Learn about the capabilities of 5G.
About the presentation
5G goes beyond the expansion of broadband capabilities of mobile networks and provides advanced wireless connectivity, private networks, reliable networks with ultra-low latency, built-in privacy, security, ultra-high bandwidth, and 3GPP to provide the highest-level of support for massive Internet of Things (IoT) communications and larger devices such as automated mobile robots (AMR) and guided vehicles (AGV) with positioning accuracy and energy efficiency. Our investigation along with the 5G-ACIA initiative proves that 5G will be the steppingstone for Industrial 4.0 digital modernization of the manufacturing and industrial networks. It’ll enable enterprises to launch new technologies rapidly. 5G also unifies a range of low to high capability devices (i.e., sensors) to heavy machinery which today run on multiple different radio and wired technologies. Verizon shares its experiences and insights how 5G will soon enable state-of-the-art industrial applications with AR/VR, local processing, automated object detection, and motion control through 5G private networks, edge computing, efficient radio and spectrum planning for the right set of industrial applications, and management of the 5G networks.
Meet your presenter
Babatunde (Tunde) Akindele leads strategy development for Global Network and Technology at Verizon. He’s responsible for developing technology strategies to ensure Verizon maintains its network and technology leadership. Akindele has held responsibilities for deal negotiation, growth strategy, strategic planning, corporate venturing, and M&A evaluation within Verizon during the past decade.
Prior to Verizon, Akindele worked with IXL Center, where he helped Fortune 100 corporations develop strategies and commercialize innovative business concepts. He previously held regional leadership role in a multinational telecommunication provider in Nigeria, successfully designing sales expansion strategies and leading significant business turnaround initiatives.
He sits on the advisory board of the Global Innovation Management Institute, and he’s the North America Co-Chair of the GSMA 5G IoT for Manufacturing Forum. Akindele is passionate about leadership, is a leadership trainer / coach, and a frequent speaker at innovation management and VC events. In addition, he spends time mentoring startups and small businesses.
About the company
Verizon Communications Inc. is a holding company that engages in the provision of communications, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental agencies. It operates through the Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business) segments. The consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wireline communications services and products. The business segment offers wireless and wireline communications services and products; video and data services; corporate networking solutions; security and managed network services; local and long distance voice services; and network access to deliver various Internet of Things (IoT) services and products.
Learn about the evolving world of industrial automation.
About the presentation
We’ve never talked about industrial automation as much as we have in 2022. Yet most manufacturing plants in North America have little to no automation. There’s a simple reason why many manufacturers can’t profitably automate their production: automation technology was developed (and priced) for high-throughput manufacturing. Most North American manufacturers with high-mix production and volumes less than a few thousand units simply don’t have the scale to earn back the steep investment traditional automation technologies command. Today’s industrial automation technology is complex to evaluate and integrate. Most manufactured products are unique to the manufacturer and often require unique production equipment. In other words, most industrial automation is a non-productized market requiring custom solutions. If access to automation technology is limited to those who can afford premium engineering services or customized integrations, incumbent component manufacturers aren’t under any pressure to democratize technology. The result? A status quo benefits current industry participants but leaves most manufacturers (the ones who would benefit from technology democratization) behind. All industries go through phases from complex, to democratized, and back again. One example is computers. We went from complex mainframes in the 1960s and 70s, to much simpler PCs in the early 2000s. We’re now slowly moving toward another complexification phase with quantum computers. At each phase, new giants emerged, and some were left behind. As cloud technology, robotics, and machine vision converge, industrial automation is initiating its own phase of democratization and ushering in new players. That’s good news for the automation industry and high-mix manufacturers
Meet your presenter
Etienne Lacroix is a business leader and entrepreneur with deep experience building and turning around engineering-intensive businesses. He’s the founder and CEO of Vention. Before Vention, he spent five years at McKinsey & Co. as an associate partner with the operations and product development practices. In this role, he led enterprise-wide strategic, operational, and turnaround programs at global industrial and high-tech companies. Before joining McKinsey, he held various positions in product management, product development, and supply-chain operations at General Electric as part of the technical leadership program. Lacroix holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the École de Technologie Supérieure.
About the company
Vention helps innovative manufacturing companies automate their production floor in just a few days. Vention’s online-first, manufacturing automation platform (MAP) enables its clients to design, automate, order, and deploy manufacturing equipment directly from their web browser.
The addition of GeoSLAM is expected to expand and accelerate FARO’s market growth opportunity in the mobile scanning space.
FARO Technologies, Inc, a global leader in 4D digital reality solutions, acquires UK-based GeoSLAM, a provider of mobile scanning solutions with proprietary high-productivity simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) software to create 3D models for use in Digital Twin applications. Founded in 2012, the addition of GeoSLAM is expected to expand and accelerate FARO’s market growth opportunity in the mobile scanning space.
“We are thrilled to add GeoSLAM’s handheld 3D scanning technology to our portfolio of cutting-edge data capture solutions,” says Michael Burger, FARO President and CEO. “FARO now offers the industry’s broadest set of 4D data capture solutions, including 3600 camera-based images, mobile scanning and stationary high-accuracy laser scanning, allowing customers to balance the need for accuracy, speed and detail depending on their requirements. These capture technologies provide the foundation for our 4D digital reality-based SaaS offering that will allow customers to access multiple 4D data sources for visualization and analysis through a single user experience. We welcome the GeoSLAM team to our FARO family.”
“Joining with FARO represents the next step in the growth of GeoSLAM and the establishment of mobile mapping as a driver for growth in the way businesses map and understand their spaces,” adds Andy Parr, GeoSLAM CEO. “Both companies share a vision of the importance of mobile scanning in the burgeoning digital reality capture market.”
GeoSLAM reported approximately $16.7 Million in revenue with 18% EBITDA in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022. EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, is calculated as net income/loss before interest (income) expense, net, income tax expense (benefit), foreign exchange rate variance, and depreciation and amortization. The transaction closed on September 1, 2022, funded with available cash reserves and equity consideration.
Learn how to use advanced manufacturing to your advantage.
About the presentation
The labor market is increasingly competitive. Attract and keep frontline talent through continuous education and growth initiatives, equipping team members to do impactful work, and embracing professional peer communities to solve problems and build connections.
Meet your presenter
Madilynn Angel is the head of marketing at Tulip Interfaces where she champions a human-centric approach to operational technology. Tulip, a spin out of the MIT Media Lab, is democratizing operational tech by combining user-centric no code capabilities with powerful native technologies like computer vision, AI, and edge connectivity. Angel holds a B.A. in anthropology from Brown University, where she received accolades including the Messing Public Service Fellowship, Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award, and Hick’s Distinguished Service Prize.
About the company
Tulip was started by a team of engineers out of the MIT Media Lab. Our platform is based on more than 10 years of research in frontline operations using breakthroughs in technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), machine vision, human-computer interaction, augmented reality, and machine learning.
Learn about communication between machines.
About the presentation
For humans, language is important in order to communicate with each other. Language connects and enables understanding. But what about the machines in an increasingly networked production? How can communication and the exchange of information succeed among different types of machines from different manufacturers? Answer: with a global production language. The challenge here lies in the definition of grammar and vocabulary for the exchange of information from machine to machine and from machine to applications such as MES.
Learning objectives
1. Understand how OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) defines the grammar and OPC UA companion specifications define the vocabulary
2. Understand the difference between domain-specific and cross-domain information model standardization
3. Understand how a universal machine technology interface can leverage adoption of standardization
Meet your presenter
Johannes Olbort, a project manager at the VDMA, is responsible for the harmonization activities including OPC UA for machinery. This is done in the context of the global production language based on OPC UA in which more than 600 companies worldwide participate. This makes it an important contact for the international machinery and plant construction industry in matters of OPC UA standardization and networked production. The VDMA’s strong international political networking enables it to introduce OPC UA activities into global politics. Before joining the VDMA, Olbort studied industrial engineering, specializing in mechanical engineering and was a research assistant at the Department for Computer Integrated Design of the Technical University Darmstadt.
About the company
Around 3,400 primarily medium-sized member companies in the capital goods industry make the VDMA, the largest industrial association in Europe. The VDMA is a mouthpiece for mechanical and plant engineering. It represents the common economic, technical, and scientific interests of the industry in Germany and around the world. More than 500 VDMA employees worldwide support you with practical services in making the right decisions in your company along the entire value chain.
