What can the industry 5.0 do for you !
Ask not what you can do with the technology – ask what the technology can do for you.
In 1961, US President JF Kennedy provocatively launched “ Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country ” . In 2021, the European Commission is ramping up the “Industry 5.0” initiative in the continuity of Industry 4.0 launched by Germany in 2011. To follow the metaphor, Industry 5.0 poses the technological question in these terms: “ Ask not what you can do with the technology – ask what the technology can do for you ”. This way of considering the place of technology in industry changes everything from the point of view of industry operators, and for providers of innovative solutions.
For SPIX industry, this way of working with industry for the implementation of operational Smart Voice Assistance solutions at workstations is a natural part of the company’s approach: we will see why and how.
How did we arrived here ?
It was at the Hanover fair in 2011 that Germany began to speak openly about its national “industry 4.0” initiative, at the time of the rise of new information technologies. The objective for Germany is clear: as the leader in machine tools in Europe and in the world, it was urgent that its machines be connected, collect massive data, react in real time to an instruction, adapt to a production in short cycles aligned in real time with consumer demand. The example of the automotive industry is the most obvious: just-in-time production, drastic reduction of stocks, maximum adaptation according to customer demand. The limit of this model is being felt today with the microchip crisis : more stock, supply crisis, drop in production.
In France, the idea was taken up again in 2016 with the “industry of the future” concept. This concept takes up all the ideas of industry 4.0: digitization of industry, robotization, interconnection of machines, rise of the internet of objects (IoT). The themes addressed by the “Industry of the future” plan are clear : Data economy, Smart objects, Digital trust, Smart food, New resources, Sustainable city, Ecological mobility, Medicine of the future, Transport of tomorrow. The role of the men and women in the industry is conspicuously absent from this ambitious plan.
We can also regret in the French plan the idea of “future” which seems to promote the desire to delay the rapid transformation of industry necessary to maintain the competitiveness of companies.
It was only in 2018 with the creation of the Alliance Industrie du Futur that the place of humans in this new industry and its organization was timidly introduced in France. The theme ” New approach to people at work / Innovative organization and management ” is emerging around the technological concerns already exposed.
The delays in becoming aware of the importance of women and men in industrial performance, the preparation of the industrial future while forgetting the urgency of the necessary transformation carry the embarrassment of the failures and slowness of the operational digitization observed in the industry for several years in Europe, but especially in France.
Why is it serious?
This is serious, because Industry 4.0, like the industry of the future, promotes a purely technological model to complex human organizations. However, the company, like society in general, is first and foremost made up of a group of women and men who organize themselves to produce a good or a service. Today, by dint of wanting to apply digital technology to human organizations without taking special precautions, a rejection of the proposed technologies is not uncommon. The subject of the rejection of digitization in business is no longer a taboo, but it must necessarily call into question the current approach proposed by the industry 4.0 approach.
If a certain segment of industry players is in opposition to the rest of the organization, the efficiency of the production system is penalized accordingly. If the investments made by manufacturers in their digitization process do not yield the expected benefits, their productivity and competitiveness are reduced.
Finally, European industry (unlike others) is faced with difficulties that are not solely technological: the low attractiveness of industrial functions in general, and the aging of the working population in industry. According to an IFOP survey carried out in France in 2018, less than 50% of the population surveyed is attracted to jobs in industry. At the same time, the activity rate of 60-64 year olds increased from 11% to 33% between 2000 and 2018 , a sign of the aging of the working population in France. This evolution is similar in Germany, even if the vision of the industry and the associated professions may be different in this country. Those who have already frequented the aisles of the Hanover fair have seen the number of school groups visiting this industrial fair.
The industry in France and in Europe is therefore faced with a dilemma. The digital transformation of the means of production must be intensified quickly in order to meet the challenges of global competitiveness. But this transformation can only be a success with the support of working populations (acceptability), as well as those to come (attractiveness). The current version of the “Industry 4.0” plans does not fully resolve this dilemma. To succeed, it is therefore necessary to define a more social and more human vision of the industrial transformation in progress.
In France, the EMC2 industrial competitiveness cluster [5] has fully understood this issue and sounded the alarm in 2020 [6] on the need to review this part of the industrial roadmap with the promotion of the place of people in industry and an eco-responsible industry.
The response from the Industry 5.0
In January 2021, the European Directorate General for Research and Innovation updated its industrial strategy for the coming years. This document gives a definition of the role of industry in European society, as a factor of integration of industrial life with current societal and environmental issues. This “Industry 5.0” concept does not come in opposition to version 4.0, but in addition. Industry 5.0 also deals with “societal” and “environmental” aspects impacted by industrial development in Europe. These subjects are not the expertise of SPIX industry and are therefore not commented on.
Quote[traduction] : “ Rather than taking emerging technology as a starting point and examining its potential for improving efficiency on a process, a human-centered approach to industry places the fundamental needs and interests of people and women at the heart of the production process. Rather than asking what we can do with new technology, let’s ask ourselves what technology can do for us. Rather than asking workers in the industry to adapt their skills to the needs of rapidly changing technology, we want to use technology to adapt the production process to the needs of workers, for example to guide and train them . »
This evolution of the place of industry in society proposed by industry 5.0 therefore consists in considering that the technologies implemented to promote industrial competitiveness must above all be at the service of the women and men of industry, rather than the reverse. This means that the technology deployed in the industry must adapt to the needs and diversity of operators, rather than requiring operators to continually adapt to technologies. This new vision of the integration of technological innovations in the human environment of industry must aim for more autonomous work and greater professional development for technicians and workers. To achieve this, they must therefore be closely associated with the design and deployment of the new industrial technologies envisaged.
In the wake of this European vision, the EIT Manufacturing in charge of part of its operational implementation for the field of manufacturing production, defines eight fundamental pillars. The point of view is resolutely user-centric, and first considers the needs and expectations of operators :
- super strong: for which operations an operator should have an exoskeleton,
- augmented reality: what operational or training needs does augmented reality meet,
- virtual: what is the place of virtual reality in the tasks of an operator,
- in good health: on-board health sensors to promote health at work,
- intelligent: what are the useful and usable functions of an intelligent personal assistant for an operator in a work situation in an industrial environment,
- collaborative: how to help an operator with collaborative robots,
- social: are professional social networks useful for operators,
- analytics: how an operator can benefit from Big Data analytics.
With this proposal, people are back at the center of the decision-making process, technology maximizes the benefits they can derive from a personal point of view and for the development of their professional skills. The benefits for the organization (the company) will follow.
Two remarks are in order at this stage: the “user-centric” strategy and the intelligent voice assistance technology of SPIX industry are fully in line with this approach. In addition, intelligent voice assistants developed by the company are a mainstay of the acceptance of new technologies by men and women in the industry. The industrial technician’s intelligent personal assistant, as in our everyday lives with Alexa, Google Home, Siri or Xiaomi, becomes a privileged and simple interface with an increasingly complex digital environment.
Spix: Voice and the Industrial Intelligent Voice Assistant?
A player in this “industry 5.0″, SPIX industry is developing ” Spix “, an Intelligent Voice Assistant for industry. According to a German study, Spix is the only intelligent European voice assistant 100% dedicated to technicians and operators in the industry [1] . This Industrial Voice Assistant is accompanied by a “user-centric” work program (“ Spixify Your Industry ” program ).
The “Spix” intelligent voice assistant brings together a set of integrated technological bricks ( voice recognition and synthesis , multimodal dialog agent in natural language, business knowledge base) capable of being integrated into an industrial process and into an existing production software application. or maintenance. For example, Spix naturally integrates into software solutions like IBM Maximo, Delmia Apriso, Infor, IFS or other proprietary solutions. The objective of this technology is of course to allow technicians in industry to benefit from the power of the voice in their digital business tools, but above all to provide them with operational assistance in carrying out their work tasks.
The Spix.SKILLS integration program consists in defining with the operators and end users of the Industrial Voice Assistance, a solution adapted according to all their constraints and their expectations. The constraints can be physical ( it’s complicated to wear a tablet ), sociological ( I can’t type a text to define a defect ), or environmental ( I’m on the move, there’s noise nearby ). Expectations can be diverse, and often linked to working comfort, both physical ( I don’t want to turn around to a screen all the time ), intellectual ( I panic in front of complex software ), or business ( I want to concentrate about my work, my expertise ).
The idea of this breakthrough innovation is to radically change the user experience of technicians in the industry, and to reconcile them with their digital environment by integrating voice and intelligent business assistance to truly succeed in the digital transformation underway. in industry. This innovation and its implementation in an industrial environment meets the expectations and perspectives of industry 5.0.
Why this Voice Assistant meets the expectations of Industry 5.0
Unlike a voice assistant for the general public, an Industrial Voice Assistant meets the operational needs of a technician in a work situation, but will not provide the weather forecast or the distance between Paris and New York. In the complex digital environment of industry, the technician needs help because:
– He must carry out increasingly complex tasks without making mistakes,
– The instructions on his work order are long and difficult to understand,
– The instructions are constantly changing, adapting according to demand,
– His hands are busy carrying out his tasks,
– He must quickly access increasingly voluminous and varied documentation,
– Problems encountered on the ground that he must solve quickly,
– Business software has not been designed for his work situation.
To be consistent with the expectations of an “industry 5.0” more attentive to the needs and constraints of the industrial user, in this case a technician, a quality controller, a field inspector, the expected benefits must be studied from the first from the worker’s point of view, then from the industrialist’s point of view. The bet made here comes down to saying that if the use of an Intelligent Voice Assistant in an industrial work situation responds to a request from the operator, removes an inconvenience at work, or eliminates a difficulty, then the business organization will benefit a benefit for its operation, and the associated gains.
Thus, the benefits expected from the use of Intelligent Voice Assistance solutions by operators and technicians in the industry are classified into two categories: benefits for the operator himself, benefits for the manufacturer. Operational implementation can only happen if the first category is covered; the second category follows from the first.
Benefits of operators and field technicians
RECONCILIATE WITH YOUR COMPANY’S DIGITAL STRATEGY
– Work hands-free, safe
– Focus on high value-added business tasks
– Simplify the use of digital tools such as MES , CMMS
– Streamline interactions with other technologies: VR, AR, Cobots, etc.
– Avoid carrying digital devices such as tablets or smartphones
Induced benefits for the industrial organization
WINNING THE COMPANY’S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION GAME
– Maximize the use of digital by field technicians
– Increase the use of tablets and smartphones already made available
– Collect more structured field data for Big-Data analysis
– Improve real-time knowledge of field operating conditions
– Maximize the return on investments already made in digital tools
Without the full support of women and men field operators, none of these benefits can be fully exploited. Membership is “earned” by taking into consideration their concerns, their expectations, and their constraints. Let’s take a final example:
– Need, Expectation: Filling out an intervention or quality control report form on a smartphone with safety gloves is not easy. Reports of this type are often incomplete or non-existent.
– Answer: Filling out an intervention report, or classifying a defect by voice without touching the smartphone removes a thorn in the side of the technician: it’s simple and he can keep his safety gloves on. More complete and structured reports can be generated and will allow a more detailed analysis of the associated production processes, in real time.
Conclusion
Many technologies have reached a sufficient level of technological maturity to consider their operational use in industry. It is now necessary to consider their level of human maturity according to a scale of HRL ( Human Readiness Level ) in order to guarantee their usefulness and their usability by an operator in a work situation.
SPIX industry, through its voice service integration approach, is constantly in the position of asking industry technicians what its Intelligent Voice Assistant Spix could do for them, operationally. The company’s latest industrial successes support this approach.
About SPIX industry
The company was created to develop the use of voice in industry in all its forms: voice control of existing software, advanced conversational assistance to guide operators on their procedures, “eyes and hands-free” form filling by voice, real-time or delayed transcription of audio notes, co- development of a business application integrating an Intelligent Voice Assistant.
A resolutely innovative company, totally committed to the operational implementation of technologies derived from Artificial Intelligence for the benefit of the development of industry 4.0 and the augmented operator, SPIX industry is the leader in its market in Europe.
Since 2013, SPIX industry has been leading a major R&D effort to develop a 100% French Smart Voice Assistance technology “Spix” and build operational solutions in a demanding industrial environment.
Press contacts
André JOLY – Managing Director
Phone. : +33 (0)6 25 17 27 94
Email: andre.joly@spix-industry.com
Legal entity
Website : spix-industry.com
Linkedin : linkedin.com/company/spix-industry
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“SPIX” and “SPIX industry” are registered trademarks of Simsoft3D SAS.
