Learn about four examples of how Digital Human and AI technologies can help asset intensive organisations perform better.
As leading-edge technologies like AI and Digital Humans are becoming ever more efficient, accurate and accessible, more and more companies are starting to realise the numerous benefits they can offer.
Asset intensive organisations in particular have been at the forefront of exploring and applying AI to help address the challenges resulting from loss of talent, knowledge silos, ageing infrastructure and rising maintenance costs.
Here are four examples of how asset intensive organisations can benefit from Digital Human and AI technologies.
AI, Digital Humans and solutions like IBM's Equipment Maintenance Assistant are able to process and analyse vast amounts of structured and unstructured data associated with a piece of equipment's repairs, work order history, technical documents, specification diagrams, industry blogs, and more. Unlike humans, who are only able to consider a portion of the data in their decisions and actions, Digital Humans can process and analyse all of it at once.
Based on that data, AI identifies early warning signs and identifies and communicates the optimal repair or service procedure for technicians to execute. It also continuously learns from the technicians’ interactions and uses this feedback to improve future recommendations. As a result, maintenance technicians are better informed and can work more efficiently with access to more data than any one person could ever memorise and process.
Seventy percent of service organisations expect that loss of talent and knowledge will be one of their significant challenges in the new future. Many of them are starting to look to AI as the solution.
Digital humans can be used to capture knowledge and make it accessible to a broader audience. As many utilities and heavy industry enterprises face the challenge that their baby-boomer engineers will retire soon, this technology can be incredibly valuable in making sure knowledge is captured and easily accessible.
Digital Humans can help organisations tap into the collective wisdom of current and past engineers and maintenance workers, processing and analysing that wisdom and making it accessible in a structured and relevant way that helps everyone be more efficient and safe.
For example, IBM Equipment Maintenance Assistant can help organisations move to standardised and optimised maintenance procedures executed by every technician at the level of the best technician. It enables lean practices of standard work, even for the intrinsic knowledge that today only exists in the heads of the most experienced technicians.
With the Internet of Things connecting assets and generating an ever-increasing amount of data, many asset intensive organisations now face a new challenge: How to process and analyse all of the available data to make the best decisions.
For most organisations, the amount of data that is generated daily has long ago surpassed what any single human could process. To make decisions that take all available data points into account, humans need the help of AI and machine learning. Digital Humans can help make it easier for leaders and decision makers to engage with the available data and extract the parts most relevant to a specific decision.
Instead of having to work with algorithms or doing lengthy text-based searches, decision makers can engage via a digital human interface, making it easier and faster to extract the relevant information.
Engaging staff to ensure they are productive, motivated, informed and safe is crucial for any organisation that aims to perform at the top of its field. This is especially true for asset intensive organisations where operational efficiency is vital to success and staff often operate in challenging and, at times, dangerous environments.
Due to their ability to provide insights in a personalised manner and their infinite patience, a Digital Humans can help train and coach staff in a personalised way, provide information as and when needed, gather feedback and generally optimise and personalise the work experience of each employee.
These are just four examples of how AI and Digital Humans can help asset intensive organisations perform better. As technologies will continue to evolve, many more benefits and use cases are likely to emerge.