Needed a plan for investing in fleet electrification ITS ConGlobal (ITSC), one of the largest transportation support companies in the U.S., has long believed that it must operate sustainably—especially as the transportation and logistics industry is a leading source of CO2 emissions. Recent legislation aims to reduce greenhouse gasses (GHG) emissions from operations in the private sector. Still, ITSC has consistently invested in sustainable operations and stays well ahead of government-imposed regulations and timelines. In particular, they were interested in switching from diesel to electric vehicles (EVs). EVs are a significant investment of time and resources, especially considering the diverse needs of ITSC’s mixed fleet. They put together a systematic, data-driven plan for electrifying their fleet, starting with a pilot.

Vital Energy, a leading energy company, was seeking ways to increase productivity, lower production costs, avoid downtime, and prevent asset failures. The company's Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESP) played a critical role in their operations, but the manual methods for ESP monitoring and optimization were time-consuming, expensive, and prone to human error. Vital Energy wanted to create an AI-based solution for ESP optimization that would automatically recommend ESP operating parameters, provide visualization of all necessary data, and allow for feedback, input limitations, and operating constraints.

Industrial facilities, municipalities, hospitals and universities nationwide depend upon steam carried through pipes to heat their buildings. Unfortunately, the reliability of steam systems also leads to them being forgotten or poorly maintained until it’s too late, resulting in uninsulated distribution components and faulty steam traps (leaks) that can lose hundreds or even thousands of dollars a day in wasted energy. That’s why Embedded Energy Technology (EET) teamed up with Thermaxx Jackets to create a next-generation solution for steam pipe insulation. They wanted to develop a product that not only insulated pipes, but also used technology monitor the system for leaks and heat loss. Ideally this solution would install in minutes, have no wires, and avoid the need for costly construction.

In tandem with its 6 year-long smart meter rollout plan, Con Edison sought to implement Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) operations on top of a comprehensive enterprise data analytics platform for improved operational insight and customer service for its base of more than four million customers. In order to improve customer service and operations across its region, one of the largest integrated utilities in the United States has rolled out the C3 AI Suite and C3 AMI Operations application on AWS. Con Edison’s project objectives were to deliver on the utility’s commitments for presenting customer data, establish AMI operations across 5 million smart meters to ensure operational health, and build a federated data image platform for analytic capabilities. The utility’s smart meter deployment will generate between 100 terabytes and 1 petabyte of data per year, so choosing a platform that could scale and continue to perform analytics on an ever-larger data set was vital.

To extract shale oil and gas, specialized equipment is used to fracture rock via a process called hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”). To do this efficiently, users must know when their equipment needs maintenance. If the equipment stops working while in the well, millions of dollars are lost due to downtime and logistics. Additionally, our client, a major oilfield equipment company, needed a way to make their product stand out. They wanted to accomplish this by providing oil and gas software solutions but had no idea on how to develop and deliver software in the cloud.

ALCAN Systems, a start-up founded in 2016, aimed to create a low-cost smart antenna system for cellular and satellite communication. The company was developing liquid-crystal-based phased-array antennas that allow high-performance electronic beam-steering in a compact, lightweight package. However, the development of these innovative antennas posed significant challenges. Traditional mobile technology used omnidirectional antennas that provided coverage from as many directions as possible. This approach was not suitable for the future of satellite broadband and millimeter-wave 5G. For these technologies to work effectively, the end-user needed a constant line of sight to the satellite, which required a very high directivity and gain to maintain contact without excessive power use. The same was true for 5G, especially at very high frequencies where loss from waves passing through the air and other materials was much higher. ALCAN Systems needed a solution that could overcome these challenges and deliver reliable high-speed data links in challenging environments.

Gexa Energy, a leading retail electricity provider in Texas, was seeking to introduce new demand response programs for its commercial and industrial customers in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market. The challenge was to provide a platform that would allow these customers to lower their energy bills by adjusting their energy consumption during peak energy demand or high wholesale electricity prices. The solution needed to be intelligent, scalable, and offer both manual and automated options for adjusting energy consumption. The demand response programs needed to include Emergency Response Service (ERS), Real-Time Price Response (RTPR), and 4 Coincident Peak (4CP).

The V2X systems use a sophisticated Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)-based approach to facilitate trusted communication:V2X systems use Elliptical Curve Cryptography (ECC). Device must be able to securely and efficiently generate ECC keysThe random numbers generator must have high entropyRoot-certificates must be protected by usage of secured storageDevice must have tamper resistance, including physical attacksPrivate keys must have protection against side channel attacksPrivate keys must to be protected and used securely › V2X device are required to generate up to 40 messages per second. The signing latency must be low to support this frequency

The motto of the automotive industry is: Time is money. Machine downtime must be prevented to avoid costly production outages. The EDAG Group had been commissioned to implement predictive maintenance for a customer, requiring a combination of intelligent software and high-performance hardware.

Global Unichip Corporation (GUC), Taiwan’s sixth largest integrated circuit (IC) design company, faced challenges in managing its intricate supply chain. The company aimed to function as a key design hub integrating IP providers and IC design partners. However, internal processes were disjointed with departments operating in silos and unsynchronized communication between systems. Project status reports were inaccurate due to manual weekly updates. Managing product issues was resource-intensive and problem-solving knowledge was not accumulated or compiled into a database. Furthermore, GUC needed to continually communicate, coordinate, and collaborate with various business partners such as wafer manufacturers, packaging plants, and test plants after each project completion. This necessitated a comprehensive project management integration platform to handle complex internal and external business processes.

Hyundai AutoEver, a key player in supporting Hyundai Motor Group’s IT initiatives, was faced with the challenge of modernizing their applications and technology to provide personalized digital experiences for drivers. With over four million Hyundai vehicles connected to the cloud, a number expected to increase annually, the company needed to strengthen their expertise in embedded automotive software to bridge the gap between the car and mobility ecosystems. A specific example of this was their Bluelink® mobile app, a luxurious, connected car service offering various features such as remote start, door lock and unlock, on-demand diagnostics and alerts, destination search, and remote car finder.

Halvor Lines, a trucking company with a strong commitment to driver safety, was facing the challenge of protecting their drivers and the company from false claims in an increasingly litigious environment. The company was in search of a video and vision-based recognition safety program that could align with their existing driver safety and recognition strategies. They wanted a solution that would not only strengthen their industry-leading initiatives but also be driver-friendly, helping to develop driver skills and enhance positive safety habits. The solution needed to provide significant value without requiring the inside lens of the truck to be turned on, a feature that could potentially alienate drivers.

Larsen & Toubro Infotec (LTI), a global IT services company, was facing two primary challenges at their Bengaluru facility. Firstly, the lack of automation for their HVAC & Lighting system was leading to uneven temperature distribution, resulting in numerous employee complaints. The facility management team was spending a significant amount of their time addressing these issues. Secondly, the company was dealing with high energy wastage and consequently, high energy bills. During a site survey, 75F, an IoT solutions provider, identified an opportunity to save substantial amounts of energy through predictive, proactive automation of LTI’s HVAC & Lighting systems, which would also enhance operational efficiency and remote visibility.

The complex Business requirements and existing Legacy platforms posed challenges for Geith. Given the size of business, the costs had to be kept under strict control so as to justify the business case and extract the expected returns. Moreover, the implementation timelines were to be kept at a minimum, so as to avoid business disruption.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), a diversified utilities and energy group with multiple vertically integrated operating units and US$49 billion in assets, was facing several challenges. For over a decade, TAQA had outsourced the management of its critical business processes, run on Oracle E-Business Suite, to Oracle Managed Cloud Services. However, in 2020, the company decided to adopt a multicloud strategy to address key issues. These included the need to improve system availability and reduce outages, enhance security compliance requirements, and implement a disaster recovery site for Oracle E-Business Suite. TAQA, being an Oracle Database, Oracle Middleware, and Oracle applications customer since its inception in 2005, decided to stick with the technology provider it knew best.

Toyota Kreditbank's BI team was looking for a new solution to standardize the data model, renew the technical infrastructure and implement a unified methodology for each country to deliver its data in a standard XML format and on a daily basis. The team would then only need to do the sourcing once and reapply for each country.

A large U.S.-based manufacturer of high-performance semiconductors was facing a significant challenge in optimizing the manufacturing process of its wireless products. The company, which designs and delivers a broad set of cutting-edge products including radio frequency filters, amplifiers, modulators, attenuators, and more, was experiencing lower than expected overall yield in some of its most complex products. This was affecting the company's productivity and profitability, and there was a need for a solution that could predict low-yield wafers early in the process and identify process improvements to increase overall yield.

Decathlon, the world’s largest sporting goods retailer, was faced with a mold injection problem on a small component for shooting glasses that connects the frame to the lenses. The company was seeking a solution that would avoid the expense of tooling and increase efficiency in production. They decided to test the new 3D stacking solution developed by 3D Systems to evaluate additive manufacturing for production. After conducting a feasibility study on the Figure 4 solution and stacking feature, Decathlon’s teams confirmed the productivity and economics of additive manufacturing and decided that this solution could be considered for batch-run production of the final product.

Diversified Funding, Inc. (DFI) recently purchased the Apartments at Remington Pond in West Warwick, Rhode Island, and embarked on a major renovation project, including the installation of new Fire Alarm Systems in each of the seven buildings. The challenge for DFI was to ensure that the apartment building met the latest fire alarm codes, including the new sleeping room requirements listed in both the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 72 National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code and the NFPA 720 Standard for Installation Carbon Monoxide (CO) Detection and Warning Equipment. These codes require that audible appliances in sleeping areas produce different low frequency alarm signals - T3 for fire and T4 for Carbon Monoxide (CO) detection. To meet these requirements, DFI hired PowerComm Systems, a leading fire alarm and security provider in Rhode Island.

Effectively securing its generation and transmission operations required the company to confront and overcome the following challenges:Inherently insecure OT networks: Complex and widely distributed architecture, limited OT visibility, and inadequate security controls gave attackers hundreds of possible entry points into the company’s OT networks.OT redundancy: The redundancy of the company’s OT environment meant that attacks were typically only detected if they caused immediate, easily noticeable damage. Heavy reliance on OT remote access: The company’s power plants utilize a large number of unmanned power generation units and also rely on multiple vendors to maintain and service their heat recovery generation systems (HRGS). 

The Master Lock Company (TMLC), the largest global manufacturer and marketer of padlocks and personal safes, was facing challenges due to its fast-paced global growth. The company was expanding its operations in new markets across Asia, Central America, and Europe, which meant onboarding significant numbers of additional trading partners, each with their own specific local requirements. TMLC’s retail business depended on electronic data interchange (EDI) to effectively communicate with its global base of trading partners. However, with an average of 40 new trading partners to onboard every year, the company’s lean EDI team was approaching its limits. The company was aware that they would soon need to add at least three full-time equivalents (FTEs) to the EDI team just to keep up with the increasing complexity. The challenge was to find a way to manage the rising requirements without driving up costs.

Smart Wires, a Silicon Valley-based developer of grid-optimized solutions, faced several challenges in its mission to transform how power grids are operated worldwide. The energy market was grappling with an aging, inefficient electrical grid prone to bottlenecks, and a growing demand for renewable energy sources. This situation was further complicated by the need to deliver products affordably amidst cost pressures. Smart Wires also needed a strong supply chain partner with a global reach to compete with large, multinational competitors. Their highly complex products required manufacturing collaboration and processes to expedite innovation while meeting rigorous safety and reliability requirements.

The Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst for the FinTech sector, accelerating investments and technological progress. However, data and technology remain significant challenges, hindering further progress for FinTechs and their partnering traditional financial institutions. Among FinTechs globally, 81 percent have reported data to be their biggest technical challenge. These data issues are split between leveraging data for AI-ML (faced by 41 percent) and connecting to customer applications and data systems (faced by 40 percent). Other data issues faced by FinTechs include security (40 percent) and deployment in multiple clouds (39 percent). The consequences of these data issues include trouble innovating further due to a lack of clear picture about the type of products and services that customers require and about the businesses themselves. The inability to connect to customer applications directly impacts the user experience and the ability to offer their present products to the wider customer base. These issues also hinder securing partnerships with incumbent banks, and more seriously, regulatory compliance.

A client of an agency aimed to construct an Employee Happiness solution for its South-East Asian campuses. The challenge was to design, build, and implement an automated solution that could effectively measure employee happiness and job satisfaction. The client wanted to utilize IoT for gathering employee feedback and work with cross-functional teams to build and monitor an effective employee welfare solution. The task was not only to collect feedback but also to analyze it and generate meaningful campaigns based on the varying needs of the employees.

Seeks to improve operational decision-making, safety management and sustainability.A key element in these initiatives is asset maintenance, representing approximately 25% of Cameco’s overall operating costs at its mining operations. Improving asset management began with automating data collection.Cameco had struggled to analyze multiple regular condition monitoring data from assets in the past. As a result, the company found it hard to understand what went wrong in the event of asset failure.

Icomera, a leading provider of integrated connectivity solutions for public transport, aimed to launch the world’s first rail-certified 5G mobile connectivity and applications router, the Icomera X5. The challenge was to find a solution that would provide reliable 4G LTE fallback where 5G networks were not yet available. The solution also needed to function across Icomera’s multiple operating regions. The goal was to create a router that could deliver the fastest, most reliable connection possible for rail operators and passengers, supporting multiple resource-intensive systems simultaneously.

Tata BlueScope Steel, a leading steel company in the Asia Pacific region, was facing several challenges in its cybersecurity landscape. The company was struggling with a lag in real-time monitoring and frequent endpoint security issues related to security management. Their defensive approach to cybersecurity was proving to be inadequate in an evolving threat landscape. The lack of a Security Operations Center (SOC) to monitor the organization’s security environment 24x7 was a significant concern. The company was also aware of the increasing sophistication of threats and the need to neutralize them before they targeted their IT ecosystem. Additionally, the organization had experienced multiple phishing incidents, and addressing them was a key challenge. The pandemic-induced remote working scenario further exacerbated the situation, making the workforce more susceptible to attacks. Tata BlueScope wanted to extend security to employees working remotely and address the risk from zero-day attacks.

Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) needed a consistent and thorough approach for training inspectors to assess road defaults such as holes, cracks, and more. The level of wear and tear on the roadways determines the amount of money that districts in Georgia receive for repairs, so it was important that all assessments were judged by the same standards.

Ribbon Communications utilizes outsourced inventory management and integration model. Its customer Service Level Agreements (SLAs) require the company (and its supply chain partners) to have enough inventory on-hand to fulfill customer orders around the globe immediately. This is complicated by the fact that Ribbon Communications offers multiple base platforms of its solution with more than 20 different configurations. Keeping all the necessary inventory to fulfill customer demand on hand would pose a financial and logistical burden for any company.Ribbon Communications has fully virtualized its product portfolio, enabling the company to benefit from the economics of a software-based business model-higher profit margins and fewer inventory risks - and lessen the impact of a capital-intensive, small margin model required in hardware. However, hardware is still an important aspect of the Ribbon Communications solution. Many customers still expect fully engineered systems with support, locked-down bill of materials (BOMs) and firmware management included.Ribbon Communications saw an opportunity to change the way it managed its supply chain operations in a way that benefited its customers and themselves. But it needed the right partner. One that could help it coordinate and integrate the hardware and related service and support requirements of its solutions and take on the economic and supply chain implications that went with them. One that could also assure its customers were getting the same, highly engineered, and high-performance solution Ribbon Communications expected.

SRC Inc., a not-for-profit research and development company, faced a significant challenge when transitioning from small-run R&D projects to full-scale manufacturing for large volume contracts. The company needed a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution that would allow them to scale and provide the flexibility to continuously innovate and build new solutions. The challenge was further complicated by the company's decision to develop a Windows-based client to improve performance and to stick with their fully custom version, which had served them well for a long time. However, this decision led to them being isolated from the improvements and enhancements coming out from Aras, the PLM solution provider. SRC Inc. had to make a decision about the best way to move forward, considering the many customizations they had made and the cost of replacing Aras Innovator with multiple systems.