Leveraging IoT and Automation for Business Resilience During COVID-19

The client faces complex material handling due to non-standard load dimensions and weight, increasing safety risks and load handling damages.

As each mast section needs a total of 222 reliable welds, manufacturing them is an extremely labor intensive process.Until recently, STROS had to use highly skilled welders to make these sections. Although it has been using robots for 25 years, these machines could not manage the complex arc welds in narrow spaces needed for these particular components. Consequently, in order to produce a satisfactory number of mast sections it had to employ three welders per shift at three separate workstations to make these pieces. Apart from the obvious outlay this required in terms of manpower and space, STROS found it increasingly difficult to recruit the highly qualified welders needed for this work. That's why in 2007 the company decided to hold a tender for the complete robotization of its manufacturing process for mast sections. Of the four firms who participated, only the ABB group could fulfill all its requirements.

Menora Mivtachim, one of Israel's largest pension fund and insurance carriers, was facing a significant challenge due to demographic trends in Israel. The growing rate of retirement planning and services was putting unprecedented pressure on the already strained insurance sector. The pension claims process was bottlenecked with complexities, bureaucracy, and errors. Menora Mivtachim's existing pension process was heavily manual and spreadsheet-based, requiring a team of 10 full-time employees to manage. The process involved gathering applicant information, conducting personal surveys, compiling bank information, and finalizing agreements. To leverage the growing opportunity in the retirement sector and position themselves as innovative insurtech leaders, Menora Mivtachim needed to digitalize their process, streamline the claims experience, and reduce quote times through automated processes.

The mining industry, a significant contributor to global economic activity with revenues exceeding USD 500 billion, is facing a challenge of improving efficiency and profitability. The industry is gradually shifting its focus towards automation as the next area of opportunity. Boliden, one of the world's most successful mining companies, operates the Aitik mine, the largest open pit in Europe. The Aitik mine is expanding, and with the increase in production from 36 million metric tons of ore to 45 million metric tons, the amount of rock removed will also increase significantly. However, increasing the number of machines required for rock removal in a busy mine is not a straightforward task. Additionally, every blast creates toxic gases that need to dissipate before humans can enter the area and begin excavation. The challenge lies in improving efficiency, managing the increased production, and ensuring safety in the harsh mining environment.

ANZ Bank, one of the top 50 banks in the world and the fastest-growing bank in Indonesia, was facing a challenge with its rapidly increasing transaction volume. The bank's existing business processes and workflow were becoming overwhelmed. Like most banks in Indonesia, ANZ was manually handling document submission and verification. Customers filled out paper loan applications and supporting documents, then delivered them to bank branches by mail or courier. Branch officers traveled to the bank’s headquarters or used postal mail, email, and phone calls to submit loan documents for verification. Lost or inaccurate documents created more emails and phone calls. Additionally, ANZ had to adhere to strict verification and financial regulations, including the Foreign Accounts Compliance Act. This act requires that all banks outside the United States provide key information about U.S. clients, including citizenship validation, to the Internal Revenue Service–a complex yet crucial process.

In a smart environment of management, control and industrial automation, one of the key elements to anticipate failures and increase productivity is to be able to monitor the status and use of conveyor belts of any kind of sector, whether it is for logistics or manufacturing.