IT in Manufacturing


Pokémon GO: reflections on the process industry

September 2016 IT in Manufacturing

Over the last few weeks, the world has been taken by storm as Pokémon GO progressively rolled out from one country to the next, rekindling the memories of many people in their 30s and 40s, enchanting younger and older generations, and quickly becoming the most downloaded game in US history. Whether enchanted or aggravated by the craze, I presume most of us have played the game or at least discussed the craze with someone else at some point.

In the midst of the rampant desire for players to ‘Catch ‘em all’, significant incidents have occurred that are directly linked to the influence of the game itself. What follows is a quick review of the game for those who are not familiar:

1. The word comes from combining two Japanese words Poketto (pocket) + Monsuta (monster) = Pokémon.

2. The goal of the smartphone app is to catch various Pokémon characters as they are superimposed on your device, in real time, as you move around town. You then ‘catch’ the characters, which you use to battle other Pokémon players and their characters, in a winner-take-all events. The ultimate goal is to win battles and catch at least one of every character in the game.

3. Pokémon characters come in various shapes and sizes; they resemble animals and have magical powers. All characters come from a specified area or type. Some Pokémon are ground characters (which can be caught near wooded areas and parks), some are water characters (which can be found near ponds and fountains), and some are made from electricity (which intentionally cannot be found during a thunderstorm), the list goes on . . .

The third point is where recently things started to become very interesting for our industry, interesting and potentially dangerous. A number of institutions in our industry have begun to issue numerous warnings in an effort to deter the public from their attempts to catch Pokémon, such as ‘Electabuzz’ or ‘Zapdos,’ which are often found near power plants and industrial areas because they are, naturally, characters made from electricity.

The first warning came from Duke Energy urging the public to focus on safety when playing the game, as safety is ‘greater than’ the game. Following soon after was Cass County Electric who proactively searched for ‘Zapdos’ throughout the plant so the public did not have to (FYI: they didn’t find, thus could not catch the elusive Zapdos). Soon after, Reddit jumped on the industrial bandwagon and posted a picture of a ‘Koffing’ found within an unnamed industrial complex.

The situation reached a climax when one Pokeholic trespassed onto a nuclear power station in the U.S. This prompted Japanese energy giant TEPCO to also make a public statement asking that no person should enter its facilities in the search of Pokémon characters, and advised all staff never to play while in the facility. (Note: the single Pokémon found within one of TEPCOs nuclear facilities has now been removed at the request of the company).

Reflection

As I write, I reflect upon how the world is being pushed into new and uncharted territory and consider what this means for our industry, which is, quite often slow moving and risk adverse, and for a good reason. What will quick shifts and fast innovations mean for automation platforms, which are often in place for 10 or 20 years?

Today’s platforms were designed before our youngest operators were even born. Considering the rate of change that we are experiencing, the gap in mental models and thinking processes from junior operator to senior operator is widening, and will continue to widen as time goes on. Change is continuous, and I believe that we must keep up with the trends so that automation platforms and facilities remain safe, optimised, and competitive. Children these days are born with iPads in their hands, almost literally! Herein lies some fundamental questions:

•How do we optimise a plant for the generation that designed the plant, to the generation that is operating the plant 20 years later?

•How do we get these young operators who are digital-natives to work at their maximum potential when they were born with an iPad in their hands?

Imagine this. It’s the year 2025 and a fresh graduate from a top-tier university is applying to companies as an operator, and two companies have made a job offer. Plant A uses pneumatics and manual logging, Plant B uses devices that resemble iPads, iWatches and big data with interactive interfaces and easily accessible information. Which company do you think the freshest and brightest engineers and graduates will want to work for? How long will it take for the less tech-centred company to lose significant competitiveness due to difficulty in hiring the grade A staff?

It is my opinion that keeping the workplace safe, optimised and conducive to both the old and the new guard will be more important than ever before, but also more challenging, in the coming years.

The challenge is one of achieving balance between supporting the needs of the experienced operators (who started with pneumatics and chart records) so that they can still perform their tasks to drive the business forward, and the digital-natives whose basis of thinking is based on the new and more advanced technology that enables (and encourages) them to push forward. How to achieve this balance between old and new is the question. This question will always be a work in progress as each generation goes by, and the answer will vary highly depending on culture, facility age and demographics, investment cycles, and more.

Most companies have already put forth some level of R&D into leveraging the power of artificial reality within industrial facilities. Yokogawa

has been researching this area for quite some time, and ironically, similarities between this project and Pokémon GO can be seen clearly.

The project is called iMaintain. Working with Akzo Nobel in Germany, the program is designed to overlay maintenance procedures and real-time data from the Centum DCS into an Artificial Reality display. By bringing all components together, we can identify opportunities and methods to enable real improvements from frontline maintenance staff.

What do you think?

This is an exciting time, and there are many questions that still need to be asked, and answered. As an industry:

•Can we learn from the consumer world on how to bring the benefits of augmented reality and an immersive world to the plant floor, whilst avoiding the safety implications we have seen in the Pokémon GO phenomenon?

•Is it possible to satisfy the old guard and encourage the new guard as the gap widens more as society moves further forward?

For more information contact Christie Cronje, Yokogawa South Africa, +27 (0)11 831 6300, [email protected], www.yokogawa.com/za



Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

Unlocking mining efficiency with advanced processing control
IT in Manufacturing
ABB’s Advanced Process Control system, powered by its Expert Optimizer platform, is emerging as a key enabler of smarter, more efficient mining operations.

Read more...
Open control technology reduces energy consumption and carbon footprint.
Beckhoff Automation IT in Manufacturing
The Swedish company Airwatergreen AB is breaking new ground in the dehumidification of air in industrial buildings and warehouses. PC-based control from Beckhoff regulates the innovative process.

Read more...
Harnessing AI and satellite imagery to estimate water levels in dams
IT in Manufacturing
Farmers and water managers often struggle to accurately estimate and monitor the available water in dams. To address the challenge, International Water Management Institute researchers have worked with Digital Earth Africa to create an innovation that uses satellite images and AI to get timely and accurate dam volume measurements.

Read more...
Why industry should enter the world of operator training simulators
Schneider Electric South Africa IT in Manufacturing
System-agnostic operator training simulator (OTS) software is a somewhat unsung hero of industry that trains plant operators in a virtual world that mirrors real-world operations. The benefits are multiple.

Read more...
Track busway for scalable data centre power delivery
IT in Manufacturing
The latest generation Legrand Data Centre Track Busway technology addresses the operational pressures facing today’s high-density, AI-intensive computing environments and is being well received by data centre facilities around the world.

Read more...
Poor heat management in data centre design
IT in Manufacturing
Designing a world-class data centre goes beyond simply keeping servers on during load shedding; it is about ensuring they run efficiently, reliably, and within the precise environmental conditions they were built and designed for.

Read more...
It’s time to fight AI with AI in the battle for cyber resilience
IT in Manufacturing
Cybercrime is evolving rapidly, and the nature of cyber threats has shifted dramatically. Attacks are now increasingly powered by AI, accelerating their speed, scale and sophistication. Cybersecurity needs to become part of business-critical strategy, powered by AI to match attackers’ speed with smarter, faster and more adaptive defences.

Read more...
Why AI sustainability must be a boardroom priority
IT in Manufacturing
As South African companies race to harness artificial intelligence for innovation and growth, few are asking the most critical question - the environmental cost.

Read more...
RS South Africa shines spotlight on MRO procurement
RS South Africa IT in Manufacturing
RS South Africa has highlighted the growing pressures faced by procurement professionals responsible for maintenance, repair and operations supplies across the country’s vital economic sectors.

Read more...
Sustainable energy management
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Utilising its innovative ONE approach technology, Siemens provides complete transparency on resource consumption and offers data-driven optimisation recommendations for sustainable energy management.

Read more...









While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.




© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved