AUGUST 2020CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM8In My ViewARI ALMQVIST, GROUP DIRECTOR GROWTH & INNOVATION, GVP, MOOG [NYSE:MOG.A]igitalization is really starting to shape how things are done outside the factory, and IoT is a key part.According to Bain Capital, $520 billion will be spent on IoT by 2021. Trends like autonomous navigation and electrification should have a meaningful, long-term impact for business. IoT is a key enabler for these trends. Here's what I mean: These trends are interconnected because digitalization enables many areas of technological and business development.Consider, for example, BIM (or building information modeling), which, according to Wikipedia, comprises "technologies involving the generation and management of digital representations of physical and functional characteristics of places." BIM drives design digitalization, automation and robotics through connectivity and data. Digitalization in its different forms enables simulation, too, which expedites the understanding and evaluation of different options. In turn, designers and managers can achieve a better, faster result, which optimizes cost. As managers avail themselves of data for things like project management, there is an increase in transparency; decision-makers can pretty much see real-time developments. For digitalization to be of value, though, the processes it underpins have to become better, faster and less expensive for companies. Two challenges with digitalization for managers and employees alike are:1) proving business value, and 2) determining who owns the data that systems collect. As computer chips linked to the internet become part of the fabric of our lives, data also becomes ubiquitous. But who owns the data? And with all the data we are collecting, what portion is truly valuable? Determining these answers are important considerations when adopting IoT, or digitalization technology. In the meantime, technology has become increasingly less expensive, while its capabilities grow exponentially. For example, an article from the September 14, 2019, edition of The Economist notes "The price of computation today is roughly one hundred-millionth what it was in the 1970s." Clearly, technology is attractive as both a tool and an investment. Here are some examples of the growing adoption of digitalization beyond the factory floor.Data enabled by autonomous navigationAs we develop equipment capable of executing tasks autonomously or controlled remotely, sensors enable this to happen. For autonomous equipment, especially when designed to work without GPS, engineers must implement an array of sensors for the equipment to operate safely and reliably. What we are learning is that in many cases the sensor data alone can be of great value, in some cases the data from the sensors is more valuable than the equipment's autonomous capabilities.Picking blossoms, not applesIn the agricultural sector, we're now working on machines (via autonomous navigation) that move in and around apple orchards during day or night. With AI, these machines are able to recognize the condition of apple blossoms and upload that data to the cloud. By making use of "edge-computing," (e.g., assessing the condition of blossoms in real-time and using a set of motion-stabilized nozzles on the machine to spray and kill less than quality blooms), growers can manage the health of their orchard, fertilizer needs and yield per tree to the optimum number of 65 blossoms. By knowing exactly which blossoms to kill, a grower can even reduce the use of chemicals. With data from a machine's camera, infrared sensors, LiDAR and radar, growers can improve their quality and yield well before the stage of picking apples. Overlaying this data is the use of AIto help a machine make decisions about when and where to move as well as how to interact with the fruit to continuously and best identify and manage hundreds of thousands of objects in the orchard, which would How is IoT-enabled digitalization changing work outside the factory?D
< Page 7 | Page 9 >