AUTHOR ARCHIVES: Mark Glover

Companies create innovative solutions to complex problems for enterprise users.

Parrot, the drone group, announced it is partnering with RIIS, a leading provider of mobile app, web development and IT consulting services, to develop custom applications of artificial intelligence for Parrot’s popular ANAFI drone platform. Parrot and RIIS are focused on exploring the use of artificial Intelligence and computer vision technology, combined with drone data capture, to solve countless industry challenges using an efficient and cost-effective approach. 

To help demonstrate the promise of this technology and allow developers to start creating innovative apps, Parrot and RIIS have released a technical whitepaper, which provides step-by-step instruction to add AI and computer vision to the ANAFI Drone using Parrot’s open source Ground SDK.

"We are excited to explore the immense capabilities AI and drones will deliver to our clients through our ongoing partnership with RIIS,” said Jerome Bouvard, Parrot Director of Strategic Partnership. “At Parrot, we are always looking for innovative solutions to solve for our enterprise partner’s every-day pain points.”

Parrot and RIIS are actively exploring use cases which could include municipal use of drones for assessing parking lots, public parks, and streetlights; crowd monitoring; warehouse inventory counting; automated inspection of cell phone towers and solar panels; property surveillance for real estate professionals and developers, and much more. This technology is expected to significantly enhance the often-tedious processes required to complete professional projects across a variety of industries and sectors.

“Our recent collaboration with Parrot perfectly illustrates the immense potential of developing apps for Parrot’s ANAFI drone platform,” said RIIS CEO and Founder Godfrey Nolan. “Leveraging the power of AI and machine learning apps with Parrot drones promises to provide previously impossible solutions to costly and time-consuming challenges.

Through its SDK Partner program, Parrot is working to create a global ecosystem of drone apps to serve the unique and ever-evolving needs of its enterprise and professional users. Through this program, Parrot is working with partners, like RIIS, to create and bring to market new applications, software and hardware that seamlessly integrates with Parrot ANAFI and ANAFI Thermal drones.

Regular Field Service News contributor Michael Blumberg makes his debut on the Field Service Podcast and explains why firms should be embarking on a digital transformation journey.

As a regular supplier of insight to the pages of Field Service News for many years now, the FSN editorial team though it wise to get Mize's Michael Blumberg on the podcast. Deputy Editor and host Mark Glover batted topic suggestions with Michael over email and the pair eventually decided on Digital Transformation, a journey that all service professionals should be contemplating if they haven't already.

Covering the challenges and advantages of DX, including tangible case studies of successful integration, Michael explains with clarity how you can begin your own transformation, one that can only be beneficial to your business.

It's essential listening for any service professional. Download it now!

You can connect with Michael on LinkedIn here or reach out to him on email. You can also read his most recent article on how to optimise your engineers here.

Revenue expected to reach $25.1 bn in 2020, growing 4.8% year-on-year.
The rising number of data breaches and cyberattacks globally, as well as the increasing awareness of the state-sponsored cyberattacks, have led to an increased demand for cybersecurity software solutions.

According to data gathered by PreciseSecurity.com, the overall cybersecurity software revenue is expected to reach $25.1 bn in revenue this year, growing 4.8% year-on-year. The rising trend is set to continue in the following years, with the entire market reaching $27 bn worth in the next three years.

Cybersecurity as Global Concern

Cybersecurity has become one of the biggest concerns for both citizens and businesses all around the world. The growing demand for eCommerce platforms, technology developments including AI and IoT, and the rising number of connected devices have led to the massive adoption of cybersecurity solutions.

The cybersecurity software market refers to all software solutions aiming to protect individual computing devices, networks, or any other computing-enabled device. It includes antivirus software, management of access, data protection and security against intrusions, and any other system-level security risks, both in local installation and cloud service.

In 2012, the global cybersecurity software market reached $17.5 bn worth. In the next seven years, the market revenue grew by nearly 40% and reached a $23.9 bn value in 2019. The statistics indicate that the entire market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.5% in the next three years.

The US is the Leading Cybersecurity Software Market

In global comparison, the United States is the leading cybersecurity software market in the world. The statistics indicate the entire US market is set to reach $10.1 bn value this year.

With $1.5 bn value or 6.5 times less than the US market, the United Kingdom ranked as the second-biggest market globally. The 2020 data show Germany is expected to reach $1.1 bn market value this year, followed by France and Canada as other leading markets.

Fitting even into the tightest vehicle cabins, the new ultra-compact rugged VERSO™ 10 computer is ideal for space-constrained applications in mining, agriculture and other demanding environments where high performance is required...

JLT Mobile Computers, a leading developer and manufacturer of reliable computers for demanding environments, announces the launch of an addition to its popular VERSO™ Series of high-performance vehicle-mount computers. The new VERSO 10 computer provides customers with the industry’s most compact, highest-performing rugged fixed-mount terminal and is perfect for installation even in the tightest spaces.

Featuring the smallest footprint in its class, the fixed-mount VERSO 10 is even slimmer than JLT’s existing cradle-mount VERSO+ 10. With all connectors integrated into its casing, the VERSO 10 is also significantly lighter and comes at a lower cost. Secure fixed-mount installation addresses safety concerns inherent in certain vehicle types and deployments.    

“Available space in a driver’s cabin is a challenge in many industrial vehicles,” explains Per Holmberg, CEO of JLT Mobile Computers. “That’s why we designed our new VERSO 10 computer to fit virtually anywhere. It is the smallest rugged vehicle terminal on the market, giving customers the highest performance regardless of space limitations.”

The ultra-compact VERSO 10 computer comes with a standard (400NIT) or high-bright (800NIT) virtually unbreakable 10-inch LED display with JLT PowerTouch™ technology and is designed to withstand the harshest environments. With an IP65 ingress protection rating it is impervious to dust and highly resistant to water, can be used in extremely cold and hot temperatures, offers a wide 9-36 VDC power input, and has an internal battery for graceful shutdown in case of an unexpected vehicle power outage.

The high-performance VERSO 10 comes with an advanced Intel© Kaby Lake Core™ i7‑7600U processor with Turbo Boost, or the optional Core i3-7100U processor. Both are optimized for Windows 10 LTSC and come with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 support. The computer also features integrated dual-band WLAN 802.11ac with integrated PIFA antennas, Bluetooth, and optional GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou and 4G LTE mobile broadband to ensure reliable connectivity and positioning over large areas.

Customers with maximum performance requirements will benefit from up to 60% higher CPU performance with the Intel Core i7 option, making it possible to run advanced thick-client applications such as HD video streaming, positioning calculations and real-time video analysis or high-resolution graphical representations, as well as creating advanced new user interfaces for improving overall user productivity. Even with the Intel Core i3 option, customers with lesser performance requirements will see the same or better performance than was offered in older high-end VERSO models, but with lower power draw and lower cost as additional benefits.

JLT created the VERSO 10 for customers with high demands on computing power as well as the need for reliable, trouble-free operation in vehicles where space may be limited. Target customers are found within industry segments such as mining and drilling, forestry and agriculture, GIS, and defense.

It is an unavoidable fact of field service delivery that our engineers and technicians invariably spend as much time behind the wheel of their vehicle as they do with our customers. Whilst we are all of course trying to reduce ‘screen-time’ as much for productivity reasons as anything else, we mustn’t overlook the fact that vehicle maintenance and driver safety play a massive role in ensuring our field workforce are safe. In the second feature of a four-part series reflecting on a deep dive discussion into health and safety at the most recent FSN Think Tank Mark Glover looks back on the discussions that the group held on driver safety…  

It’s generally agreed that workplace driving – irrelevant of vertical sector – is one of the biggest risks for service engineers. Again, the very nature of a lone worker means travelling to a job is a fundamental part of the process. With the number of cars on the road combined with driving hazards more generally there exists an increasing risk of driving accidents. 

Add workplace pressure to the mix and the risks increase further. Sensible driving policies are one way of dealing with this, however a middle ground must exist that where policies must encourage productivity and efficiency while being practical, realistic and enforceable.  

 Service engineers come across a number of hazards in their day-to-day including working at height and confined spaces although those in attendance agreed that driving – irrelevant of vertical sector – was one of the biggest risks. Again, the very nature of a field service engineer, or the very nature of a lone worker means travelling to a job is a fundamental part of the service process.  

 Indeed, it was a common theme across all members of the group that driving safety was of paramount concern. “We’ve targeted driving as probably the biggest risk area,” commented Brent Holmes, Field Service Portfolio Director, Ericsson explained: 

 It is also a high-risk part of that process, perhaps more so than working at height or slips, trips and falls - which the group agreed certainly shouldn’t be overlooked - however, a key distinguisher here is that driving links directly into a service engineer’s productivity, something which can affect safety.  

"The customer is unhappy as the asset needs to get back-up online as soon as possible. So, there is customer pressure, management pressure and also business pressure..."

Mark Wilding, Director of Global Aftermarket Operations, Hexagon Marketing Intelligence explains: “As management we need to get the tasks done and the schedule completed. With driving between jobs and driving home at the end of the day and with driving hazards generally and the number of cars on the road there is obviously an increasing risk.”  

 He pondered the use of company driving policies and practicalities, where engineers would have to stay in a hotel after working twelve hours on the road, for example.  “So, if you’re 20 miles from home and you’ve done your twelve hours, you’re supposed to check in. They [engineers] will leave at a silly time just so they can be in their own beds at night. And this is a risk that is always there. “Equally there is pressure if they’ve only got three days to complete a task. The customer is unhappy as the asset needs to get back-up online as soon as possible. So, there is customer pressure, management pressure and also business pressure, therefore the productivity that you’re trying to improve means the driving time in the car is almost trivialised.  

 “That for me is a concern because you can put in some hard-hitting policies which will have a massive impact on productivity and efficiency and expense and it’s about finding the happy balance, which is practical, realistic and enforceable.” Jan van Veen said these pressures and targets can be detrimental to workforce, “It then leads to stress and pressure which is not in favour of safety and probably not in favour of customer quality also,” he explains.  

 “This is often the issue when you start incentivising or putting in targets. It then leads to stress and pressure which is not in favour of safety and probably not in favour of customer quality. “So, if you are really are serious as top management around safety, you should start working on relieving pressure on people by putting in place better tools, mechanisms, processes and structures so they can be performed without sacrificing safety,” he said. 

Industry and academia combine for new servitization event.

Rolls-Royce, Goodyear and Alstom will share with share their experience of growing business through services at the inaugural World Servitization Conference in Birmingham in May.

The World Servitization Convention, organised by The Advanced Services Group, part of Aston Business School, will see industry experts join academics to demonstrate the way that servitization can be used to transform the future of manufacturing through keynote speeches, developmental workshops and live demonstrations.

Some of the keynote speakers attending the event include Andy Harrison, Engineering Associate Fellow for Life Cycle Engineering at Rolls-Royce, Marc Preedy, Managing Director of Truck Replacement Sales in Europe at Goodyear, Mike Hulme, Managing Director of Trains and Modernisation at Alstom and Antony Bourne, President of IFS Industries.

Professor Tim Baines, Director of The Advanced Services Group and regular Field Service News’ contributor said: “What will set the World Servitization Convention apart from other conferences is the exhibition – or as I like to think of it, ‘Servitization Live’ – with demonstrations from businesses at the forefront of the business model.

“We will bring servitization alive with exhibits and demonstrations of advanced services and the technologies that enable them.”

Keynote speaker Andy Harrison, from Rolls-Royce, said: “The World Servitization Convention provides an excellent opportunity for businesses to network and learn about the benefits of advanced services from those already offering them.Servitization is quite prolific in the business world, but relatively few people recognise what it is. This event will be a great way to address that and encourage more companies to adopt the model.”

The three day event, sponsored by IFS, Blueprint AMS, DLL, Servitly and Field Service News, will take place on 5, 6 and 7 May at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham, UK.

As official media partner of the event, Field Service News are able to offer our manufacturing audience complimentary admission by quoting code WSC20-FSN during the registration process which you can find here.

UK Drone Delivery Group makes urgent ‘call to action’ for property owners and influencers to provide testing areas for drones - to prevent ‘bottleneck to growth’...

One of the UK’s leading drone experts today urged British property owners and business leaders to leverage the opportunity of their under-used land for drone testing, to help accelerate the rate of growth of the UK drone industry, in the face of what he described as ‘an emerging ‘bottleneck’ to growth’.

Robert Garbett founder of the UK Drone Delivery Group, which is the first industry initiative to provide guidance on the steps required to enable accelerated commercialisation of the UK Drone Industry, stated “There is a current unnecessary ‘bottleneck’ in the evolution of the drone industry and this primarily lies in the lack of controlled testing locations which can provide trial areas and safe environments to accelerate the development of drone technology, help to shape its standards, and ensure appropriate but non constricting regulations”.

He commented “The British Government has played a constructive role to date and the UK is a world leader in drone technology… but to stay ahead in this fast moving game, then business, local authorities, police, fire & rescue services and even members of the public, must work together in a partnership of participation and cooperation.

Examples of desirable drone technology testing locations include not only large airports and aerodromes that may already be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority, but also forests, remote coastal areas and ports, through to residential areas and other dense urban environments.  Testing will need to include everything from simple potential drone tasks such as parcel delivery, to much more complex applications such as smart motorway monitoring, law enforcement rapid response and search and rescue.”

The economic benefits offered by drone technology are estimated to be massive, with significant growth expected to accelerate across surface, underwater, air and space, as well as emerging hybrid drone applications.   In November 2019, analysts at Barclays predicted that the commercial drone market could grow tenfold from $4bn in 2018 to $40bn in five years, resulting in efficiency cost savings of some $100bn… and these predictions relate to solely air drones. If you add on the fast-growing possibilities for surface, underwater or space drones then the potential growth is substantially greater.

“However,” says Robert Garbett “these predictions of the astonishing potential for growth, are dependent upon the business community and wider public recognising the important part they can play regarding potential testing locations and trial areas.

“The opportunity for the commercial drone market is vast, but with such a fast-growing emerging technology we have to ensure we act quickly, lest our ambitious international competitors overtake our lead.

“My ‘call to action’ is to say that I’d like to hear from those who feel they can contribute to this aspect of this exciting fast growth industry, which is expected to be of vital future importance to UK plc.”

Robert Garbett’s ‘call to action’ and expansion of Drone testing in the UK comes a few days before the House of Lords debates a Government bill on Monday 10 February to update the licensing regime for airspace use, together with greater police enforcement power to ensure safe and responsible use for drones.

Those interested in participating in the UK Drone Delivery Group’s initiative to provide testing areas for drones should contact: https://www.dronemajorgroup.com/drone-delivery-group

As apprentices learn the strands of Industry 4.0 will knowledge be a clean break from what’s gone before or will the past also influence the future? Mark Glover finds out more...

As we navigate our way through industry 4.0, discarding maps for GPS, we walk roads fizzing with IoT. Our watches, homes and cars are now ‘smart’, working together to streamline our experiences, where real-life merges with a virtual interface. The revolution is here and all areas of commerce are being affected by this shift, most notably manufacturing. But is industry 4.0 as much as a revolution as the three that preceded it? 

Arguably, the period between 1760 and 1840 was the most fundamental in terms of changes to the sector, where hand or animal-based methods were cast away in favour of more productive mechanized factory systems. This shift, one could argue, mirrors today's digital landscape, where in its simplest form, digitization is making paper-based, heavy manual-led procedures obsolete.

Today images of grey chimneys pluming grey smoke from grey factories are still commonplace in some places, but for those working inside factories of yesteryear conditions were harsh. Long shifts and few breaks pushed workers to the extreme on a shop floor where health was obsolete and productivity the priority. In short, money-led mill and factory owners had no time for wellbeing. 

That said, the period did bring a wave of advantages including a surge in work for regions where unemployment was high, however impatient owners provided little to no training on operating these new machines, which, to those fresh employees, must have seemed like something from another world and not a little daunting. Employees’ rights were all but nominal so failure to pick up the complex workings could see you back out on the cobbled-streets just as quickly as you came in. 

An apprenticeship differed substantially to what we know today. Owners took advantage of the many poor, orphaned children of the time drafting in a swathe to work the machines. In return, the children received no remuneration but were afforded lodgings and food instead, which, to some, was just as valuable.  

Three revolutions on much has obviously changed, including the modern apprenticeships. Today, young people learning this fourth manufacturing cycle learn data and digitalisation; algorithms and AI. The workings of a coal-powered furnace are skills less called for. Data is the new fossil fuel. 

In the UK at least, apprenticeships took a hit in the 90s when the government removed the levy for employees taking on trainees. I’ve written much about the impact this is having on the manufacturing workforce, particularly as workers age and eventually retire leaving a vast chasm of knowledge in their wake. Running alongside this is a general attitude from young people, the next potential generation of engineers, who see the sector – particularly service - as a dirty, lonely and tough environment with little reward.  Sound familiar? 

"A nod to the past might just enhance the future..."

 

 

Now you’d expect large companies to be on top of this. To be fully aware of the importance of having young people fill their shop floors. Much like a successful sports team has a strong academy programme, companies like Siemens are recognising and instigating strong apprenticeship placements. 

Last year the company announced a digital apprenticeship scheme to compliment the evolution of their own digital factories. The scheme pays selected students £3,000-a-year from the second year of university as well as up to 12-weeks paid summer placement throughout the duration of their studies within a Siemens business. At the end of their degree they will be given the chance to join one of the firm's many graduate schemes 

When the press release went out showcasing the scheme a quote from Brian Holliday, MD of Siemens’ Digital Industries, outlined its intentions. "By strengthening links between business and our world-leading universities," Holliday said, "we can inspire and nurture talent to support the UK’s leading role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” 

So how do you inspire and nurture the next wave of the modern workforce? To find out more I spoke to the Head of R&D at Siemens’ digital factory in Congleton, Ian Donald to discuss the origins of the programme and how ties to the past will form the future. 

“We wanted to create an academy that takes the traditional courses that people are on." he tells me over the phone, "and we want to add a digitilisation and a data analytics element to that.”  

Siemens run a UK Engineering Directors’ and Manager’s Forum where senior employees discuss strategic action points potential initiatives. One of the forum’s sub-groups focuses on skills, which Ian leads on and its this group that identified traditional engineering courses in manufacturing, electrical and mechanical were failing to focus on digitilsation and future digitilisation skills. 

A firm understanding of big data, data mining and AI are all necessary but Ian pinpoints the digital twin, a way of replicating from the virtual to 

the real-world, as an important learning curve as it incorporates elements of modern and traditional engineering. “You need an understanding of simulation and data,” he explains, “but you also need the hands-on experience of a traditional engineering role such as problem solving. So it’s about bringing these worlds together.” 

The word revolution in industry suggests drastic change, where the old ways become extinct, replaced by modern more efficient processes. However, can such a process be a clean break? Surely its more evolution than revolution? No change management project rips up what’s gone before and leaps blindly.

Perhaps more than previous industry revolutions, industry 4.0 is going to look back before it moves fully forward and to take the workforce with it. For apprentices, this is an exciting time as they grapple with exciting concepts like digital twins and data mining, however a nod to the past might just enhance the future.

BT has announced it is making its 5G plans available for all customers.

BT was one of the first UK mobile networks to launch 5G in November 2019, when it was exclusively available for those on its BT Halo converged plan. BT’s 5G service is available in 50 of the UK’s busiest places, and on a range of the latest 5G smartphones.

BT’s 5G service provides a more reliable experience and higher speeds in crowded areas at peak times – allowing customers to video call, stream and download without interruption at train stations, concerts and stadiums. 

Those opting for BT’s 5G service can enjoy it in busy parts of London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Hull, Sunderland, Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester, Coventry, Bristol and Wakefield and Wolverhampton. It provides a superfast connection in high footfall locations including London’s Waterloo and Euston stations, Cardiff Central station, Glasgow’s Bath Street and St Enoch Square, Belfast’s Kingspan Stadium, and Coventry’s Council House and Cathedral ruins.

Pete Oliver, Managing Director of Marketing, BT Consumer, said: “Our BT Halo customers have been some of the first to enjoy 5G in the UK, and we’re now giving all of our customers the chance to get superfast, reliable mobile connections even in the busiest places. Whether you’re watching HD TV or sport on the go, or FaceTiming your family on the way home, 5G makes a huge difference to everyday experiences and opens up even more exciting new experiences like seamless augmented reality and HD mobile gaming.”