Digital Transformation
Smart devices embedded in smart systems can make your business faster, better informed and more effective.
Digital transformation is a huge subject, it covers any moves a business makes to go digital. It describes a business starting to use a CRM or switching to online accounting. There's a lot of buzzwords bandied around and we don't really want to add to the blizzard. So let's get the jargon out of the way.
We're interested in Industry 4.0 – aka the next Industrial Revolution. This is where digital technology creates smarter factories. The change happens by using smart devices embedded in smart factories, to help measure and control other smart devices for efficient management.
At Xor Systems, we are interested in a particular aspect of digital transformation - the transformation in manufacturing, particularly in the use of data. So we are focused on the Industrial Internet of Things or IIoT, smart devices measuring, deciding and controlling.
These connected devices can send data about their environment, can be remotely monitored and controlled – and increasingly, can make decisions and take actions on their own. We are all aware of autonomous vehicles and the progress made there - a massive flow of data backed up by AI. This is the significant difference - reactive behaviour without human intervention.
We're describing, for example, production equipment that alerts maintenance technicians to an impending failure.
The devices are outfitted with sensors. They enable engineers and operations personnel to analyse the performance of equipment in the field while minimising the costs and safety concerns of traditional testing methods. It's expensive to put an engineer in the field, with a single instrument. It's much more sensible to hook those instruments up to the Internet and then let the single engineer monitor multiple instruments.
Utilities and manufacturers can detect underperforming assets and predict the need for maintenance or automated shutdown before costly or hazardous equipment failures occur.
Cities can deploy connected sensors into the physical infrastructure to constantly monitor for energy efficiency, air pollution, water use, traffic conditions and other quality-of-life factors.
Robotic platforms can travel the aisles of a warehouse, picking parts or goods off the shelf and delivering them to the right place, avoiding collisions along the way. Collaborative robots ("soft robots") work alongside humans to do heavy lifting, stage materials for assembly or complete repetitive tasks and motions, all in a safe way.
Remote medical monitoring devices provide at-home diagnostics, alert caregivers when intervention is needed, and remind patients to take their medications. And maybe provide companionship.
Today, a successful business is not linked to size or strength but to the ability to change – to move quickly, adapt, seize opportunities, and be agile. Transformation is driving manufacturers to rethink their technology strategy and integrate digital technology throughout their business. Many are already incorporating innovation accelerators such as the Internet of Things (IoT).
Only 7% of businesses have fully implemented digital transformation but over 44% are in the process of doing it. If you're to reap the benefits of first mover advantage in your field, the time to take action is now.
If you've ever wondered whether the benefits of digital transformation outweigh the cost and time for your business, the answer is almost certainly yes. Let's look more closely at the difference digital transformation makes.
Digital transformation allows you to achieve more with less. So many things that a person can do that take a lot of time and resource can be automated – for example inspecting bridges, measuring noise on construction sites, checking performance of remote machinery, and so on. This can free your employees up to do other tasks, increasing your resources and capacity, and driving down cost.
With the right tools, it becomes easier to monitor, collect and analyse data – from anywhere. This data offers new understandings of your processes leading to insights into how to improve your performance. Essentially, you'll be in a position to make better informed decisions – in other words, better decisions.
As digital transformation improves your business in many ways, including some completely unforeseen opportunities, it will lead to revenue growth. Your organisation will save a huge amount of time and money by reducing manual tasks, in turn delivering scope to improve your customer experience and increase the skill set and productivity of your team.
At Xor Systems, we specialise in helping companies undertake digital transformation in industry. We use digital devices, electronic hardware and software services to drive dramatic improvements in efficiency for our customers. In particular we develop new products in the specialised area of IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) – effectively helping our clients invent the future of industry.
We're interested in Industry 4.0 - which is the description of the next Industrial Revolution, using digital technology to make smarter factories - utilising Industrial Internet of Things - which are smart devices embedded in smart factories, to help measure and control other smart devices for efficient management - and we specialise in Edge Computing - which means we focus on machine learning and processing at the edge of the network, instead of central processing.
All of this is explained in more depth throughout our website, and our ambition is to make it easy to understand and then help you to develop whatever you want in this area. Digital transformation can help your business become more efficient and make better products.
Xor Systems is an innovation-led design consultancy. For over 20 years we have specialised in embedded systems for a wide range of projects, and in recent years we have become increasing expert in data management, data visualisation and machine learning. We partner with businesses who want to thrive in Industry 4.0, helping them develop new products as part of a wider digital transformation.
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