Company Re-formed To Exploit Internet of Things Technology

Company Re-formed To Exploit Internet of Things Technology

B+B ConnectedMany companies are trying to figure out how to extend their product lines or at least their marketing message in order to jump into the Internet of Things parade.

Some have asked me to research and consult on that subject. The research raised many questions about where the best opportunity lies for some of these companies. One company simply wanted me to validate the direction they had decided on. I gave them a look, but I never had a good feeling that the direction they were headed was going to be anything more than another bolt-on acquisition or two.

The new B&B

Then I saw this news from B&B Electronics, which has remade itself into an IoT play. Say good-bye to B&B and greet B+B SmartWorx.

The company says that its latest technologies, including the Wzzard Intelligent Sensing Platform for creating wireless sensor networks and SWARM cellular edge gateway devices, convinced the company to change its name and solidify its direction.

“IoT technologies have inserted more intelligence, and complexity, into the M2M conversation,” said Jerry O’Gorman, CEO of B+B SmartWorx. “While companies desire the improved data analytics the IoT brings, many are stopping short of adoption due to the complexity of integrating existing assets into the IoT vision. For several years B+B has been engineering solutions to bring existing equipment into the IoT conversation, and hence transitioning from connectivity technology to technology for connected intelligence, so the old B&B Electronics image didn’t fit us anymore.”

O’Gorman points to the 2012 acquisition of Czech Republic-based Conel and its industrial cellular gateways as the spark for the company’s intensive development to enable IoT solutions. “The Conel acquisition gave us an immediate pedigree within Europe, and our new technologies build upon this trusted base. With the integration process complete it seems right to combine our identity into a single brand, bringing together the best of what has been achieved in Europe and the US over the past decades, and signaling our strategic direction for the future.”

Intelligence in connectivity

The new focus on the intelligence in the connectivity piece has also led B+B to invest in software engineering expertise at all of its global locations, including a new team in Galway, Ireland. Historically, B+B averaged one or two software engineers for every hardware engineer; today it’s six or eight to one.

“The M2M and IoT world is changing rapidly, creating enormous opportunity but with that a risk of being left behind,” explained Glen Allmendinger, founder and president of Harbor Research. “Many companies are struggling with this. Some are attempting a complete change in business model; others have yet to embrace any clear strategy. B&B Electronics, now emerging as B+B SmartWorx, has not only embraced the new opportunity but they’ve also executed on it in a remarkably short period of time. Impressively, they’ve done it without putting their business model at risk or alienating other players in the ecosystem by turning partners into competitors.”

The company’s edge processing technology helps bridge the gap between IT and OT (operational technology). It aggregates data from existing equipment, translates disparate machine protocols into a language IT can understand, transforms that data into useful information and delivers it to applications ready for analysis, leading to actionable intelligence.

The architecture is service led with decoupled data methodologies, capabilities traditionally limited to the enterprise middleware level or above. B+B brings these principles into the edge, eliminating the current equivalence between an edge and a single physical device, and instead replacing it with a logical edge based upon multiple devices and distributed SWARM intelligence.

SWARM intelligence is the collective behavior of decentralized, self-organized systems, natural (like ants or bees) or artificial, that accomplishes a single goal even if no individual is in charge. Simple components accomplish sophisticated tasks by following simple rule sets and working in groups.

“Many SWARM principles are replicated in the IoT,” explained Tim Taberner, the global product manager for B+B’s advanced IoT cellular gateways. “However, for the IoT to realize its full potential in remote or demanding environments, edge devices must mature beyond simple data aggregation and filtering. They must begin to collaborate and make decisions on the intelligence gained from each other, without relying on upstream resources, to distribute intelligence and decision-making further to the edge. B+B SmartWorx is creating technology that tackles this challenge.”

The B+B SmartWorx IoT Edge Processing Architecture allows a collection of physical devices, each performing relatively simple tasks, to operate as a single SWARM system which is “almost infinitely” expandable, both with physical interfaces, and processing and memory resources.

Connected Intelligence Global Partner Ecosystem

The company also announced an ecosystem for the Internet of Things (IoT) landscape with its Connected Intelligence Global Partner Ecosystem.

Initial Connected Intelligence Ecosystem Partners include IoT technology providers such as Cumulocity, Davra Networks, ILS Technology, ParStream, PLAT.ONE, SeeControl, Skkynet, and ThingWorx, along with MVNO partners such as KORE and Mobius Networks, and a variety of international carriers.

Company Re-formed To Exploit Internet of Things Technology

Manufacturing Software in the Cloud Supports Innovation

I no more had outlined the post generated from Tim Sowell’s latest blog post, when an invitation arrived to talk to the General Manager of Scott Fetzer Electrical Group (SFEG) and the CEO of ERP manufacturing software supplier Kenandy about an application based on the salesforce.com platform which is so easily configurable that even the GM can do it.

SFEG produces electrical products, such as motors, blowers, power supplies, transformers, and electromechanical timers, for large and small OEMs and distributors. Its products are used in products such as blenders, commercial printers, consumer appliances, and electrical signs.

Before deploying Kenandy, it had an on-premise ERP system, but the software was very difficult to use and was not agile enough to support their growth objectives.

Encumbered, not enabled

“Our business was encumbered by our ERP system, not enabled by it,” said Rob Goldiez, General Manager at SFEG. “The software was so hard to use that many people simply stopped using it. The data got stale. We wanted the benefits of a modern cloud platform that’s easy to use, has built-in social and mobile capabilities, and is always current with the latest version of the software.”

SFEG wanted to modernize their operations to support business automation and robotics. They also plan to add features to their product that require the support of a cloud-based system. Kenandy enables them to quickly respond to best industry practices and business innovation.

“Moving to Kenandy eliminates legacy challenges and allows us to focus on quickly growing and extending functionality,” said Goldiez. “We’re excited that we’ll be able to use Kenandy to support innovations, such as enabling our products to be connected over the Internet. We’re committed to living and breathing our innovation vision throughout the company, and Kenandy is integral to that vision.”

Since deploying Kenandy in November, SFEG’s operations have become more efficient. With the previous system, SFEG’s controller required physical signatures on purchase orders. With Kenandy, the process is managed through an automated approval process. SFEG also uses Salesforce Chatter to attach conversations to their sales orders and purchase orders, keeping all the related information together for easy reference. The employees enjoy using the system so the data is always current. They also appreciate the real-time visibility into the business, which helps them make decisions more quickly.

“SFEG’s story is not an uncommon one. Because legacy ERP systems are difficult to use, manage and upgrade, they’re written off as a burden by many users,” said Sandra Kurtzig, Chairman and CEO of Kenandy. “Since Kenandy is built native on the cloud, it offers flexibility that just hasn’t been available before. Modern enterprises need an ERP system that helps them adapt to the needs of their business as quickly as possible.”

SFEG was also interested in Kenandy because it’s built on the Salesforce Platform. They were attracted to the ease of customization, the strong reporting tools, and the robust security down to the field level. They also knew they would benefit from the third-party apps available on the Salesforce AppExchange.

“I evaluated other cloud-based ERP systems and Kenandy really stood out. There was nothing else out there that could compete,” said Goldiez. “We also wanted a system that would be easy to implement. We were up and running on Kenandy four months after signing the initial agreement. That’s fast!”

Kenandy met all the key criteria for SFEG’s new ERP system including:

  • Ease of use for technical and non-technical staff
  • Customizable workflows and approvals
  • Real-time, tailored dashboards and reporting
  • Customer portal to allow direct access to status and shipping updates
  • Collaboration to facilitate communication around orders
  • Mobile interface for anytime access to the system
  • Business rules enforcement

Goldiez told me in a follow-up interview, that just about everyone in his plant touches the new system. The old system? Well, there were two “experts” who worked with it, but it was so hard to get into that most people didn’t bother. Not only that, SFEG’s system was tied to a paper report system. Another inflexible and cumbersome preventing widespread use.

Using the configurable cloud-based system is so convenient, that when someone needs a new report or feature, Goldiez can configure it with no need for special work orders through IT.

He said that today there are lots of eyes on the system. People are accountable to the data they are supposed to be managing. It is easier to use since it has a familiar interface.

Kurtzig added, “Millennials are coming into the workforce. They need software as easy to use as Amazon. They have higher expectations—and they also expect to use mobile devices.”

Because the application resides in the cloud as Infrastructure as a Service, new business rules and updates can be added without destroying the core and disrupting use.

Company Re-formed To Exploit Internet of Things Technology

Manufacturing Production and Employment

FRED Graph production v employmentManufacturing output and manufacturing employment are important factors in our economy. They are also sources of endless speculation and angst.

Last week I ran across this graph from “FRED”, the St. Louis Fed. The graph combines year-over-year change in manufacturing production and employment curves.

Notice that usually employment tracks production although not varying as much as production. I also noticed that whereas most months from October 1998 to November 2010 showed growing production, employment lost every one of those months.

The blog writer from the Fed wrote, “The role of manufacturing in the U.S. economy is often discussed. As shown in the FRED graph above, as a year-over-year percent change, the level of manufacturing has generally grown. (One striking exception is during the recent recession.) The number of employees working in manufacturing is a different story, however. It has sometimes grown, but it has nearly always grown less than the growth in manufacturing. This suggests that growth in manufacturing does not equal growth in manufacturing jobs. What’s the explanation? A prime candidate is productivity growth. Another is that the sectoral mix has shifted toward industries with higher value added, such as computers and electronics.”

I think they are on the right track. Could we also add process industries (refining and chemicals fall into the manufacturing NAICS, but upstream does not)? I couldn’t find the numbers quickly, but I think those industries require fewer employees than, say, automobile and machinery manufacturing. There were huge shifts in the technology and market fundamentals in those subsectors.

What’s coming

I’ve been listening to reports from last week’s edition of the International CES (formerly Consumer Electronics Show). I draw your attention, for example to this video/podcast roundup from This Week in Tech (TWiT), a popular technology industry round table.

During the first 45 minutes or so there was a discussion of autonomous vehicles. Whereas the usual fare at the show includes TVs, mobile phones, electronic gadgets, this year’s news—even outstripping Internet of Things—was dominated by car manufacturers. This was to the extent that the Detroit Auto Show was pushed back one week so that the manufacturers could focus effort on CES.

Car designers have increasingly incorporated electronics into vehicles. First was control systems, then HVAC, then entertainment systems. Now we are seeing a rapid uptake of taking control to the next level—controlling not only the engine and transmission, but driving itself. Autonomous vehicles were front and center. And these are not only concept cars.

Let’s consider the economic impact of autonomous vehicles. There is every potential that widespread adoption of these vehicles could reduce vehicle demand. I live in a rural area where cars are pretty much a necessity for getting anywhere.

Even so, what if there were a model where I could click an app on my iPhone and summon a car to pick me up and take me down to Dayton (40 miles of rural interstate) for a meeting. On my way to the meeting, I could be preparing for the meeting. Or, perhaps just reading. Either way, I don’t have to concentrate on driving.

In my grandfather’s day, that would have been called the Trolley. There was a passenger light rail system that went from Sidney to Dayton (and through Piqua, Troy, Tipp City and Vandalia). We haven’t had that since before WWII.

Especially in cities. It could really cut down on need for cars in suburbs where cabs are infrequent and expensive. But if you don’t need a car full time, you could have an on-demand car.

If electric cars get added to this mix, many more jobs would be eliminated by eliminating engines, complex transmissions, and the like.

Yes, I can see where manufacturing production could continue to increase, but the need for employees would drop.

However, in that same time frame, we will be faced with a declining labor force. This could be something fortuitous for our grandkids.

Other CES news

Check out this article about Toyota’s hydrogen automobile.

I also wrote about this cool little gadget that gives early warning of driver fatigue.

 

Shipments of Connected Wearables To Reach 168 Million in 2019

Shipments of Connected Wearables To Reach 168 Million in 2019

Just like there is a difference between industrial and consumer Internet of Things, there is a difference between connected wearable devices for industrial and consumer use.

Honeywell Process has shown the media examples of various geo-location wearable devices for several years to assist responders during an incident. Personnel have been wearing a variety of communication devices for years.

Consumer applications will, of course, continue to capture the most interest. People involved in manufacturing do tend to take these consumer ideas and often turn them into useful applications for manufacturing.

According to a new report from the research firm Berg Insight, shipments of connected wearables reached 19.0 million in 2014, up from 5.9 million devices in the previous year. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 54.7 percent, total shipments of smartwatches, smart glasses, fitness & activity trackers, people monitoring & safety devices and medical devices as well as other wearable devices are forecasted to reach 168.2 million units in 2019. Bluetooth will remain the primary connectivity option in the coming years, but nonetheless, a total of 16.6 million of the wearables shipments in 2019 are forecasted to incorporate embedded cellular connectivity, mainly in the smartwatch and people monitoring & safety categories.

Fitness & activity trackers is the largest device category and shipments reached 13.0 million units in 2014. The market leading vendors Fitbit, Jawbone and Garmin have in the past year been joined by an abundance of companies including major players from the smartphone industry such as LG, Huawei, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony and Xiaomi which have released fitness & activity trackers. “This product category is now facing fierce competition from smartwatches that have activity tracking features. Decreasing prices and new form factors will still enable dedicated fitness & activity trackers to reach shipments of 42.0 million units in 2019,” said Johan Svanberg, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight.

A new breed of smartwatches became available in 2014 when high profile Android Wear smartwatches from Sony, LG, Motorola and Asus entered the market to compete with existing offerings from Pebble and Samsung. “Smartwatches are already the second largest category of connected wearables and sales will pick up considerably in 2015. The Apple Watch will enter the market and other major smartphone vendors will launch next generation Android Wear devices”, comments Mr. Svanberg. Traditional watch vendors will also enter the market in the coming years, both with smartwatches capable of running third party applications as well as traditionally styled watches with basic smartphone notification features. Improved devices available in different price segments will drive adoption in the next five years and smartwatches is predicted to become the largest device category by the end of the forecast period.

Shipments of smart glasses have so far been very modest, but promising use cases in specific markets such as enterprise and medical as well as in niche segments of the consumer market will enable smart glasses to become the third largest category of connected wearables in the next five years.

“The opportunities are plentiful – improved imaging capability together with hands-free operation, real-time communication and augmented reality functionality would for example make smart glasses a serious contender on the action camera market”, said Mr. Svanberg.

Connected wearables such as cardiac rhythm management devices, ECG monitors, mobile Personal Emergency Response Systems (mPERS) and wearable computers are already common in the medical, people monitoring and enterprise segments.

Furthermore, miniaturised electronics, low power wireless connectivity and cloud services have inspired a wide range of new connected wearables such as authentication and gestures wristbands, notification rings, smart motorcycle helmets and smart gloves. “Most of these products are still experimental, but in a few years’ time there will be many examples of new successful devices on the market”, concluded Mr. Svanberg.

Download report brochure: Connected Wearables

Berg Insight is a dedicated M2M/IoT market research firm based in Sweden. It has been specializing in all major M2M/IoT verticals such as fleet management, car telematics, smart metering, smart homes, mHealth and industrial M2M since 2004.

Operations Management Systems Evolution

Operations Management Systems Evolution

timSowellOK, the title of this post is also the title of Schneider Electric Software Vice President Tim Sowell’s blog. I follow his blog closely. He offers deep thinking about operations management applications and the drivers, requirements and needs that affect their development.

In his latest post, he’s reflecting on both year-end planning and the evolution of what we have been calling MES.

He begins by noticing, “The labels we have used for years for products, spaces, and roles no longer mean the same thing. We rapidly find ourselves setting up a glossary of labels and what they will mean in 2020-25 in order to gain alignment.”

He starts with the label “MES”, but my involvement with the space goes back to 1977 and something called MRP II. So the evolution began before that, but it started to come together in 1990. “The label ‘MES’ was first introduced in 1990 to refer to a point application at a single site (typically Quality Management). Over the next 20 years, more functionality was added to MES to keep pace with Automation trends.”

MES Platforms, Schneider Electric Software

MES Platforms, Schneider Electric Software

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next evolution Sowell dates from 2010-2015. There is the introduction of the term MOM which came from the work of ISA 95. Sowell also quotes the definition from Gartner Group in 2012, “For many, MES is no longer a point application, but a platform that serves a dual purpose: integrating multiple business processes within a site and across the manufacturing network, and creating an enterprise manufacturing execution capability.”

Looking at today and tomorrow, “As the industrial computing paradigm shifts to the Internet, the platform is now being leveraged for other assets distributed across the interconnected value chain while extending the rich optimization functionality via new applications to get more productivity in areas outside of manufacturing.”

The problems increasing gained complexity as the requirements moved from a single machine or line went to many lines in one plant to standards to compare across the lines of many plants. “It was then that I realized in the meetings internally I could not use the word MES generically and needed to become specific.”

Sowell rightly concludes, “It is much easier to avoid labels and define the situation scenario / role, and start the meeting or strategy session laying out the landscape for discussion, gain alignment on the ‘desired outcome’ and destination first, it makes it easier!!!!”

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