by Gary Mintchell | Jul 25, 2024 | Generative AI, Operations Management, Workforce
Marketing people are pressing the accelerator all the way to make sure we all know they are using artificial intelligence (AI). I think this is a mistake because most of us know that we have been using AI within software and control products for decades. So, when I receive a press release that looks relevant to The Manufacturing Connection (which is becoming ever more rare), I probe.
Seeq is a pretty cool company in a software niche that is often difficult to explain. They recently sent a press release regarding the use of AI in workforce training. Possessing an inquiring mind, I had to ask for more. The following Q&A with Dustin Johnson, CTO at Seeq, satisfies most of my curiosity. There is some marketing stuff in the answers that I didn’t cut. You all know what that is.
Oh, and it’s not just the usual AI but the current hot topic of Generative AI that is the subject.
What areas or skills are being taught?
In our experience, the best way to encourage adoption of any new technology is to use it to solve a pressing problem quickly. This helps users build the initial trust and interest needed to pursue future work. Thus, integrating AI into our Foundations Analytics Skills and Bootcamp courses, or whatever courses a company is using to introduce a new technology, is crucial.
Our hands-on, industrial analytics AI training, which kicked off with Seeq users at our industry conference Conneqt 2024 in May, details how users can leverage GenAI to generate a workflow for solving an industry-specific problem. From generating an overall plan for an analysis to digging into specific analytics approach questions, such as how to cleanse a specific data set, to completing and modifying bulk calculations, then following the workplan through to visualization and reporting, the course empowers users to unlock new value throughout each step of the workflow. At each step, we emphasize the power of collaboration between people and AI: how to get and clarify answers, validate and adjust calculations the AI has performed, and troubleshoot if issues arise.
Above all, the Seeq AI training focuses on hands-on problem solving with real, relevant data, and does not shy away from the questions and concerns we know our users have. The bottom line is that users are still wary of using AI, which has, after all, only become “net productive” for most users in the past few months. So, it’s crucial that they experience value-add in the context of their own work as quickly as possible, while being realistic about the state of technology.
How successful has this initiative been?
After leveraging the Seeq AI Assistant, customers have reported that they can now complete tasks eight times faster and without interrupting other teams for help. Additionally, the ability to perform advanced calculations and obtain knowledge documented by previous team members has helped users cut the time required to become advanced analytics experts in half.
What are they learning?
Our approach includes integrating AI into our Foundations Analytics Skills™ courses and offering hands-on, industrial analytics AI training. These initiatives are designed to foster adoption from the start and empower users to apply AI for real-world problem solving.
The most needed skills include data analysis, problem-solving with AI, and applying AI for specific manufacturing challenges. Seeq is addressing this through in-product learning, in-house training programs, like our Foundations Analytics Skills™, and hands-on workshops at industry conferences.
Are they showing signs of retention?
More than 100 customer and partner organizations and thousands of users (and growing) are already leveraging the Seeq AI Assistant to accelerate insights and improve decision making in pursuit of operational excellence and sustainability.
Are these used in conjunction with other tools?
Seeq is at the forefront of integrating AI within the manufacturing sector, primarily through our AI Assistant and in-product learning tools. We’re focused on making advanced analytics accessible to industrial organizations, thereby accelerating their digital transformation journeys.
Seeq provides on-demand access to critical time series data, data contextualization capabilities, and established intellectual property. Utilizing the extensive body of advanced analytics, data science, machine learning and coding knowledge held in Seeq technical documentation and its knowledge base, Seeq is operationalizing the power of GenAI for its customers. Combining these competencies with prompt engineering curated by the world-class analytics and learning engineers at Seeq, the Seeq AI assistant generates accurate and actionable suggestions for analytical approaches and techniques, code generation and more. Seeq also supports multiple providers and LLMs for organizational flexibility.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 19, 2024 | News, Personal Development, Productivity, Workforce
- • ResumeTemplates.com Survey Finds ChatGPT Helps 4 in 10 Users Get Raises, as Workers’ Fears of AI Fizzle
- Workers report that ChatGPT helps them save time, complete tasks more efficiently, and increase their productivity
Everyone performs surveys these days. This company would not normally hit my radar. ResumeTemplates (think CV, not beginning again) provides a platform for free professional resume templates and examples. It recently surveyed 1,666 employees in the United States in order to determine the extent of usefulness or fear of Large Language Model (LLM) AI. Namely they questioned use of ChatGPT.
600 of the 1,666 reported using ChatGPT at least once a month. The survey is based on results of these 600.
According to the survey, 36 percent of workers use ChatGPT at least once a month at work. Specifically, 22 percent use it daily, 12 percent weekly, and 2 percent monthly. Workers primarily use ChatGPT to summarize documents, summarize topics, and write emails. Other common uses include brainstorming, interpreting data, writing articles or content, and translating text.
These types of results often drive my skepticism meter toward red, but they are interesting. Define saving time…
These ChatGPT users claim the AI tool has helped them save time at work. Notably, 16 percent of workers report saving one to two hours per week, 22 percent save three to four hours, and 30 percent save five to eight hours. Additionally, 11 percent save nine to 10 hours, and 18 percent save more than 10 hours per week. With the time saved, 94 percent of respondents say they reinvest “all” or “some” of that time back into the company.
“Workers report that ChatGPT assists them in completing assignments more quickly and delivering higher quality results,” says ResumeTemplates’ executive resume writer and career coach Andrew Stoner. This combination creates a win-win scenario for employers and workers, and I believe signals an eagerness on the part of workers to learn and adapt to new technology.”
Survey findings also suggest a significant impact of ChatGPT on respondents’ professional careers. In fact, 38 percent report earning a raise as a result of using ChatGPT. Furthermore, workers say ChatGPT has led to faster task completion, increased productivity, reduced stress levels, and enhanced problem-solving capabilities. Looking ahead, workers believe ChatGPT will continue to benefit their careers by helping them secure promotions, raises, more advanced roles, and better job offers.
View the complete report.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 5, 2024 | Operations Management, Software, Workforce
Industrial collaboration tools flourish as manufacturers discover better tools and better people leadership. Further finally a press release promoting a product that includes generative AI without that as the headline! This looks interesting. Anyone out there using it? I’m curious about how it actually works.
Comprehensive collaboration workspace powered by dataops and a generative AI copilot that unify knowledge across assets, processes, and people
SymphonyAI, a leader in predictive and generative enterprise AI SaaS, announced IRIS Workspace, a no-code application for industrial knowledge workers to engage in a live, collaboration environment with all relevant information for rapid problem-solving.
IRIS Workspace empowers cross-functional teams to simultaneously engage with time-series, P&IDs (piping and instrument diagrams), documents, drawings, and images in a shared workspace for real-time problem solving using unified and contextualized data from IRIS Foundry, an AI powered, composable industrial dataops platform. Industrial users can collaborate within or across teams in a live environment, including adding notes and comments, notifying users, and drawing freehand or using the built-in annotation toolbar. Additionally, IRIS Workspace provides governance capabilities including version tracking and data and user audit. IRIS Workspace seamlessly integrates with the IRIS Copilot, introducing powerful generative and predictive AI into the collaboration workspace to provide search, summarization, insights, pattern recognition, and recommendations.
Commenting on the launch, Sukant Acharya, Executive Vice President & Global Business Head – Sustainability, IoT and Industry NeXT, HCLTech, said, “We congratulate SymphonyAI on the launch of IRIS Workspace.” He further adds, “HCLTech and Symphony AI are committed to advancing transformation of the manufacturing and industrial sector powered by Gen AI. By combining HCLTech’s Industry NeXT solution and capability suite and SymphonyAI’s IRIS Foundry platform, the collaboration will empower enterprises with real-time data collaboration and accelerated innovation.”
“With IRIS Foundry, we took bold strides to profoundly and meaningfully simplify our customers’ operational transformation with predictive and generative AI at scale,” said Prateek Kathpal, president of SymphonyAI’s industrial division. “IRIS Workspace delivers the power of a unified data platform to users’ fingertips for real-time, interactive collaboration that significantly increases productive teamwork, supports informed decision-making through data visualization, and captures breakthrough outcomes to rapidly remediate or even prevent future problems.”
by Gary Mintchell | May 24, 2024 | Operations Management, Services, Workforce
Remember when AI was hidden, buried deep within the program? Now a marketer is derelict in duty when not promoting AI in the product. Not to say it isn’t beneficial. Just that there’s more to it, we hope, than AI meaning that it solves a real problem.
This news is from ServiceNow. Their solutions span broader industries than manufacturing. I have parsed the news for what is relevant to me.
ServiceNow announced new purpose-built solutions for the manufacturing industry to help power faster, more efficient operations and better employee experiences. Manufacturing Commercial Operations (MCO) incorporates generative AI (GenAI) to streamline sales, service and support, and order-to-cash processes. Employee Center (EC) Pro Kiosk brings intelligent self-service experiences to deskless workers, making it easy for them to access company communications, relevant resources, and seamlessly navigate hire-to-retire processes.
Manufacturing Commercial Operations is built on top of ServiceNow Customer Service Management and Sales and Order Management. It offers a single, generative AI-powered solution for order exceptions, dealer operations, customer service and support, order-to-cash operations, and product and quality management. It seamlessly integrates with manufacturers’ existing systems to help make work easier, faster, and more transparent.
Capabilities within Manufacturing Commercial Operations allow manufacturers to:
Transform field operations: MCO integrates with ServiceNow Field Service Management, making it easy for manufacturers to deliver proactive, preventative maintenance and dispatch and route technicians to the right work to fix problems fast. If a customer reports an equipment issue, customer service teams can quickly log the problem and deploy a field technician with the necessary knowledge, skills, and equipment to manage the task – all from within MCO. Real-time updates are sent to the technician’s mobile device, including the customer’s location and details about the product model, helping ensure that the technician has the necessary information and assets for their visit, reducing downtime and solving problems as efficiently as possible.
Employee Center Pro Kiosk is an intelligent self-service walk-up experience that provides a front door for everything the manufacturing factory worker needs, from requesting time off, to reviewing benefits, asking a payroll question, or accessing the latest company news and information. With EC Pro Kiosk – part of ServiceNow HR Service Delivery – employees can access critical company information and applications via a kiosk on the manufacturing floor by scanning a QR code on a personal phone or through personalized SMS messages. By bridging the communication gap between the employee and the company, leaders can help ensure deskless workers are in the loop on important updates or decisions and have the resources they need to stay informed and receive support, improving employee engagement.
by Gary Mintchell | May 21, 2024 | Generative AI, Workforce
Some people feel that Generative AI on its own will be detrimental to human civilization—or indeed even existence. I think, as always, it is the human use of it just as every other technology for the past several thousand years that matters. For instance, look at the latest episode of the old “tech bro” culture from Silicon Valley—Sam Altman and OpenAI. One way or another he used Scarlett Johannson’s voice for the voice of the audio ChatBot.
Every week a couple of new uses for generative AI in manufacturing or industrial applications enter my inbox. This one touts leveraging advanced generative AI to provide personalized learning experiences and continuous skills verification, boosting employee retention and operational efficiency.
DeepHow, an award-winning AI-powered, video training platform for the skilled workforce, announced the release of AI Quizzing, which redefines the learning and development landscape by offering real-time assessments generated from training video content. Leveraging advanced generative AI technology, this feature ensures personalized learning experiences while continuously verifying employees’ skills.
AI Quizzing takes training to the next level by empowering leaders to assess employees’ understanding and retention of training material. This allows them to accurately gauge readiness for skill advancement and increased responsibilities. AI Quizzing fosters a more competent workforce, equipped to tackle complex challenges with up-to-date knowledge and skills, which in turn reduces training costs, decreases onboarding time, and minimizes temporary employee attrition.
Additional benefits of AI Quizzing:
- Reinforcement of Learning: Users may utilize the quizzing feature to reinforce their understanding of the content covered in the training video.
- Self-Assessment and Feedback: Quizzes offer users an opportunity for self-assessment, allowing them to gauge their comprehension and identify areas where they may need further review or clarification.
- Active Participation and Engagement: Quizzing encourages active participation and engagement with the training material, as users are prompted to recall information, apply concepts, and solve problems.
- Knowledge Check and Progress Tracking: Users may use the quizzing feature to assess their progress and evaluate their mastery of the training content over time.
by Gary Mintchell | May 20, 2024 | Automation, Robots, Technology, Workforce
Festo is an innovative company that continuously surprises me with its creativity. This year at Hannover, for example, they displayed a “flock” of bees. At Automate they showed new electric actuators, an I/O platform, and an AI worker collaboration tool.
New Generation of Electric Actuators for Linear Applications
Festo introduced its newest generation of Cartesian-handling-system mechanical axes. The ELGD-TB, tooth belt actuators, and ELGD-BS, ball screw actuators, are based on an innovative Festo design.
- Suited to most electromechanical handling tasks, the ELGD series brings specific benefits to applications, such as:
- Cantilever systems and pick-and-place solutions for small parts handling, where short cycle times, high precision, and repeatability are key
- Handling systems for top loaders, which benefit from the ELGD’s attractive price/performance ratio, high travel speed, and long stroke lengths
- Automation of 3D printing, additive manufacturing, dosing, gluing, and picking and placing are enhanced with the ELGD’s dynamic, virtually vibration-free movement.
Remote and Decentralized I/O Platform
Festo offers both the CPX-AP-A distributed I/O and CPX-AP-I decentralized I/O. Whether physically attached on-terminal or connected via cable, all components such as PLCs, valves, motors, drives, and I/O appear to the programmer to be incorporated within one smart terminal under a single IP address. Having the entire distributed and decentralized I/O topology under a single IP address significantly reduces hardware and installation costs while lowering system complexity. Since many PLCs come with a limited number of IP addresses, the Festo solution means more capabilities are possible per PLC. Festo is a leader in adopting and applying IO-Link, and customers will find IO-Link capabilities integral to the new I/O automation platform. This I/O platform is ideal for effective conveyor control.
AI worker collaboration training package
At the show, Festo demonstrates a UR3e cobot equipped with an AI-powered camera capable of gesture recognition. This setup enables object tracking, allowing the cobot to pick up items and then hand them to booth visitors. The cobot will be handing out individually wrapped hard candy. The Festo Didactic AI/Machine Learning Worker Collaboration package provides learners with the opportunity to explore neural networks, machine learning, and advanced gripping systems. Festo Didactic incorporated into this demo its 360-degree robotic safety awareness package developed in partnership with SICK.
