already eliminated its carbon legacy.

A catalyst for industry-wide action to combat climate change

Meanwhile, the chipmaker is also committed to addressing climate impacts throughout its upstream and downstream value chain, also known as Scope 3 emissions.

Intel plans  to partner with suppliers and customers to take aggressive action to reduce overall emissions. To date, the company is actively engaged with its suppliers to identify areas of improvement, including increasing supplier focus on energy conservation and renewable energy sourcing, increasing chemical and resource efficiencies, and leading cross-industry consortia to support the transition to a net-zero greenhouse gas semiconductor manufacturing value chain.

To accelerate progress, Intel is committed to partnering with suppliers to drive supply chain greenhouse gas emissions to at least 30% lower by 2030 than they would be in the absence of investment and action.

“Intel has been a leader in sustainability results for decades. With leadership comes responsibility. We’re now raising the bar and entering an exciting era to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across our operations by 2040,” said Keyvan Esfarjani, executive vice president and chief global operations officer at Intel. “This will require significant innovation and investment, but we are committed to do what it takes and will work with the industry to achieve this critical mission.”

Furthermore, Intel hopes to help its customers to achieve their own net-zero goals by providing sustainable products. For one,  Intel is setting a new goal to achieve a five times increase in performance per watt for its next generation CPU-GPU, Falcon Shores. The company remains committed to its 2030 goal to increase product energy efficiency by 10 times for client and server microprocessors.

Collaborative innovations toward sustainable solutions

Intel has also set a new goal to lower emissions related to reference platform designs for client form factors by 30% or more by 2030. These efforts are taking shape with Dell’s Concept Luna prototype device, developed in partnership with Intel to showcase future possibilities for sustainable PC design.

“Collaboration is key if we want to find solutions to the significant environmental issues the world is grappling with. Intel has been an important partner in this regard, helping us drive joint innovation supporting motherboard optimization, development of the bio-based printed circuit board and increasing system power efficiency in our Concept Luna device,” said Glen Robson, chief technology officer for the Client Solutions Group, Dell Technologies. “The ambition behind this ongoing work is to test, prove and evaluate opportunities to roll out innovative, sustainable design ideas at scale across our portfolio – it’s the only way we will sufficiently accelerate the circular economy and protect our planet for the generations to come.”

Also, Intel is collaborating with hundreds of customers and industry partners to create solutions that meet the need for exponentially more computing processing power, while running more efficiently and using less energy.

For instance, Intel is partnering to launch liquid immersion cooling pilot deployments for data centers across cloud and communications service providers, with companies such as Submer. This includes embracing new principles, such as heat recapture and reuse via immersion cooling.

“99% of heat generated by IT equipment can be captured in the form of warm water, practically without losses and at much higher temperatures. Through partnership with Intel, Submer is able to scale a validated immersive cooling solution that saves energy while providing the ability to capture and reuse the subsequent thermal heat,” said Daniel Pope, co-founder and CEO of Submer. “This will fundamentally change the way data centers are built and operated.”

Increasing access to renewable energy is a critical step in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Intel has developed a solution that can be integrated into existing energy grid infrastructure to create a smarter grid that can adapt to changing energy consumption needs and sources. Intel and some of the world’s largest utility operators formed the Edge for Smart Secondary Substations Alliance to modernize energy grid substations and better support renewable energy sources. France’s largest grid operator, Enedis, recently joined to upgrade its more than 800,000 secondary substations with solutions that provide real-time control across the network.

Intel’s programmable hardware and open software also deliver capabilities that enable greener solutions for customers. For example, within its data center that houses 5G communication facilities, Japan telecommunications operator KDDI reduced overall power consumption by 20% in a trial using Intel Xeon Scalable processors and Intel’s comprehensive power management and AI capabilities, giving it the ability to scale power consumption according to demand.

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The new in-store experience boosted with new tailored services for greater personalisation is in line with the fashion company’s renewed focus on omnichannel engagement, leveraging the hybrid customer experience model.

The company will transform a number of stores in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand into NextGen Indigo stores fitted with new store designs, digital features and operating models – all aimed at boosting Levi Straus’ omni-channel capabilities for deeper connection with consumers.

"We are committed to the future success of our business at every level and are reimagining what we do and how we win in today's marketplace. At the same time, we are embracing the technologies of tomorrow to power innovation and better serve our customers and deliver greater value to stakeholders. We will do this by placing people at the heart of our business and through responsible practices because being a force for positive change is integral to being the world's best apparel brand," said Nuholt Huisamen, managing director and senior vice president, Levi Straus.

Coupling heritage with digitisation

While drawing on its 169-year heritage to drive key category growth, Levi Strauss is redoubling its digital transformation efforts.

The company will leverage digital, data and AI to stay ahead of trends, drive efficiency and innovation in the product creation process, deliver omnichannel offerings, claim its space in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) sphere, and ultimately enhance the consumer experience.

As part of its DTC strategy, the company also provided learning opportunities to existing staff to upskill themselves through training and development programs such as a Machine Learning Bootcamp to equip employees with the tools they need to thrive in a changing and increasingly digitalised economy.

ESG initiatives

On the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) front, Levi Strauss targets measurable metrics and remains committed to responsible and sustainable practices outlined in its 2020 Sustainability Report.

The company is on track to achieving its 2025 Water and Climate Action Strategy targets. Initiatives include Water<Less finishing techniques that have enabled billions of liters of water to be saved; reducing emissions across the supply chain; driving innovation in sustainable materials and designs through Wellthread; and advocating ethical consumerism through the Levi's Buy Better, Wear Longer campaign. These initiatives embody the company's move to develop and implement circular products and practices

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The move aims to hasten Mondelēz’s sustainability initiatives by reducing the snacks giant’s  environmental impact through renewable energy.

The two solar panel installation projects with the NEFIN Group, follows on the heels of a successful deployment at Mondelēz’s manufacturing plant in Lad Krabang, Thailand.

"We have transparent sustainability goals to achieve by 2025, and we are committed to scaling up our sustainability efforts to deliver meaningful change. This partnership with NEFIN is progress towards our goal of creating a sustainable future for snacking and will help us reduce our end-to-end absolute CO² emissions,” said Narmeen Khan, managing director for Malaysia and Singapore, Mondelēz International.

The facility Shah Alam produces the Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate while the one in Prai produces biscuits and salty snacks such as Twisties, Jacob’s and Chipsmore.

With operations in more than 150 countries, Mondelēz’s two   is paving the way to a new more sustainable future, by creating snacks the right way for both people and the planet to love. In Malaysia, it owns two manufacturing plants – a chocolate plant in Shah Alam manufacturing Cadbury Dairy Milk, and biscuits and salty snacks plant in Prai manufacturing Twisties, Jacob's, and Chipsmore.

The  installation of 1,266 solar panels at the Shah Alam plant and 1,754 solar panels in Prai aims to offset 29,000 tons of CO² over the next 25 years, equivalent to planting around 146,800 trees. Accumulatively, the plants are estimated to produce 1.8 million kWh of energy in the first year alone, with the company potentially saving up to RM11.18 million over the 25 years period.

In addition to their energy-saving initiatives, Mondelēz International Malaysia is  a founding member of the Malaysia Recycling Alliance (MAREA), which collectively pledged to recycle a minimum of 25% of their members' packaging volumes by 2025.

Moreover, through its manufacturing plants in Malaysia, Mondelēz has reduced its water consumption by 18.6% and waste by 11.3% in 2021 over the previous year.

For multinational companies with a presence across the Asia Pacific region, NEFIN's broad network of local partners across the region is positioned to simplify the process of delivering solutions across borders.

This has contributed to their success in delivering over 3,000MW of utility-scale, commercial, and industrial rooftop solar systems regionally in its combined portfolio, according to NEFIN Group.

"We are working closely with Mondelēz to achieve sustainability in their manufacturing plants, and talks for other similar projects in Southeast Asia are under way," said Chong Bor Hung, head of business development and managing director - Malaysia, NEFIN Group.

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Located within the premises of Mitsubishi Electric Automation (China), the centre plans to hire 100 engineers by 2025.

In recent years, there has been a growing need for a variety of specialist applications for FA products in a wide range of industries, including automotive, logistics, food and beverage as well as digital-related fields like semiconductors, electronic components, and data centers, and more recently decarbonisation-related fields such as lithium-ion batteries.

To quickly respond to the changing  needs of Chinese manufacturers, Mitsubishi Electric will leverage the new engineering centre to develop FA applications customised to the local market. The FA solutions will span custom functions, motion programs and custom screens for products ranging from programmable controllers and servos to human-machine interfaces (HMIs) and inverters.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Electric plans to open similar collaborative engineering centres in India and other countries in North America and Europe from 2023 onwards.

By 2025, Mitsubishi Electric plans to assign more than 200 engineers to these centres to fortify its FA product application development process and provide customised applications on a global scale.

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Shaping the future of manufacturing, WEF “Lighthouse” facilities implement Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, such as the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence and robots, into manufacturing and supply chain operations to deliver a wide range of benefits, from increased production efficiency to enhanced environmental sustainability.

“As the world grapples with many challenges, it is remarkable to see how Lighthouses are yielding sustainability benefits while achieving business goals, which we call eco-efficiency,” said Francisco Betti, head of Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains, World Economic Forum. “We need them to continue illuminating the way forward for the global manufacturing community by shaping a responsible future of manufacturing that works for people, society and the environment.”

Futuristic manufacturing

Over the past five years, LG has transformed its factory complex in Changwon, South Korea into LG Smart Park, a futuristic hub of home appliance manufacturing.

The key elements of the transformation are a digitally-enabled end-to-end three-dimensional logistics system, an advanced analytics system based on edge computing technology and machine learning that predicts defects, and state-of-the-art facilities that can mass-produce multiple models to respond flexibly to customer requirements.

The newly implemented “digital twin” technology enables the operation system to analyse production processes in virtual reality. It can predict if any issues will occur within the next 10 minutes and provide exact parts and materials for the assembling of each appliance with an accurate, up-to-the-minute status of the facility’s logistics operations.

Sensors utilising deep learning technology are installed throughout the factory to monitor each phase of production in real-time, helping factory workers to pre-emptively identify and resolve any possible issues. As a result, the cost of defective product returns dropped by 70%  from 2020 to 2021 while overall quality competitiveness and production efficiency were both significantly strengthened.

Floors one, two and three at LG Smart Park employ an overhead conveyor system that quickly transports boxes containing refrigerator parts to the required production lines. Attached to each line is an intelligent warehouse that monitors inventory in real-time, enabling automated materials management, including the request of additional parts and supplies.

On the ground, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) leveraging stable 5G network connectivity transport parts and materials to wherever they are needed on site. Through its three-dimensional logistics automation system, the company can minimize the amount of warehouse space needed by 30% compared to conventional logistics systems, and shorten the time required for hourly materials transportation by 25%.

LG Smart Park has also adopted the use of robots featuring an AI engine and camera to make the home appliance production process faster and safer. The robots undertake dangerous and complicated tasks, such as welding and the lifting of heavy parts and equipment.

Taking it global

LG plans to apply the innovative, smart production technologies pioneered at LG Smart Park to a total of 26 LG production facilities in 13 countries, accelerating the digital transformation of its global manufacturing network by 2025.

“LG Smart Park illustrates our strong commitment to adopting the revolutionary technologies as the leader of the global premium home appliance market,” said Lyu Jae-cheol, president of the LG Electronics Home Appliance & Air Solution Company. “We are presenting a blueprint for the future of manufacturing, one that delivers better outcomes across environmental, economic and employment aspects.”

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Gartner observed that in the past three years, nearly 20% of organisations have already observed cyberattacks on IoT devices in their network.

While 64% of respondents to the Kaspersky study, Pushing the limits: How to address specific cybersecurity demands and protect IoT, use IoT solutions, as much as 43% do not protect them completely.

This means that for some of their IoT projects – which may be anything from an EV charging station to connected medical equipment – businesses don’t use any protection tools. Kaspersky posits that may be due to the great diversity of IoT devices and systems, which are not always compatible with security solutions.

Barriers to protecting IoT

The study noted that 64% of businesses fear that cybersecurity products can affect the performance of IoT while 40% fear it can be too hard to find a suitable solution. Other common issues businesses face when implementing cybersecurity tools are high costs (40%), being unable to justify the investment to the board (36%) and lack of staff or specific IoT security expertise (35%).

Barriers to implementing IoT

The study also noted that 57% of surveyed organisations see cybersecurity risks as the main barrier to implementing IoT. This can occur when companies struggle to address cyber risks at the design stage and then must carefully weigh up all pros and cons before implementation.

Stephen Mellor, chief technology officer at Industry IoT Consortium, insists that cybersecurity must be front and centre for IoT. He posits that managing risk is a major concern as life, limb and the environment are at stake.

He warns that an IT error can be embarrassing and expensive; an IoT error can be fatal. But cybersecurity is only one part of making a system trustworthy.

“We also need physical security, privacy, resilience, reliability and safety. And these need to be reconciled: what can make a building secure, (locked doors for example), could make it unsafe if you cannot get out quickly,” he continued.

While IT projects such as messaging/communication, analytics, CRM, etc., have around 80% of common requirements, IoT deployments are very fragmented, loosely coupled, domain-specific and integration-heavy in nature.

Eric Kao, director for WISE-Edge+ at Advantech comments that in the case of IoT implementation, companies must deal with all kinds of legacy systems, physical constraints, domain protocols, multiple vendor solutions. They must also maintain a reasonable balance in availability, scalability and security.

“In pursuit of higher availability and scalability, certain cloud infrastructure has to be leveraged, the system has to be open to some extent, then security becomes an enormous challenge,” he added.

The bright side

Challenges aside, there remains optimistic about the potential benefits of the technology and the possibilities of protecting IoT solutions as they are integrated into operations and IT.

Andrey Suvorov, CEO at Adrotech in Russia, says IoT is widely used in smart cities (62%), retail (62%) and industry (60%). These include projects such as energy and water management, smart lighting, alarm systems, video surveillance and many more.

“Experts around the world are working on the task of effective protection for such projects but efforts should be made at every level – from equipment manufacturers and software developers to service providers and companies that implement and use these solutions,” he added.

Next steps for securing IoT

To help organizations fill the gaps in their IoT security, Kaspersky suggests the following approaches:

• Assess the status of a device’s security before implementing it. Preferences should be given to devices with cybersecurity certificates and products from manufacturers who pay more attention to information security.
• Use a strict access policy, network segmentation and a zero-trust model. This will help minimize the spread of an attack and protect the most sensitive parts of the infrastructure.
• Adopt a vulnerability management program to regularly receive the most relevant data about vulnerabilities in programmable logic controllers (PLCs), equipment and firmware, and patch them or use any protection workarounds.
• Check the “IoT Security Maturity Model” – an approach that helps companies evaluate all steps and levels they need to pass to achieve a sufficient level of IoT protection.
• Use a dedicated IoT gateway that ensures the inbuilt security and reliability of data transferring from edge to business applications.

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Industry 4.0 is the latest revolution in the manufacturing landscape fuelled by the integration of production machines, wireless connectivity, and sensors – all linked to a system platform ecosystem that oversees the whole production line process and executes decisions autonomously.

Smart manufacturing promises to transform businesses and achieve significant value by leveraging the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cloud, and analytics solutions.

According to Simith Nambiar, practice lead, emerging tech APJ at Rackspace Technology, manufacturers in the region are asking how they can drive operational efficiencies within the factory by getting better insights from the data produced by the various machines, predicting machine failure, improving the quality of the products, reduce defects.

Nambiar claims that 95% of the data produced on the manufacturing floor today is unusable.

“There is a lot of value in unlocking this data from the factory floor as it provides the manufacturer with real-time actionable insights to reduce downtime, improve quality across the manufacturing line. Strong leadership and a clear vision are key to any digital transformation journey,” he continued.

How can organisations use connected products to build new revenue streams and enhance customer experience through real-time, cloud-powered intelligence?

Simith Nambiar: Device manufacturers are increasingly connecting their products, not only to provide value-added services to the customers but also to create new revenue streams and business models. Connecting a device to the internet requires experience. Device manufacturers have a skill shortage when it comes to cloud-native development as well as the security of the device.

You mentioned the proliferation of data and protocols on the production floor. As companies look to introduce IoT on the floor, how does data from IIoT empower manufacturers to gain insights from their fleet of distributed devices to enhance operations?

Simith Nambiar: For customers in both manufacturing and mining, where industrial IoT is widely being adopted, downtime within their factories of plants can lead to millions of dollars lost every year.

The issues customers want to tackle are to prevent failures, breakdowns, downtime, minimise risks. The first step in the journey towards a smarter factory or plant starts with the collection of data from factory floor equipment and the generation of key metrics which can lead to actionable insights.

This is known as the Data Liberation phase. The next phase is to look at data for advanced use cases like predictive maintenance and anomaly detection using machine learning.

How does the adoption of IIoT help Singapore achieve its Manufacturing 2030 strategy of growing Singapore's manufacturing sector by 50% of its current value?

Simith Nambiar: Singapore needs to develop its competitiveness through its ability to innovate quickly produce higher-value products by not lowering the costs of production or labour. Singapore will also need to ramp up its efforts to create better job opportunities locally and to create a highly-skilled workforce that can be used for advanced manufacturing use cases.

It can be done through the adoption of industrial IoT and cloud to automate, predict and innovate effectively to truly achieve industry 4.0.

Click on the PodChat player to listen to Nambiar’s take on how manufacturers can realise the promise of smart manufacturing with IoT.

1. What are some digital transformation challenges faced by manufacturers in 2022?
2. How can organisations use connected products to build new revenue streams and enhance customer experience through real-time, cloud-powered intelligence?
3. You mentioned the proliferation of data and protocols on the production floor. As companies look to introduce IoT on the floor, how does data from IIoT empower manufacturers to gain insights from their fleet of distributed devices to enhance operations?
4. How does the adoption of IIoT help Singapore achieve its Manufacturing 2030 strategy of growing Singapore's manufacturing sector by 50% of its current value?

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In addition, research suggests that there will be more than 75 billion devices connected to the internet by 2025, which equals around 10 IoT devices for every human on earth.

Various industries are using IoT for a more connected experience across their businesses. For example, manufacturing providers have increased IoT spending significantly over the past few years.

During the pandemic, manufacturers leveraged IoT to monitor and maintain equipment without a full team of staff, for tasks such as temperature and usage monitoring.

Gartner estimates that installed IoT endpoints for manufacturing and natural resources industries are forecast to grow 1.9 billion units in 2028. This foreseen estimate is fivefold the size of 331.5 million units in 2018.

As Singapore continues to roll out smart business initiatives such as the Networked Trade Platform to position itself as a leader in trade and supply chain, IoT devices will play a role in fulfilling said initiatives.

But, as IoT expands across the globe to offer a more connected experience, security undoubtedly takes a hit. IoT technology creates a broader attack surface, leaving businesses exposed to threats of attack.

The increasing attack surface of IoT devices

IoT devices are notoriously hard to monitor and secure, as most of them utilise legacy systems and infrequently connect to the internet, making them hard to track. This beckons a frustrating question for many CISOs and security teams; How can security experts secure and patch IoT devices if they don't know the device is there?

This is especially so when employees bring their devices to work (BYOD) which results in the issue of shadow IT. It refers to the use of technology without the knowledge of IT departments and this contributes to the lack of visibility on IoT devices.

As the office disruptions brought about by the pandemic are slowly diminishing, plenty of employees surveyed by EY expect to return to the office, whereas others look to a hybrid work model. This could spell an influx of vulnerable devices being brought back to the office as people return to work post-pandemic.

Furthermore, the endpoint can be deployed but with these small, unadvanced IoT devices, normal security telemetry can’t be. This poses additional threats to devices. Systems are left vulnerable when vital updates and device inventory are lacking.

IoT security nightmares

The Cybersecurity Agency of Singapore detected nearly 6,600 botnet drones with Singapore IP addresses daily in 2020, a massive spike from the 2019s daily average of 2,300. Mirai and Gamarue were the key malware types that accounted for 25% of infected Singapore IP addresses in 2020. Globally, malware types such as Mirai have been observed to target IoT devices, launching DDoS attacks.

In August 2021, the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Mandiant, a threat intelligence firm, disclosed a critical vulnerability in ThroughTek. This vulnerability allowed attackers to access millions of IoT cameras to view and record live feeds and compromise credentials for further attacks.

This discovery highlights the increasing challenges of IoT supply-chain security, which often demands immediate action to apply necessary software updates. Connected devices need to have the same cybersecurity as other IT systems to avoid exploitation which can have major consequences.

Monitor IoT with network detection and response

Organisations need to take steps like implementing sophisticated network segmentation and Zero Trust so that no asset is implicitly trusted.

At the same time, a device discovery plan should be in place for all IoT component producers to manage device inventory and containment. Businesses also need to be able to gather deep forensics insights to investigate the cause of a threat and ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Connected devices require a more advanced network security tool, such as network detection and response (NDR), which shows organisations’ east/west movement and can display thorough device inventory taking the pressure off security teams.

NDR solutions, however, can see everything on the network – every device, traffic, and activity.

Security teams need to have an actionable plan in place to eradicate vulnerabilities and risks rapidly from the business environment, leaning on deep forensic insight to help. These capabilities give teams the resources they need at their fingertips to hunt, investigate, and remediate threats quickly providing a full spectrum of response and streamlining the workflow.

The growth of IoT is going to continue to explode – but so will cyberattacks. Organisations need to ensure they are prepared by putting the right tools in place now to reduce response time when an attack inevitably hits, especially with how crucial IoT has become to the functionality of supply chains and manufacturing. Being left in the dark is no longer an excuse.

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PARC, a Xerox company, has launched a new venture called Novity to commercialise predictive maintenance (PdM) technology that reduces unplanned downtime in industrial manufacturing operations.

“Over the course of many conversations with customers in the industrial manufacturing industry, we identified critical problems where current solutions fall short: they require too much data, they aren’t accurate enough, and they don’t give users enough advance notice to act before it’s too late,” said Novity general manager Markus Larsson. “Our goal with this solution is to solve these problems, ultimately enabling zero unplanned downtime.”

The Novity solution is an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology that uses equipment sensors and proprietary algorithms to enable industrial manufacturers to see the future health of their production assets. The Novity TruPrognostics engine relies on a combination of machine learning and physics-based models of equipment. This allows Novity to predict equipment failures with 90% or better accuracy and lead times of months, not weeks or days.

Pennsy Supply, the leading manufacturer of aggregate, sand, asphalt, and concrete throughout the North and Central Regions of Pennsylvania, has installed a pilot deployment of the Novity technology and is already seeing benefits.

“Novity’s solution has proven itself effective very quickly. Novity has delivered an excellent PdM solution for Pennsy,” said Larry Kessler,  director of operation support, Pennsy Supply. “Within the first month, the system picked up a potential issue with a mill, allowing us to take preventative action, avoiding costly unplanned downtime.”

In addition to increasing the accuracy and prediction horizons of the solution, Novity’s TruPrognostics engine also reduces the need for large amounts of data to deliver results. By leveraging a library of pre-built physics-based models, predictive maintenance is accessible to customers who lack the historical data required by other solutions.

“As more manufacturers embrace new technologies that help their plants and factories run more efficiently, one of the things we’ve heard over and over from customers is they need a solution they can rely on to make actionable decisions,” said PARC president Naresh Shanker. “With Novity, we’re leveraging PARC’s expertise in AI, sensors and manufacturing to provide an exceptionally accurate predictive maintenance solution. This means less downtime, more productivity and profitability for our customers.”

Novity is the latest offering in PARC’s broad entry into the industrial IoT market. In 2021, Xerox announced the launch of Eloque, a joint venture with the Victorian Government (AU) to commercialize new technology that will remotely monitor the structural health of bridges and other critical infrastructure. Last year, Xerox also announced that PARC is working with the United States’ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a technology that can enable large-scale monitoring of seas under the Ocean of Things program.

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Set to open in April, the new 9-metre-high facility in South China will have a higher storage density with a daily throughput expected to reach 128,000 units. It will be using HAI Robotics' ACR (autonomous case-handling robotics) system to help handle growing fulfilment workload.

"We see HAI ROBOTICS as an important long-term partner, as we have shared ambition in smart warehousing," Chen Jiancong, general manager of logistics of Anta Group.

HAI Robotics’ ACR system  was first deployed in Anta's warehouse in southwestern China's Chengdu, Sichuan Province, in April 2021, with 25 customised HAIPICK robots doing case picking and retrieving from shelves to continuously feed goods-to-person picking stations.

The storage density of the 5.7-meter-high warehouse increased significantly to offer up to 27,600 locations, handling up to 80,000 units in outbound orders per day. The warehouse, which was previously stretched tight to handle its tens of thousands of SKUs at low picking accuracy, is now feeding the needs from 1,200 brick-and-mortal stores with a weekly outbound volume of 60,000 pieces.

The tremendous efficiency improvement prompted Anta into a second warehouse automation project with HAI ROBOTICS only three months later, with a larger robot fleet deployed at its 3,500-square-meter warehouse in Jinjiang.

With the redesign of 11-layer shelves inside the 5.7-meter-high warehouse, the project provides around 20,000 storage locations. The warehouse reached a daily outbound capacity of 200,000 pieces with the use of HAIPORT-powered Workstation, an automatic loading and unloading machine.

"Together we will keep innovating to address more challenging scenarios for the footwear and apparel warehousing sector and bring more added value to our customers," said Richie Chen, founder and CEO, HAI Robotics.

Named a global AI unicorn by Hurun Research Institute last year, the company – which specialises in robotics- and AI-based warehouse solutions – currently has a number of ongoing projects with top footwear and apparel brands.

Founded in 2016 with headquarters in Shenzhen, China, HAI ROBOTICS has set up six subsidiaries in Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore, the United States, United Kingdom and the Netherlands, serving customers from more than 30 countries and regions.

With more than 1,300 team members, the company has acquired over 600 global patents for core intellectual properties involving positioning, robot control, and warehouse management.

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The technology research firm made this projection as it anticipates digital giants such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Alibaba or Tencent, further expand their footprint in vehicle technology this year.

“These tech companies are bringing the car closer to their respective ecosystems, which, in turn, opens new vehicle-connected services,” said Pedro Pacheco, senior research director at Gartner.

He added: “As developing technology and software on their own is difficult, car companies can either partner with digital giants to succeed in turning software into a main moneymaker or build vast in-house resources to achieve it mostly on their own.”

Software is king

Pacheco noted that for the last 100 years, automakers have focused on the mechanical side of car development and have mostly left software to other parties.

“As digital technology becomes the differentiator in the car, software will become the main profitability growth driver for automakers. Ultimately, the goal for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will be to turn into tech or software companies,” said Pacheco.

Indeed, Gartner sees that partnerships between tech companies and automakers will increase in the years ahead.

In 2022, this collaboration between these two sectors will gain momentum particularly in the areas of open data  and open source, as several tech companies last year create open-source vehicle architecture operation systems and open electric vehicle (EV) platform

In addition, automotive companies will increasingly look at data in a similar way to that of the tech world.

“Their aim is not to sell data, but to build or integrate ecosystems that will allow them to access a broader diversity of data, with the purpose of developing more compelling features or digital services,” said Pacheco.

Automakers to ramp up OTA as main digital revenue channel

Last year saw major changes in the automotive over-the-air (OTA) software market when several car manufacturers began to offer software updates.

As most automakers have updated the hardware on the vehicles to enable software updates, they will now begin to shift to a revenue model that is based on services rather than the sale of the asset.

Gartner analysts predict that by 2023, half of the top 10 automakers will offer unlocks and capability upgrades through software updates that can be purchased after the sale of the vehicle.

Hurdles persist for commercialisation of autonomous vehicles

Despite sensing technologies improving, perception algorithms becoming more sophisticated and regulations and standards progressing, Gartner expects developers of autonomous vehicles continue to struggle to scale autonomous operations to new cities or geographies.

Automakers have begun to announce Level 3 autonomous driving cars and are working on the deployment of Level 4 self-driving trucks and commercial robotaxis. However, proving the safety and effectiveness of autonomous technology is taking a long time and extensive simulation and real-world testing are making commercialization slow and expensive.

In addition, issues such as liability in the event of an accident, associated legal and societal considerations, such as how human driven vehicles will interact with an AI-driven vehicle, are adding to the challenge.

“The very high R&D costs involved for robotaxis or Level 4 trucks hinder speed of adoption in terms of coverage, but also in delivering ROI. This is ironic given that one of the main advantages associated with autonomous drive is reducing operational costs of transportation,” said Jonathan Davenport, research director at Gartner.

Nevertheless, Gartner analysts predict that by 2030, there will be four times as many Level 4 autonomous robotaxis operating globally than there are taxis in 2022.

For more details on automotive technology trends for 2022, click here.

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Traditionally, at production lines at manufacturing sites where mass production is undertaken, field personnel mainly use sensor data from equipment to monitor usage thresholds. However, there is a need for experience and know-how in order to understand the fine changes in individual data, and passing these skills along is a challenge.

The beverage maker’s own in-house IT team at Suntory System Technology is currently working with  NEC Corporation to implement the latter’s  NEC Advanced Analytics-Invariant Analysis system, which is set to go live in late May.

Using AI to sift anomalies in sensor data

The new AI-based anomaly detection system from NEC Corporation will automatically discover the relationships between approximately 1,500 sensors at the new can filling line at Suntory’s Natural Water Plant, which will start operating in April.

The system will trigger alarms when changes occur, thereby detecting equipment anomalies at an early stage and helping to resolve them faster.

"Through the provision of this system, NEC is supporting the stable operation of facilities, preserving expert know-how and experience, recognizing errors that are difficult to detect, and contributing to the DX of production lines," said Masayuki Ikeda, general manager, AI Analytics Division, NEC Corporation.

The system uses Invariant Analysis Technology, part of NEC's leading-edge AI technology group, NEC the WISE. By collecting and analysing a large amount of time-series data from a large number of sensors installed in facilities through control systems such as PLCs (Programmable Logic Controller), modelling invariant relationships between sensors (invariants) and comparing changes between predicted data with actual data, users can detect "irregular" occurrences at an early stage.

This system takes advantage of the features of White Box AI and provides information necessary for taking action at maintenance sites, such as where and why functions are performing abnormally. When modelling, users can easily visualise conditions by simply entering the sensor information they want to see with the time that those sensors were operating.

Moreover, NEC will install microphones near filling machines in order to analyse when sounds are different from usual, which could possibly indicate an abnormality with the system.

In the future, it is expected that these advancements could help to reduce the number of people required for maintenance work, while helping to detect abnormalities more quickly.

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“We are excited and honoured to collaborate with ARTC. This gives us a great opportunity to further develop our automation and processing technologies and capabilities in the areas of advanced manufacturing and remanufacturing,” said Takeshi Oshima, managing director of Mitsubishi Electric Asia.

He added that they are looking forward to sharing their expertise on Mitsubishi’s e-F@ctory solutions in research and development projects with other industry members to improve and reinvent business models.

“This is in line with our mission and purpose to creating values and realising a safer, more sustainable society,” said Oshima.

The e-F@ctory solution is an integrated factory automation solution that offers value added IoT-based services and solutions for manufacturing and process industry sectors to achieve high productivity and quality improvements.

Established in 1977, Mitsubishi Electric Asia is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric Group. The company has been offering high-performance products and services ranging from home electronics, industrial and factory automation, space systems, public utility systems and semiconductors to homes, businesses and industries in Asia Pacific.

According to Oshima, the company is expanding its foothold around the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) services by developing integrated solutions for manufacturing companies to accelerate digital transformation and scale up their adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in response to the Singapore’s Smart Industry Readiness Index.

Meanwhile, Dr. David Low, chief executive officer of ARTC, said the participation of Mitsubishi Electric Asia strengthen the ARTC membership ecosystem in co-innovating solutions to solve real industrial problems currently faced Singapore’s manufacturing sector.

“We look forward to working closely with Mitsubishi Electric to build novel solutions for manufacturing and robotic automation, to scale up capability development efforts in the manufacturing domain,” said Low.

ARTC provides a collaborative platform which brings together industry players, public sector research institutes and academia to bridge technological gaps in the adoption of advanced manufacturing and remanufacturing processes, from applied research to industrial applications.

Led by  A*STAR, in partnership with the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, ARTC has more than 90 members, ranging from global multinational corporations (MNCs) to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). ARTC focuses on advanced manufacturing and remanufacturing and serves to accelerate the transfer of innovation from applied research to industrial applications.

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Tontec International produces plastic injection molds and moldings across 11 factory plants worldwide. It serves customers across various verticals from aerospace, automotive, industrial appliances and equipment, office appliances to medical devices industries.

As an integral part of its transformation, the company will update its current SAP S/4HANA, SAP's next generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, to SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud Edition. This transformation will enable Tontec to manage business processes, including financial reporting and disaster recovery; and respond to evolving business conditions with speed and agility.

Furthermore, Tontec will deploy SAP Integration Suite to interconnect its multiple operational and manufacturing systems to power and streamline innovation.

“We are forging ahead on our journey to Industry 4.0. RISE with SAP and SAP S/4HANA Cloud empower us to move even more quickly to create an optimised, highly digitalised system that unlocks innovation and efficiency around the world," said Nelson Lam, president, Tontec.

The company is embracing automation and deploying networking solutions to enable increased product customisation, higher quality and shorter delivery time.

In Asia, it has already connected the manufacturing execution and quality management systems in its seven manufacturing sites with SAP S/4HANA to facilitate production planning and cost reporting. RISE with SAP's bundled services will enable Tontec to expand its digital landscapes globally to create one integrated and harmonised platform and drive Tontec's development as a future-proof digital-first manufacturing enterprise.

"Innovative companies such as Tontec are at the forefront of digital transformation. They have the vision and drive to reimagine their operations and expand the scope and depth of business through cloud-based intelligent technologies,” said Rajni Sharma, managing director, SAP Hong Kong.

He added that  RISE with SAP, powered by SAP S/4HANA at the core, is well-positioned to support the company, managing all key cloud solutions, services and infrastructure across all geographies under one roof.

“We look forward to supporting more enterprises to accelerate innovation, agility and responsiveness towards smart manufacturing,” said Sharman.

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"While most of the revenue today is attributed to hardware, a greater reliance on analytics, collaborative industrial software, and wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi 6, 4G, 5G) will drive spending on value-added services, namely connectivity, data management, and enabling platforms, to more than double over the forecast," said Ryan Martin, Industrial & Manufacturing Research Director at ABI Research.

The top producing manufacturing regions are China, the United States, Japan, and Germany (in that order) and the transportation industry, more specifically automotive manufacturing, is the top industry in terms of revenue in all regions except China, where automotive is second and electronics manufacturing is first. These regions are also the early adopters of advanced manufacturing technology and are the most developed manufacturing economies globally. In terms of automation, the automotive industry leads, having automated close to 50% of operations.

"Manufacturers and their technology partners are acutely focused on supporting the shift to digital threads for better data management and enrichment throughout the manufacturing lifecycle," said Martin. "A common data backbone allows manufacturers to operate more efficiently across teams and departments, and there are a range of suppliers helping manufacturers with their digital threads."

Siemens, PTC, and Hitachi Vantara are some of the leaders in terms of overall innovation and ability to execute. Other important players focus on core aspects of the manufacturing data lifecycle, including modeling and simulation (Autodesk, Ansys, Dassault Systèmes, MSC Software), connectivity (Nokia, Ericsson), quality (Hexagon, Instrumental, Cognex, Keyence), and industrial automation (Rockwell, Emerson, ABB).

"Increasingly, there are more data sources (including spatial data) that can be layered and compared in real time for more contextual and predictive operations.The most advanced manufacturers are starting to think along these lines while the majority have started their digital transformation journey but have yet to fully scale," Martin said.

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“More and more organisations are embracing a digital-first strategy to scale their operations, enhance the experiences of their customers, and unlock the value of technologies like 5G, IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML),” said Charles Meyers, president and CEO, Equinix. “Korea and the broader Asia-Pacific market are both enablers and beneficiaries as organisations prioritise digital transformation. To address demand for cloud and digital infrastructure, we have continued to invest in the region through the expansion of International Business Exchange (IBX) capacity and locations, as well as the expansion of our hyperscale program, xScale, in Australia, and now Korea.”

The new joint venture will bring the global xScale data centre portfolio to more than US$8 billion across 36 facilities, and an expected greater than 720 MW of power capacity when completed and fully constructed.

xScale data centers offer access to Equinix's comprehensive suite of interconnection and digital services. These services will tie into the hyperscale companies' existing access points at Equinix, thereby increasing the speed of connectivity to their existing and future enterprise customers.

Equinix entered the Korean market in 2019 with its first IBX, SL1. At the facility, customers can connect their corporate IT infrastructure to global hyperscale providers, including Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Service, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud, via Equinix Fabric, for a high-performance solution and enhanced user experience.

With this xScale expansion, these hyperscale providers can continue to grow at Equinix, in close proximity to an ecosystem of more than 10,000 customers on its growing platform of more than 235 data centers around the world.

The two facilities under the new joint venture, to be named SL2x and SL3x, are expected to provide more than 45 megawatts (MW) of power capacity to serve the unique core workload deployment needs of hyperscale companies, including the world’s largest cloud service providers.

With more hyperscale providers expanding in Korea to support businesses’ digital infrastructure needs, the cloud computing market in the country is expected to flourish. According to IDC Korea, the cloud IT infrastructure market in the country is expected to reach an average annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% over the next five years, reaching approximately US$1.86 billion (2.2189 trillion won) in sales by 2025. The Global Interconnection Index (GXI Vol. 5), an annual market study recently published by Equinix, also estimates that Seoul will have the most interconnection bandwidth from hyperscale providers within Asia-Pacific by 2024.

To date, seven xScale data centres have opened globally, with more currently under development. The establishment of xScale data centers in Korea will allow hyperscale providers to add core deployments to their existing access point footprints at Equinix, enabling their growth on a single platform that can immediately span 65 global metros and offer direct interconnection to their customers and strategic business partners.

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The two companies will bring together Envision Digital's strengths in digitalisation and AIoT, with Mott MacDonald's infrastructure transformation expertise, to help cities, industrial clusters, transport operators and other customers achieve their net zero goals faster and more effectively.

"To overcome the challenges of decarbonising the global economy, digitally enabling infrastructure is essential to make assets smarter, greener and more efficient. Our common vision and technology capabilities will accelerate city infrastructures needed for the new net zero grid,” said Michael Ding, global executive director of Envision.

Mike Haigh, executive chair of Mott MacDonald, believes their latest partnership is a perfect fit as it enables the company  to collaborate in new areas to create innovative solutions to achieve net zero.

“Envision Digital's capabilities in AIoT and digitalisation aligns with our vision of the role digital twins can play in rising to the challenge set by the statements made at COP26."

Envision Digital and Mott MacDonald are already working together to assist Sunderland City Council and South Tyneside Council to facilitate the electrical infrastructure to support Nissan and Envision AESC's multi million pound investment in electric vehicle production and a new Gigafactory in Sunderland, UK at the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP). 

IAMP is a hub for sustainable high value manufacturing and the project involves creation of one of the largest industrial microgrids in the UK, including proposals for on-site renewables and storage, facilitating the provision of 100% renewable electricity.

As countries, cities and companies declare their net zero target aligned with the Paris Agreement, net zero carbon and infrastructure transformation has become a quintessential part of governments and enterprises' Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) strategy. The strategic partnership between Envision Digital and Mott MacDonald will provide comprehensive sustainability offerings to help drive organisations' net zero infrastructure transformation worldwide.

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"Both Kinéis and UnaBiz are focused on creating value for the ecosystem", said Henri Bong, co-founder and co-CEO of UnaBiz. "We are excited to work with our new partner in the new space industry as nanosatellites IoT solutions will complement our existing terrestrial offers, including LPWAN and cellular solutions, providing our partners with a truly global connectivity solution."

Satellite connectivity complements terrestrial networks – both cellular and non-cellular. And today, the new space industry is growing at a steady space, with recent studies predicting that the number of satellite IoT subscribing will increase at CAGR annual growth rate of 35.8% to reach 15.7 million units in 2025.

Kinéis forges links between New Space and IoT and connects hundreds of customers with satellite IoT – tapping its expertise in localisation and data collection, to provide low-cost, low-power, direct to satellite IoT connectivity.

Established in 2019, the satellite operator and global connectivity provider inherited 40 years of expertise in the Argos system, founded by CNES (French space agency) and historically operated by CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites).

It has seven operational satellites, with two more announced this year, Kinéis will launch a 25-nanosatellite constellation in 2023 from New Zealand, quadrupling its current network to achieve near real-time connectivity.

"We are very pleased to begin this new partnership with UnaBiz in Asia, after being granted access to the U.S. market,” said Alexandre Tisserant, Kinéis’ CEO. “Together, we can strengthen our market position by offering a complete and reliable IoT solution with global coverage which combines the best of each technology."

To kick off the partnership, both companies will begin the development and commercialisation of a seamless global IoT solution that collects data from Kinéis satellite network and integrates them on UnaBiz’s data platform designed for massive scale asset management.

The solution is initially targeted  for global logistics and transportation industry where consistent and seamless connectivity is essential. Further down the line, it will be aimed at other verticals such as useful for applications in asset tracking, maritime, utilities, agriculture, and construction.

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With the implementation of these machines, what used to be a manual dual process will now be completed in half the time, improving production efficiency by double and reducing manual workload and accidents

The two machines are implemented at the company’s two new factory units, which opened recently in Tuas, to support production expansion. Furthermore, the company plans to replace its diesel-fuelled industrial vehicles with electric vehicles in the future.

Besides the two machines used for production, the company also implemented several solutions including accounting, CRM and inventory management in a bid to strengthen its ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) posture.

With Singapore's transition towards sustainability, the city government has launched several initiatives that aim to drive the nation towards reducing its carbon footprint and enabling enterprises over the next four years

“We aim to adopt digital solutions and hope to equip our employees with new skills and more time to concentrate on value-added work. The company's transformation and focus on ESG will include the revamp in their KPI for waste and carbon footprint reduction and an emphasis on recycling and reusing carton boxes and printings,” the company said in a press statement.

With over 37 years of experience, Heleflo Products provides high-quality adhesive tapes and films for various industries across Singapore and globally. They currently partner with several significant factories from the USA, Europe, Malaysia, Korea, and Japan.

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Each ‘accident’ would equate to downtime for the entire production line which would, in turn, lead to delays in delivering the final product to customers. You can imagine the behind-closed-door meetings trying to figure what happened and how to avoid similar incidents in the future.

The true cost of downtime

Alain Dupuis, VP Industrial Development at UnaBiz acknowledged that nothing is ever simple when it comes to estimating the cost of downtime.

“It varies greatly, from a minor annoyance to catastrophic proportion. What is difficult to evaluate is the rippling effect of one downtime over a whole process. Sometimes a small downtime can have severe consequences down the line,” he elaborated.

Those were the days when rudimentary controls were the prevailing technology, and any automation would be prehistoric by today’s standards.

Persistent downtime

Advances in IoT and industrial automation have evolved to the point that today there is a potential to significantly improve efficiency and safety through predictive maintenance.

However, Dupuis pointed out that very few aspects are currently addressed by technology.

“It is still a long way before we have implemented across it the board. There is a major cost involved to cover all the aspects and despite the best advancements in technology AI cannot do everything so it will never be 100% foolproof,” he added.

Understanding the AI equation

Given all the technology innovations, particularly the injection of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology into the production facility, for example, why do downtimes still exist?

For Dupuis, the most important action item is developing a proper digital model of a business operation through the interaction of all the processes involved.

“Then run AI through this model fed by real-time information from IoT nodes to detect bottlenecks early and balance the load between processes to remove potential showstoppers and streamline the operations. After this, use the AI to work on improving the processes themselves,” he continued.

He cautioned that one of the issues with AI is that it needs examples of failures to define what success is. For example, in predictive maintenance for a water pump, the AI needs to know what are the signals that say that the pump will break.

“Not many businesses will want or can afford to break something just to make their AI work faster and better. So, the implementation of AI in most cases can be a long process before reaching its effectiveness,” he opined.

To AI or not to AI

The quest to modernize a production line is not as simple as introducing new software. Any changes will incur costs such as a planned downtime while the new technology is being introduced to the process and the people that need time to learn to use the technology.

Dupuis highlights the very first challenge – complexity!

This is the paradox of modernization: the more you try to simplify the process, the more sophisticated the technology needs to make it happen.

“For AI to work you need a lot of things to be put into place. AI is kind of the last thing you will add when you have already a strong data collection system only when a massive amount of data is collected over time, can insights be drawn, and Machine Learning and AI come in.

“For this, you need IoT to be implemented at a massive scale. Then, you need it to relate to the enterprise IT system. This requires a lot of dedication and know-how which often companies do not have internally and with little external consultancy available for help,” he added.

Dupuis raised the second thing is cost. “All this complexity requires a heavy investment, in capital and human resources. The third aspect is linked to the second, a lack of confidence regarding the return on investment. AI is still a very new thing, and it is often difficult to measure the potential benefits,” he said matter-of-factly.

Questions to ask

Because everything involves an investment – whether it is time or resources – there should be sufficient understanding about what is involved and how it will impact people, processes and the business.

Dupuis agreed that people need to be honest with themselves in looking at the major pain points that affect running their business. He suggested going about this along with a comprehensive risk analysis.

“What needs to be put forward are those with either high recurring occurrences and/or with potential major destructive effects. Then focus on the top pain point and risk and start with this,” he continued.

He explained that this will limit the expenses and maximize the ROI. Only then to approach this effort using both Agile and Design Thinking methodologies.

“Do not look at it as a one-off effort but as a continuous work where improvements will be made along the way through refinement of the model and with the integration of new services as you will be answering more pain points and risks along the way,” he continued.

According to Dupuis, the question they need to ask themselves is: ‘Are we ready and willing to commit to digital transformation?’

“When it comes to selecting their service providers, they should avoid vendors pushing ready-made "universal" solutions even if they look like good deals at first glance. They want to choose a service provider that is listening to them and offering a tailored service because they know that every business is different. Never forget that this is going to be a very long-term work relationship,” he concluded.

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According to latest analysis by Frost & Sullivan, the growth of IoT adoption in the country is backed by strong connectivity and coverage, rising internet penetration, a surge in smart applications adoption, new business models, and government initiatives such as smart city projects.

"IoT solution deployment for manufacturing industries, including automotive, energy and utilities, smart cities (government), retail, and other industries such as logistics, will drive investments for enterprise IoT products and services," said Apalak Ghosh, associate director, Information & Communications Technologies, Frost & Sullivan. "Enterprises are becoming more technology-focused and increasing investments in cellular IoT to generate value from their digital transformation."

Ghosh added: "Use cases such as industrial automation, building automation, security, and surveillance account for the majority of the market revenue. Telcos may benefit from a share of this revenue, depending on their strategic partnerships with hardware providers and their roles in the IoT value chain."

India offers multiple opportunities for IoT providers, and the country's IoT ecosystem is expected to continue growing to offer entire new streams of revenue. Market participants should focus on:

• Private long-term evolution (P-LTE) for enhanced security: Indian telcos should focus on marketing the benefits of P-LTE to create awareness and approach enterprises with vertical-specific P-LTE solutions.
• Real-time operational intelligence for heightened risk and compliance management: IoT providers must develop hardware and applications that are interoperable and pre-integrated to offer brand-agnostic IoT solutions.
• Visual matrix solutions for improved CX: IoT providers should establish partnerships with visual surveillance system original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to jointly offer in-store, live consumer analytics along with core security solutions.
• IoT as a Service for Smart Diagnostics Laboratories: Starting with open source-based IoT solutions can reduce costs substantially and encourage the adoption of smart laboratories as a service.

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“The lack of affordable wireless coverage is holding back the growth of the IoT from contributing an additional  US$2 trillion to US$3 trillion in value to global GDP over the next decade,” said Alastair Williamson, CEO of Wyld Networks. “Combining two advanced frontier technologies of LoRaWAN and Low Earth Orbiting satellites we can enable 100% global, affordable and low power connectivity to support IoT deployments in multiple markets and segments.”

Don Miller, board member at TrakAssure, is optimistic about the launch of the world’s first LoRaWAN direct-to-satellite with terrestrial dual-mode network compatibility.

“The combined effort will usher in a fresh, cost effective and carrier grade solution opening up new applications in logistics and global asset tracking markets by not only leveraging cost-efficient terrestrial based LoRaWAN solutions, but now expanding capability with ubiquitous global connectivity via satellite which even existing cellular solutions cannot support, especially for emerging markets,” said Miller.

Called the Multimodal IoT Infrastructure Consortium (MMIIC), it will initially focus on formalising and completing all technical tests, pilots, and the commercial delivery of its first-to-market supply chain solutions.

This will be followed by the prioritisation and delivery of additional solutions designed to extend the adoption of LoRaWAN connectivity into markets that can benefit from the combination of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites and terrestrial network connectivity.

Key activities being executed in support of the collaboration include:

• Currently being tested, ELO nanosatellites (Eutelsat LEO for Objects) will provide LoRaWAN coverage
• Allowing sensor-enabled devices to transmit data, irrespective of their location
• Addressing gaps in terrestrial network coverage across rural areas, shipping and transportation routes, and other hard to reach areas.

The companies are planning a commercial services launch in the second half of 2022 with pilots beginning in February 2022. The consortium is open to any enterprise, application provider or systems integrator interested in participating in a pilot or learning more about this unique service.

Under the hood: collaboration details

Through platform integrations, innovative sensor and hardware design, collaborative service delivery, and compelling pricing, the four companies are targeting the global supply chain, including container logistics and related asset tracking, as the first and anchor applications. End-to-end managed network services delivered through this collaboration will provide a new level of visibility into supply chain operations. For example:

• Containers arriving at ports are tracked via Senet’s terrestrial network
• Goods transported on cargo trucks are tracked throughout metro areas via Senet’s Network and Extended Coverage services enabled by network partners like Helium
• Rural transportation routes will be connected via the terrestrial network if detected and to the satellite network when no terrestrial network is detected, and an uplink is needed
• Distribution and retail centers will be supported by terrestrial network coverage

TrakAssure and Wyld Networks are collaborating on the design and production of a new sensor-enabled end device to be used for supply chain and asset tracking solutions.

Wyld is designing and producing the hardware module along with unique firmware. Using standard LoRaWAN compliant chips and components will allow for low cost and time to market advantages. Through its partnership with Senet, TrakAssure will be offering terrestrial and satellite LoRaWAN network connectivity for single trip, semi and permanent infrastructure-based supply chain visibility.

In addition to location tracking and presence detection, TrakAssure supports LoRaWAN devices used for temperature monitoring, geofence location alerts, proof of delivery and other supply chain visibility requirements.

Benefits of hybrid LoRaWAN connectivity

According to Luc Perard, senior vice president of IoT Business at Eutelsat, existing LPWA networks, including LoRaWAN, are ideal to connect assets that don’t send much data and need to operate on a low power budget.

However, he pointed out that they rely on terrestrial infrastructure, such as LoRaWAN gateways, which will never cover more than extended urban areas, i.e., less than 15% of the Earth’s surface.

“With its satellite connectivity offering ELO, Eutelsat will enable network operators like Senet to propose transformational, global, hybrid (terrestrial + satellite) LoRaWAN connectivity, over lands and seas, at the same low-price points.

“Because ELO is fully compatible with the LoRaWAN standard, IoT solution providers and device manufacturers like TrakAssure and Wyld can easily, rapidly and inexpensively adapt their existing LoRaWAN products to make them ELO-compatible and benefit from up to 100% Earth coverage,” said Perard.

Meanwhile, Senet will provide terrestrial LoRaWAN network connectivity and offer Eutelsat satellite coverage through its Extended Coverage services. Through unique network and device management capabilities, end IoT devices will connect to Senet terrestrial networks by default and automatically switch to satellite when coverage gaps are recognised.

In partnership with TrakAssure and Wyld Networks, Senet will also complete application integration and device testing with its network server to ensure the delivery of carrier-grade network service and robust device management for TrakAssure’s supply chain visibility solutions.

“IoT will drive economic growth for decades to come, but a comprehensive and cost-effective strategy is needed in order to deliver robust network coverage across a geography as massive as the United States,” said Bruce Chatterley, CEO of Senet.

Chatterley added: “Senet’s terrestrial Network, extended coverage through partners like Helium, innovative LPWAN Virtual Network program, and now satellite creates the first and only true national and global LoRaWAN IoT network, covering any geographic area required. This capacity is especially important to logistics applications and is another example of Senet innovating based on unique market and customer requirements.”

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Today’s supply chain disruptions, labour shortage, and macroeconomic turmoil happening in 2021 and may continue throughout 2022, manufacturers are ready to make aggressive investments to modernize their factories with EdgeAIoT technologies to transform into a “lights-out” factory.  However, is EdgeAIoT ready for the challenge? 

The answer is yes, it is ready for the challenge because of the mass adoption of IoT in the past 10 years.  I am witnessing many manufacturing CIOs inquiring about edgeAIoT as a part of their hyper-automation roadmaps.

What manufacturing CIOs should be doing to embrace edgeAIoT:

1. Speak with your cloud provider to see if they have an edge AI on-ramp capabilities.  What are the data requirements, data sharing transmission costs and types of training and inference is done in the cloud vs the edge?
2. Is IoT installed at key points of the shopfloor and PLC controllers?  Is the digital thread established and its associated governance model?
3. What closed-loop tasks and information are being relayed back to the data lake and machines?  Predictive maintenance?  Asset optimization?

2022 is going to be a wild and interesting year for smart manufacturing.

First published on Gartner Blog Network

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In addition to eliminating the need for time-consuming manual adjustments, the AI estimates the confidence level of inferences regarding factors such as machining error and then controls the FA equipment based on suitable levels of confidence. The technology is expected to lead to more stable, reliable and productive operations, particularly in agile manufacturing.

“Operating needs change frequently in agile production, so optimum conditions, such as FA equipment motion speeds, revolutions, etc., must be adjusted individually for each type of product,” Mitsubishi Electric in a statement. “Performing such adjustments manually, however, requires labour and time, resulting in decreased productivity. Moreover, declining birth rates and aging populations in many developed countries are resulting in a shortage of skilled workers capable of adjusting FA equipment.”

This is the latest deployment of an AIST AI technology in Mitsubishi Electric’s FA equipment since the two companies  began collaborating on AI development in fiscal 2017.

Moving forward, Mitsubishi Electric expects to increasingly incorporate various forms of its Maisart  AI technology in FA equipment and systems to significantly improve manufacturing productivity.

Key features

• Fast: AI achieves high-speed inferences for dynamic control of FA equipment control

In factories that use FA equipment for agile manufacturing, such as computerized numerical controller (CNC) cutting machines and industrial robots, the movements, operating speeds, acceleration, etc. of the equipment vary during the operating processes. In conventional manufacturing, skilled workers must adjust the operating parameters according to various specifications, such as the required level of accuracy. Mitsubishi Electric has now developed an AI technology that simultaneously performs high-speed inferences and equipment control for real-time FA operation. Incorporating Mitsubishi Electric’s expertise as an FA equipment manufacturer, the new low-load AI control technology performs inferences while simultaneously controlling FA equipment. Although the technology minimises its processing load, it is capable of achieving high-level inference accuracy while simultaneously guiding FA equipment control.

• Adaptable: In-process learning to adapt to constantly changing work factors

The shapes of workpieces change during manufacturing, and this can lengthen manufacturing times or lower processing quality. In addition, changes can vary by workpiece, making it difficult for FA equipment to learn in advance. Mitsubishi Electric’s new technology, however, allows the AI to learn work factors during FA equipment operation and then make real-time adjustments as needed. In addition, the technology formulates physical phenomena, such as friction, and then incorporates these mathematical expressions to enable learning during operation, making it possible to adapt to constantly changing processing factors.

• Reliable: AI performs adjustments according to inference-confidence levels

AI inferences must be reliable to ensure that real-time control of FA equipment leads to stable product quality and efficient processing. Mitsubishi Electric’s new algorithm calculates the confidence level of inferences by learning the machine characteristics of each process and each target device. By using this algorithm to control FA devices, the new AI ensures high reliability.

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The 17-hectare ice-cream plant is located  at the  Greenland International Industrial Center, Bekasi, West Java in Indonesia. It is  established amid the  surging popularity of Joyday ice cream, a brand that has rapidly expanded its reach to 260 local cities in 26 provinces, covering nearly all of Indonesia, since its entry into the market in 2018.

The Indonesia-based hub aims to speed up Joyday's product manufacturing, R&D and marketing efforts, with more new products targeted to suit local palate.

"Local consumers' clear preference for and trust in our products has reinforced Yili's confidence about our long-term investment and development in Indonesia," said Pan Gang, chairman and president of Yili Group, in a virtual speech during the opening of the smart factory over the weekend.

Gang reiterated Yili Group’ commitment to the highest quality standards and sustainable development over the long term, and establishing localized operations that benefit the communities where the company operates.

“This ensures that we can better serve local consumers and make deep contributions to socio-economic development throughout the region,” he added.

An innovative, green, and open factory

With an investment of RMB867 million, the first phase of the project has a daily production capacity of 159 tons. Yili expects to expand capacity to 343 tons per day – a daily production capacity of four million ice cream products – once the second phase is complete. The production base will become the country's largest ice cream factory.

As Yili's first self-built plant in Southeast Asia, Yili Indonesia Dairy has adopted cutting-edge technology and equipment, including the IoT and big data analytics, to build an innovative and smart factory.

The production base integrates advanced digital technologies throughout its entire production chain. Robotics solutions are introduced to provide automated packing, palletising, and warehousing.

The construction of infrastructure and buildings has been undertaken strictly in line with Yili Group's global quality management standards. To date, the factory has already passed the ISO22000, HALAL, and BPOM certifications and been rated A grade by LPPOM MUI, the largest food and drug certification agency in Indonesia.

As part of its efforts to build a sustainable and environmentally friendly production facility, Yili Indonesia Dairy has built a wastewater treatment system with a daily treatment capacity of 2,800 tons. Reclaimed water is then used for the irrigation of plants in the factory.

To ensure high levels of visibility and transparency, the site will be open to the public whenever the factory is in full operation, and consumers can watch the whole production process as it unfolds.

Meanwhile, Yili Indonesia Dairy will not only focus on the local Indonesian market but the wider region as well. As one of Yili Group's "dual centers" in Southeast Asia (the other center is the company's Thailand-based ice cream production base), it will expand into the Southeast Asian market, providing regional consumers with a more diverse range of products.

The completion of Yili Indonesia Dairy sets up another key pillar for Yili's development in the Indonesian and the broader Southeast Asian markets. Together with the company's Thailand-based ice cream production base, Yili's "Southeast Asian dual centers" and Southeast Asia Innovation Center have taken shape, and are expected to accelerate product manufacturing and R&D in the region.

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“Working together, Siemens and AWS will make it easier for industrial customers to use Siemens’ comprehensive digital twin technology and AWS’s cloud services to deliver new manufacturing insights, automation, and connected services,” said Bill Vass, vice president of engineering at AWS. “Together, we’ll bring new cloud-based digital transformation solutions to market that will help companies of any size address industrial complexity and turn it into competitive advantage”.

Integral to this agreement is driving the adoption of  Siemens’ Xcelerator as a Service – making its portfolio of integrated software, services, and application development platform more accessible, scalable, and flexible. Xcelerator as a Service acts as a catalyst for fast and predictable digital transformation—including by gaining new manufacturing insights, automating processes, and deploying connected services—and offers customisable solutions for any starting point on the digital journey.

Siemens‘ Xcelerator  is already integrated with over 60 AWS services, and with the addition of AWS IoT TwinMaker, customers can apply AWS IoT TwinMaker to develop powerful digital twin solutions that are compatible with Siemens‘ design, simulation and manufacturing software.

“Siemens and AWS are coming together to help companies speed engineering efforts, optimise factory operations, and enhance customer experiences from chip to edge to cloud,“ said Tony Hemmelgarn, president and chief executive officer at Siemens Digital Industries Software. “We’re excited to combine our proven cloud and industrial experience in this expanded partnership and simplify the journey for our mutual customers to become digital enterprises.“

The strategic collaboration agreement between AWS and Siemens will see the companies cooperate to support customers; expand cloud capabilities in Siemens‘ Xcelerator as a Service portfolio; explore opportunities for innovation; and develop and take to market new solutions.

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For instance, Pfizer is using AWS to enhance its continuous clinical manufacturing processes by incorporating predictive maintenance capabilities built with AWS machine learning services like Amazon Lookout for Equipment, the AWS’s service for detecting abnormal equipment behaviour by analysing sensor data.

As a result, the pharmaceutical firm can maximise uptime for equipment such as centrifuges, agitators, pulverisers, coaters, and air handlers used in clinical drug manufacturing.

The overall focus of this collaboration is to support Pfizer in more rapidly and reliably producing new drugs and evaluating their potential health benefit for patients.

New PACT initiative

To mark the enhanced collaboration between the two companies, they have created the Pfizer Amazon Collaboration Team (PACT) initiative, which applies AWS capabilities in analytics, machine learning, compute, storage, security, and cloud data warehousing to Pfizer laboratory, clinical manufacturing, and clinical supply chain efforts.

“Our goal with AWS is to expedite the processes for drug discovery and development in ways that can ultimately enhance patient experiences and deliver new therapies to market. Working closely with AWS experts in machine learning and analytics, we aim to provide our scientists and researchers with the insights they need to help deliver medical breakthroughs that change patients’ lives,” said Andrew McKillop, vice president of pharmaceutical sciences, worldwide research, development, and medical at Pfizer.

Both companies are working to develop a prototype solution for detecting abnormal data points in its drug product continuous clinical manufacturing platform for solid, oral-dose medicines. The prototype solution uses Amazon SageMaker (AWS’s service for building, training, and deploying machine learning models quickly in the cloud and at the edge), Amazon Lookout for Equipment, Amazon Lookout for Metrics (AWS’s service for automatically detecting anomalies in metrics and identifying their root cause), and Amazon QuickSight (AWS’s scalable machine learning-powered business intelligence service for the cloud).

The machine learning models used in the prototype were able to provide early warnings for alarms with minimal false positives and direct users to the relevant signals. As a result, Pfizer can process data from the equipment and sensors involved in Portable Continuous Miniature and Modular (PCMM) manufacturing to detect anomalies as they occur, predict maintenance needs, and reduce potential equipment downtime.

Mining insights  from legacy data to develop new drugs

According to Kathrin Renz, vice president of business development and industries at AWS, the past two years have reinforced for the world just how much speed and agility matter at every step of the research, development, and clinical manufacturing cycle when lives are on the line.

“We’re proud to work with Pfizer and lend our deep domain expertise to assist in developing solutions that could significantly improve the lives of patients globally,” she said.

With the new PACT initiative, Pfizer scientists will also collaborate with AWS healthcare and life sciences professionals to explore how researchers in Pfizer’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Small Molecules teams can extract and mine information from legacy documents by leveraging AWS analytics and machine learning services.

Pfizer has an extensive collection of documents that contain valuable data from a variety of drug development processes. The documents include data related to synthetic chemistry routes, recipes, analytical tests, method development, formulation composition, clinical manufacturing campaigns, batch records, technology transfer, and many other types of work.

Housed within these documents are potentially powerful insights that could point Pfizer researchers in the right direction for developing new drugs or repurposing existing ones—if the researchers can identify and link the right information efficiently.

To gain quick, secure access to the right information at the right time, Pfizer’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Small Molecules teams are working with AWS to develop a prototype system that can automatically extract, ingest, and process data from this documentation to help in the design of lab experiments.

The prototype system is powered by Amazon Comprehend Medical (AWS’s HIPAA-eligible natural language processing (NLP) service to extract information from unstructured medical text accurately and quickly) and Amazon SageMaker, and uses Amazon Cognito to deliver secure user access control.

“Our life sciences customers are increasingly looking for opportunities to scale expertise, insight, and secure access to the right information, at the right time, with the aim of reducing the time and cost for drug development and clinical trials,” “AWS’s breadth and depth of cloud capabilities help support Pfizer’s teams through secure, novel research methods as they work to optimize drug development and clinical manufacturing processes.

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Saudi Arabia unveiled plans for the world’s largest floating city this week, as it enters the new phase of the US$500-billion Neom city-state project that covers 10,000 square miles of country's Tabuk province, near its borders with Jordan and Egypt. Neom – a combination of the Greek word neos, or “new”, and mustaqbal, Arabic for “future” – is a flagship project of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Located at the southwest corner of Neom, Oxagon is envisioned to be an industrial district where the city-state’s integrated port and logistics hub will be located. It lies in close proximity to the Suez Canal where approximately 13% of global trade passes through.

“Oxagon will be the catalyst for economic growth and diversity in Neom and the Kingdom. I am pleased to see that business and development have started on the ground and we look forward to the city's rapid expansion,” Prince Salman said.

He added that Oxagon will redefine the world's approach to industrial development in the future, which will have the protection of the environment at its core. It will represent a radical new model for future manufacturing centres.

Nadhmi As-Nasr, CEO of Neom agrees that Oxagon will signal a fundamental shift of how the world views manufacturing centres.

“What encourages us is to see the enthusiasm of a number of our partners who have shown eagerness to start their projects in Oxagon These pioneers of change will establish factories, developed with the latest technologies in artificial intelligence, to achieve a significant leap for this era into the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” Al Nasr.

World’s first fully automated port and integrated logistic hub

Oxagon is being touted as the world first fully automated port and integrated logistics hub that will make use of robots and AI.

The adoption of advanced technologies  of  IoT, human-machine fusion, artificial and predictive intelligence and robotics will be coupled to a network of fully automated distribution centres and autonomous last-mile delivery assets to drive Neom’s ambitions of creating a seamless integrated, intelligent and efficient supply chain.

Furthermore, the port, logistics and rail delivery facility will be unified, providing world-class productivity levels with net-zero carbon emissions, setting global benchmarks in the adoption of technology and environmental sustainability.

The agile and integrated physical and digital supply chain and logistics system will allow for real-time planning, resulting in secure on-time delivery, efficiency and cost-effectiveness for industry partners.

Speaking to Arabian Business, Al-Nasr gave a definitive timeline for Oxagon’s construction: “We expect the onshore development at Oxagon to be completed by 2030. The beginning of the offshore development will be very much underway by that point as well.

“The containerisation of our port is likely to begin in 2022 when we will also be building our advanced integrated port logistics facilities. We aim to have our logistics solutions facilities in place by 2025 as we continue to progress and deploy new technologies such as state-of-the-art high-speed rail and aerial taxis.”

The city’s first residents are expected to move in at the end of 2023,

A net-zero city powered by 100% renewable energy

Oxagon’s octagonal shape is designed to minimise impact to the environment while providing optimal land use. It will be a net-zero city with all industries within its fold to be powered  by renewable energy.

The city has identified seven key sectors for industrial development: sustainable energy; autonomous mobility; water innovation; sustainable food production; health and well-being; modern construction; technology and digital manufacturing,

Oxagon aims to be a showcase of how manufacturing can co-exist with nature and respect the environment, especially the delicate ecosystem of coastal areas.

“We will demonstrate how industry and logistics, powered by 100% clean energy, can redefine manufacturing processes with advanced technology, innovation and the clean use of land and sea areas. What we are doing here in Oxagon is a testament that exceptional liveability and industrial advancement are not mutually exclusive,” Al-Nasr told Arabian Business.

Oxagon expects to welcome its first manufacturing tenants at the beginning of 2022.

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In 2018, Panasonic started working with car manufacturer with Toyota to develop solutions that would make human interaction with robots safer in the workplace and help ensure that the efficiencies of robot deployment would not be compromised by increases in injury rates. Panasonic contributed its proprietary human-safety evaluation technology, while Toyota shared its extensive knowledge and experience in automated manufacturing.

Segregated no  more

For decades, there are safety fences that strictly segregated robots from humans, particularly in vehicle assembly lines where robot arms perform most of the tasks.

But as the technology becomes more sophisticated and the cost of deployment go down, robots are now found in working environments in close proximity to people, as there are collaborative processes that are difficult to fully automate.

With the increased the risk of accidental injuries to operators' hands and fingers, Panasonic's earliest innovations in this area were aimed at smoothing the interaction between humans and the tools and other devices they use at home. This resulted in more ergonomic designs of power tools and hand-held consumer devices like shavers, for example.

In 2005, Panasonic began its efforts to develop technologies to assess human safety in various scenarios, and in 2008 produced a device that helped improve the safety of larger fixtures and prevent injuries such as trapped fingers in folding or sliding doors. More recently the company has been active developing robots for deployment in the field of nursing care, including machines that provide walking support for those with limited mobility.

Safety device catches manufacturers’ attention

There are currently no laws or safety standards in Japan or other countries requiring potential injury evaluation amid the increased robot-people interaction, but Panasonic and Toyota are considering to propose the creation of ISO standards that would encourage their adoption.

In the meantime, the two companies have been working to ensure the interaction between robots and people on the car factory floor is as safe as it can be.

Toyota drew up a list of needs and requirements for potential new solutions, and Panasonic incorporated these into its design of an initial prototype product that would allow the risks of potential injuries resulting from human-machine collaboration to be assessed and visualised.

The design specs were provided to Tanac, a Japanese firm active in the development of new materials and technologies for use in the field of medical treatments and healthcare. Tanac manufactured the resulting product.

The device consists of a core rod portion that corresponds to the human finger bone enclosed in a soft proprietary silicon-based material designed to replicate the properties of human flesh. By inserting and moving the dummy in and around the parts of the robots or machinery most likely to come into contact with humans while each are performing their designated tasks, operators can assess the risk of potential injuries.

The newly-launched device is already attracting the attention of leading manufacturers, and as people and robots come into increasing contact at workplaces around the world and the risks of injury increase, demand for this innovative solution is likely to be high.

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The new company  will leverage Johnson Electric's vast knowledge and experience in manufacturing processes and Cortica's unique Autonomous AI Technology to revolutionise the visual inspection market.

Automating quality assurance in manufacturing through Autonomous AI will drive flawless quality and production while enabling simple and fast setup on the production line

"With the power of Cortica's Autonomous AI technology, and JE's vast knowledge of the market, Lean AI will deliver a product that reduces the cost of human error when it comes to quality inspection in manufacturing and address the vulnerabilities in the current market," said Karina Odinaev, CEO of Lean AI.

Austin Wang, senior vice president of Johnson Electric, said they are fully aware of the fundamental challenges in deploying an AI-based quality assurance software in the production environment – especially in terms of speed of deployment and reliability over time.

“However, Cortica’s autonomous AI technology can address a lot of these major headaches and allow for much faster and broader adoption.”

The Israel-based Cortica Group has developed Autonomous AI that simulates the natural processes of the mammal cortex. Its unsupervised approach to learning mimics the way the brain processes information: enabling machines to learn, collaborate and interact with the world without human input.

Wang also pointed out that Johnson Electric's deep experience in a wide range of manufacturing processes offers a unique platform for developing an AI-based quality assurance software for commercial use.

“The joint venture is also opening a new avenue for Johnson Electric to develop and market software offerings. It is therefore both a technological as well as business model innovation for us. There are also opportunities to apply the technology in predictive quality and expert systems as well. This is the second investment of Johnson Electric in Israeli technology, and we will continue to assess such relevant opportunities,” Wang said.

Seizing the opportunity in the global machine market

The newly-formed Lean AI hopes to tap into the growing global machine vision market, currently valued at US$11 billion, but is predicted to reach US$15.5 billion by 2026.

As these numbers continue to grow and AI technology advances, the opportunity for machine vision solutions to positively aid in manufacturers' earning potential with a reduction in defects gives way for a new system that will fundamentally change the industry's approach to quality assurance.

Today, supervised Deep Learning-Based Quality Assurance Systems can take weeks, up to months, to deploy. The existing systems are reliant on a data scientist or AI experts and require large manually tagged training sets with thousands of defect image examples. Requiring constant maintenance and re-training for the slightest variations, the system is unable to adapt to defects, new products, and new cameras.

Lean AI touts its technology surpasses existing challenges of prevalent supervised Deep Learning-Based Quality Assurance Systems with the power of unsupervised learning to process information within a fraction of a second, using unlabelled data, applies predictive quality assurance, and compiles data that increases the speed of deployment and scaling. As an open platform agnostic to camera, defect type and product, Lean AI can collaborate with any integrators, OEMs, and manufacturers of automation solutions.

"Cortica has developed self-learning AI that is fundamentally different from traditional deep learning systems. Autonomous AI Technology operates like a human brain - it's not a fixed system; instead, it continuously adapts itself to various scenarios and learns online in real-time. Its technology requires far less computing power, can be deployed at a fraction of the cost, and provides far superior performance outcomes," said Igal Raichelgauz, founder and chairman of Cortica. "Our technology is robust and generic and applicable within a multitude of signal domains such as visual, audio, time series and other domains; visual inspection is only the beginning. Autonomous AI technology is quickly becoming the benchmark for the industry."

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The new manufacturing facility is fitted with advanced pipe processing, welding, and assembly process equipment. It deploys real-time information connectivity and automatic processing in key processes such as frame manufacturing, iron and plastic parts coating, motor manufacturing, and whole motorcycle assembly. Moreover, its production equipment in the workshop is using the Internet of things (IoT) to improve efficiency and reduce labour cost.

When fully operational, the smart factory can  produce an electric motorcycle can be produced in 30 seconds, with a frame accuracy error of less than 0.5 mm. Automatic cutting, bending and welding are realised in frame manufacturing of electric motorcycles, which are monitored with the MES system, so that the accuracy error of finished products is less than 0.5 mm.

It is planned to equip the intelligent factory with 10 automatic production lines for synchronous pre-assembly, five of which have been completed to date.

"We will try our best to cultivate a 100-billion-level new energy electric vehicle industry cluster, and strive to achieve the '311' project target for the electric vehicle industry during the '14th Five-year Plan', that is, 30 million electric vehicles (sets of accessories) will be produced every year, to achieve the output value of RMB 100 billion and the tax revenue of RMB 10 billion,” said Huang Yingmei, party secretary of Gangbei District.

The district is capitalising on Guangxi’s proximity to the borders of Vietnam to tap into the burgeoning Southeast Asian market.

In recent years, the Gangbei District in Guigang City, Guangxi, has seized the development opportunity brought by the Belt and Road Initiative, and continued to optimise the business environment, planning to build a 10,000-mu China-ASEAN New Energy Electric Vehicle Production Base.

At present, nearly 100 electric vehicle enterprises have been introduced and more than 50 electric vehicle enterprises have started operation. Guangxi New Energy Electric Vehicle Products Quality Testing Center and Guangxi Electric Vehicle Industry Association have been established successively.

An annual production capacity of 4 million two-wheeled electric motorcycles, 500,000 three-wheeled electric vehicles and 5 million sets of spare parts has been formed, with the local matching rate reaching 80%.

From January to September this year, the industrial output value of enterprises above the designated size in the new energy electric vehicle industry of Gangbei District increased by 37.9% year on year. Key components such as motors and plastic parts are continuously sold to domestic and ASEAN markets.

In addition, Gangbei District also creates "Marshal Travel", a local shared electric bicycle brand, which has been put into operation, and it plans to put more than 500,000 shared electric bicycles in Guangxi within five years, and expand to the whole country in the future.

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“You need to integrate data from different sources into one holistic data platform. You also need an open and agnostic data pipeline that forwards your data from the devices to your platform,” said Philipp Redlinger, IoT architect at German-based System Vertrieb Alexander (SVA). “The pipeline needs to be able to integrate data from various sources in different formats. So, it has to be agnostic pipeline that you can expand for other protocols as well. And the platform has to be open on both sides in terms of ingestion as well as output. It must be capable of sharing data and insights with end-users via desktops and mobile clients. And, of course, it needs to be able to connect to other systems via a clearly structured API.”

“In order to enable interoperability and data-driven applications and end-to-end scenarios, such data pipeline in combination with an open platform is crucial,” he stressed.

Redlinger and his SVA colleague, IoT engineer Patrick Nieto Castro, were co-presenters during the  “From Sensor To Cloud” session at last week’s .conf21 event organised by Splunk.

Redlinger added that the data pipeline of the IoT architecture should not only serve as “a simple data funnel that simply ingest all data” that cross its path.

“It should be capable of performing data processing such as transforming and filtering your data in order to increase the quality of your data at an early stage. And by turning raw data to refine data that is optimally prepared for your analytical applications, you will enable them to provide high-value insights for your business cases.”

Consequences of the silo issue

Gartner estimates that there will be 25 billion connected devices by the end of the year. And companies that have long ago deployed devices in various areas of their operations are now connecting them into an IIoT network with the hope mining the data in these devices to gain business insights to deliver new digital services.

According to Redlinger, isolated systems  and fragmented solutions that now exist within organisations create a silo problem that prevent them from getting the total picture ,

“Due to these fragmented solutions, there are a lot of inefficiencies, and the systems vendor ultimately decides what happens to your data. You do not have sovereignty over your data.   Because of this, it is very difficult to correlate data from sources and you cannot perform root cause analysis of multiple workstations, and you are missing the global perspective.”

The challenge of collecting IoT data for analysis has real consequences in terms of inefficiencies, outages and wastage, Redlinger pointed out.

“They are not just theoretical problems of missed opportunities due to the sophisticated use cases that you cannot implement. And there are also real money that is being lost basically every minute in countless ways.”

Citing a recent survey, he noted that people lost 30 minutes to two hours per working shift looking for the right data. On the positive side, a utility company in the US was able to cut the amount of outage minutes by 43.5% and reduce the cost by US$40 million a year after it dissolved legacy information silos and consolidate them in one holistic information platform.

Some ground rules before building an IoT architecture

Redlinger urged companies be realistic about technology, pointing out that architectures oftentimes are being built just for the sake of fancy technologies.

“Try to avoid this. Keep your strategies and business cases constantly aligned to your architecture,” he said. “Start with an MVP approach – start with minimum viable products. Keep it flexible and expandable so you can build on that later on.”

He also advised  companies to accept that their requirements will change as the project progresses.

“Even if you try to get a perfect information upfront, your requirements will change by an estimated 1% per month. That is a rule of thumb. So even if you would know everything at the beginning, after one month of doing the project, your requirements would have already been different, so you need to constantly readjust.”

He stressed that there is no silver bullet, so build on open standards and consider hybrid scenarios. “And keep single parts of your pipeline exchangeable so you can make adjustments later on.”

Needless to say, do not compromise on security, Redlinger said.

“There are many strong mechanisms nowadays such as network segmentation, strong authentication mechanism, encryption and analytics-driven security – which is a strong one at Splunk.”

Connecting to the cloud

According to Redlinger, the quick start  scenario for designing an IoT data pipeline is a direct integration with Splunk Cloud. And these can be done in several ways as shown below:

He enumerated the different components and protocols that are the building blocks: LP-WAN for connectivity when Wi-Fi and LTE is not an option; an edge hardware, which is typically an IoT gateway, but can be anything up to scalable edge-as-a-service platforms; and various legacy and proprietary machine protocols that need to be translated by middleware, which runs on edge Hardware or in the cloud or data centre.

He also listed the new protocols for the open IoT architecture.

“The OPC UA is the silver lining in the horizon because it is the first widely accepted open standard for machine interoperability, supported by most modern industrial equipment and software. So, keep your architecture somewhat compatible OPC UA as possible.

“And at the backend, we have the MQTT protocol, which is the open & lightweight Pub/Sub-Messaging Protocol. It is very useful in scenarios where there are a high number of connected devices or uneven network coverage – i.e., connected cars.

“And then we have the Apache Kafka, which is a fully blown distributed streaming platform. And that is very helpful if you need a central data hub for various applications and backend systems, and if you want to perform heavy workloads on your streaming data.”

Meanwhile, SVA IoT engineer Patrick Nieto Castro, the first step in building the IoT data pipeline is connecting all the actual devices.

“You have to select appropriate sensors for the measurement of your physical data of interest. And already think to exhaust any possibility of edge computing,” he said.

Castro advise that companies should ensure that they clean their data and prepare their data as early as possible before sending them any further.

“Believe me, any data scientist you are possibly working with will surely be thankful if filter out any nulled values, any non-numeric values or any crappy data before handing it to them.”

Castro shared a real-life use case where SVA worked to create the IoT data pipeline for a company that runs electric vehicle charging stations in Germany.

“For the final architecture, I will try to put some name in the architectural building blocks. We use gateways of Insys Microelectronics, one of our partners for connectivity and edge computing, at each production site. The HiveMQ, enterprise MQTT broker as a reliable and scalable data turntable. Also, my colleagues and I developed our very own extension for sending telemetry data from HiveMQ MQTT broker to Splunk Cloud where the sensor data is connected and analysed.”

Onsite at each EV charging station, Castro gave a glimpse of what it takes to physically build the IoT data pipeline.

“We have to convert current and voltage to https. First, we connect our power consumer to a power relay, which is done via an electric wiring. This is an interesting step because of the high voltage. Next, we connect the power relay to a power meter, the sensor that effectively converts  current and voltage into measurement. You all know this type of device because it is used to collect the electricity bill at your home by your local electricity supplier.

“And now we connect the power meter to an energy gateway by one of our partners.  Insys Microelectronics is one of the market leaders in the energy supply markets. They make it possible to encode the data of power meters as serial signals. And we connect the central gateway to HiveMQ, an enterprise MQTT broker that converts digital signals into telemetry encrypted data.  The central gateway has an internet connection and sends the telemetry data via MQTT using our very own extension to send telemetry data into Splunk Cloud.”

Benefits of the holistic approach to data and analytics

Redlinger said that once a company’s IIoT use case has matured enough and  having a good idea of their  analytical algorithms, then you can start deploying simplified versions of them right away on their edge devices.

“You have some kind of limited compute power that might be enough to run the simpler algorithms and then you can start generating insights right from the beginning where the data is generated.  And you can have a very tight feedback loop. So, if one of your algorithms detect an error in your production system, it can halt the production and notify a shop floor operations person in order to fix the error. You have a very fast reaction time with this, and you can also use a lot of pre-processing at the edge that way,” Redlinger said.

Redlinger explained why Splunk is an ideal choice for building an IoT data pipeline: “Splunk has very strong self-service analytics capabilities. It is easy for normal users to learn how to run communities, how to build dashboards, how to explore data. And by hierarchical segmentation of dashboards, you can build apps and dashboards for management reports down to the operational level of having an overview for shop co-operators.

“And you have machine learning capabilities: you have the machine learning toolkit, the deep learning toolkit. You can integrate custom codes for custom app, so you can have all the data-driven analytics capabilities that you need. And in the cloud, it is fast and easy to start. You have low capital expenditure – an upfront investment but you can really start your journey very quickly – see it has proven value, then quickly scale it up and down if necessary.

“And it is also very easy as the data is already globally available in the cloud to share it with other parties and other systems to create third-party services as well.

Meanwhile, Castro identified benefits of adopting a holistic approach to data and analytics in IIoT deployments.

“The digital twins accelerate  your business as never experienced before by increasing transparency of the day to day actions. Instead of sending over technicians to read out measurements, there is constant monitoring of device performance and conditions.

“We have the advantage of AIOps that train models to look for feature combinations which best explain your data. And we have predictive maintenance. You can forecast anomalies, machinery conditions, which effectively decreases unexpected downtime and increases the overall performance.”

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The alliance allowed the two companies to combine their IoT capabilities – Mindtree Nxt IoT service line and the IoT-geared ServiceNow Connected Operations platform – to help companies in industry sectors such as manufacturing and consumer goods achieve smarter operations and improve their decision-making by tapping hidden insights  in their IoT data.

"The true transformative potential of data can be realised only by using it effectively," said Alex Nicholas, vice president and head of ServiceNow Business at Mindtree. "Siloed data and disconnected systems can undermine the best of IoT programs. The capabilities of Mindtree NxT alongside ServiceNow and their dedicated Connected Operations team position us well to help enterprises better manage critical infrastructure, deliver superior customer experiences, and drive customer loyalty."

Mindtree, a technology consulting and services company, applies its deep domain knowledge to more than 260 enterprise client engagements to break down silos, make sense of digital complexity and bring new initiatives to market faster. The company enables IT to move at the speed of business, leveraging emerging technologies and the efficiencies of “Continuous Delivery” to spur business innovation.

Operating in 24 countries across the world, its geographic footprint in Asia Pacific include presence in Auckland, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo, as well as several cities in India.

Turning data into actionable insights

Manufacturing and consumer goods companies are increasingly looking to make better use of the data generated through multiple platforms and legacy operational technology (OT) systems.

This means working around operational and data silos between OT and IT, a lack of common processes and tools in floor systems, and an inability to bring all data into a single system of record. Through Mindtree's solutions, these companies will be able to gain greater visibility across the enterprise; mitigate risk; and, reduce cost. They can also harness a single source of truth for collaborative decision-making and leverage advanced analytics, data insights, simulation and modelling for better evaluation of their value chains.

"Across industries, businesses realise the need for digital workflows to deliver greater operational efficiencies and better customer outcomes," said Jonathan Sparks, vice president of IoT and operations products at ServiceNow. "Together with Mindtree, we're helping move customers in manufacturing and consumer goods beyond dashboards to automate issue resolution with IoT. Combining Mindtree's powerful IoT, AI and Machine Learning capabilities with ServiceNow's leading workflow platform will improve decision-making and drive smart operations while helping customers realise new business outcomes based on business-relevant insights."

By connecting IoT data with digital workflows, ServiceNow Connected Operations enables organisations to realise the full value of their IoT investments, help increase customer satisfaction, and access new business models. Together with Mindtree driving actionable and industry-specific insights, these solutions will allow customers to break down data silos, proactively resolve issues, and evolve collaboration between customers, operations, customer service, and field service.

Indeed, with its industry partner solutions,  ServiceNow is able to extend its capabilities to deliver industry-specific applications and services that are tailored to customers' unique digital transformation needs.

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“With most of the region working remotely, demand for digital services in APJ is growing, and with digitalisation comes inherent risk. In the industrial world, that risk is particularly high as previously isolated OT networks become more integrated with IT networks, and thus exposed to a whole host of cyber threats they were not designed to face,” said Yaniv Vardi, CEO of Claroty. “Our expansion in in Asia Pacific and Japan is a reflection of this growing demand as well as the success we’ve achieved to date in the region, and we look forward to working with our strong ecosystem of partners to continue building upon this success.”

According to ResearchandMarkets,  global OT cybersecurity market will be worth US$18.13 billion by 2023, with Asia-Pacific's OT cybersecurity market projected to grow at a higher CAGR in the forecast period. Manufacturing and mining will be the largest sectors with a strong growth trajectory over the study period. The impact of COVID-19 will be significant across these sectors and other key segments, including oil and gas, transportation and smart cities, and power verticals from 2020 to 2023.

Claroty noted that spending on OT cybersecurity in the region is increasing as large-scale cyber incidents impacting critical industrial operations have become more pronounced – pointing out that countries in Southeast Asia have increased their spending on industrial cybersecurity as critical infrastructure in industries such as telecommunications, finance, energy and technology become targets of persistent threat actors.

The company added that such incidents have also made regulators aware that they need to prioritise the security of critical national infrastructure, whether publicly or privately held. Thus, regional agencies are assessing how they will mandate that incident-reporting procedures and cybersecurity practices be installed and required of companies which operate in certain sectors, especially those in energy, oil and gas, transportation, finance, healthcare, and food and beverage. For one, Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency (CSA) has drafted a Master Plan for OT cyber resilience, and are installing expert panels to advise them.

Eddie Stefanescu, general manager of Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) at Claroty said the company’s remit with existing customers in the region has significantly expanded, as their industrial cybersecurity programs continue to mature.

“It takes specialist knowledge and experience to effectively implement cybersecurity for OT networks, and what differentiates Claroty is the depth of visibility we have into those networks when our platform is implemented,” said Stefanescu. “That’s why public and private entities, including Coca-Cola EuroPacific Partners (Australia, Pacific, Indonesia), BHP, IRPC Public Company Limited, and Aboitiz Power, are investing in Claroty.”

To date, the company  is experiencing hyper growth in the region, having doubled its client base and achieving 250% growth in revenue year-over-year from the first half of 2020 to 1H 2021. The company has tripled its headcount in the region over the past year, with hiring occurring across seven countries.

“Across Australia and Asia, Claroty is a strong partner for companies in the oil and gas, utilities, manufacturing, water, and electrical power industries, but our customer base is broadening. In the past year, we have also experienced strong growth in the food and beverage sector, and in the pharmaceutical sector for the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines,” said Stefanescu.

Meanwhile, the opening of Claroty’s regional office in Singapore comes shortly after Claroty’s US$140 million in its Series D financial round, which included participation from Temasek.

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Businesses plan to spend 10% of their IT budgets on IoT projects over the next three years, a three percent increase over the average 7% previously allocated between 2017 and 2020. Planned investments in IoT are notably higher than those earmarked for other Industry 4.0 technologies, including cloud computing (9.0%), next generation security (7.5%), big data analytics (7.3%), robotics (5.3%), machine learning (4.8%) and virtual reality (4.3%).

There are, however, noticeable variations in the planned levels of IoT investments between different industry sectors. Oil and gas firms intend to invest the most in IoT over the next three years (an average of $3.2 million), followed by electrical utilities companies (US$3.1 million), transport and logistics businesses (£3 million), mining operators ($2.7 million) and, finally, agricultural businesses ($2 million).

“Our latest research reveals IoT is now the primary Industry 4.0 technology in which companies are investing over the next three years. The emergence of IoT as an investment priority for businesses, and the increasing level of cost-savings they expect IoT to deliver in the years ahead, demonstrates how well-established a technology IoT has become across multiple industries,” said Mike Carter, president on Inmarsat Enterprise.  

The research  entitled “Industrial IoT in the Time of Covid-19” is based on interviews with 450 global respondents across the agriculture, electrical utilities, mining, oil & gas and transport & logistics sectors in early 2021, a year after the start of the pandemic. The respondents are responsible for delivering IoT initiatives at their respective organisations, whose businesses have at least 250 employees and spanned across the Americas, Asia Pacific and EMEA.

The report focuses on measuring the IoT maturity of global industry during the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise of digitalised production and supply chains. It analyses a number of key themes such as adoption, connectivity, data, skills, security and investment.

According to Carter,  Covid-19 has emphasised the importance of Industry 4.0 technologies like IoT for business continuity.

“With the world’s production and supply chains becoming increasingly interconnected and digitalised, those companies producing digital twins of their supply chains and sharing data, are the ones reaping the benefits,” he said.

Mainstream IoT adoption brings operational cost-savings

Meanwhile, the new research also reveals that the mainstream adoption of IoT is already making a significant difference in terms of operational cost-savings to many organisations.

Respondents report that IoT projects currently save their organisations an average of 9%  of their yearly costs. In the future, they expect to achieve an average of 15% cost-savings in 12 months’ time, rising to 22% in three years and 30% in five years’ time.

 “However, there are still noticeable differences between sectors and several significant areas for all organisations on which to improve to draw optimum benefits from the technology, namely: securing reliable connectivity, improving data management and addressing their IoT skills gaps and security concerns,” Carter said.

Inmarsat is positioning its ELERA narrowband network as ideally suited to the rapidly evolving world of IoT and the billions of devices that are being connected every year.

The post Firms plan an average US$2M on IoT projects through 2024 appeared first on FutureIoT.

Tanapong Ittisakulchai, chief enterprise business officer at AIS welcomed  the opportunity to work with a global partner  such as TCS to create next generation high-speed IoT solutions that help advance and enhance core industries such as manufacturing.

“Together we are creating important new digital services that can help our customers improve operations, capacity and competitiveness. Furthermore, we are pleased to be offering IoT services that will help advance Thai core industry with a focus on manufacturing, contributing to the national economic rebound and growth,” he said.

TCS’ IoT Smart Manufacturing Solutions leverage next-gen technologies such as digital twins, to enhance operational resilience, improve customer experience, and drive innovation across the manufacturing value chain. Offerings include:

• Smart Manufacturing: Solutions for industrial plants to connect production lines with 5G network within the factory and IoT devices such as condition-based maintenance, predictive maintenance, remote monitoring, remote diagnostics, digital twin, and more.
• TCS Clever Energy: An enterprise-level energy and emissions management system, powered by IoT, artificial intelligence, machine learning and cloud, that helps commercial and industrial organizations drive energy and cost efficiency, decrease carbon emissions, and become more sustainable.
• TCS Gen 4-Work-AR: An IoT based connected worker mixed reality solution to provide real-time contextual information for better decision support, to empower employees to work remotely with cutting edge technology such as AR/VR to supervise work, train employees, give advice about work or even solve on job site problems promptly.
• TCS Logistics Optimizer:  A unique AI & ML-based IoT solution built to synchronize the operations in the Supply Chain management process and enhances visibility across the value-chain. It is a proven solution that helps reduce logistics costs and drives e­fficiency across the network through resource optimisation & increased On-Time delivery

“Forward-thinking manufacturers are deploying IoT strategically to enable new business models, enhance customer experience, make their value chains more responsive, and drive growth,” said Vijaya Pandya, country head, TCS Thailand. “We are pleased to partner with AIS to further accelerate our go-to-market capabilities for our exciting range of IoT-based business solutions that will enhance Thailand’s industrial sector.”

The post TCS, AIS to bring 5G IoT solutions to Thailand's key sectors appeared first on FutureIoT.

As IoT proliferates, promising huge business benefits, this report explores the steps businesses must take to ensure their IoT is properly secured, to enable maximum success.

Click on the link to download this report to discover more from the Internet of Things to the Internet of Trust. 

The post Futureproofing IoT appeared first on FutureIoT.

Networks for the new normal

More than ever before, networks are now vital. They cannot struggle under the load of new demand. Instead, they must be able to accommodate societies and businesses during the next, connectivity-driven industrial phase. Yet, this is not just an imperative for a far-off future; it must be done now, due in no small part to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

For people, ‘shelter-in-place’, ‘work-from-home’, and ‘remote schooling’ practices – in addition to people generally digitally connecting with each other during the pandemic – have led to a surge in internet traffic. In many of these instances, more people are consuming high-definition video streaming, caused by the concurrent rise in upstream traffic which, due to the greater proliferation of video conferencing and collaboration tools, require connectivity that is significantly lower in latency and higher in bandwidth.

Robust and high-capacity networks are also needed to facilitate the revolution of industries and enterprises operating within them. We are no longer at the beginning of a new industrial era; COVID-19 has shown that we are now in the thick of it. The “Automation of Everything” is already happening and it is being brought about by digital interfaces, data analysis, and control of the physical world via networks.

Automation will catalyse the digital transformation of more physical, asset-intensive industries. This is as significant productivity improvements can be generated by combining advances in information technology (IT) and operations technology (OT) to enable industries to drive closed-loop automation in their physical environments.

This will involve the proliferation of advanced technologies such as the internet of things (IoT), edge computing, artificial intelligence (AI)- and machine learning (ML)-powered deep analytics, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), robotics, remote control, and digital twinning technologies – just to name a few. These innovations will then foster new demands on the network infrastructure, and in many cases, these demands will extend far beyond what has traditionally been acceptable, even for the largest enterprise networks. This means that the capabilities of mission-critical network infrastructures must be expanded greatly.

The 5G difference

As our world’s digital transformation is gaining strong momentum, so too is the 5G race. Revenue from 5G network infrastructures worldwide continues to grow and by 2024, more CSPs are projected to commercialise more 5G services. The next few years will therefore be the bellwether of a decade of 5G innovations that will bring an expanded portfolio of mobile and wireless services to market. For people, 5G will bring broadband performance to mobile devices while industries can realise more wireless applications and industrial IoT to not only drive greater productivity, efficiency, and safety, but also make operations more resilient during unforeseen crises.

To deliver 5G-enabled innovations with agility and flexibility, radio access network (RAN) and mobile core technologies are migrating to cloud-native architectures, in addition to adopting virtualised, comprehensive ‘network slices’ to partition resources as needed. The roadmaps for new 5G capabilities are deep – ranging from immersive experiences and sophisticated video analytics for environmental applications to connected vehicles and eHealth – and will be rolled out over many years. Given that 5G RAN will generate ten times more traffic than 3G and 4G combined, their impacts on IP and optical networks will be profound and, by extension, for the services that will be made possible by next-generation connectivity.

The transformation of networks is at hand

Just like roads that were built centuries ago, quality networks are now core building block of our society and economies. Still, creating and operating modern networking infrastructures – especially those that stand up when we need them most – is highly complex.

To ensure that broadband, and eventually 5G, networks must step up to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. IP and optical networking systems must provide scalable and assured network performance, robust and secure network infrastructure, efficient and programmable network architecture. Networks that are designed and built around these principles will make them ready to deliver the needed connectivity at any time and no matter the crisis. This is because the network can respond quickly and gracefully, ensuring continuity of relationships, businesses, and life, particularly when they all are being threatened by circumstances we cannot control.

At the end of the day, networks are what keeps us going and will continue to do so. As they become more mission-critical to our daily lives, they must be reimagined for a world that has been irrevocably changed by digitalisation and global crises to help sustain societies and businesses in the future.

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To automate workload and improve safety, the telecom operator has recently been developing industrial solutions that use its 4G and 5G networks. Company executives said that these wireless communication technologies will help its smart factory clients save costs, via easy monitoring and minimising waste.

"We are on track to be a leader in this business, and LG Uplus will try to provide customised solutions to fit diverse businesses and factory sizes," said Seo Jae-yong,  smart infrastructure unit chief at LG Uplus, during an online conference last week.

The availability of an advanced and fast telecom network is necessary for the smooth operation of smart factory systems. Smart factories use embedded, automated solutions for manufacturing purposes. They help to streamline material flows required for all the specific processes involved in manufacturing across the factory floor.

The company said the smart factory solutions on its wireless network are an improvement over existing services that use Wi-Fi as they offer more stable connection while moving.

To date, LG Uplus smart factory solutions are deployed in 150 locations across the country by around 100 enterprise customers.

Enterprise market focus

LG Uplus has recently moved its traditional wireless network service, shifting its focus towards non-telecom services. In July, company CEO Hwang Hyeon-sik revealed the target to raise the share of non-telecom services to 30% of the company’s total sales by 2025. Currently, this market segment accounts for 20% of LG Uplus’ total sales.

LG Uplus’ enterprise infrastructure solution sector, which includes its smart factory business, logged sales of 134.2 billion won in the second quarter, up 34.3% on-year.

The smart factory market for South Korea's local telecom operators is estimated to value 200 billion won or (US$171.3 million) annually in five years, LG Uplan wants to capture more than half of this market.

LG Uplus has revamped its smart factory business into 12 services, which include a motor diagnosis solution that uses a big data-based algorithm to predict signs of motor malfunction in factories by analysing electrical data.

It  also offers a smart video safety system that analyses video and sound in real time to detect and notify safety issues, including sparks, smoke or steam, and abnormal temperatures.

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In the movie “Sleepless in Seattle” Jay (Rob Reiner) asked: “What do they call it when everything intersects?” To which, Sam (Tom Hanks) responded without so much as a thought: “The Bermuda Triangle.”

For decades we’ve been shown the possibilities of humans working together with robots. Since the 1970s, humans have been deploying robots to help at work. In the 2017 article, Automation, Robotics and the Factory of the Future, McKinsey partner, Jonathan Tilley opined that in the next five to ten years, however, we expect a more fundamental change in the kinds of tasks for which robots become both technically and economically viable (Exhibit 2). Here are some examples.

Exhibit 2

Source: McKinsey

The next evolution of robotics – the human equation

“Fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is increasing demand for robotics in warehouses and distribution centres,” said Dwight Klappich, vice president analyst with the Gartner Supply Chain practice.

A collaborative robot, or cobot, is a type of robot intended to physically interact with humans in a shared workspace.

Should employees fear the entry of cobots into the workforce?

James McKew, regional director Asia-Pacific at Universal Robots, believes that cobots are not a threat to human labour, they help to enhance the quality of production and the ability for humans and robots to collaborate.

How do we address the lingering fear that robots will replace human workers?

According to McKew, it is natural for people to fear robots since many have seen robots replacing humans. But the vision that Universal Robots was founded around is ‘Empowering People’ and shifting from ‘people working like robots’ to ‘people working with robots.’

“The purpose is to guide people who are capable of managing production processes and get them to show how robots do the dull, dusty, monotonous and non-creative aspects of production processes.”

As human workers are worried about job security during this uncertain time, what steps can be taken to assure them that cobots will not replace them?

One of the earliest visible impact of the pandemic is the closure of factories and operations. McKey argues that the beauty of what cobots can do in the current pandemic situation is to allow factories to get back to production.

“We talk about the situation where migrant workers are not allowed entry to Singapore. In this case, cobots provide a unique opportunity to get factories back into production,” he added.

He explained that cobots allow the production workers to start mastering robotics and training cobots to do the dull and monotonous jobs that talented and dexterous humans should not be doing.

With the deployment of cobots, what kind of new jobs will be created?

McKew sees robot cell operators taking the place of human-machine operators.

“For instance, 10 machines can be tended by several robots and the person who put the parts in and out of the machine initially, is now the person who is managing all those cobots.”

“They program them, optimise them, and determine if there are more creative ways that the cobots can be used to enhance production output,” he continued.

Is it safe for human workers to work alongside cobots?

McKew believes that a key differentiator between a cobot and a robot is just that – the ability to work alongside humans.

“Cobots are designed to be human-friendly, they have systems onboard that can detect humans and do not have to be caged.

“Cobots will not hurt humans whereas industrial robots may. They are easy to use, easy to program and lightweight. In fact, even operators with limited programming skills can become cobot programmers,” he explained.

How do you see human-cobot collaboration evolving?

According to McKew, Universal Robots is on a journey to shift humans who are working like robots to humans mastering robots themselves.

The opportunities are immense for countries to resume production. The pandemic has taught countries that strategically sourcing away all production is not actually very strategic.

“Cobots along with talented manufacturing workers provide companies with massive opportunities for efficient reshoring in the post-pandemic world,” he concluded.

Future trends

ABI Research cautioned that onlookers should not think of collaborative robotics as a replacement for industrial robots, but as a parallel technology development that will eventually converge.

Innovations like advanced machine vision, improved localization, haptic sensors, and superior mechatronics are all allowing cobots to become faster without neglecting safety. Strategic advances in 5G, cloud robotics, and edge-enabled AI will make the performance of multiple collaborative systems superior.

“This will gradually allow for the development of cobots that have the advantages of industrial robotic arms, while retaining the benefits of current collaborative systems, including ease of use, ROI, re-programmability, low footprint, and flexibility,” concluded Rian Whitton, senior analyst at ABI Research.

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The country’s development agenda dubbed  as Thailand 4.0 aims to reduce inequality in the country by promoting modern, tech-driven solutions to enable access to public services even from the most remote parts of the country.

“Part of this policy has been prioritising S-curve industries - a host of industries characterised by their projected growth, including next-generation automotive, smart electronics, affluent medical and wellness tourism, agriculture and biotechnology, and food for the future. All of these industries stand to benefit from A&R, ranging from iterative improvements to quantum leaps in productivity,” said Thailand NOW in a press statement.

To this end, the country seeks to push forward industry 4.0 initiatives in artificial intelligence, programming, and connectivity to unite manufacturing with computing power to redefine industries.

Generous incentives

With the most installations of industrial robots in ASEAN and the second-largest A&R market in the region after Singapore, Thailand is considered an important growth market A&R, according to a report by Thailand NOW.

“The advent of smart factories - the intersection of smart devices, industrial robotics, and Internet of Things (IoT), remote sensors and controllers - is central to driving the 4IR taking place worldwide, including in Thailand,” said Thailand NOW.

At present, the Board of Investment of Thailand has a host of incentives for A&R procurement and production, ranging from import duty exemptions for machinery and full waivers on corporate income tax for eight years to non-tax incentives like work permits and full foreign ownership of A&R companies and property. There has never been a better time to automate businesses or to invest in research.

The "NIA Deep Tech Incubation Program@EEC”, spearheaded by the state-run National Innovation Agency (NIA) in partnership with several organisations, has been instrumental in encouraging local forays into A&R. The programme creates opportunities for deep tech innovation within the government's developmental initiative, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

“Funding has also been directed to research, development, and education. As a result, Thailand sees 80,000 new science and engineering graduates trained in disciplines directly related to automation and robotics each year at world-class institutions, providing a solid foundation for skilled labour,” Thailand NOW said.

Some of the Thai Universities that offer specific programmes on A&R engineering include Chulalongkorn University, Kasetsart University, Assumption University, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, and King Mongkut's University of Technology Ladkrabang.

Thai students are also encouraged to compete in international robotics competitions. Many have seen success on the international stage over the past few years, including winning the Robocup Rescue competition eight times since 2006, and three first-place finishes in Robo Soccer.

Rise of robots in other industries

With the social restrictions brought by COVID-19, the deployment of robots has accelerated and spread beyond the manufacturing industry.

In the healthcare industry, a dwindling workforce due to an aging population is a major driver in Thailand of having robots and automated systems that can assist healthcare workers.

Some recent robot use cases in the domestic healthcare system includes:

• Raibo-X - designed by the School of Engineering of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, is a robot that can map out a room and completely disinfect it using UVC light. UVC light will kill any germs it comes into contact with but is too dangerous to be used by humans.
• Dinsow - an award-winning robot developed by CT Asia Robotics that is fitted with a camera as well as infrared and thermal sensors. It uses AI to monitor health, have conversations, perform personal assistant duties, and run fun activities. It's also capable of contacting family members or a hospital in case of emergencies. For people who can't afford a home care nurse, this is a very clever solution.
• AutoVacc - using a robotic arm, the "AutoVacc" system can draw 12 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from vials, up from the standard doses drawn manually (an increase of 20%). According to the lead researcher from Chulalongkorn University, putting this innovation into practice will not only lighten the workload of medical personnel, but increase the number of vaccinations. Currently, the machine is being trialled at the Chulalongkorn University Health Service Centre. Researchers will continue to develop the machine to be compatible with other vaccines.

“It is obvious that A&R has the potential to disrupt several industries and increase productivity by leaps and bounds, so it's important for the private and public sectors to be forward-thinking about how they recruit, train, and educate, so they're not left playing catch-up to a runaway train,” Thailand Now said.

It added: “Thailand has already boarded this train, enabling multitudes of benefits to investors, because for Thailand, investing in A&R is not just a savvy economic strategy, but an investment in Thailand's own future.”

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ELERA’s  foundation is Inmarsat’s world class L-band network and incorporates new innovations ranging from higher speeds to smaller, low cost terminals and Inmarsat-6 (I-6) satellites. To enhance the ELERA network, two new I-6 satellites will be launched at the end of the year.

The L-band capacity on each I-6 satellite will be substantially greater than Inmarsat’s 4th generation spacecraft and, among other enhancements, they will deliver 50% more capacity per beam; meaning that much more data can be carried over the same geographical area, in addition to unlimited beam routing flexibility.

“ELERA is perfectly suited to the needs of the connected IoT world,” said Rajeev Suri, CEO, Inmarsat. “Global reach, extraordinary resilience, faster speeds, smaller and lower cost terminals are all part of ensuring that we remain ahead of others in meeting the needs of our customers.

The new innovations that the company is investing in to bring to market in the near future include spectrum management technology to deliver L-band speeds up to 1.7Mbps, the smallest footprint, low cost L-band terminal and two new L-band satellites, which are the largest and most sophisticated commercial communication satellites ever created.

The new spectrum management capabilities (known as Carrier Aggregation) being incorporated into the ELERA network will deliver the fastest speeds globally available to L-band customers, far outstripping the capabilities of any other worldwide L-band network.

Live customer trials in commercial aviation are scheduled to start during the course of 2022 and this technology will be rolled out across a range of sector specific applications for Inmarsat’s mobility, government and IoT customers over the coming few years.

Essential catalyst for new IoT cases

The unique capabilities of ELERA, combined with Inmarsat’s superior spectrum and the ideally suited orbital position of its satellite networks, will make it the essential catalyst for new IoT use cases, across everything from autonomous transport and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to industrial and agricultural IoT applications.

“ELERA is a further sign of a company with true momentum and one that is delivering new innovations and strong performance,” continued Suri. “I expect that Inmarsat will grow strongly in 2021 compared to the previous year, and that growth will span most of our business units. Our progress was evident in the first half, where we saw strong growth in revenue and EBITDA and robust cash flow. We have sharpened our strategy to focus on driving growth, accelerate decision making, launch new innovations, and are creating a more commercially focused, customer-centric culture.”

ELERA will also see the creation of the smallest footprint, low cost terminal for L-band users, delivering the ideal framework for satcom IoT at scale, with supporting cloud-based management, for vertical sectors such as infrastructure, rail, logistics, mining, agriculture, government, maritime and aviation.

ELERA will also deliver a major extension to Inmarsat’s portfolio of voice-enabled devices, bringing new capabilities and innovations to hundreds of thousands of customers. This initiative represents our commitment to voice service innovation and underlines the company’s long-term commitment to the handheld voice services over satellite market.

“ELERA is the exciting vision of how Inmarsat is planning to transform the capabilities offered to IoT and mobility customers for years to come and confirms our long-term commitment to L-band services. We will be sharing further detail on these innovations with our partner community in the coming months and continue our programme of announcements as we achieve major milestones.” said Suri

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To better align with smart factory capabilities, FEFC implemented IoT sensors on all its production equipment. It is planning to use Spotfire and TIBCO Streaming software to monitor the data and provide alerts when measurements exceed predetermined thresholds, allowing operators to investigate and attend to matters before they turn into problems.

Click on the link to learn more about how FEFC is innovating its operations end-to-end and achieve improvements across finance, cross-department workflow, power distribution and manufacturing.

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“Our goal was to enable agile and responsive cross-functional supply chain processes that empower people with data-driven decision-making capabilities based on the foundation of an end-to-end integrated technology platform,” said Fritz Zeh, vice president for global manufacturing at Dole Food & Beverages Group.

Dole Food & Beverages Group, a division of The Dole Sunshine Company, is one of the world's largest producers and marketers of high-quality packaged fresh fruit and fruit-based products.

Following the drastic supply chain disruption in the wake of  COVID-19, the company was looking for end-to-end visibility and forecasting, a sales and operations planning (S&OP) and a sales and operations execution (S&OE) process, and control tower capabilities.

The digital transformation project will allow Dole Food & Beverages Group to build an agile supply chain with a focus on three core components: people, process and systems. The company went through a comprehensive evaluation process and selected a long-term technology partner for the project.

Blue Yonder, which has been working with the company for over 20 years, has been tapped to provide its Luminate Control Tower and Luminate Planning to meet their newer requirements

“Blue Yonder’s Luminate Planning and Luminate Control Tower will provide us with the right solutions to make faster business decisions that improve our operations, resulting in lower costs and enhanced planner time,” said Zeh.

Luminate platform delivers intelligent automation and extensibility, uniformity of data, and unified, engaging experiences powering collaboration and decision making. The platform will power the visibility and planning capabilities for Dole Food & Beverages Group.

The Microsoft Azure- and cloud-based Luminate Control Tower will provide the company the ability to automate manual processes, access real-time data to manage and right-size inventory levels, and gain visibility into its supply chain. With Luminate Planning, the company can produce more accurate forecasts calculated from hundreds of variables that drive demand and in-turn achieve a single, unbiased demand forecast. The automated calculation and generation of this holistic forecast enables the company to unlock greater planner efficiency.

By implementing the Blue Yonder solutions powered by Luminate Platform, the company plans to:

• Align future supply chain structure with a global and local control towers that work seamlessly together to gain end-to-end accountability across the supply chain.
• Enhance customer satisfaction and cost savings through lower inventory levels and inventory optimisation.
• Increase flexibility and agility in the planning process.
• Enable data-driven decision-making capabilities through an end-to-end integrated platform.
• Improve S&OP, scenario planning and financials, including P&L and cash flow.
• Improve visualization across the supply chain.

“We are excited that Dole Food & Beverages Group has put their trust in our cloud-based solutions to help power their digital supply chain transformation. They will be able to take their forecasting and business planning abilities to the next level, while gaining visibility through the control tower,” said Vishal Dhawan, group vice president, Growth Markets, Blue Yonder.

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Radiflow has introduced the Cyber Industrial Automated Risk Analysis Platform (CIARA), which allows for a digital twin of multiple facilities to be created on the same UI in order for security and risk teams to execute OT-BAS (Breach & Attack Simulations) in a global enterprise view.  The  new enterprise-level risk management system for OT facilities allow CISOs to view all their sites in one dashboard.

This takes the guesswork out of OT by letting teams anticipate the impact of potential threats via simulations of known attacks from a continuously updated global database. They can then simulate WHAT-IF scenarios of mitigations to decide which course of action would be most suitable in light of the changes in the threat landscape.

While this has been a common practice to prepare for attacks in the IT world through twin-network simulations, it is the first time that an OT environment can benefit from this proven strategy. CIARA offers a first-of-its-kind, non-intrusive breach attack simulator that takes into account the business importance of each site so the CISO can find the most vulnerable points on their industrial automation networks across all their sires, allowing them to practice the most effective mitigation tools.

The ability to configure business importance for each site and benchmark top sites in a central dashboard – while allowing site managers to view their individual risk posture and optimise their security roadmap – is  a major step in securing potential vulnerabilities across multiple facilities. Allowing CISOs to continuously monitor and simulate vulnerabilities, based on recent attacks that have been attempted in their industry or location, has a significant impact on the quality of OT monitoring, without slowing down or stopping critical infrastructure.

“CIARA is now a central environment where CISOs can evaluate proven security techniques against the latest threats without tampering with their existing network”, said Ilan Barda, founder & CEO of Radiflow. “Using the revolutionary all-in-one dashboard to keep an eye on all global operations is a critical step to preventing any cyberattack on vital OT facilities.”

Based in Tel-Aviv, Radiflow work directly with managed security service providers to oversee the discovery and management all relevant data security points. The company’s solution is currently installed in over 5,000 sites worldwide.

Its newest CIARA software release was recognized as a vendor in the Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) risk management category, which is in the Innovation Trigger of the Gartner® report titled, “Hype Cycle for Cyber and IT Risk Management”, 2021. Since its release, CIARA has earned acclaim for its capabilities in providing a data-driven approach to OT Security, especially following multiple major OT attacks, such as on the Colonial Pipeline and JBS.

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CK One, which stands for Central Kitchen One,  is the first food production factory in the city to hole an ISO 22000 certification for food safety management standards. It specialises in sous vide, a culinary technique in which vacuum-sealed food is immersed in a water bath and cooked at a very precise, consistent temperature. This prevents overcooking and locks in all the natural flavours.

CK One runs a fully equipped commercial kitchen available for rental. It rounds its offerings with a purchasing service to help clients source, purchase and store almost all ingredients. It also has a cold chain logistics service that provides professional cold storage and delivery services on behalf of its clients.

“When we consider expanding our business, we want to seek for smarter production methods to enhance our competitiveness and meet the latest trends of the industry,” said Arist Wong, founder of CK One. “Therefore, we made a prompt decision when our business was slightly affected during the epidemic to upgrade our factory and deploy smart production line.”

CK One’s smart production line project is the first to be approved under Hong Kong’s Reindustrialisation Funding Scheme launched  last year, which grants subsidies to manufacturers setting up smart production lines. Under the scheme, CK One is eligible to receive a subsidy of up to one-third of the total project cost.

Collaboration with HKPC

The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) is supporting CK One in its bid to adopt advanced digital technologies in food production. Both companies recently signed a collaboration agreement for the design and development of a smart production line.

Specifically, HKPC offers “one-stop” support for the whole process from feasibility studies, factory layout and production line design, equipment installation and system integration, testing and fine-tuning, to matching government funding and training tech talents.

“HKPC has a wealth of expertise and experience in intelligent manufacturing. They proposed to us an array of comprehensive and cost-effective smart solutions, and introduced government funding that meets our needs to realise the project,” Wong said.

HKPC conducted an in-depth evaluation of the company’s business for designing the best-fit option for its smart production line: a U-shape layout to address concern on land constraint, and an optimised equipment and production arrangement to speed up the entire process by minimising the chance of duplicated transfer of materials.

Technical highlights will include real-time data visualisation for monitoring the production to ensure safety and traceability of food products. Also, this real-time monitoring extends  preventive maintenance - with alerts being triggered when abnormal conditions are detected, so corrective measures are to avoid unexpected shutdowns.

“The comprehensive real-time monitoring system can ensure product quality, which is beneficial to both the brand image of local food manufacturers and overall standard of food safety in Hong Kong. This is how I expect intelligent manufacturing to vitalise the local food industry and bolster market confidence in ‘Made in Hong Kong’ food products,” said Edmond Lai, chief digital officer, HKPC.

Furthermore, a digital order management system will be put in place to optimise production scheduling and delivery arrangements; and reduce waste caused by redundant production. All these contribute to a better control of the average daily output of the manufacturer.

“We expect the smart production line to save plant space, reduce manpower, increase output and reduce overall costs, as well as ensure the end products comply with international food safety standards. These will very much benefit the sustainable development of our company in the long run,” Wong said.

Lai said: “ We hope more local traditional industries will develop intelligent manufacturing with the adoption of advanced technologies so as to create a sustainable business environment in this smart era, which will play a key role in enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness and economic diversification.”

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According to a recent analysis by Frost & Sullivan, companies have an opportunity to optimise their human capital and potentially save up to 20% of labour costs and generate a 30% increase in productivity output by switching to a lights-out operations model.

In addition, they can achieve their sustainability and zero-carbon emission goals by saving energy during production hours. Automotive, general manufacturing, electronics and electrical components, and logistics and warehousing are four major industries expected to make rapid advancements toward a fully automated lights-out environment in the short term.

"Globally, the COVID-19 outbreak has further expedited the shift to automated lights-out manufacturing processes. This enables companies to expand their production capacity beyond traditional shift hours and take on additional work orders to ramp up productivity to pre-COVID-19 levels," said Vinay Venkatesan, program manager, TechVision at Frost & Sullivan.

Venkatesan pointed out artificial intelligence (AI) will be the most critical tool enabling the lights-out toolkit.

“It will fuel several key technologies such as robotics, cybersecurity, digital twins, generative design, cloud computing, 5G, and 3D printing, all of which will play a key role in achieving lights-out operations,” he said.

Meanwhile with a long-term vision, a digital-first approach, and a highly skilled human workforce, a lights-out manufacturing process can unlock several opportunities, including:

• Rise of micro-factories: The shift toward decentralized structures and automated manufacturing processes will drive the demand for microfactories that require a smaller workforce and less space, energy and materials.
• Grid manufacturing: Cyber-physical systems and computational advancements driving intelligent automation will allow companies to achieve mass customization by adopting operational customisation as a business strategy.
• Manufacturing-to-zero-as-a-service: Enabling manufacturing optimization with a zero-based value proposition requires an integrated approach that leverages all core "zero" technologies.
• Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform: Ensuring a seamless transfer of information among interconnected stakeholders is important to build a collectively intelligent IIoT platform.

Venkatesan said  the manufacturing industry will increasingly rely upon an ecosystem of technology experts, system integrators, and service enablers to achieve agility and customisation.

“In fact, more than 45% of manufacturing applications are expected to implement robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) by 2030,” he said.

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This includes building out and scaling Wiliot’s software-as-a-service platform, as well as creating new sensors and capabilities. The company also plans to integrate with a larger set of partners and invest in silicon production capacity to ensure supply during the worldwide shortage.

The company revealed its plans after receiving US$200 million in a Series C funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

"Wiliot has created a vision of the future of AI-enabled IoT, and we are delighted that SoftBank is supporting us in making this future a reality," said Tal Tamir, Wiliot's CEO. "IoT is a vision created around Things and our mission at Wiliot is to use cutting edge hardware, AI based sensing and an innovative business model to implement a safer and more transparent world, a world in which all the things around us help consumers use them better and suppliers avoid waste."

Softbank joins existing investors that include 83North, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), Avery Dennison, Grove Ventures, M Ventures, the corporate VC of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Maersk Growth, Norwest Venture Partners, NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures LLC, Samsung Venture Investment Corp., Vintage Investment Partners, and Verizon Ventures. As part of the investment, Amit Lubovsky, Investor for SoftBank Investment Advisers, will join Wiliot's Board of Directors.

With Softbank’s Vision Fund 2 backing, Wiliot will accelerate its mission to create a new era of IoT where intelligence and connectivity are brought to trillions of products that move through global supply chains – from crates, packaging, and pallets to clothes, medicine, and perishable goods.

Adding sensing capability to the global supply chain

Wiliot has created a platform that is built on Wiliot IoT Pixels and the Wiliot Cloud. Wiliot IoT Pixels are tiny low-cost, self-powered tags that attach to any product or packaging to sense a range of physical and environment data that is then fed into the Wiliot Cloud, where machine learning algorithms translate data into actionable insights for businesses across a range of industries. The Wiliot Cloud also ensures data remains secure, private, and authentic.

Wiliot’s IoT Pixel tags are postage-stamp-size computers that continuously collect data about the world around them. They’re Bluetooth-enabled, encrypted, and designed to be manufactured into clothing, food packaging, and more. And because they harvest radio frequency energy from their surroundings, they don’t require a battery.

The self-charging nature of Wiliot’s tags make them a potentially more attractive as they don’t need a dedicated power source, receiver module, or home base, meaning they can draw energy as long as radio waves are within range.

Bringing visibility to the global supply chain

For decades, there has remained a massive gap as trillions of products travel billions of miles without any data being available as to their status, whereabouts, or situation. Lacking this information, global supply chains have been profoundly, and vulnerably, in the dark. Recognising this, many leaders in consumer-packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, furniture, and apparel have been working with Wiliot to add their sensing capabilities, intelligence and connectivity.

Effectively, products that were off-line during their manufacturing, shipping and consumption journeys are now online, a reality that is changing the way products are made, distributed, sold, used, reused, and recycled.

Wiliot-enabled products and packaging can sense temperature, fill level, motion, location changes, humidity, and proximity. Wiliot IoT Pixels can be integrated into vaccine vials, food packaging, and more, bringing real-time transparency to the supply chain, and the ability for brands for the first time to understand inventory levels throughout their retail channels. They can even understand how their products are used in customers' homes through a highly secure, privacy-protected platform.

This omniscient view of the supply chain built on people's usage allows a new paradigm called Demand Chain, which promises to slash the required capital that's non-productively tied up in inventories. Products will be able to self-reorder based on usage, accelerating the adoption of the "subscription economy" as brands transform their business models.

Specifically for Taiwan, manufacturers have been searching for technologies that can help improve supply chain management for years. Coupled with the recent announcement made by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in April 2021 that Taiwan is actively working towards carbon neutrality by 2050, enterprises are in eager search of IoT solutions to enable the transformation. Meanwhile, the need to keep stock for vaccination needs also encourages surging demand from the medical sector. Upgrades on post-COVID supply chain management has become a crucial topic within Taiwan.

All this will provide consumers with increased convenience, fresher, safer food, less waste, lower medical costs and a lower environmental impact.

"By inventing the first hyper-scalable, self-powered computer that uses AI to sense the world, Wiliot is positioned to bring together the digital and physical," said Yanni Pipilis managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. "We have always believed that with IoT and AI, people will live better and healthier lives – where any food or medicine has the ability to understand if it's safe to use and communicate seamlessly with people. We are pleased to play a part in helping Wiliot dramatically scale the ever-expanding application of IoT globally."

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