Solutions at Work: Bechtel
Bechtel is a world-wide engineering and construction organization serving customers in a variety of industries from power, petroleum and chemical plants, to aviation services and the hotel industry. The equipment leasing arm of the company, Bechtel Equipment Operations Inc. (BEO), supplies all the tools and equipment needed to keep their global construction projects operating efficiently.
Equipment SOLUTIONS Tool Inventory Management
One of ToolHound’s clients is a construction firm with two branches: large commercial projects and small projects and maintenance. Between new construction, demolitions, interior renovations, and space maintenance, their toolroom is home to a substantial inventory of tools and supplies. But managing that inventory proved challenging—not only did they have trouble tracking where tools were, but they were also losing tools and supplies at an alarming rate. They needed a solution that would reduce loss (to assets and profits), that would be easy to implement, and that would allow them to have instant, on-demand access to their inventory.
Solutions at Work: Reliant Energy Wholesale Group
Reliant Energy Wholesale Group, a division of Reliant Energy, is a leading provider of electricity, natural gas and energy services in the U.S.A. With a portfolio of electric power and co-generation plants in the Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, Texas and the West, Reliant has 20,000 megawatt of power generation capacity in operation, under construction or under contract.
Like any power generating facility, plants in the Reliant system experience routine outages for scheduled maintenance and forced outages due to mechanical failure that require immediate response. A single Reliant maintenance shop in Brookville, PA issues all the tools required for maintenance and repairs for some 25 plants from New York to Oregon and south to Florida. Some tools are drawn from satellite tool cribs that are moved where and when needed.
Boost Your Bottom Line with One Powerful Tool
Since 1985, ToolHound has been the standard in tool inventory management for companies in construction, maintenance, petrochemical, mining and more. Need proof? Five of the top ten companies on ENR’s Top 400 Contractors list use ToolHound.
ToolHound efficiently tracks tools issued to and returned by employees and contractors, as well as equipment transfers between various job sites and tool room locations. Using a comprehensive database, coupled with a simple and accurate barcode or RFID-based transaction system, ToolHound inventory management software can be securely accessed online from anywhere.
Solutions at Work: TransAlta
TransAlta, Canada's largest investor-owned electric utility, boasts more than $5 billion in assets and $1.6 billion in revenues, it recently discovered a problem at one of its plants that was costing the company both time and money. In its Edmonton plant tool crib, tools were flowing out to work sites but were not always being returned, and the company had no way to accurately track where the tools were or who had them last. Crib operators were armed with nothing more than a sign-out sheet and when tools didn't come back, there was no way to assign responsibility to anyone for the loss.
Unfortunately, tool theft, unreliable tool tracking, and a lack of tool accountability are common problems at plants everywhere. Too often, these plants operate with archaic "pen and paper" procedures that not only slow issue/return times, but also lack the tracking information required to help curb tool-related losses within an organization. TransAlta decided it was time to fix this problem in its Edmonton plant. A main ingredient...
2020 State of AI-Based Machine Vision
Of the many use cases in manufacturing, visual inspection—a task that involves using human eye or machine vision to verify if a product is free of defects or if parts are correctly assembled—is well-suited for AI. According to a study by McKinsey & Company, AI-powered quality inspection can increase productivity by up to 50% and defect detection rates by up to 90% compared to manual inspection.
Given these benefits, have businesses started using AI in visual inspections? If so, what is the level of adoption, and what are the challenges? These questions and more drove Landing AI, an industrial AI company, and the Association for Advancing Automation to launch this survey on the state of AI-based machine vision.
The survey polled 110 companies from the manufacturing and machine vision industry with both multiple and single choice questions. Respondents who took the survey perform a variety of roles and include C-suite executives, automation engineers and plant managers. One main takeaway is that businesses have high confidence in the effectiveness of AI, and a growing number of companies are already using deep learning-based machine vision for automated visual inspection.
In this report, we will highlight four key findings, detail those discoveries, and provide analysis.
2020 State of AI-Based Machine Vision
Of the many use cases in manufacturing, visual inspection—a task that involves using human eye or machine vision to verify if a product is free of defects or if parts are correctly assembled—is well-suited for AI. According to a study by McKinsey & Company, AI-powered quality inspection can increase productivity by up to 50% and defect detection rates by up to 90% compared to manual inspection.
Given these benefits, have businesses started using AI in visual inspections? If so, what is the level of adoption, and what are the challenges? These questions and more drove Landing AI, an industrial AI company, and the Association for Advancing Automation to launch this survey on the state of AI-based machine vision.
The survey polled 110 companies from the manufacturing and machine vision industry with both multiple and single choice questions. Respondents who took the survey perform a variety of roles and include C-suite executives, automation engineers and plant managers. One main takeaway is that businesses have high confidence in the effectiveness of AI, and a growing number of companies are already using deep learning-based machine vision for automated visual inspection.
In this report, we will highlight four key findings, detail those discoveries, and provide analysis.
2020 State of AI-Based Machine Vision
Of the many use cases in manufacturing, visual inspection—a task that involves using human eye or machine vision to verify if a product is free of defects or if parts are correctly assembled—is well-suited for AI. According to a study by McKinsey & Company, AI-powered quality inspection can increase productivity by up to 50% and defect detection rates by up to 90% compared to manual inspection.
Given these benefits, have businesses started using AI in visual inspections? If so, what is the level of adoption, and what are the challenges? These questions and more drove Landing AI, an industrial AI company, and the Association for Advancing Automation to launch this survey on the state of AI-based machine vision.
The survey polled 110 companies from the manufacturing and machine vision industry with both multiple and single choice questions. Respondents who took the survey perform a variety of roles and include C-suite executives, automation engineers and plant managers. One main takeaway is that businesses have high confidence in the effectiveness of AI, and a growing number of companies are already using deep learning-based machine vision for automated visual inspection.
In this report, we will highlight four key findings, detail those discoveries, and provide analysis.
Choosing the right UPS battery backup for network closets and IDF applications
Network closets and intermediate distribution frames (IDF) are critical parts of IT networks, but they're often scattered about.
Selecting the right UPS battery backup for your network closet or IDF can be a confusing process. This uninterruptible power supply (UPS) buying guide is designed to help you properly plan so you can make your IT network more resilient and reliable.
This Eaton guide with 10 thoroughly explained buying tips will help you select the right UPS battery backup.
Important considerations when buying and installing a UPS
All uninterruptible power supply (UPS) models are not created equal, nor are their installation requirements.
Large, mid-range modular and smaller plug-and-play models may all have individual considerations. Requirements can also differ among UPS backup topologies and deployment methods. If you're preparing for UPS installation, this best practices guide with 10 considerations will help ensure that the process goes smoothly.
Choosing the right UPS battery backup for network closets and IDF applications
Network closets and intermediate distribution frames (IDF) are critical parts of IT networks, but they're often scattered about.
Selecting the right UPS battery backup for your network closet or IDF can be a confusing process. This uninterruptible power supply (UPS) buying guide is designed to help you properly plan so you can make your IT network more resilient and reliable.
This Eaton guide with 10 thoroughly explained buying tips will help you select the right UPS battery backup.
Important considerations when buying and installing a UPS
All uninterruptible power supply (UPS) models are not created equal, nor are their installation requirements.
Large, mid-range modular and smaller plug-and-play models may all have individual considerations. Requirements can also differ among UPS backup topologies and deployment methods. If you're preparing for UPS installation, this best practices guide with 10 considerations will help ensure that the process goes smoothly.
Back Office Automation Starts with IT: Digitizing Financial Services with Low-Code Platforms
Financial institutions today operate between three distinct worlds: the front-office, middle-office, and back-office. While each office is a vital part of the organization, the amount of investments for each could not be more unbalanced. The front-office receives a significant amount of resources, and understandably so, as financial institutions aim to keep up with consumer expectations and compete with fintech companies. Unfortunately, it means the middle- and back-office fall lower and lower on the priority list, leaving the IT team struggling with limited resources, staff, and budget.
The Need for Speed: Automating Manual Processes
Today, business has become increasingly global, sophisticated, and complex accelerating the pace of operations and response times. The need for speed is a must. To be quick and agile, organizations are increasingly seeking to automate their operations. Yet, how this be accomplished at scale and within a timely manner?
Read The Need for Speed: Automating Manual Processes and learn how low code platforms like TrackVia enable you to create custom workflow applications that are mobile ready and IT approved within weeks. Download the paper now.
Don’t Let Legacy Systems Limit Digitization, Extend Them Instead
When it comes to overcoming the challenges posed by legacy systems and addressing the the need for next generation capabilities like digital and mobile workflows, most organizations stop short. Adapting existing technological infrastructure to meet business needs can take months, sometimes years, and hundreds of thousands (even millions) of dollars.
So now what?
Download Don’t Let Legacy Systems Limit Digitization, Extend Them Instead and learn how you can still easily leverage your legacy systems and get the next generation capabilities you need to take your business to the next level.