Understanding Industry 4.0: Part 2
Following on from part one of our blog on Industry 4.0, we wanted to take you through some more elements of 4IR (as it’s also known) that Cloud Construct can help you with.
We have already explained a lot about the manufacturing industry and its use of the Internet of Things and Cyber-Physical Systems – here are three more key technologies encompassed by the latest industrial revolution.
Augmented and Virtual Reality
AR and VR close the gap between the digital experience and physical space. Which means, it doesn’t matter where you or your customers are based – your product or service can be brought in to a virtual space anywhere in the world.
VR is typically achieved with a headset or visual tech, but there are exciting developments creating more immersive experiences. Looking ahead to the future, these tools will be used more and more for training. For example – easily recreating dangerous situations, remote locations, or learning how to use machinery before it even arrives at your business.
AR and VR are being adopted in many industries. If you sell a product online, we can utilise Google VR to transform your product from a 2-D image online, to a virtual experience where you can see every detail of the product from every angle.
We work with the boat and yacht seller, Boatshed, and by using specialist cameras they have captured 720° of imagery of their products. Rather than just viewing an image of the product online, potential customers are able to stand inside the boat, look around it and fully experience the product.
Customer engagement will increase, and they are likely to be more committed to a purchase due to the very detailed product preview they have experienced. Their location becomes irrelevant; transporting the POS anywhere.
Data Analytics
This refers to the data and information a company collects to gather insights on how a business is functioning or to gain a better understanding of their customers.
Advertising, social media campaigns, and sales strategy cannot be created in a one size fits all model any more. Not when new technology can tell you everything you need to know about who your customers are – their age, their habits, what they engage with and what they buy etc.
Neither can you measure your success on sales figures alone. Not if you want to stay ahead of the competition, retain customers, and understand why you are losing or gaining customers.
If you choose to invest in data analytics, it’s important to have the right people onboard who understand its value. You don’t just want to know what has happened, but rather how and why it did, and what might happen next.
Cloud Construct can create bespoke systems and websites for your business. If you are an ecommerce business for example, we can help you to gather analytics about your customers. You can learn who your customers are, when they visited your site, what they looked at, how they navigated through your website, and what drove them to sign up for your newsletters. This helps you to understand their habits, what is driving them to engage for longer and what isn’t working.
Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
AI and machine learning are the cornerstone of this revolution. Their scope is broad and can cover a range of jobs, but in the simplest terms it can save you time by processing data and drawing conclusions faster than us mere humans could ever imagine doing so.
This isn’t about machines taking over the world. It’s about them transforming admin jobs, like collecting data or logging information, in an efficient and quick way, where there is no capacity for human error.
In IT terms, machine learning systems can be trained to spot what is abnormal on your network, and improve your cyber security.
Cloud Construct can create complex machine learning algorithms for your business that will autonomously tailor what your website suggests to your customer, based on who they are. It can also help you to target specific customers with products that are most relevant to them. This can be especially useful if your stock range is vast. This technology can save you time and make your business more efficient.
A time for change
Companies that adopt these innovative technologies will gain a competitive edge against other businesses. Investing in them doesn’t have to be expensive or tricky to navigate, let specialist consultants like us help you to figure out what will work best for your business.
Get Help To Innovate
It is worth noting that there is plenty of funding available to help you adopt new technology into your business.
Innovate UK is a government funded public body that can provide funding for companies who wish to transform their business with these innovative technologies.
This type of funding is a great incentive for UK businesses to adopt these technologies and stay at the forefront of global technological developments while also receiving help with the cost of transformation.
LET’S TALK ABOUT IMPROVING YOUR BUSINESS
If you would like to know more about how we can help your business to transform, please call us on 01952 898 626 or visit our website here.
