By Geir Rune Flåten, Chief Solutions Officer
APACT 19 in Chester was as usual a friendly and open forum for the discussion of recent advances relevant to process analytics and control technologies. The three day event had plenary and parallel sessions about achievement of manufacturing excellence, and with some 130 participants it is easy to make good conversations with the majority of the participants.
I left the conference with the distinct feeling that a transition in terminology is bridging a gap, that used to be a problem. We were talking more about Industry 4.0 than PAT. It’s a broader agenda integrating different cultures in a manufacturing company. PAT is a mindset and methodology to solve issues in production, and by labelling process analytics under the broader Industry 4.0 umbrella we get better integration from top to bottom in the corporate landscape.
Scientists and analysts need to be on the same page as top management. The concept of applying advanced industrial analytics to the real-world problems of manufacturing should earn attention and funding from C-level. We can only arm scientists and domain experts with powerful tools like MVA and DoE, if companies recognize the need for transparent and scientific industrial analytics with a human-in-the-loop-always-approach.
Camo won the best showcase award at this years APACT-conference and hosted pre-conference training.
The trend I met at APACT 2019 was that we were talking more about Industry 4.0 than ever before. It’s positive and productive. We want to have AI and ML taken down from the pedestal and having these technologies integrated in the overall march against analytics driven improvements and innovation. They will for sure have a big place going forward, but they cannot eliminate the need for transparent, scientific analytics close to manufacturing reality.
On our booth at APACT we had many relevant conversations. I met academics, customers, competitors and partners, and I came home with a handful of new contacts. The conference also awarded Camo a bottle of champagne for Best Exhibitor Showcase Presentation. Will we back in 2020? I do believe!
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