Combining Industrial IoT and AI: Give Machines More IQ
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The reconfigured value chain enables new collaboration possibilities between machines and humans to increase production uptime, adapt to demand versatility, comply with regulations and mitigate intermediation risks. It is a huge opportunity for industrial companies who have not yet started to harvest the potential of the new technologies. InUse (formerly OptimData) is TECHNIA’s joint venture that focuses on ways to help customers move to industry 4.0. It develops applications based on connected devices, data science, and machine learning.
What If Machines Could Talk?
ProductInUse is a Software-as-a-service (SaaS) that can connect to many data sources and combine data from enterprise data silos (CRM, ERP) with IoT data in one application. It consists of two innovative pillars:
On one hand, it is a design automation application for AI of connected equipment. Based on machine data and data science tools, system expert engineers can diagnose, design, simulate, and publish the AI of the equipment. The user is assisted to manipulate data and to create advanced algorithms. As a result, the AI teaches a language to the equipment for it to interact with production stakeholders.
On the other hand, a community of connected performance joins people and equipment for a single objective of production performance. The equipment behaves as a friend of the operators, talking, predicting maintenance, suggesting the next best actions, anticipating failures, and shortening the time to repair. 
Shorten Time to Repair
By internalizing the collective intelligence into the AI, the equipment can identify, in its own context of production, the best next action to repair and restart. This has great positive effects on two KPIs especially: About 50 percent of the Mean Time to Restart (MTTR) can be saved enabling up to 3 percent increased Operating Equipment Efficiency (OEE) and a significant topline revenue increase.
Anticipating Failure
Predictive analysis can be built on critical components of the equipment. The AI is created via an algorithm that characterizes the physical issue. When triggered, it makes the equipment communicate before the failure. This digital service realizes huge savings at production sites. It produces a redefinition of the service engagement between equipment manufacturer and user, with direct topline direct topline effects for both parties.
Tools for Industry 4.0
InUse, a TECHNIA joint venture, helps customers move to industry 4.0. Its research center is based in Paris, France, with Laurent Couillard, former CEO of EXALEAD, a brand of Dassault Systèmes, leading the strategy and daily operations. InUse (formerly OptimData) is already deploying the SaaS ProductInUse at companies Sidel, Engie/Shem, Schunk, Schmalz, and Manitou.
