Bioplastics: can they help solve the global plastics problem? By Rich Quelch

Meeting in Nairobi in December 2017, the United Nations Environment Assembly claimed, unless we take action, our oceans will contain more plastic than fish by 2050. That one fact alone sent shockwaves around the world.

The problem is, plastic is one of the most versatile materials for industry and consumers, yet the most damaging for the environment.

While there remains a degree of skepticism about the detail, nature and geographical source of global plastic waste, there is clearly no time to be lost in addressing the bigger issue. There are aspects to the plastics crisis within our control and opportunities to demonstrate our commitment cooperatively across the world.

Bioplastic is one innovation helping to reduce the environmental impact, alongside other

Let’s explore each material technology in more detail…

What are recycled plastics?
Recycling plastic is one of the oldest and most widely adopted ways of reducing plastic waste. It involves repurposing scrap or waste plastic items by melting them down into their raw components to create ‘new’ recycled plastic.

Broadly, there are two ways plastic can be recycled: mechanical recycling, whereby plastic is washed, ground into powder and melted, and chemical recycling where chemicals break down plastics into its basic components to be remolded.

While this has been the status quo for years, it’s a fundamentally flawed approach for the long term.

That’s because it’s difficult for recovery facilities to make money from low-value plastic items, different plastics when melted phase-separate like oil and water causing structural weaknesses and limitations on future applications, and in the recycling process new plastic materials have to be added in order to improve the integrity of the material. This can only be done two or three times before the plastic is unusable.

In addition, many resin types aren’t yet widely recycled, leaving consumers confused.

What are bioplastics?
Bioplastics are built on the premise that to make a more sustainable plastic, its chemical components must be more sustainable.

Plastic, as we know it, is a carbon-based polymer made mostly from petroleum, a non-renewable fossil fuel. This makes its safe disposal difficult because the burning process gives off toxic chemicals such as dioxins. Recycling all the different forms of plastic is also too much of a challenge for most local authorities, given the multitude of processes needed to recycle each individual type of resin.

In a bid to overcome these challenges and reduce the amount of plastic waste in landfill, a range of bioplastics have been developed. These are made from a host of natural materials and have two environmental advantages: they absorb as much (if not more) CO2 before being converted into plastic as they release when they break down, and when they’re disposed of they are generally compostable, meaning they do not harm the natural environment.

Bioplastics are currently being used or developed from raw materials such as sugarcane, corn, soy, agave, woodchips, and food waste (polylactic acids - PLA).

PLA is the cheapest and most widely used bioplastic today. Then there’s PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates) made from microorganisms which is increasingly being used in medical devices. Other types of bioplastics are cellulose-based plastics, starch blends and lignin-based polymer composites.

However, not all bioplastics are biodegradable, which undermines their comeffectiveness in the fight against plastic waste. Although, it’s important to stress it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

What are biodegradable plastics?
Biodegradable plastics help to overcome the challenge of what to do with plastic when it’s disposed of.

While bioplastics are made up of biological-based polymers, a plastic is only considered biodegradable if it degrades in water, carbon dioxide, or biomass.

Bio-based PLA, for example, is compostable but only under strict environmental conditions such as high temperatures, UV light, pressure and nutrient concentration, and specific chemical ratios.

In addition, there are oxo-degradable plastics which are simply conventional plastics with additives called prodegredants that accelerate the oxidation process.

What can we expect from bioplastics in the future?
In recent years, there has been a big shift towards bioplastics by large multinational corporations and small eco-brands alike. Consumers are also growing more aware of new plastic technologies and their benefits.

So much so, the bioplastics market is expected to reach over $68.5 million by 2024.

But while this sounds like a lot, it actually still only represents a very small slice of the overall plastics market.

What’s holding the mass adoption of bioplastic back is how these bio-based materials perform in comparison to cheaper traditional plastic which can sometimes compromise packaging and the product inside. And, of course, the biodegradable problem.

Packaging and product manufacturers are working hard to overcome these challenges, developing formulas which allow any type of plastic to degrade naturally and faster in both aerobic and anaerobic environments without the need for UV or high temperatures.

For example, BioPAC which is a unique plastic additive added into the base polymer - such as PP, PE, PS, PET, and other major resin types - and enhances its biodegradability. Specifically, the formula allows acids, secreted naturally by over 600 microbes, to soften the macromolecules within the plastic.

Other new techniques being explored include programming microbes to degrade plastics using synbio techniques and developing the relevant enzymes for degradation through protein engineering.

There are also positive strides being made in reducing the amount of land needed to grow raw materials, which form the basis of bioplastics; land which is needed for crop cultivation to feed people and animals. Scientists have recently developed a sustainable plastic that doesn’t need land or water for production, created from microorganisms that feed on seaweed.

So, while there are currently limitations to just how ‘eco-friendly’ bioplastics are, every year we’re seeing new technologists hit the mass market which help solve some of the fundamental problems of biodegradability and resources needed for their production.

And with this scalability, the price of bioplastic will fall dramatically. Coupled with growing consumer awareness for sustainable products and practices, this in turn will help drive the market towards the mass adoption of bioplastics.

Rich Quelch
Rich Quelch is Global Head of Marketing at Lifestyle Packaging. Lifestyle Packaging designs, customizes and supplies packaging to a range of industries – including CBD, fragrance, skincare and aromatherapy – and is a market leader in child-resistant packaging. Lifestyle Packaging also specialises in supply chain management, with a unique model to reduce costs and increase speed to market.
www.lifestylepackaging.com/biodegradable-plastic-packaging

Hannah Leslie explores the future of the manufacturing sector, the challenges that lie ahead and the potential changes it should prepare for

For a manufacturing company to thrive, it’s widely accepted that its operations must be lean – both efficient and cost competitive – and agile – quick to respond to market demands.

The manufacturing industry has met and overcome major challenges in recent years; from fluctuating prices in oil and raw materials to varying currency exchange rates, and now as with many sectors, it has been negatively impacted by Covid-19. The pandemic has vastly disrupted consumer trends for demand and consumption alongside the supply and capability of companies to deliver effective goods to the market. However, the unprecedented challenge of the pandemic has required companies to reinterpret the situation, allowing for new product development opportunities, enabling them to diversify and explore new markets.

Companies have seized upon this prospect and tapped into new markets to expand their product offering, venturing into new areas where there was not an apparent concern before. For example, the expansion into the production of products that assist with social distancing, and the development of ventilators and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) have all created opportunities for new design prospects and manufacturing routes. These are allowing companies to expand on their product offering while helping address a variety of Covid-19 related challenges.

Preparing for the future
The looming issue of plastic pollution and global warming are still matters that need to be addressed and more companies than ever are required to account for circular economy considerations in their product development; not just for cost and waste saving purposes, but in response to demand for transparency throughout the life-cycle of their products.

Amidst consumer and governmental pressures, undoubtedly there will be an increased demand for product traceability; to easily source where a product comes from, its journey, the source of the material, and importantly what happens at the end of its useful life. Companies will need to trace their manufactured products right through design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance, to decommissioning or end-of-life.

In the face of climate change and amidst increasing consumer expectations, further incorporation of this into legislation in the future is likely. It is reasonable to expect that eventually companies will require an end of life route mapped out for any manufactured product. Can it be maintained, repurposed, or recycled? If there is no other option but for a product to go to landfill after its use, there must be a robust justification as to why.

Although many companies are adopting circular practices as part of their business models, for the majority, it will take the introduction of such legislation to see that change fully take place. As the discussion on this continues, it will be interesting to see where the responsibility ultimately sits.

During a product development project there are multiple key players involved, but who will be legally accountable, ensuring that products have a responsible end of life plan; will it be the company that owns the product, the owner of the IP, the design consultancy or the manufacturer? As this discussion evolves, there will undoubtedly need to be a collaborative approach between the public and private sector, not only for the benefit of the planet but also for the companies involved.

We have already seen the introduction of legislation to encourage more sustainable operations across some sectors, such as oil and gas, where changing attitudes about the environmentally detrimental aspects of the industry has resulted in multiple companies investing in areas such as offshore renewables. There was a measured change in approach taking place prior to the recent disruption caused by Covid-19. Longer term, this may act as an opportunity to re-shape our thinking in the transition towards cleaner energy sources.

The demand for end-to end-sustainability
Similarly, manufacturers will need to re-adjust to increasingly sustainable approaches and invest in cleaner energy to meet the ever-increasing criteria set by companies and their customers. Customers are increasing their knowledge on how factories are using energy and how efficient they are when it comes to where their products are being produced. Companies based in the UK will potentially be more inclined to manufacture locally to respond to drivers regarding the environmental impact of freight or shipping, and mitigating potential risks from using overseas imports, which have been highlighted in a critical way during the pandemic.

To meet expectations regarding sustainable practices, embracing technology and innovation within UK manufacturing will continue to be of vital importance. By adapting processes and operations, re-shaping supply chains and embracing assistive technologies, such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), the manufacturing industry can take steps in recovering from the current crisis, and prepare for future challenges that may lie ahead.

Now more than ever, it is vital that companies are better informed in their product development. A great innovation must be matched by intelligent design, manufacturing and materials expertise. There is no one size fits all solution to manufacturing a part; there are numerous processes and materials that can be considered to ensure that the part meets sector regulations in a sustainable and cost effective manner while meeting demands in quality. To grow and innovate from sector to sector, it is vital that companies continue to build connections and collaborations in order to develop new solutions that meet the world’s ever evolving needs.

Hannah Leslie
Hannah Leslie is a Knowledge Exchange Associate within the Design Engineering Team at the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), part of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS). The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland is a group of industry-led manufacturing research and development facilities where research, industry and the public-sector work together to transform skills, productivity and innovation to attract investment and make Scotland a global leader in advanced manufacturing. The University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) and Lightweight Manufacturing Centre (LMC) are specialist technology centers within NMIS.
www.nmis.scot/get-in-touch/

Gary Day explains the key principles of track and trace, how an effective system should work, and the industries in which the concept has become essential aid to compliance

Over time, the complexity of manufacturers’ supply chains has increased, bringing with it a growth in the requirement for traceability. While a manufacturer may need to know the origins of its raw material inputs from upstream, its downstream customers are just as likely to require the option to revisit when and where the product was made and by whom.

In an age of heightened quality standards and regulatory demands, traceability is vital. The consequential benefit of this is a greater level of accountability at each stage of the supply chain. One way in which companies can achieve this through automation is via a track and trace system.

What is track and trace and why is it needed?
The term ‘track and trace’ may not be new, but the manner in which it is implemented by today’s manufacturers is often much more technologically complex than its earlier iterations.

In simple terms, a track and trace system applies unique serialization coding onto products during production and packaging, which stays with the product throughout the logistics phase and connects machine automation with factory business systems.

One significant development which has increased the need for track and trace systems is the introduction of new legislation and regulations from the governing bodies of industries. There has been a clamp down on the accountability applied to products within certain sectors, and the serialization of packaging through track and trace can help companies meet those now mandatory requirements.

How does track and trace work?
To ensure products are fully traceable through the supply chain, track and trace systems use unique codes at every stage of the packaging process. This coding is given to each individual product, so it can be traced at any point.

The process begins at the primary packaging point and unique codes are assigned at each stage, until the product is placed on a pallet to be shipped out. These codes are usually generated by a system with an external interface and can be applied in various different ways, including laser, inkjet or ‘print and apply’ technology.

A key aspect of track and trace is the validation and authentication of the unique codes at each stage of the process. Once the code has been applied at each packaging point, it is verified, validated and authenticated before the product can move onto the next stage of the production or packaging process.

If there is an issue with the code, a non-authentication alert is triggered, and the product packaging will not go any further along the supply chain. In short, if the code cannot be traced, the product will be removed.

Crucially, the same code stays with the product throughout the logistics phase, with serialization connecting machine automation with the business systems of the factory in question.

Which industries requires track and trace?
One sector in particular where the need for serialization has become imperative is tobacco, due to the introduction of new legislation. In May 2016, the EU Tobacco Products Directive (EUTPD II) came into force, bringing with it stricter regulations.

To understand exactly how the tobacco industry is innovating, it is important to understand Article 15 and 16 of the EU TPD legislation, which has implications for traceability and security. Tobacco legislation states that manufacturers must implement a traceability system (Article 15), under which all unit packets of tobacco products are required to be marked with a unique identifier. In this context, track and trace prevents spurious products from entering the market.

The pharmaceutical industry is another with an extensive requirement for strict track and trace systems. Due to the number of stakeholders involved in the supply chain – manufacturers, distributors, dispensers and patients, for example – pharmaceutical products are passed through many pairs of hands which could lead to misuse and counterfeit products entering the market.

Track and trace in the pharmaceuticals industry is integral to mitigating the risks posed by counterfeit drugs and allows the pharmaceutical supply chain to manage is products more efficiently. Pharmaceutical track and trace legislation is already in place around the world – the EU enforced serialization in 2017; the US has the Drug Quality and Security Act; and China implemented mandatory serialization on more than 500 products deemed to be an essential list.

The demand for traceability is developing at such a rapid rate that we are now seeing legislation begin to drive requirements for coding and tracking of other product categories such as soft drinks and alcoholic beverages as well as the aggregation of pharmaceutical products. In some markets, such as Russia, the expectation is that all consumer products will require unique traceable codes which are tracked at every stage of the supply chain, just as tobacco is now. The ultimate aim is for a greater number of global markets to eliminate the illegal trade of contraband and counterfeit products.

Rather than being a ‘nice to have’, the use of a bespoke track and trace system designed for the specific needs of a production line should be considered essential for helping the business to meet regulation and improve its processes.

Gary Day
Gary Day is technical director at Sewtec Automation. Sewtec Automation designs, manufactures, installs and commissions complex industrial automation systems for global blue-chip clients in the pharmaceutical, medical, food and beverage, personal care, pet care and tobacco industries.

In excess of 85 per cent of the company’s sales are exports. Last year, Sewtec Automation’s turnover more than doubled to a record £28m with EBITDA of £9m and the company aims to achieve a turnover of £50m by 2023.
https://sewtec.co.uk

Five ways to jumpstart operations in the next normal. By Katy George

In the wake of radical and rapid disruptions from Covid-19, organizations have a window of opportunity to rewrite and transform their entire operations strategies

The coronavirus pandemic has challenged supply and demand norms across sectors, and the speed of disruption exposed points of weakness and fragility in global supply chains and service networks. Yet at the same time, the crisis forced operations teams to achieve long-term ambitions that would have been considered impossible before the virus. Leading retailers boosted ecommerce capabilities virtually overnight to deliver food to millions of customers confined to their homes. One European healthcare provider jettisoned its two-year plan for the rollout of e-health services so that in only ten days it could deploy a new, remote-treatment system to thousands of patients.

These are just two examples among many that show how companies took quick action to adapt, achieving new levels of visibility, agility, productivity, and end-to-end customer connectivity—while preserving cash.

Let no learning go to waste. Many business leaders are looking for ways to embed what they have discovered during the Covid -19 crisis, and they’re now aspiring to create a new kind of operational performance, one where increased innovation enables agility, and agility creates resilience - and at lower cost.

As response efforts converge with the ambition to transform, our ongoing work and discussions with leaders in multiple industries suggest that five themes will shape resilient and reimagined operations on the other side of Covid -19.

Building operations resilience
Successful companies will redesign their operations and supply chains to protect against potential shocks.

More companies will set up dedicated supply-chain risk-management functions, working alongside the manufacturing, procurement, and supply-chain functions. The resulting actions may involve accelerating decentralization, deploying inventory closer to customers, and developing crisis-response plans and capabilities.

Companies will also revisit their global asset footprint. The once-prevalent global-sourcing model in product-driven value chains has steadily declined as new technologies and consumer demand patterns encourage regionalization of supply chains. The trend is likely to accelerate, as companies reassess the risks of globally integrated asset networks and supply chains. Services may follow a similar pattern, with providers emphasizing regional operations, slowing the last decade’s growth in global services trade.

To win in the next-normal environment, companies will need to achieve this step-change in resilience without unsustainable increases in their costs.

Accelerating end-to-end value-chain digitization
A lot of what had been done to deliver on visibility was based on algorithms - but even algorithms cannot help predict an unprecedented phenomenon.

Accelerating end-to-end operations digitization will be critical in resolving the long-standing trade-off between efficiency and resilience, and competitiveness will be based on technology. Those organizations who previously invested in end-to-end visibility of supply, inventory and demand were much better prepared to accommodate the significant changes the crisis brought to each of those areas. Going forward, this will likely change the way companies are working, with daily decisions and much tighter alignment between operations and the commercial/sales functions.

In another example, many companies were able to continue production and delivery to customers by automating processes or developing self-service systems. These approaches can accelerate workflows and reduce errors in the short term, and when applied end-to-end, they can transform the customer experience and significantly boost enterprise value. For example, in call centers, the application of robotic process automation (RPA) for back-office and invoicing tasks can free up agents to deal with complex queries, areas where they could add the most value.

The crisis demonstrated again that low-cost, high-flexibility operations are not only possible - they are happening and they are beneficial. Research by the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with McKinsey, shows that companies often achieve significant and simultaneous improvements across multiple performance measures when they integrate advanced digital technologies across the value chain. Digital approaches can transform customer experience and significantly boost enterprise value when applied end to end.

Rapidly increasing capital - and operating-expense transparency
To survive and thrive amidst the economic fallout, companies can build their ‘next-normal’ operations around a revamped approach to spending that enables a different cost structure. And they will need to make these changes quickly.

Organizations can begin with an in-depth review of their operating costs. Technology-enabled methodologies can significantly accelerate cost-transparency work, compressing months of effort into weeks or days. These digital approaches include procurement-spending analysis and clean-sheeting, end-to-end inventory rebalancing, and capital-spend diagnostics and portfolio rationalization.

Operations functions can also play a central role in companies’ cash- and liquidity-management activities. Optimizing an organization’s cash position in the potentially volatile post-crisis environment will require companies to increase the visibility not only of their own cost structures, but also those of their suppliers. Leading organizations are adopting increasingly sophisticated techniques in their capital planning, assessing each project’s return on investment against multiple scenarios, and continually reviewing their capital-project portfolios.

This is a unique moment where companies likely won’t face the same trade-offs between flexibility and cost that they did in the past.

Driving the ‘future of work’
The future of work - where all people in every industry use digital technologies, data and analytics in new ways to perform their existing jobs - was a change that was already underway. With Covid-19 upending the way work is done, employees across all functions have learned how to complete tasks remotely, using digital communication and collaboration tools.

In operations, this means future of work trends will accelerate, with a marked reduction in manual and repetitive roles and an increase in the need for analytical and technical skills. This shift will therefore require an unprecedented wave of reskilling in operations roles, and organizations will need to ramp up their reskilling efforts significantly to redeploy talent at speed and scale. For example, some companies have set up internal training academies focused on specialized skills by using a combination ad of e-learning, classroom training, and on-the-job coaching.

In tandem with reskilling, companies may adapt their operating models to manage physically distributed operations teams, with staff on the ground in local markets able to draw upon the expertise of specialist colleagues who provide support remotely via digital connectivity tools.

Reimagining a sustainable operations competitive advantage
Operations can play an essential role in creating lasting competitive advantage and in meeting environmental and social-responsibility goals. We are already seeing multiple ways in which organizations are responding to these opportunities – informed by customer insights, some companies will reinvent themselves entirely in the coming years, focusing on specific technologies or market niches, or by changing their relationship to their end-customers and intermediaries. Others will transform the way they develop products, using agile processes and digital links to improve their connection with customers. Still others are adopting manufacturing technologies and supply-chain arrangements to consume less material, use less energy, and generate less waste. Importantly, these changes won’t just apply to individual organizations, instead, entirely new ecosystems will emerge that include suppliers and adjacent industry players to collectively shift into the next normal.

With the likelihood of prolonged uncertainty over supply, demand, and the availability of resources, Covid-19 may be the trigger for operations functions to adopt an agile approach to transformation. As companies transition to the next normal, they can retain these powerful and effective approaches and structures, which have helped many organizations achieve unprecedented visibility and cross-functional agility in their operations, rather than dismantle them once the crisis has passed.

Katy George
Katy George is a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, and leads the Operations Practice, which includes the firm’s services in manufacturing and supply chain. Katy’s 23 years of client service have focused on operational performance improvement, linking operations strategy to business strategy, and operating model design. McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm committed to helping organizations create Change that Matters. In more than 130 cities and 65 countries, its teams help clients across the private, public and social sectors shape bold strategies and transform the way they work, embed technology where it unlocks value, and build capabilities to sustain the change.
www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights

Nick Castellina looks at the rise of wearable technology in the quest for real-time data

In this digital era, data is recognized for its intrinsic value in smart decision-making and enhanced business insights. In manufacturing, data helps personnel on the shop floor manage goals and tasks, understand details of work orders, and visualize critical conditions, such as machine configurations or engineering specifications. But, in the typical plant, access to real-time data is often a challenge. Workers, including managers, are seldom at a desk, rarely at one workstation, and seldom in an environment that is free of noise, extreme conditions, or potential hazards. These factors are among the many causing manufacturers to increasingly turn to mobile solutions and wearable technology to give workers access to the data they need — whenever and wherever the job takes them.

How wearables are evolving
Adoption is increasing at a phenomenal rate. MarketWatch projects the industrial wearable segment will grow from $1.5 billion in 2017 to $2.6 billion in 2023, a 73 per cent jump, and that may be a conservative estimate. Forrester predicted that by 2025, 14 million workers will use smart glasses and similar devices to increase performance. Mobile solutions and the use of voice-recognition will add more opportunities for expanding productivity in the plant, where personnel need access to timely data the most.

Innovations are being seen in the devices used, such as glasses with drop-down mini display panels and hardhats equipped with screens. Software developers now are creating responsive designs that can scale and be viewed in small formats. Wearables can range from devices worn on the sleeve, to a hardhat-mounted camera that projects real-time asset repairs back to the maintenance department’s senior technician.

Ruggedized tablets, constructed to withstand high heat, excessive moisture and frequent bumps, are the most common remote devices used. Whether the company provides users with smart phones or has a bring-your-own-device policy, smart phones are often used in plants as the flexible, easy-to-use devices for connecting to email, collaboration tools, and portals for fast access to relevant resources or knowledge bases.

Manufacturers can also turn to AI-driven ‘personal assistants’ with Natural Language Processing (NLP) to allow users to access data and perform tasks without the need for a keyboard. This supports remote usage and applications when the user may appreciate hands-free convenience. Shipping, receiving and warehouse personnel, who may be driving forklifts or scanning pallets, benefit from the ability to ask questions or enter data through voice commands, rather than typing.

Taking a closer look at the use-cases and benefits
Understanding the driving factors and industry trends will help plant managers weigh the pros and cons of investing in mobile and wearable technology. Thin margins and limited resources mean managers must be cautious about areas of investment, going forward with options they are confident will bring a fast Return on Investment (ROI).

When evaluating possible solutions and tools, it’s important to project savings that could come from the full range of benefits, including increased accuracy and productivity. For example, access to details on customer orders, design specifications, CAD drawings and last-minute change orders will help ensure that customized products meet expectations. This increased accuracy, in turn, reduces waste from re-works and eliminates the high costs of customers rejecting shipments.

Use-cases for wearable technology and mobile applications continue to expand. Here are nine examples of when and where these technologies provide major benefits:

1. Role-based workbenches and dashboards. Modern ERP solutions often contain role-based workbenches and dashboards to help personnel manage their own Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and ongoing responsibilities, whether maintaining safety stock levels, monitoring resources committed to Engineer-to-Order orders, or optimizing supply chain deliveries for just-in-time strategies. Those tools only work, though, if they can be used when and where the user needs them. That could be on the shop floor, in the warehouse or at the loading dock. Remote access through mobile or handheld devices is essential.

2. Empowering always-alert executives. Top managers of business units and the shop floor are often vigilant watchdogs. They want to stay connected 24/7 to real-time status alerts, especially when the plant runs three shifts or has global operations in different time zones. Portals for remote access for personnel and partners are increasingly important, as global operations, ‘work from home’ and outsourcing business models are more widely adopted.

3. IoT data where it counts. Manufacturers are increasingly embedding sensors in machinery and capturing performance and maintenance-related data points through Internet of Things (IoT) technology. It’s logical that maintenance managers and technicians have access to the data near the machine. As the user approaches the piece of equipment, a real-time diagnostic view of the machinery and its components can appear on a hand-held device. The screen can highlight key performance stats and red-flag any anomalies requiring attention, giving the technician the vitals needed to perform any necessary maintenance or repairs quickly.

4. Training and onboarding. As the shortage of skilled workers continues to plague manufacturing, often less experienced, junior-level candidates are brought on board, requiring extensive in-plant training. The complexity and high value of machine assets make plant managers reluctant to assign inexperienced technicians to perform maintenance on those assets. Augmented Reality can be used for training, giving users the chance to visualize machine issues and ‘practice’ engaging with the high-tech tools and repair tactics. This gives new recruits valuable experience.

5. Supervising remote workers. Video cameras mounted on hard-hats can also be used to support junior-level technicians in the field. The video can be streamed to a central locale, where a veteran technician provides advice and supervises activities remotely. This helps the new technician learn the ‘tribal knowledge’ and speeds resolutions.

6. Faster resolution rates. Whether field service technicians are dispatched to customer sites or in-plant to perform maintenance or service, the timely access to asset details - like service history, inventory of replacement parts, status of warranties or service agreements, and previous resolutions - will help technicians make well-informed decisions about repair vs. replace.

7. Upsell and replacement opportunities. Field technicians with access to account information and inventory details will be able to make in-field recommendations to customers and sell replacement or up-sell equipment on the spot — when the purchase decision is critical. Technicians, seen as trusted advisors, tend to have very high close-rates for on-site sales.

8. Tracking and monitoring personnel. Some plants can be massive, covering many buildings, yards and warehouses. Assets can range from pipelines and rail lines, to rooftop exhaust scrubbers and barges for hauling raw resources. Personnel can be scattered over a wide vicinity. Some locations may also pose dangers. Wearables, like vests equipped with GPS tracking, can be used to help monitor location of employees, supporting safety and security, as well as encouraging productivity.

9. Speed pick-and-pack in the warehouse. Warehouse functions are some of the most relevant and valuable applications of wearable devices. Wrist-mounted, glasses-view, or dashboard-displayed screens help forklift drivers to find and fulfill orders quickly. Those loading and unloading trucks also appreciate the ability to confirm order numbers verbally rather than trying to type long series of digits accurately, often while wearing gloves and moving.

Final take-aways
As manufacturers strive to optimize resources and boost productivity, remote access to data is an important issue to be considered. Some tools are simple, such as equipping field technicians with mobile devices. Other applications, like Augmented Reality for training, will provide more commitment of resources. Each specific use-case should be evaluated not only for the gains in productivity, but also the improved speed of service, enhanced customer experience, and improved quality control. Managers considering their wearable strategy should also keep in mind that the competition is readily adopting this technology and empowering their workers. Keeping pace with trends is important in today’s fast-changing manufacturing landscape.

Nick Castellina
Nick Castellina is senior director, industry & solution strategy at Infor. He works across product management, product marketing and sales, working with Infor’s North American industry strategy team for Product Industries, including discrete and process manufacturing, as well as distribution. Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress.
www.infor.com

 Ramprakash Ramamoorthy gives three reasons why AI is the future for manufacturing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has impacted a substantial number of processes in the manufacturing industry, with computer vision, a field of AI that trains computers to interpret and understand the visual world, being the most used technique. Deploying AI-based computer vision on the production line makes it possible to see things in microscopic detail, bringing superhuman capabilities to quality control. For instance, using AI to spot small but costly paint job imperfections in car manufacturing can dramatically improve quality control – adding significant value.
As the use cases for AI within manufacturing grow beyond computer vision and AI’s value is more widely recognized, global adoption of AI in the manufacturing market is projected to grow from $513.6 million in 2017 to $15,273.7 million in 2025. As businesses prepare to enter a post-pandemic marketplace, adopting a forward-thinking, AI-first approach will be key to future success. Here are the three areas in which AI will have the most impact:

Health and safety
AI can deliver real value by monitoring health and safety, in relation to both the people working on the factory floor and the machines they are working with. In this situation, AI can monitor movement and help to avoid accidents and dangerous interactions between humans and machines. Computer vision techniques can be deployed to count the number of people available on the manufacturing floor; and in a post-Covid world where workplace social distancing is essential, AI will be vital in ensuring adherence to new and existing health and safety regulations.

Powerful optical character recognition (OCR) engines can also be deployed within the manufacturing line to convert typed or handwritten content into machine readable, editable formats. This allows the machines to read and understand the text so that track and trace tools can be deployed to post-production.

Additionally, computer vision is helping with the physical inspection of machines as well as controlling their calibration and tuning, and monitoring their health. Monitoring the health of machines means looking at many parameters and finding any anomalous combinations that could potentially cause downtime.

According to a study by Oneserve, three per cent of all working days are lost annually in manufacturing due to faulty machinery and the impact of machine downtime is costing Britain’s manufacturers more than £180bn every year. Therefore, the ability to predict which pieces of equipment require maintenance before the machine becomes unusable will help to reduce or completely avoid machine downtime; improving productivity and saving significant amounts of money.

Sustainability
A further benefit AI can bring the manufacturing industry is increased sustainability as it enables better utilization of resources, which helps manufacturers become more efficient. As production slowly starts to pick up again after a three-month hiatus, manufacturers are navigating the unprecedented situation of having to manufacture to demand for the foreseeable future, and efficiency will be critical. By determining which units are underutilized and which are consuming large amounts of power, AI can then recommend the optimized way to run those machines to help reduce energy consumption; environmental impact and costs.

Probability over determinism
Traditionally, the manufacturing industry has relied heavily on deterministic processes. As AI becomes more prevalent, however, it requires them to shift their approach and rely, at least partly, on probability. That shift could prove challenging.

AI brings in an element of probability to the workflow and the industry must embrace this change to see its value. For example, a production line could have a standard operating procedure for machine downtime, but its new AI system may predict a 60 per cent chance of downtime. This prediction, therefore, requires processes and hierarchies to be reworked to accommodate the 60 per cent downtime probability.

While this necessitates a change, manufacturers can make this more manageable by applying a probabilistic approach to one workflow at a time and ensure it seeps through to their employees to fully embed this new way of working – weathering any initial difficulties to focus on the long-term value.

While it’s clear that AI will disrupt the manufacturing industry, it will do so for the better. It will help manufacturers improve their ability to avoid failures and downtime, optimize processes and machines, increase sustainability, improve quality control, and monitor the health and safety of employees who are navigating the strange, post-pandemic workplace of the future.

As AI is used to automate more processes, it will help to avoid accidents and reduce human error. However, it’s important manufacturers see it as a way to augment human workers, rather than replace them. After all, with many organizations using black-box AI, which can inform them of decisions, but not the reasons behind them, having a human in the loop is vital to ensure the decisions are founded.

Even as enterprises adopt explainable AI—AI that can explain its decisions to humans and thereby improve its trustworthiness—humans still form a vital part of the process as these decisions can then be worked on by a team, rather than an individual. Ultimately, AI is going to disrupt not only the processes involved with manufacturing, but it will also disrupt the mindsets and approaches adopted by those within the industry.

Ramprakash Ramamoorthy is product manager at ManageEngine and Zoho Labs -he leads the AI & Blockchain efforts for Zoho Corporation. Ramprakash has been instrumental in setting up Zoho's AI platform from scratch and comes with a rich 8+ years of experience in building AI for the enterprises at Zoho. The AI platform currently serves over a million requests an hour and is growing strong.
ManageEngine is the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corporation. Established and emerging enterprises – including 9 of every 10 Fortune 100 organizations - rely on its real-time IT management tools to ensure optimal performance of their IT infrastructure, including networks, servers, applications, desktops and more.
www.manageengine.com/uk/

Lessons from World War II on Manufacturing and the Covid-19 Pandemic. By Eric Stoop

Current discussions of the effect of the global Covid-19 pandemic are teeming with references to World War II, and the similarities prove there is a valuable lesson to be learnt. At the beginning of the UK lockdown, during a public broadcast, Queen Elizabeth II urged the population to adopt the same discipline and resolve that the people had shown during the war.

A look at manufacturing and the Covid-19 pandemic shows the comparison to WWII is an apt one. From victory gardens to discussions of shared sacrifice to ramping up production of critical supplies, the parallels between the health crisis and WWII are hard to ignore.

And while that generation was asked to leave their homes to fight or join the war effort, people today are being asked to stay at home to prevent the spread of the virus.

What lessons can manufacturers learn from WWII, and what do they need to do to survive the coming changes? In this post, we’re looking back through the lens of history to examine the answers to these questions and help companies chart a strategic path forward.

Pivoting Production Can Mean Faster Recovery
Many manufacturing heroes have already pivoted production to needed supplies such as ventilators, personal protective equipment (PPE) and hand sanitiser. While drivers include practical considerations like filling gaps in revenue, it’s also about the common good.

First and foremost, these changes in production are undoubtedly saving lives by helping overcome critical hospital shortages. They’re also keeping workers employed who might otherwise be furloughed due to a drop in demand or supply chain disruptions.

What’s also true, however, is that making these bold changes can help us all recover more quickly from the crisis and become better equipped to tackle future threats. Because the faster companies can manufacture supplies, treatments and even vaccines, the faster we can overcome this invisible enemy—and be better prepared for any second wave.

Employees Will Need to Fill New Roles
The second world war saw a massive influx of new workers in manufacturing as the country quickly shifted into high gear to produce airplanes, carriers and other equipment. In today’s environment, it’s similarly clear that employees will have to pivot to new roles they may be unfamiliar with.

In addition to changes in production, there’s also the fact that manufacturers will likely be dealing with lower staff density due to social distancing as well as potential spikes in absenteeism.

What can manufacturers do to prepare for this reality?

• Start preparing now for where you need to cross-train employees and how to deliver that information quickly and effectively
• Implement verification processes to prevent and detect quality issues that arise from lack of experience with a given production process
• Make succession planning a priority to ensure continuity when key individuals aren’t at work

This last point is especially important in the context of what comes after the crisis has abated. While millions are unemployed now, a rebound in hiring could eventually increase poaching for top talent. However, companies can’t afford to be caught with key positions unfilled when trying to regain productivity levels.

If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail
Before the onset of WWII, the UK was far from ready for the conflict. In 1939, the British Army was a small, volunteer professional army, with limited weapons which had suffered defeat at every war it was deployed to.

In September of 1939, the British Army had a total of 892,697 officers, compared to the end of the war which saw almost three million men having served for their country. It’s of no surprise that the British were woefully unprepared for a war in the beginning, with multiple enemies on all fronts.

In the context of the Covid-19 crisis, the parallel is unmistakable: failure to plan is the same as planning to fail. The writing is on the wall, both in health and economic terms. Manufacturers must plan now for a potential second wave of the virus, with many companies already preparing pandemic plans for just such an occurrence. Reducing operational costs with tools such as layered process audits to combat waste and improve process efficiency will be key to surviving economic changes.

Things Are Going to Look Different
WWII changed everything, driving recovery from one of Britain’s biggest economic recessions, while putting the UK on a trajectory for massive social change (not least of all by giving women a chance to be part of industries they had not previously worked in).

While we don’t yet know what awaits after the crisis is over, experts agree that things won’t be the same once the widespread lockdowns have ended. Handshaking may be out permanently. Remote work and tele-health are in.

For manufacturers, reliance on globalised supply chains and just-in-time manufacturing will be called into question. The case for digital transformation has never been stronger, allowing manufacturers to achieve greater levels of efficiency with fewer resources.

Experts at McKinsey have deemed it the next normal, saying leaders must “reassess their entire business system and plan for contingent actions in order to return their business to effective production at pace and at scale.”

Versatility will be key to survival, just as quality will be integral to the ultimate success or failure of any new manufacturing initiative.

The story of WWII is one of not just heroism, but also industrial power. Just as the manufacturing boom helped lead the UK out of a crisis, manufacturers today are similarly poised to help move the country forward after the crisis.

Eric Stoop is CEO of Ease, the innovative mobile platform that helps manufacturers simplify how they administer, conduct and respond to plant floor audits. With best-in-class support for layered process audits, safety, 5S and more – EASE drastically reduces labour costs and delivers insights that ensure audit programs drive real business value. Leading automotive, aerospace and manufacturing organizations around the globe depend on EASE’s enterprise scale, expertise and customer-centricity. EASE Inc. is a privately held company based in Mission Viejo, California.

https://www.ease.io