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What is Industry 4.0 and what are its Driving Forces?

Raktim Singh
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What is Industry 4.0 and what are its Driving Forces?

What is Industry 4.0?

In order to face the challenges of the digital age, Industries from all over the world are embracing Industry 4.0.

As per Wikipedia

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices, using modern smart technology.

Large-scale machine-to-machine communication (M2M) and the Internet of things (IoT) are integrated for increased automation, improved communication and self-monitoring, and production of smart machines that can analyze and diagnose issues without the need for human intervention

This new Industrial Revolution is a paradigm shift that is transforming businesses across all sectors and countries, upgrading the production process from the old, linear thinking to a smarter, more effective way to work. 

The term “Industrie 4.0” was first used publicly in 2011 as “Industrie 4.0” as part of an initiative to improve competitiveness in Germany’s manufacturing Industry by combining representatives from different industries (such as business, government, and academia). 

The term “Industrie 4.0” was publicly introduced in the same year at the Hannover Fair.

Renowned German professor Wolfgang Wahlster is sometimes called the inventor of the “Industry 4.0” term.

Industrie 4.0 describes manufacturing management and chain production in a new way. Similarly, the fourth industrial revolution is referred to by this term.

Rise of Industry 4.0

It’s essential to understand the evolution of manufacturing in the past 150 years before going into what, whys, and how of Industry 4.0.

A world that has experienced four distinct industrial revolutions or is experiencing them at present is called the Industrial Revolution.

First Industrial Revolution:

During the late 1700s and early 1800s, the first industrial revolution occurred.

As the manufacturing industry evolved, humans began to use water and steam-powered engines, and other types of machines to perform more efficiently manual labour and assist with an improvement in labor efficiency.

Second Industrial Revolution:

In the early 20th century, steel and electricity were introduced into factories, and the world entered a second industrial revolution.

Electrical power permitted manufacturers to increase their efficiency and increased the mobility of factory equipment.

During this period, mass manufacturing ideas such as the assembly line were developed to increase productivity.

Third Industrial Revolution:

The Third Industrial Revolution, occurred in the late 20th century, after the end of the two world wars.

As manufacturers began to integrate more electronic technology into their factories by the mid-1950s, a third industrial revolution slowly emerged.

Manufacturing companies began putting more focus on automated technology and digital technology during this period, leading to a shift away from analog and mechanical technology.

The production & usage of computers (Z1 computer to supercomputer) led to extensive use of computer and communication technologies in the production process.

Fourth Industrial Revolution:

The fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, has emerged within the past few decades.

Cyber-physical systems that take advantage of Internet interconnection (IoT), real-time data are integral to Industry 4.0 and thus extend the reach of digital technology from the latest decades. 

Industry 4.0 proposes a more integrated, interconnected, and global production strategy.

It physically interacts with digital technology and enables improved cooperation and access across departments, partners, providers, goods, and individuals. 

Industry 4.0 helps business leaders to control, analyze and use immediate information to raise efficiency, enhance procedures and drive development in every area of their operations.

Driving Forces of Industry 4.0

Generally speaking, Industry 4.0 is an approach to technology and processes with an emphasis on automation, data exchange, and other digitalization.

These are the key pillars of Industry 4.0

  1. Cyber-physical systems (CPS): Cyber-physical systems refer to systems where software and hardware components are seamlessly integrated towards performing well-defined tasks.
  2. Smart factories: In the smart factory, production facilities and logistics systems are organized without human intervention.
  3. Internet of things (IoT): IoT is a name for the aggregate collection of network-enabled devices, excluding traditional computers like laptops and servers.

With IoT, now, it is possible to collect, analyze, and exchange a large amount of valuable data.

  1. The industrial internet of things (IIoT): The industrial internet of things (IIoT) is the use of smart sensors and actuators to enhance manufacturing and industrial processes.
  2. Cloud computing: Cloud computing is the delivery of computing service (or computing power), over the Internet. Computing services includes, servers, storage devices, database, networking, software, analytics & much more….

To fully implement intelligent manufacturing, engineering, supply chain integration, production, sales, and service integration are all required. 

This is made possible by cloud computing. 

In addition, the cloud allows for more cost-effective and efficient processing of large amounts of data that are typically stored and analysed. 

Small and medium-sized businesses can also reduce their start-up costs by leveraging cloud computing, which can help them tailor their needs as their businesses grow.

  1. Smart manufacturing: It is technology-driven approach that encompasses fully integrated, collaborative manufacturing systems that employ internet-integrated machinery to monitor manufacturing processes in real-time.  
  2. Cognitive computing: Cognitive computing includes technology platforms that combine machine learning, reasoning, natural language processing, speech, vision, and human computer intervention that mimic the human brain, and solve problems without human assistance
  3. Artificial intelligence & Machine Learning: In addition to leveraging information generated by the factory floor, manufacturing organizations can use AI and machine learning tools to take full advantage of information generated across their business units and even from partners and third parties. 

Through machine learning and artificial intelligence, operations and business processes can be predicted and automated, providing visibility and predictability. 

Machines used for manufacturing are prone to breakdowns during production. Machine learning algorithms may be applied to the data collected from these assets to provide businesses with more uptime and more efficiency.

Benefits of Industry 4.0:

Product life cycles and supply chains are covered by Industry 4.0, including design, sales, inventory, engineering, etc.

 A better understanding of the production and business processes is shared at every level, which enables much more comprehensive and timely analytics.

This is a fast, in-depth summary of some of the advantages of adopting a 4.0 model for your company:

  • The younger workforce finds you more appealing because of this. Investing in innovative Industry 4.0 technologies makes businesses more competitive and more likely to retain and attract new employees.
  • The ability to communicate directly with clients means a better understanding of customer needs.
  • Having the prototypes tested effectively and optimizing the assembly lines will reduce defects and shrinkage in factories.
  • Product design and marketing time are reduced in the production of new products.

Things to watch out for

  1. Cyber Security:

Cybersecurity or cyber-physical systems is now an important topic for all companies.

 In addition to the efficiency of manufacturing processes made possible by operational equipment (OT), this connectivity also exposes new access points for malicious attacks. Cybersecurity approaches that encompass IT and OT equipment are essential to consider when undergoing a digital transformation to Industry 4.0.

  1. Skilled Taskforce: To compete & succeed in Industry 4.0. we will need a team, which is trained on new technologies. This may mean, unlearning old things & learning new skills.

The pillars of technological advancement must be actively embraced by producers and system suppliers for the transformation to be actively shaped. 

To address the need, we need to focus & create a good ecosystem ..which invests the required money & effort in the infrastructure and education.

The Way Ahead:

The adoption rate and manner of Industry 4.0 will differ between industries and countries. 

Automotive and food-and-beverage industries, for example, have a high degree of product variants, which can take advantage of a greater degree of flexibility. 

And semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, which demand high quality, will benefit from data-analytics improvements that reduce error rates.

Conclusion 

Industry 4.0 is a system of smart factories that integrate computer systems and robots to make the Industry more efficient. 

It’s the next phase in Industrial advancement that focuses heavily on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time data.

The significant change in the system of Industry 4.0 is that it integrates several things that were not integrated into the old system. 

In Industry 4.0, smart factories operate with a system that gives greater control over production, overall workflow and takes the help of smart monitoring and communicating technology.

 

What is Digital Manufacturing and What are the Advantages of using it?

Raktim Singh
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What is Digital Manufacturing and What are the Advantages of using it?

What is Digital Manufacturing :
As per Wikipedia – What is Digital Manufacturing

“Digital manufacturing is an integrated approach to manufacturing that is centered around a computer system.

The transition to digital manufacturing has become more popular with the rise in the quantity and quality of computer systems in manufacturing plants.

As more automated tools have become used in manufacturing plants it has become necessary to model, simulate, and analyze all of the machines, tooling, and input materials in order to optimize the manufacturing process“

We can say that Digital manufacturing is the application of computer systems to various manufacturing services, supply chains, inventory management, products, and processes.

Here, we connect systems and processes across all areas of production.

This helps in creating an integrated approach to manufacturing, which includes, a better procurement process for input parts, design, effective execution of production process & servicing of the final products.

For digital manufacturing to be effective, one must have the correct information, at the right time, at the right place. 

During this process, all departments and functions within the value chain must be linked together, and procedures must be spanned across them.

This impacts the whole product lifetime from design, manufacture, and maintenance of the end product(s).

The fourth industrial revolution is fuelled by the digitization of almost all stages in manufacturing. Software system enables manufacturers and users to build both big and tiny digital representations of items. 

These goods may be viewed in enhanced and virtual reality and evaluated.

The pieces of the goods are wirelessly supplied through a cloud service internationally—the supply chain tracks and monitors all products and their utilization.

Digital Manufacturing Main Areas:

In the context of digital manufacturing, there are three dimensions:

  1. Product Life Cycle
  2. Smart Factory
  3. Value Chain Management

1. Product Life Cycle:

An engineering design is the starting point of the Product Life Cycle, and this leads to sourcing, production, and customer service.

All revisions that have been incorporated into the process, any deviations from specifications that have been approved, and how these happen across the lifecycle are digitally documented for every step.

  1. Smart Factories

Smart factories use smart machines and tools to provide accurate process and manufacturing technology feedback in real-time.

Digital manufacturing that integrates operations technology and information technology opens the door to greater visibility and control of factory processes, as well as a more efficient and effective way to optimize factory performance.

  1. Value Chain Management

It aims to optimize resources and reach value along the chain by minimizing costs and eliminating waste.

The result is enhanced customer satisfaction, optimal process integration, and decreased unnecessary inventories.

What is Digital Manufacturing and Benefits of Digital Manufacturing:

As digital technology evolves across us, companies are increasingly at a crossroads: the proven, tried, and tested ways are being transformed, developed, or stuck with.

The long-term advantages of digital transformation include:

  1. Data Optimization:

In the context of digital transformation, operational data is optimized, and manufacturers can use data more efficiently, including B2B eCommerce, ERP, CRM, finance, storage, and more.

With digital manufacturing, manufacturers can create a factory that is a connected, networked and fully integrated environment, enabling them to use real-time data analytics to optimize the entire manufacturing process, take better decisions and improve productivity ( by elimination the waste or redundancy).

By automating data exchange, efficiency is increased.

Also, we can prevent costly mistakes by avoiding data mistakes or misinterpretations.

  1. Enhanced Processing:

The possibility of digital transformation is revolutionizing the operation process.

To improve the life cycles of machinery, for instance, real-time information can assist in monitoring, resolve and even forecasting problems.

This helps in keeping the process error-free and prevents interruptions/breakdowns.

Digital manufacturing enables manufacturers to eliminate bottlenecks, reduce inventory, improve quality, shorten time to market, pivot quickly to meet customer needs, and expand the number of products made.

Now, Process, equipment, systems, or component changes are measurable in real-time.

This helps in designing an optimized & enhanced process, which in turn helps in increasing the turnaround time in the overall value chain.

  1. Innovation Enhanced:

An integrated optimization approach is enabled by a digital transformation strategy.

For example, using smart plant features in your ERP can help you enhance the efficiency of the organization and the distribution network.

  1. People-Centric

Companies can gain a presence among their customers by launching B2B online platforms with a dedicated portal for each region, brand, or client.

Furthermore, companies may utilize sales data, which precisely forecast and modify according to consumer consumption.

Benefit for small and medium-sized companies

Production has traditionally been the domain of large organizations with the financial means to invest in heavy machinery and sophisticated systems.

As a consequence of digital manufacturing, there are now more opportunities for SMEs to manufacture customized products.

With today’s digital technologies, small and medium businesses can do what they do best: offer specialist services and niche products.

Mass production is not king anymore; customization and agility are. Now with digital manufacturing, one can even achieve mass customization/ personalization & quickly roll out products as per each customer’s need.

Small-scale businesses are still capable of offering an optimized business operation even with a smaller workforce by implementing technology that can help better plan resources, manage supply chain operations, maintain customer relationships with a CRM, and utilize a BI dashboard (Business Intelligence).

In addition to the technology choice presented to SMEs, the need to invest in technology is also a challenge.

And not only this, but many small and medium-sized enterprises have no luxury to ‘pause’ when they create new systems.

It is undoubtedly a balancing act and may focus primarily on business needs and on whether technology will assist the company in achieving these objectives.

Key Pillar of Digital Manufacturing

These are the key pillars of Digital Manufacturing.

  1. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

IIoT broadly refers to a series of internet-connected sensors and devices that provide real-time data from across the factory floor, allowing for improved visibility for machine performance.

IIoT is helping in supply chain logistics. It is helping in reducing waste (either in terms of identification of redundant processes or products). This, in turn, is helping in saving time, energy & money.

This can be deployed/used for almost everything (shop floor machinery, lights, heating, ventilation, security systems, heavy equipment, and more. 

2. Big Data and Analytics Tools

The increased number of connected devices in a manufacturing setting produces massive amounts of data.

Data analytics tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning help translate big data into actionable insights that are then used to project demand forecasting and predictive maintenance schedules. 

Real-time data helps in taking better & accurate decisions.

3. Cloud Computing

Cloud services work as the backbone of many of these technologies. This provides flexibility.

One can get big computing power on rent, at any point of time & they need to pay only as per the actual usage.

No need for upfront investment. So, you can convert CAPEX to OPEX.

4. Advanced Robotics

Robotics plays an important role here. They help in the automation of repetitive tasks.

This results in improved efficiency, better worker/human safety & an overall better environment (by reducing the generation of unnecessary toxic waste).

Also, now with advancements in robots, we can look for the automation of increasingly sophisticated tasks.

5. Additive manufacturing

In factory settings, 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, allows for specialized production of unique or customized products and components

6. Digital Twins

The digital twin/thread is a 3D model of physical assets, operational systems, and structures throughout the factory space.

This virtual representation provides a holistic view of the entire factory floor & various machinery.

This helps in doing proactive & just in time, maintenance of various equipment.

7. Augmented Reality

With AR (which can include display tools such as internet-connected glasses), we can transform the manufacturing experience. AR helps in getting accurate, useful information for each machinery/asset ( It’ status, performance, real output or work/ task-specific information).

The Future Ahead:

Increasing automation of production processes is leading to a continued and growing use of digital manufacturing.

It is critical, however, to keep an eye on changes in the digital world.

Manufacturers must keep in mind that, even though digital transformation will occur in the manufacturing industry, it should not be viewed as a solution for a particular problem. 

The intense global competition is forcing manufacturers to consider new business models while simultaneously committing to our existing money streams and finding innovative approaches to outwit the competition.

Conclusion : What is Digital Manufacturing

Digital manufacturing is the process by which companies design and produce parts and products using computers to take into account factors such as material availability, cost, and manufacturing process.

 

What is Industrial Automation & Types of Industrial Automations?

Raktim Singh
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What is Industrial Automation & Types of Industrial Automations?

What is Industrial Automation

According to the dictionary, Industrial Automation (IA) is the use of technology to control processes in the industry.

Industrial Automation is the process of running/operating machines and other industrial equipment with the help of computers & software programs.

Note that, here, “Machine” can refer to anything from a motor to a drill to a conveyor belt.

IA reduces/eliminates human intervention in various decision making and machines as well as overall engineering process execution.

It is helping manufacturers in responding better to various issues, like labor supply, machine execution & predictive maintenance.

Also, it is helping in overall supply chain consolidation resulting in a good balance between quality and cost.

With powerful data analytics and the associated insights, manufacturers can integrate automation solutions seamlessly into their industrial processes to help reduce costs, improve efficiency, enhance safety, and boost productivity.

What is Industrial Automation:

Industrial automation allows manufacturers to increase productivity through computerized technologies and applications.

So, the, repetitive/mechanical tasks associated with one person in production and manufacturing processes are replaced by automation.

Automated devices can be programmed to control processes.

Automating industrial processes involves the use of robots, control systems, and computers.

In addition to saving time and effort, Automation also improves the accuracy of a task.

An industrial automation system uses established technologies and automatic control devices to automate industrial processes.

This leads to reduced human involvement, resulting in improved performance over manual control.

Background of Industrial automation

Earlier, in factories/ industrial plants, the overall production process was dependent upon shop floor factory workers (in terms of execution of a machine, coordinating the output of one machine as input to next machine, overall machine maintenance etc.).

Though earlier, the implementation of automation in a production process was focused on replacing a human worker with an independent machine, these independent machines required a human supervisor for a smooth production process.

So, in this phase, Industries implemented automation to increase productivity and reduce costs related to employees, their benefits, and other associated expenses, while increasing precision and flexibility.

With the Industrial Revolution came mechanization, which brought cheaper and more plentiful goods.

Generally, the mechanical processes in industries were faster and produced greater quantities of goods but still required skilled workers.

But now with technological developments in analog and digital control systems, microprocessors and PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) and various sensors, it has become very easy to synchronize several independent machines and processes.

Recent advancements in automation in industrial production are focused on flexibility and quality.

Industrial automation allows for monitoring and controls locally & remotely.

With these increasingly advanced control mechanisms, industries can operate 24 hours a day.

Industrial automation provides, lot of flexibility to manufacturers.

This flexibility helps in bringing out more product types.

Also, it allows, consumers to order customized products that are automatically produced.

So Industrial automation is helping us achieve a lot more, by harnessing the power of sensors, actuators, computers, data & analytics.

Types of Industrial Automation:

An automated system’s level of complexity and degree of human engagement vary depending on the application.

 Even though industrial automation systems have many uses, they all fit into one of these categories: fixed, programmable, flexible & Integrated automation.

Each of these forms of industrial Automation is described in greater detail below.

1.     Fixed Automation –

Fixed Automation is an automation that is set up to do the same tasks over and over again, with little to no variation in what it does. Imagine installing a cash register at a store.

The cash register will do the same thing every time someone comes up to it.

It will take the customer’s money, scan the product, tell the customer how much they owe, and give them their change.

The register does this over and over again. The cash register has very little variation in what it does.

Fixed Automation is very common in many different industries.

This type of Automation is less versatile than others; it is typically used to automate repetitive operations using dedicated equipment in order to enhance production efficiency and throughput rates.

2.     Programmable Automation – This sort of Automation is ideal for batch production. When the system’s instruction set changes based on what’s being made, a new control program may be created for each batch based on the supplied requirements and processing tasks.

It is frequently used for medium volumes, although it may also be utilized for low or high volumes where economics justify it.

3.     Flexible Automation– As with programmable Automation, it allows for product changes. But this is much more than ‘programmable automation’

Inflexible Automation, it is possible to change products rapidly and automatically via the control system, which eliminates the need to reconfigure the equipment between batches.

4.     Integrated Automation – This method does not require human involvement in comparison to the other three.

A single control system handles and synchronizes all connected machinery, processes, and data with this technology.

Advantage of Industrial Automation:

The main benefits of industrial automation are

  1. Streamline equipment and processes for greater efficiency and increased quality
  2. Reduction of human interaction from production lines. This, in turn, increases productivity, output, accuracy, and safety.
  3. Reduction in cost. This is achieved by reducing human cost as well as reducing the waste/slack in the system.
  4. Efficient use of raw material, input material as well as better utilization of energy.
  5. Ability to maintain consistency in quality (and continuously improve the quality of output).
  6. Now, Human interaction is shifted to new areas of expertise in design, operations, installations, and maintenance of automated machinery, robotics, equipment, and plant operations
  7. Creation of a safe environment for all. Also, reduction in environmental pollution. Automation can avoid harmful manufacturing conditions with severe temperatures, pollutants, intoxicating elements, and radiation-containing materials
  8. Reductions in system failure and downtime
  9. Greater flexibility as well as control over the manufacturing process. This helps in quick adaption/ customization of processes as per the need. New innovative & improved designs can be quickly introduced & integrated in the current system.

Points to watch out for:

1.     It’s quite expensive to install an automated system from the beginning.

2.     For maintenance and servicing, it is always necessary to have a team of skilled individuals.

Conclusion: What is Industial Automation

Industrial Automation is an economical, efficient, and flexible process, which has been used in industry to achieve higher-quality standards, lower production costs, and the removal of labor.

It’s is the control of machinery and processes used in various industries by autonomous systems through the use of technologies like computer software & Internet of Things, cloud & robotics.

The need for automated devices, software, and equipment will stay strong as long as the industrial automation industry develops.

Globally, this technology has proven to be a helpful tool for organizations, especially in an age when consumers have become used to fast transactions.

 

What is Smart Manufacturing and Why does Industries need it now?

Raktim Singh
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What is Smart Manufacturing and Why does Industries need it now?

What is Smart Manufacturing? Let’s Understand

Smart manufacturing is a manufacturing strategy that uses advanced technology and data to create products and services more efficiently and with less waste.

 As part of this, manufacturing companies use data and technology to

  1. Monitor production and monitor shopfloor, warehouses, machineries, equipment & robots.
  2. Make adjustments as per the need to optimize performance and production.
  3. Identify potential equipment issues.

Smart manufacturing is a significant game-changer that can reshape the market environment of the modern-day and generate a new group of leaders.

What is Smart Manufacturing? Another way to understand it …

Smart manufacturing means we can automate as many activities as possible in a working environment that uses smart manufacturing principles to be performed with maximum efficiency.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines it as fully integrated, collaborative manufacturing systems that respond in real-time to meet changing demands and conditions in the factory, in the supply network, and in customer needs.

This means that systems are built in factories where the machines are connected to one other & based on usage data, manufacturing processes are getting optimized & can scale, as per the requirement.

Smart manufacturing aims to ensure quality and profitability at a lower cost, faster than ever.

Key points of Smart Manufacturing

  1. Use of ACID (Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, Internet of Things, Data).

The whole manufacturing process makes use of computer controls, big data, and other automation, with the aim to improve manufacturing efficiencies.

  1. With Internet-connected machinery, monitor the production process & identify opportunities, which can be automated.
  2. Industrial Internet of Things: With smart machines (machines having embedded sensors), now data related to operational status, overall productivity, performance for each machine/device can be collected & analyzed.
  3. This can help in proactive maintenance as well as effective utilization of each machine.

These smart machines operate autonomously and can communicate directly with manufacturing systems & shop floor.

 Collaborative Robots: These are smart machines/robots, which can also work with humans for co-assembly tasks.

For example, a smart machine, can observe what a human operator at an assembly line is doing, learn the human’s task, and autonomously start performing that same task with the exact same kind of precision. asks. 

By evaluating sensory input and distinguishing between different product configurations, these machines are able to solve problems and make decisions independent of people.

These smart machines can do the task beyond what they were initially programmed to do.

With artificial intelligence, they are able to learn based on experience/scenarios/data.  

As a next step, with help of AI, smart machines are able to change their actions according to the situation on a real-time basis.

  1. Digital twin: This is another important concept in the ecosystems of smart manufacturing. Here, we create the virtual model of an asset, process, or system by using the data obtained from sensors in the systems or asset.

The benefits of digital twins include potential reduction in time and cost of product development and elimination of unplanned downtime.

Major adopter of Digital Twin includes industries like Aerospace, automotive & transportation, electronics & electrical/machine manufacturing, and energy & utility.

Advantages & Points to watch out for smart manufacturing

Advantages:

Improved Productivity : 

With smart manufacturing, one can have smooth visibility into bottlenecks, machinery performance, and other operating inadequacies.

These manufacturing processes offer increased access to data over a whole network of the supply chains.

This data allows producers to carry out required modifications to boost yields, improve quality and reduce waste. 

Real-time data describes what the manufacturer wants and makes things easier for suppliers( and also, helps them to adapt to new requests).

They deliver the products only which is necessary, nothing more or less.

Cost-efficient

When the operating system and business systems are connected, manufacturers can uncover waste and improve production accuracy. 

Due to the data provided by these smart machines, users have a better understanding of supply chain problems such as inventory levels, delivery status, and cycles of demand. 

This helps them in minimizing costs in connection with excess stock or unforeseen production volume with this knowledge.

Adaptability

Smart machines, which are embedded with sensors & powered by artificial intelligence, are showing elevated levels of adaptability.

They are able to handle rapid design changes, increase production based on demand, optimization of the supply chain.

Things to watch out:

 

High Initial Investment:

The costs of incorporating automation and technology in their manufacturing facilities are astonishing for many enterprises. 

To establish whether the initial implementation costs will be worthwhile, it is vital to thoroughly assess the long-term benefits of introducing various kinds of technology inside your business.

High Need for skilled labor:

Manufacturing and the overall sector continue to rely on people to facilitate production. 

However, there is a higher need for highly skilled work in digitally linked systems, which may lessen the necessity for low skills.

Cybersecurity concern:

The whole model of smart manufacturing is dependent on the internet. While this allows for the user to have better access to data across systems, it offers hackers the possibility of hacking the network access.

Example of Smart manufacturing

I have mentioned below some companies, which have adopted Smart Manufacturing

  1. Whirlpool: It has put in place various analytical tools & uses various data to
    1. Eliminate waste that it sends to landfills.
    2. Monitor usage of electricity, water, and other parameters.
    3. Check the sustainability performance of its plants worldwide.
  2. Siemens: Apart from many other things related to Smart Manufacturing, Siemens have developed Mindsphere. MindSphereis part of Siemens Industrial IoT. 

As per WiKi

“MindSphere is a leading industrial IoT as a service solution developed by Siemens for applications in the context of the Internet of Things. MindSphere stores operational data and makes it accessible through digital applications (“MindSphere applications”) to allow industrial customers to make decisions based on valuable factual information. The system is used in applications such as automated production and vehicle fleet management.”

  1. Hirotec : Hirotec is a global auto parts manufacturer.

Hirotec has employed a mix of IoT and cloud-based technologies, along with small, robust servers on its factory floors. This generates analytics data, which helps the company to reduce downtime, predict & prevent system failures.

Also, It was able to significantly reduce the time, which was earlier spent on manual inspection.

Other notable examples include, Hewlett-Packard, ABB, Honeywell, Emerson, Rockwell Yokogawa, ABB, Honeywell, Schneider, Cisco, Huawei and AT&T, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and Intel.

Some of them can be classified as “product and control solution providers,”( Rockwell Yokogawa , ABB, Honeywell, Emerson, and Schneider ), “IT solution providers” ( IBM, HP, Intel , IBM, Microsoft,  Oracle) and “connectivity solution providers.” (AT&T, Cisco, Huawei).

Final Thought: What is Smart Manufacturing?

The term “Smart Manufacturing” is used to describe the use of technologies to integrate information, people, and processes to make better decisions throughout the manufacturing process. 

The use of technology in the manufacturing sector is to enhance worker efficiencies, optimize product quality, reduce waste, and promote sustainability. 

As part of Smart Manufacturing, one gets access to Big Data and Advanced Analytics.

This helps manufacturers in identifying the processes, methods & services, which are costing too much or too little, or products that are selling well or less, products that are falling short of input supply, products or processes which are creating a lot of waste.

Armed with this smart data, manufacturers can take decisions, which can help in improving the overall top-line as well as bottom-line of a company.

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What is GPT-3 ? Learn How GPT 3 works in Easy Way – Data Science

Raktim Singh
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What is GPT-3 ? Learn How GPT 3 works in Easy Way – Data Science

What is GPT-3 and How it Works?

GPT is the hottest buzzword in the field of artificial intelligence, or more specifically in natural language processing (NLP).

GPT is Generative Pre-trained Transformer & it is used to generate human-like text. It’s is a language model based on deep learning.

GPT-3 is a computer program, the successor to GPT created by OpenAI.(How GPT-3 Works)

OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research institute founded in 2015 by Elon Musk & others.

OpenAI is an independent research organization consisting of the for-profit corporation OpenAI LP and its parent organization, the non-profit OpenAI Inc.

What is Generative Pre-Training Transformer 3 

GPT-3 is a neural network machine learning model trained using internet data to generate any type of text.

As input, it takes, small amount of text/picture/video & generates large volumes of relevant & sophisticated text/pictures/videos.

It can perform various tasks Like

  1. Translate text from one language to another
  2. Create new song
  3. Create new picture
  4. Create new text/story
  5. Generate new software code (Yes, it can generate python, java…code).

Background Check:

The first GPT came to the market in 2018. It has/had 117 million parameters, and the parameters were weighed between the complexity of the connection and nodes of the network.

Released in 2019, the GPT2 contains 1.5 billion parameters. However, GPT3 has 175 billion parameters.

GPT3 is the third edition of GPT (Generative PreTrain Transformer) and was recently released via OpenAI.

GPT In Simple Language : 

  • The Autoregressive language model uses Deep Learning to compose Human-Like text.
  • An autoregressive process is a process whose current value is based on the previous value. 
  • It is a kind of auto-complete program that predicts what comes next.

How does it (GPT-3) work:

GPT3 model has more than 175 billion (input) learning parameters. It works on a language model.

The method of constructing the same language setting as a sentence uses semantic analysis not only to study words and their meanings but also to understand how word usage differs.

It also depends on the other words used in the body.

We, humans, have learned many things, over a period. So, for example, if we tell a student to talk about say ‘CAR’.

He may tell that

CAR is a 4-wheeler.

CAR is an automobile.

CAR helps us to move from one place to another place.

CAR is a status symbol.

All the words, which are underlined in the above 4 sentences are, normally associated with a car.

Same way GPT-3 also works.(How Does GPT-3 Work)

GPT-3 model has been trained with billions of input parameters. So, it has also identified patterns & associated various words/objects with each other.

Based on input, it has studied the usage of a word or sentence.

Now, when we tell GPT-3 to write something about CAR, it will also ‘generate’, text, based on ‘training data’. So, it will also generate text, as given above.

In a similar way, it can generate new songs if a lot of songs were provided to model as input.

The same applies to the ‘generation’ of new picture/painting…  or for that matter, it can generate a new fiction novel.

So, we need to note 2 key points related to GPT-3

  1. Based on input training data (which can be an English word, song, picture, …), it has done the association of various inputs. Now, once asked, it can generate a new sentence, book passages, songs, pictures. These new sentences, songs, pictures will look as it has been written/created by a human.
  2. GPT-3 model is trained with more than 175 billion input parameters. As, it has been in the picture below, the training of the model happens over different layers. After each layer, the model becomes more intelligent/accurate

There can be any number of layers between input & output. So, the advantage of GPT-3 is that one can get a pre-trained model.

Now in that model, one can remove some layers & insert/train the next set of layers, with its own input & algorithm.

So, you can get a model, which is already trained to recognize, say various types of furniture (for example table & chair).

Now, if you are introducing a new object say, a sofa than, you need not start training from scratch.

 There must be (training) layers, which are able to recognize the contours of an object & then learn further.

You can take that model & now train it quickly to recognize Sofa (as it was already trained to recognize tables, chairs etc, you can save your effort here).

Challenges with GPT-3:

  • At the time of writing of this article, one needs to get a commercial license to use GPT-3 & it is quite expensive.
  • It is still a sort of closed or black box system. It’s very difficult to get a complete insight into the behavior of the OpenAI algorithm. 

Also, note that GPT-3 model should be used for making new text/picture…& here output will be based on prediction & training set.

One should not use GPT-3 to get an answer to a query. For that, you can always do a search on Google.

As the name suggests, GPT-3 model should be used to get an output, which is generated by going through/transforming various training input parameters.

Benefits of Generative Pre-Training Transformer 3 

Generative pre-training has the potential to drastically reduce the number of labeled examples required to train a deep neural network.

Generative pre-training is a set of techniques that trains a model to predict the labels of a random subset of the input data that are not labelled.

This technique allows the neural network to learn and develop higher quality features, which were earlier possible only on a high number/quantity of labeled data.

It is very useful because now we can train a model, with a minimal set of training data & get an output (text, story…) which is like a human-created output.

Conclusion: What is GPT-3

GPT-3, (third generation Generative Pre-trained Transformer), is a neural network model, trained using more than 175 billion input/training parameters.(How Does GPT3 Work)  

It is developed by OpenAI.

It requires a small amount of input text/data & generates large volumes of useful output (which can be text, story, picture, song…).

Other Interesting Reads 

What is Micro-Service? All About What are Micro Services

Fintech Disruption: Digital Impact in Finance

Raktim Singh
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0
Fintech Disruption: Digital Impact in Finance

Fintech Disruption: Impact of Digital Transformation in Financial Services

In the financial services industry these days, many factors are accelerating digital transformation.

Financial companies have generally relied heavily on traditional, product-centric technologies but are quickly moving towards providing smooth, consumer-centric, personalized solutions. 

It’s important to note that the digital transformation of this industry is more than just digitization.

To survive, businesses need to continually adapt to changing customer preferences to provide a frictionless digital experience.

Future of Financial sector with Digital Transformation in India:

Covid-19 has completely changed the way people do their jobs in their lives, from shopping to working, especially in banking. Many evolutionary changes are expected in the future of digital banking. 

In India, financial sectors had started the digital transformation journey, long back.

While on one hand, certain events like Demonetization & GST reforms have helped the Indian population to understand the benefit of becoming digital, Strong Infrastructure like the availability of India Stack (Aadhar+ UPI + eKYC + Digilocker + eSign) has helped various stakeholders to roll out solutions. These solutions are getting rolled out to fulfill various needs of a society like 

  1. Various Digital Wallets & Payment Apps for the touchless, frictionless, cashless society
  2. Easy onboarding on the marketplace for e-commerce,
  3. Digital Apps for Micro-loans
  4. Digital Apps for personal investment in Wealth Management

As per the website of India stack, its mission reads as: “India Stack is a set of API that allows governments, businesses, startups and developers to utilize a unique digital Infrastructure to solve India’s hard problems towards presence-less, paperless, and cashless service delivery”

With this, we can dream of ‘full financial inclusion in India, in the coming years.

Impact of Digital Transformation in Financial Services:

To remain competitive, businesses need to keep up with today’s pace of innovation.

Digital transformation processes typically focus on the needs of the people, processes, and tools, and it is important to consider the needs of the customer as well. 

The full business of a bank has to go through holistic digital transformation, to remain competitive.

The way financial services companies’ employees manage their activities or transactions has changed dramatically, but so has the customer’s expectations of how they will receive these.

  1. Pay, Receive and Send money easily:

The digital transformation of the banking sector provided a wide variety of services through time-limited model reception.

It also reduced the disparity between rural and concrete areas.

You can send money from one bank branch account to another account anytime, anywhere via digital payment mode or e-Banking.

You can do so by using modes such as USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, dial *99# for services in English), Digital Wallets, UPI, and other banking applications.

  1. Well Kept Record:

It allows you to manage your records and track your spending and budget plans. Using an online application, we get a record of each transaction. 

The application will automatically record the transaction in your passbook or simply keep a record within the Digital Wallet app. 

Thanks to digital transformation, bank can collect & store more data.

Banks can use digital analytics to make sound, data-based decisions, and increase cashless transactions and reduce the threat of counterfeit currencies.

  1. Easy and Convenient:

Digital transformation has created a simple and convenient lifestyle for buyers and financial institutions.

Very little use of real cash has eliminated the need to carry large amounts of cash in one place.

The risk of human error is minimized, and consumer loyalty is increased.

Services such as NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer) RTGS also facilitated very convenient and fast transfers of money from one bank to another.

  1. Fuelling next set of entrepreneurs:

Digital payments can make financial transactions with customers, suppliers, and governments more convenient, secure and cheap, and increase the profitability of entrepreneurs. 

Paying wages benefits digital employees and is safer and more cost-effective for employers than traditional banking.

Digital Payments automatically provides credit history to Users, which can improve credit access for entrepreneurs. 

Digital payments give female entrepreneurs greater income control and potentially give profits to the entire furniture, especially children.

  1. RIPE model: Now each one of us is looking for a ‘personalized experience, which is provided with real-time data.

 I call this RIPE ((Real-Time, Instant Gratification, Personalized Experience) model. Now with Digital transformation, the financial sector can provide RIPE.

  1. Easy, frictionless on-boarding on customers.
  2. Risk & Credit analysis to arrive at loan amount suitability & ability to disburse loan amount (including un-secured micro-loan) accordingly
  3. Ability to engage with customers is his overall journey, from on-boarding to loans/fund transfer & later business performance appraisal to loan amount repayment
  4. Flexibility in offering ‘modified loan scheduled payment’
  5. Ability to offer personalized investment advice & construction of a portfolio, based on each customer’s spending & saving habits.
  6. Ability to offer financial & investment plans for each member of the family. This can include, a personalized student loan, loan for marriage, holiday or for purchase of a new vehicle, house
  7. Ability to offer BNPL (Buy now Pay Later) offer
  8. Ability to do any financial transaction, anytime, anywhere …Instant gratification

The digital age is revolutionizing the way we do business.

For example, in the last few decades, many banking transactions have gone digital.

In the digital age, people who are business owners can use various technologies to manage their financial transactions.

The financial sector is leveraging the ACID (Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, Internet of thing, Data) to power digital transformation.

These technologies have given rise to Fintech. Fintech is a new financial services industry that is made of people and companies that are transitioning from the brick and mortar of the traditional banking market to software that can be accessed anywhere, anytime, and from any device.

It is this technology that is disrupting the traditional banking industry and enabling individuals and businesses to have more control over their assets.

Conclusion:

Fintech Disruption: Impact of Digital Transformation in Financial Services

Digital innovation allows current business practices to be a major upgrade of customer relationships and products. 

With Digital Transformation, the financial sector is moving from ‘brick & mortar’ to ‘brick & click’ avatar.

The existing physical building will become CAFINANCIAL ( CAfeteria + FINANCIAL). Though some segment of the population will keep on visiting these CAFINANCIAL buildings, many other will literary want the power ‘to do the financial transaction’, in their hands (by way of doing transaction through smartphone, tablet, laptop etc).

Also, they will move away from institutions, which try to fit/offer one product for one segment. Customers don’t need choices; they want what they need. No plethora of offers, thrown at them.

They want a ‘totally personalized’ offer, which is made for them, in their context & can be availed immediately …Instant gratification. 

What is Micro-Service? All About What are Micro Services

Raktim Singh
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0
What is Micro-Service? All About What are Micro Services

What is Micro-Service? All About What are Micro Services… Microservice is an architectural approach to build applications where each core function, is built and deployed independently.

It is composed of many loosely coupled and independently deployable smaller services. Microservice architecture is distributed and loosely coupled.

Microservices are preferred for agility, easy development, deployment & to achieve scalability on CLOUD.

Netflix, PayPal, Amazon, and other tech platforms have transformed from monolithic to microservices architecture.

Earlier, monolith applications were built. Monolith application is built as a single, autonomous unit.

In monolith application, any update or modification done to a small section of code required building and deploying an entirely new version of the software.

Also, scaling some functions of an application means that you need to scale up the entire application.

Microservices resolve the limitations of monolithic systems by being as modular as possible.

In simple terms, microservices help to build an application as a suite of small services, each running individually and are independently deployable.

These services can use different data storage techniques and might be written in different programming languages.

One of the early adopters of microservice architecture is Netflix.

This streaming platform receives one billion calls every day from more than 800 different types of devices to its streaming-video API.

They had successfully transitioned from monolith architecture to microservices architecture. 

Amazon has also adopted microservices.

It also gets a big number of calls from a range of applications including applications that manage the web service API as well as the website itself.

It comprises several autonomous applications with each one executing the business logic for different function areas.

Characteristics of Microservices

Multiple Independent Components

As the definition gives away, software built as microservices is broken down into multiple component services.

Each of the services can be easily deployable, tweaked and redeployed independently without comprising the application’s integrity.

It helps to make a change to one or more distinct services rather than redeploying the entire application.

Business Savvy

The microservice is uniquely organized around business capabilities and importance.

Contrary to the monolithic development approach where different teams have specific components to focus on like UIs, technology layers, or databases – microservice architecture leverages cross-functional teams.

Each team is responsible to make specific products based on one or more individual services.

Here one team has the responsibility as well as ownership to do domain-driven design or business-driven development.

Simple Routing

Microservices work like the classical UNIX system. It receives requests, processes them, and generates a response accordingly.

This is quite different from how other products such as ESBs (Enterprise Service Buses) work, where high-tech systems are leveraged to message routing, choreography, and apply business rules.

Microservice has smart endpoints that process information and apply logic to generate information.

Decentralized

Since microservice uses a variety of technologies and platforms, traditional methods of centralized governance aren’t suitable.

Decentralized governance is utilized by the microservice community because it allows developers to produce effective tools that are useful for others to resolve problems.

Just like decentralized governance, microservice architecture also favors decentralized data management.

Monolithic systems use a single logical database across all different applications while microservice applications manage unique databases for each service.

It helps in the continuous delivery software development process.

A change to a small part of the application only requires rebuilding and redeploying only one or a small number of services.

CLOUD-NATIVE APPLICATION

Microservices architecture helps you in building cloud-native applications.

Suppose there is one travel application, which is built using a monolithic approach. In this travel application, there are three functions, namely ‘booking a ride’, ‘payment’ & ‘notification to customer’.

Now, even if you want to scale say, the booking function, full travel application (supporting all three functions) would have to be scaled in its entirety.

So, in this scenario, all three functions (booking, payment & notification) will get scaled up, even though transactions for the ‘payment’ & ‘notification’ function are very few (& doesn’t required to be scaled up).

On the other hand, in microservices architecture, these 3 functions will be designed & developed as 3 different microservice. So here, individual microservices can be individually scaled up.

Pros and Cons of Microservices

If you are thinking of implementing microservices then you must be aware of their impacts.

Whether microservice architecture is ideal for you or not depends on your requirements.

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the pros and cons of microservices –

Benefits of Microservices

  • Microservice architecture provides developers with the freedom to develop and deploy services independently.
  • Design, development & deployment of microservices can be done with a small team.
  • You can write codes for different services in different programming languages.
  • The developers can leverage the tools and technologies, as per their microservice requirements.
  • One can think of a polyglot application, where each business function (& hence microservice), can choose its own technology stack, which is ‘fit for purpose.

So based on the need (accuracy/response time ..), one microservice can be developed on the RDBMS database, while other microservice can follow, non-RDBMS type of database.

  • The code is organized for business requirements.
  • It’s easy to understand and modify by developers. Hence it helps in onboarding a new team member quickly.
  • Allows easy integration and automatic deployment using continuous integration tools like Jenkins, Hudson, Concourse, Drone, Gitlab
  • It accepts the change to certain parts of the application and allows the related services to be modified and redeployed rather than modifying and redeploying the entire application.
  • Easy to scale and integrate with third-party services.

Things to watch out for in Microservices Architecture

  • Testing can become complicated and tiring due to the distributed deployment. One needs to automate a full application as manual testing in a microservice architecture is almost impossible.
  • The distributed system can result in duplication of effort.
  • The microservice architecture brings more complexity as the developers must reduce fault tolerance, network latency and deal with a range of message formats as well as load balancing.
  • As the number of services increases, integration and managing whole products becomes very difficult and complicated. It can become a galaxy of stars. You need to maintain configurations for hundreds of components across environments.
  • Handling use cases that span more than one service without using distributed transactions is not only difficult but also requires communication and cooperation between different teams.
  • Debugging

As it becomes granular, debugging & tracking down the service, which is causing failure is very difficult job.
You might need to investigate multiple services across different components. One needs to have a proper error or failure message logging system & real-time dashboards to monitor the health of each microservice instance.

One key step in defining a microservice architecture is figuring out how big an individual microservice should be. There is no consensus & it’s little subjective. Here, the right answer depends on the business context.

If the microservice is very small or too fine-grained, then the runtime overhead and the operational complexity can outweigh the benefits of the microservice approach.

In this scenario, alternative approaches like packaging the function as a library, moving the function into other microservices, should be looked upon.

Conclusion : What is Micro-Service? All About What are Micro Services

A microservice is a self-contained piece of business functionality with clear interfaces.

Whether microservice architecture becomes the preferred style of developers or not in the future, it’s quite clearly an excellent idea with a range of benefits for designing and implementing enterprise applications.

Digital Technology Shaping Agriculture

Raktim Singh
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0
Digital Technology Shaping Agriculture

Digital Technology in Agriculture Sector

We all know agriculture is one of the most critical sectors of the economy.

Agriculture is one the oldest & important sectors for the whole world.

To reduce poverty & hunger, we need to make sure that each human being is fed ‘nutritious food’ on a daily basis.

This requires that we should be able to improve crop productivity/acre, reduce crop wastage & maintain proper soil conditions.

Now, with help of digital transformation, we can look forward to achieving these goals, across the world.

Experts foresee the next generation of farming will rely on intelligent systems and machines to produce high-quality crops.

The agricultural industry is being disrupted by disruptive technology such as drones, satellites, chatbots, and virtual reality.

The current state of farming will be changed drastically and become more efficient.

How digital transformation is helping the agriculture sector?

From the last few decades, digital transformation has undoubtedly changed the traditional methods of agriculture. Digital Technology has helped in identifying new business models.

How is agriculture being transformed by Digital means?

This new concept, which is changing agriculture with the digital mode, is referred to as agriculture technology for AGRI-TECH.

It consists of the application of modern ACID (Artificial Intelligence, CLOUD computing, Internet of the Things & Data) technologies to modify agricultural practices globally.

The digital transformation has helped medium and large organizations to unleash the power and analyze large volumes of farming data, empowering the stakeholders to get more value for the stock.

It is possible to capture vital farm data information with the help of best mobile agricultural apps, drones, sensors, robotic devices, machinery, and farm implements.

As this information is processed with weather-based information and satellite, producers can monitor their crop growth from a single place.
They can estimate the output of crops from each plot with good accuracy.

AI helps the producers choose the best crop and varieties that suit their region and minimize the use of resources.

The communication between the stakeholders is strengthened the entire process is digitized from production and harvesting to warehousing and distribution.

How does Digital mode impact the agricultural sector?

1. Increased productivity using digital technology in the agriculture sector

As there are transformations in agriculture, the producers have been equipped with data management Solutions and farm automation tools, empowering resources and agricultural productivity.

There is a considerable transformation in the farms which had adopted technological innovations.

The processes are more advanced and cost-effective as well as less time-consuming.

A more sustainable and resilient agri-food system can be created globally with the help of digital agriculture, which will help the organization achieve sustainable development goals.

2. Better livelihood for farmers

Better crop yields can be obtained by understanding crop science and improving agronomic practices.

Now, farmers in an area will know in advance, the future weather condition, current soil condition & any future risk (adverse weather condition, pest-related issue).

The important thing to note here is, at a very small cost, a farmer can get this data, for his own farmland (and generic data about the soil conditions in the overall area).

‘This will help him in taking an informed & correct decision with respect to, which crop to sow in upcoming seasons.

Cost-efficient and scalable solutions also provide medium and large-scale enterprises to the farmers about the new methods, which would help in increased farm productivity and reduce losses of crops due to stresses such as diseases, pests, and unpredictable weather conditions.

As a result, farmers can have increased profit at the end of each season.

3. Better market linkage

Digital solutions aid the virtual integration of multiple stakeholders by providing producers with direct access to the farm and Agri inputs, commodity traders, and financial services.

Small farmers can overcome certain challenges such as lack of information on current commodity prices, lack of access to varied buyers in the market.

This price-related data will help farmers to decide, when & where to sell his crop. As of now, due to information asymmetry, farmers end up selling his crop at distressed prices.

So suppose, during a season, the farmer had good potatoes. He sells these potatoes in his local market, with whatever price prevailing there It’s quite possible that amount & type of potatoes, could have fetched better price, at a market, which is little far away from his local market.

4. Informed decision making
Accurate and real-time data is provided to the user to monitor this situation in the farms properly.

The resources can be utilized effectively by analyzing the data provided by satellite imaging; it would help in knowing the growing conditions and accordingly plan and manage the crops.

The farmers can also earn more significant profit by understanding the market needs and make the crop production accordingly.

Both Government and private entities can use this technique for improved crop management and mitigate risk so that there is minimal food wastage and crop loss.

Here is a list of digital combinations that have been proved beneficial in the agricultural sector.

1.Sensors and IoT in the field

The IoT has been proved beneficial in the agricultural industry. There is a huge potential for using IoT in the food sector.

As per Cisco reports, about $14.4 trillion is at stake with the emergence of IoT.

The IoT is streamlining and simplifying the inspection, collection, and overall distribution of Agricultural resources with the help of sensors on equipment and materials.

Farmers can view their crops from anywhere with the help of sensors placed strategically around the fields and image recognition technology.

2. IoT and sensors in equipment

Just as the sensors are used in the field, they are also used on agriculture equipment to monitor the health of the machines.

Some of the sensors are equipped with Navigation systems and the ability to sense the uneven terrain using GPS.

The monitoring of tractors for servicing can also be done.

3. Crop monitoring and drones

It used to be a tedious task for farmers to physically go to it every spot field to check the condition of the crops.

This same process cannot be performed with the help of drones monitoring the crop and also saving them from harmful environmental factors. Soil quality can be predicted with the help of 3D imaging in drones.

Spraying of chemicals in crops is also done with the help of drones by being careful not to penetrate groundwater.

Now with computer vision, it is possible to recognize more than 10,000 species of plants & animals (and this number is increasing each day). This will the drones (fitted with computer vision) to detect pest disease and crop damage.

This will allow farmers to monitor their acreage far more quickly and accurately than they ever have before, and to understand pest patterns over time.

Also, now, during winter or rainy seasons, farmers are forced to sleep near their farms. This is to protect & guard their crops from getting damaged/destroyed by animals.

Now, with these monitoring systems, farmers in a village can install cameras with night vision. By sitting in their homes, they can get altered in case , any animal or alien creature is detected near their farmlands.

4. Robotics and Farming

Just as using robots and artificial intelligence in other industries has been proved helpful, the use of Robotics agriculture would also improve productivity and result in faster and higher yields.

Various smart farm equipment has come into market.

This includes
a. Utility tractors; tractor loaders.
b. Cotton pickers, cotton strippers, and sugarcane harvesters
c. Harvesting front-end equipment; sugarcane loaders and pull-behind scrapers.
d. Tillage, seeding, and application equipment comprising sprayers, nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery etc.

Apart from helping farmers in doing day-to-day work, these smart tools are also capable of collecting data (related to soil, crop, pest, seeds..) in real-time.

Analysis of this data will help farmers in taking better decisions in the future.

digital technology in agricultural

 

Major Players in AGRI-TECH: Digital technology in the agriculture sector

1. John Deere
Deere & Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes various equipment worldwide.
The company was founded in 1837 and is headquartered in Moline, Illinois.

2. AGCO
AGCO Corporation manufactures and distributes agricultural equipment and related replacement parts worldwide
It’s an American agricultural machinery manufacturer with its headquarters in Duluth, Georgia, United States.

3. Titan Machinery
Titan Machinery Inc. owns and operates a network of full-service agricultural and construction equipment stores.
Titan Machinery Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in West Fargo, North Dakota.

4. Kubota
Kubota Corporation manufactures and sells a range of machinery, and other industrial and consumer products in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally.

It’s a world-leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery for both dry-field farming and rice farming.

5. Raven Industries
Raven Industries, Inc., provides various products to customers in the industrial, agricultural, geomembrane, construction, etc.
Raven Industries, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

6. Origin Agritech
Origin Agritech Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates agricultural biotechnology and an e-commerce platform.
It specializes in crop seed breeding and genetic improvement, seed production, processing, distribution, and related technical services.

7. Crofarm
Founded in May 2016, Crofarm is an F2B (Farm to Business) venture. According to the website, it has over 10,000 farmers in its network and has large network of partners.

It focuses on streamlining the functioning of the unorganized agriculture segment in order to generate better trade relations between farmers, businesses and consumers.

8. Gold Farm
Gold Farm is an Agri-Tech start-up. It offers smart devise/mobile app-based tractor booking platform for farmers. It also provides solar water pumps for farmers working in power deficit regions.

9. Art’s Way
Art’s-Way Manufacturing Co., Inc. manufactures and sells agricultural equipment, specialized modular science buildings, and steel cutting tools in the United States and internationally.

Agricultural machinery manufactured by Art’s Way manufactures various agriculture-related machinery like feed grinder-mixers, manure spreaders, portable grain augers, forage boxes and wagons, forage blowers, rakes, mergers, balers, pickup reels, sugar beet harvesters and plows.

Art’s-Way Manufacturing Co., Inc. was founded in 1956 and is based in Armstrong, Iowa.

Conclusion: Digital technology in Agriculture Sector

With help of digital transformation, we can expect big improvements in agriculture…Agri-Tech.

This includes improvement in crop yield per acre, reduction in crop damage due to pest, etc., better utilization of fertilizer keeping in mind the soil condition, better price discovery for farmers.

Agri-Tech refers to smart farm equipment & tools that help farmers in doing various farming-related work. Also, these tools also collect, store, analyze the farm & crop-related data.

This data can be shared along the agricultural value chain. This helps farmers in taking better decisions, before, during, and after on-farm production

With help of e-commerce platforms, warehouses, cold storage, farmers are able to get a better price for their crops,

This way Digital Technology in Agriculture sector is setting up the future.

 

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What is Soft Skills? Concept and Importance of Soft Skills

Raktim Singh
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0
What is Soft Skills? Concept and Importance of Soft Skills

Soft skills are personal qualities, which make people more productive and valuable in their professional and personal lives.

Soft skills are behaviors, feelings, and other characteristics that are not traditionally considered as a skill.

The term soft skills was created by the U.S. Army in the late 1960’s. It refers to any skill that does not employ the use of machinery.

The military realized that many important activities were included within this category, and in fact, the social skills necessary to lead groups, motivate soldiers, and win wars were encompassed by skills they had not yet catalogued or fully studied.

Soft skills are a cluster of productive personality traits that characterize one’s relationships in a social environment.

Incorporate soft skills

One way to make yourself a better, more productive, and valuable employee is to take the time to work on developing soft skills.

Soft skills are qualities that are often not recognized as skills, but they are nonetheless very important to our well-being.

Soft skills, also known as core skills or common skills, include problem-solving, professional writing, critical thinking, work ethics, intercultural fluency, Career management, digital literacy, leadership, and public speaking. These are in contrast to hard skills, which are specific to professions.

Concept : 

Soft skills are a bunch of productive personality traits that characterize one’s relationship in a social environment.

Soft skills are important since they are not restricted to a specific field. Soft skills help people to be flexible in the changing world.

In recent times interest in soft skills has increased.

In 2012 European Commission launched the program agenda for new skills and explained to young adults the set of new skills.

Success at work seemed to be technical, that is why employers and companies hired new people based on objective competencies.

In our childhood, college educations, we are still focusing too much on the hard skills. Though, those are mandatory but not sufficient to lead a fulfilling personal & professional life.

 Hard skills are still an important aspect, but soft skills are equally important.

Studies by Carnegie Mellon Foundation and Stanford Research Institute among Fortune 500 CEOs inform the idea that 75% of long-term job success was due to soft skills and 25% from technical skills.

 Also, 20% of career achievements are determined by hard skills, and 80% depend upon soft skills.

In the present era, soft skills are a major differentiator for employability and success in life.

These are the main soft skills, which one should have. I call this SCALE model.

  1. Self-awareness
  2. Collaboration
  3. Articulation Skills
  4. Learnability
  5. Empathy

Self-awareness: The most important thing. Many of us, just don’t know about ourselves.

From day 1, they have worked, on parents told, the teacher taught or what their friends were doing.

Though on get important lessons, but finally, it’s you & only you, who knows about yourself.

Sadly, many times, we are taught, how a computer works. But, we don’t know, how our own mind works.

Assuming that your age is 40 years then it means, you have spent around 3.5 lakh hours ( 40*364*24).

Out of these,  your parents, teachers, managers would have spent around 50,000 hours with you.

So you are in the best position, to know the details about yourself. What you really like to do ( and not what, your friends are doing)  

How you cleared your exams or for that matter any other test (really by learning or taking shortcuts). how many times you were talking truth, how many times, you genuinely helped someone else, without expecting anything in return.

Other, external persons ( your parents, teachers, coach..) can help/guide you, up-to an extent. But remember, it’s you, who is sleeping/breathing with you for last 40 years. 

Once you know, what are your strong points, what are the areas, which you don’t like/not good, activities, which give you real kick…. You can now take ‘correct help’ from others.

In let’s say, in a software development team, we require team members, who are good in coding, project management, people management…..

If you are really good at coding, you take up the coding work of your team member & ask him to help you in project management.

If you are in a senior position, you can always hire team members, who can complement you, in the areas, where you are not good at.

Remember, in sports, say cricket, not everyone can be an all-rounder.  Someone will be good at batting, others at bowling …..

Collaboration: Taking the first point further, now that you know, what are your strong points & in which areas, you need help.

Are you ready to collaborate with others, who can help you with their complementary skills?

This also means, sharing the credit of a successful project. Ability to work in a team.

The best way to define collaboration would be to outline it as the process of two or more people or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. 

It is also defined as two or more people working together to achieve shared goals.

Collaboration involves

Goal setting, Active listening & Problem-solving

Articulation skills: You may be having lot of ideas/thoughts/point of view, but are you able to express that properly.

Articulation skills involves, oral speech, presentation skills, writing skills, Are you able to express your thoughts, in a manner, with which other can relate.

In a discussion, depending upon the audience & duration, can you express your idea/pov in 2 minutes or 30 minutes.

Learnability: ‘Learn, how to unlearn & re-learn new things’. One of the most crucial points in, future. 30 years back, just able to work on a laptop/computer as a big thing. Now, the young generation is, almost carrying the smartphone (which has

the equivalent processing power of 1980’s computer), in their pockets. 

Learnability is a quality of products and interfaces that allows users to quickly become familiar with them and able to make good use of all their features and capabilities.

Learnability is the willingness and the ability to learn anything that would add value so that you can function better and smarter in today’s world.

Before COVID, work from home was unthinkable. But now, we are ready/getting ready to work in this ‘new normal. You & your business will get wiped out if you are not able to learn new things

Empathy: Are you able to relate, to what your peer/co-worker is going through & curate your conversation/behavior accordingly.  

As per WiKi

“Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another’s position.[1] Definitions of empathy encompass a broad range of emotional states. Types of empathy include cognitive empathy, emotional (or affective) empathy, somatic, and spiritual empathy.

Empathy involves understanding the emotional states of other people, the way it is characterized is derived from the way emotions themselves are characterized.

If, for example, emotions are taken to be centrally characterized by bodily feelings, then grasping the bodily feelings of another will be central to empathy.

On the other hand, if emotions are more centrally characterized by a combination of beliefs and desires, then grasping these beliefs and desires will be more essential to empathy.

The ability to imagine oneself as another person is a sophisticated imaginative process.

“Empathy allows people to build social connections with others. By understanding what people are thinking and feeling, people are able to respond appropriately in social situations.

Daniel Goleman identified five key elements of empathy.

  1. Understanding Others
  2. Developing Others
  3. Having a Service Orientation
  4. Leveraging Diversity
  5. Political Awareness

There is an important distinction between empathy, sympathy and compassion.

Both compassion and sympathy are about feeling for someone: seeing their distress and realizing that they are suffering.

Compassion has taken on an element of action that is lacking in sympathy, but the root of the words is the same.

Empathy, by contrast, is about experiencing those feelings for yourself, as if you were that person, through the power of imagination.

 According to a survey by Society for human resource management, three-quarters of employers found that it’s difficult to find graduates that have the soft skills required for a company.

 

Soft skills Vs. hard skills

soft skills are commonly referred to as the emotional side of human beings in comparison to IQ, which is related to hard skills.

 

Earlier hard skills were only the necessary skills in career employment and what usually measured from an educational background, work experience, or through interviews.

How to improve your soft skills?

  1. Practice the soft skill which you want to improve

 Any soft skill can be improved if it is practiced. It’s just a matter of routine. For instance, you can improve dependability by finishing the assigned task on time and being punctual.

  1. Mimic and observe the positive skills of others

 One can develop soft integral skills by observing others and practicing them in their daily routine.

For example, good communicators often note down the things when others are talking during meetings.

This helps them in organizing their thoughts so that they can ask important questions.

  1. Learning with the help of resources

There are several resources such as podcasts, books, online classes which help you in learning the tactics for improving soft skills.

  1. Setting goals

 Analyze your performance review at work and compare them with the goals.

 Take the help of colleagues and trusted friends by asking them for constructive criticism. This will help you in improving your goals.

Conclusion

Soft skills are those skills that don’t have a specific set of skills, such as a hard skill.

 Soft skills are often used to describe the way someone interacts with other people.

 People can have an innate soft skill, such as natural empathy, or they can learn skills through social interactions.

One way to work on soft skills is to spend time with people in your workplace.

 

How Digital Transformation in Education Industry is changing the Education System?

Raktim Singh
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How Digital Transformation in Education Industry is changing the Education System?

How Digital Transformation in Education Industry is changing the Education System

Digital Transformation in education is going to be a story of disruption. It will be an industry-wide transformation that spans every layer of society.

Education Technology (EdTech) is the combined use of Software, Hardware, and educational theory to facilitate easy learning. Education Technology helps to create more engaging, individualized learning and inclusive experience.

The inducement of EdTech tools is changing classrooms in many ways.

It helps students to stay engaged for a longer time due to its fun form of learning.

Digital classrooms are created for students with the help of IoT devices.

It has also benefited teachers with the help of Digital systems and assisting teachers in grading their tests.

There is an increased potential with individualized learning with the ascendance of EdTech.

There are different studying methods for every student, and they cannot be customized by teachers.

EdTech tools make it simpler for teachers to create a learning experience and individualized lesson plans that boost the learning capacity of the students and also foster a sense of inclusivity.

How does Edtech help teachers and students?

1.Increased collaboration – Digital Transformation in Education Industry

Cloud-enabled tablets and tools are boosting collaboration in the classroom. Features such as ‘Gamified learning’ and online learning in the tablets help children in solving problems together.

  1. 24X7 accessibility

We all learn, during each interaction, discussion & meeting etc. Unfortunately, as of now, learning is being equated with ‘getting an education on the certain subject’, at the specified time.

It’s an irony that we can watch movies, listen to music, or read a book at any point in time. But, getting an education is still equated with, going to school in pre-defined days. Also, in school, different subjects are taught, based on a ‘tight’ schedule.

This requires a big change.

With the help of Smart devices (Smart Phone, Tablet, Laptop.), Students can have full access to the classroom in a digital environment.

Students can complete their work at their own pace from anywhere without being physically present in the classroom.

Students and teachers can stay connected to communicate with each other through various apps in case students have a question.

 

  1. Augmentation along with Online & physical classroom

EdTech tools are flipping the traditional method of classroom and education.

Earlier, the students had to attend lectures in the classroom and then work on projects and homework at home.

Now with video lectures, students can do it at their ease.

This kind of learning helps to foster self-learning and boosts creativity among students.

Also, the current system doesn’t give adequate attention to Soft Skills.

Going forward, we can envisage a future, where various subjects (Math, science, Commerce etc.), can be taught online.

While going through these online courses, students can talk/ask queries with the teachers.

A physical school will encourage & help in other soft skills building. This can include, teamwork, collaboration, articulation & presentation skills.

  1. Personalized educational experience

A personalized learning experience can be crafted for every student. Students can learn at their own pace with the help of video content, as it enables them to pause and rewind so that students can fully grasp the lesson.

Different methods for testing academics are introduced, which helps to introduce the stress for teachers as well as students.

Teachers can constantly monitor the performance of the students with the performance analysis provided by the apps and find the strength & weak areas of their students.

They can identify the chapters, where a student is rereading or just giving up.

Based on this data, the teacher can talk with that student, understand the root cause of that individual student’s problem & provide a personalized solution.

It will help the student to improve the overall comprehension & performance.

  1. Engaging & Interactive Lessons

With the help of technology, interactive lessons can be made to keep students gripping in the learning process. By making engaging videos and including problem solving and assignments, students can understand the concept more clearly.

Till now, for teachers, majority of time goes to giving lectures. That should get changed. Lectures can be recorded, and students can watch those, before the actual class, at their own pace.

Teachers should spend, most of their time, in question-answers/doubt clarification for students.

 

  1. Adaptive experience of Digital Transformation in Education Industry

Now, after the introduction of e-books, a 2-way feedback system can be established.

Till now, based on occasional exams/tests, feedback in one way was provided. Also, it used to tell, only what students have learned.

It never told, how they have learned.

Now, when various students go through course material, the teacher/content creator can find out the chapters/questions etc., where students are spending more time.

They can find out, whether those chapters need more clarification/examples as the concepts explained in that chapter are not very clear to the students.

Based on the time spent on a chapter & the viewing history ( in case students are referring back to an old chapter, after reaching to advance chapters), they can decide to modify the content of a chapter, on a real-time basis.  

Was a student struggling with foundational concepts related to a subject.

In that case, maybe more examples & clarification can be provided on those foundational concepts, before he moves to advance concepts.

On the other hand, students, who have quickly understood the foundational concepts, can move to advance concepts in a faster way.

No ‘One size fits all approach.  In fact, that has now become, ‘One size fits nobody’ approach.

We need to move towards mass customization so that we can ‘One size fit one’.

So now, there away, by which a textbook/course/teacher can get feedback about the content, teaching style, arrangements of various chapters….how a textbook is getting used. 

Based on this data, now, we are learning ‘how to learn. Also, this data is teaching us, ‘how to teach’.

And based on this, learning content can be modified in real-time, based on the input.

How are AR and VR helping Students?

In current modern technology, the terms VR (Virtual reality) and AR (Augmented reality) are used a lot.

Uses of AR & VR in helping students

 

  1. Real field like simulation

Students preparing for various jobs can get real-life experience with VR. With Help of VR, real factory, aero-plane, hospital or for that matter, a battlefield type of scene can be created.

Students can get that experience, learn from that, even without venturing of their home/school.

Students get a three-dimensional environment where they can interact & learn.

These scenes can be created multiple times for the benefit of a student, without incurring any major cost.

Remember, it’s more costly and time-Consuming to take students on a field trip.

Studies show that virtual reality is beneficial for students, which require special care/attention.

 

  1. Sports & other skills building

Nowadays, VR is also used in sports for training purposes. It helps train the athletes more efficiently with the option of repeating a certain situation.

For example, a cricketer is not good at square cut while Playing; then the player can practice it multiple times using the technology and enhance the ability and attain perfection.

It has also helped viewers by getting an experience of watching a live game.

The viewers can watch live games at ease and at cost-effective rates giving them a real experience. 

 

  1. Design & Modelling

 

Whether it is the building of a skyscraper or interior design, AR has helped professionals in knowing their outcome during the building process.

Using the headset, the engineer and designers get a direct entry into the virtual building, where they can make changes.

The technology is so advanced that a city can be easily designed with the help of AR. AR is a must for a profession that involves any modeling or designing.

Major Players in EdTech:

These are some of the major players in EdTech.

  1. Blackboard
  2. Pearson
  3. Instructure
  4. Cisco
  5. Discovery Education
  6. Promethean World
  7. BYJU’s
  8. Coursera
  9. Khan Academy
  10. Unacademy

Conclusion on Digital Transformation in Education Industry

Digital Transformation Bringing New Opportunities to the Education Sector

Digital Transformation in education is often discussed in the context of how best to equip students for the future.

 But there are just as many ways in which the industry itself is transforming to meet the needs of students and educators.

At first, the effort to digitize education centered around the creation of an online curriculum.

Now, however, digital Transformation has gone even further, touching on many aspects of the industry, and making them more efficient and effective.

In the future, education will be tailored to a student’s needs rather than following a single curriculum.

The biggest irony is that, in the current education system, ‘almost same/similar course pattern is followed for all students. They must answer, the same set of questions and they get judged based on that.

But in real life (professional life as well as personal life), each one of us faces a unique set of challenges.

With Digital Transformation, now we can envisage a future, where each student gets personalized education as per his strength & weak areas.

This will also help him in handling professional & personal challenges in his life.

Hope you got many interesting points regarding using Digital Transformation in Education Industry

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