Edge-based analytics drive smarter operations:
Mobile robots outfitted with AI extend the workforce.
It’s Friday night at the manufacturing plant. Lauren, whose job it is to supervise the computers that monitor the sensors on the production machines, has just come on shift.
As she settles in at her desk to watch several screens that display machine telemetries, she thinks about how boring her job is, but she’s glad that it is more predictable and relaxing than when she had to inspect every machine herself.
Then, an alarm sounds. An equipment sensor has indicated sudden pressure loss, which means Lauren needs to visually inspect the machine for a possible leak. To do so, she must don a hardhat and goggles and venture deep onto the factory floor. This isn’t how she imagined her Friday night shift would go, and she wonders if she should find another, more interesting and technical job.
Lauren is not alone. And manufacturers face problems attracting and keeping good workers like her.
Today’s industrial production lines are, in fact, highly technical, with automation and machine telemetry that must be monitored around the clock. All that data must be gathered, either manually by someone with a clipboard or a tablet, or by hundreds or thousands of sensors installed on the equipment itself. Then the data must be analyzed, either manually or through asset monitoring systems. Yet, despite all this automation, often when it comes to identifying and solving problems such as leaks, workers like Lauren still face dangerous conditions.
Read more on the ibm website!
