Recently, Rizing’s Chief Technology Officer, Martin Stenzig, joined radio show host Bonnie D. Graham and other industry technology experts to share his 2021 predictions for the supply chain, focusing on intelligent asset management.
2020 brought the world to a stop – and productive work as well. COVID brought manufacturing to a screeching halt in many sectors. Bonnie notes that the automotive industry stopped production for 47 days last year. And McKinsey is among the consulting firms who see a reimagined shop floor and innovation as pivotal to recovery.
At Rizing, Martin says, we are positioning our SAP solutions to empower the supply chain with intelligent asset management and maintenance management principles. In this context, Martin predicts these technologies to be embraced.
Machine Learning (ML)
ML is going mainstream, according to Martin – away from the science-fiction type fears of ML or Artificial Intelligence (AI) taking over the world. People now know what it is, and the technology is more transparent. We’re beginning to understand ML and AI and how to apply these to business challenges. People now know what it does, and it’s more transparent. ML is a key ingredient we see in everything. The change you’ll see over next year will be dramatic, according to Martin. Predictive maintenance is coming out of the closet, and adoption will be impressive.
Digital Twin
The second leap will be to take the Digital Twin concept and apply it to real business models. We don’t believe, says Martin, that we’re at the point where the Digital Twin concept is the end-all-be-all, where you can predict and model your production lines. We see that procurement will start to ask vendors to buy not just the physical product but the physical product and the Digital Twin. This will increase the adoption of the Digital Twin. The problem is, how do we transfer that Digital Twin from the supplier all the way through the supply chain? How do we actually set it up to be used in real-world scenarios?
Augmented Reality
With Augmented Reality (AR) tools and devices becoming much more powerful, and with the capability of having the LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) the vision, and ML models all combined, we can now do what we mocked up three years ago – which is putting the visual onto the production line itself. For example, we can now put the 3D visual upon an engine, motor, or production line and help technicians do the work. This, of course, can mean fewer people on the shop floor but more that have increased visibility to validate what the technician is doing, and it will give us an audit trail through the recording. We can pinpoint retraining opportunities.
Listen to the full show on Voice America or wherever you listen to podcasts. Martin is featured with his above prediction on the January 13, 2021 show, The Future of Now 2021 Crystal Ball Predictions – Part 5. Go in-depth with us on Machine Learning.
Related: Find Rizing leaders on these podcasts.
Inside SAP S/4HANA, Episode 34: Implementing ERP at Rizing with Len Harms, Chief Experience Officer, Rizing
Changing the Game with Next Generation Partnering: Wake Up Call: Will Your Customers Stick Around Post Covid? with Mike Maiolo, CEO, Rizing