Virtual reality wind turbines to train operators or AI to make unbreakable glass

An automobile company can predict whether the glass in the windows of its vehicles is going to have the desired quality before starting to produce it thanks to artificial intelligence engines that learn from the environmental conditions to achieve that maximum quality.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
26 December 2022 Monday 23:43
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Virtual reality wind turbines to train operators or AI to make unbreakable glass

An automobile company can predict whether the glass in the windows of its vehicles is going to have the desired quality before starting to produce it thanks to artificial intelligence engines that learn from the environmental conditions to achieve that maximum quality. An energy company provides training to its wind turbine maintenance operators without them having to climb at least 25 meters from a wind turbine, thanks to an exact reproduction of these with virtual reality. From there "up", we have verified it, an impressively realistic landscape can be seen (and you can even hear the wind).

Both the first scenario and the second are examples of that word that, for some time now, specifically since the pandemic, has only resonated everywhere we go: digitization. Because from that moment on, as consumers, we discovered that we could continue shopping, working or doing banking without having to travel, and thus save health, time and money in many of the activities of our daily lives.

From the perspective of companies, 69% accelerated their digital transformation in response to the pandemic in Spain, according to Salesforce data. According to the latest figures from the INE, nine out of 10 companies already have some ICT security measure implemented and eight out of 10 use remote access technologies for their staff. 31.6% of companies sold their products through electronic commerce in 2021.

“Digitalization offers us a quick way to adapt to the changes that the market is undergoing today, which are going at a very high speed. Without its digitized processes, a company is not responsive and is bound to disappear sooner rather than later for lack of a competitive advantage,” says David Junyent, Industry Senior Manager at NTT DATA. Of course, it is not only about going digital, "but about implementing digital innovations with an impact on the income statement or on the business model of each company," he adds.

And each company is a world. For this reason, “the first thing we do at NTT DATA is to listen and study the needs in all phases of the industrial process (design, supply chain, manufacturing) of the company; detect problems, areas for improvement and opportunities in the different aspects of the business, and then develop a strategy that takes into account all the business areas of the company”.

Based on this plan, very different measures can be applied to each company, from improving the user experience by optimizing the operation of its online store; reinforce internal communication with its own computer system; save time on trips thanks to remote connectivity, or optimize the use of customer data based on its analysis. Also the solutions that we saw at the beginning of this article, more oriented to industrial sectors, such as improving the quality of a product before being manufactured or reducing accidents at work.

A well-focused digitization generates new business opportunities and revenue streams, optimizes the efficiency of internal processes or allows data to be obtained for constant improvement, risk detection and prevention and, therefore, increases business competitiveness. And in the industrial sector the benefits are especially tangible, because this change can save immense money by avoiding us manufacturing a low-quality batch or reducing claims in a factory.

The technology that is used to carry out this renewal has all those names that evoke modernity, but which, nevertheless, are already present: Cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, deep learning, augmented reality, virtual reality or blockchain. .

From DFactory, the new industry 4.0 hub created by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, ​​the NTT DATA team focused on developing industrial solutions for sectors such as the automotive industry, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and consumer goods, finds synergies with other companies with different capacities or complementary points of view to continue developing all these technologies that are a revolutionary alternative to the industrial needs that we have known up to now.

The leitmotiv of this hub is that the different companies that are establishing themselves in it, from sectors such as robotics, telemedicine, 3D printing or computer development, share knowledge. For example, the newest thing that NTT DATA is working on here are traceability strategies with blokchain. “Thanks to the sensorization of a medicine, we can know what its status is in real time, if there has been an increase in temperature, and then it must be withdrawn from circulation before it reaches the pharmacy”, explains Junyent.

All the technological tools that make up a digitalization process are fundamental elements in the transformation of a company, but the fundamental thing is to understand that "going digital goes further, it implies a change in the company's culture, and it does not have to be seen as a expense, but as an investment with enormous impact”, he concludes.