Ohio-based tool distributor Jergens Industrial Supply (JIS) has developed an industrial spin-off of Amazon’s Dash IoT button for retail customers of its products. The Wi-Fi-enabled solution, which simplifies and automates stock replenishment, uses software from Austin-based Epicor. JIS says it has improved productivity by 30 per cent. Epicor said the Amazon-inspired device is helping it…
BT has launched a smart cycling trial with 200 volunteers from its Adastral Park R&D campus and surrounding area in Suffolk, UK, with the aim of testing smart IoT-enabled bike lights to improve the cycling experience, the company said in a blog post. “This innovative use of connected technology helps encourage and protect cyclists locally,…
An NHS trust in Manchester, in the UK, has agreed a £25 million deal with Hitachi Consulting to use advanced data analytics and IoT tools to digitise its processes and optimise its staff resources, in what is billed as the “UK’s first fully integrated hospital-wide digital transformation”. The 10-year project with the Northern Care Alliance…
Qualcomm is working with California-based Trimble to make high accuracy positioning solutions for cellular vehicle-to-everything services (C-V2X) in connected and autonomous vehicles. Qualcomm said it will host Trimble’s RTX sitioning software library on its Snapdragon platforms for the vehicle market. Qualcomm’s 4G and 5G based automotive platforms offer accurate positioning for maintaining in-lane positioning. The…
Factories are bringing intelligence to the production line in a number of ways. Most are focused on integration between machines on the factory floor and leveraging sensor data for actionable insights. Texas-based software firm Epicor identifies certain examples: shop-floor scorecard systems for reviewing performance, touchscreen human-machine interfaces (HMIs) for reporting human-related tracking data, and automated…
Digital transformation, set in motion by industrial IoT, is an abstract exercise. It is not an off-the-shelf kind of a sale. It requires all parties to collaborate to affect change and reinvention, capturing business culture and business practice. Importantly, it also needs to consider the algorithmic minutiae of multiple enterprise functions, and as they impact…
The Port of Marseille Fos, in France, has new discussions with Orange about 5G, a developing relationship with IBM on blockchain, and a host of collaborations with local industry around port innovation, geared towards container handling, traffic management, cyber-security, and renewable energy. Stéphane Reiche, general delegate at the port authority, the Grand Port Maritime de…
No city in the world is ready for the disruption that artificial intelligence (AI) will bring. This is the conclusion of a new review by management consultancy Oliver Wyman, which considers the readiness of 105 cities to cope with AI-inspired digital change, and finds even the smartest need to make urgent and “significant improvements”. The…
Toronto based LPWA challenger BehrTech has released a new wireless smart sensor for environmental monitoring in industrial IoT setups under its MYTHINGS brand. As with all its MYTHINGS family, the new sensor uses telegram-splitting ultra-narrowband (TS-UNB) technology for low-power wide-area (LPWA) connectivity in industrial IoT networks. It goes up against cellular and non-cellular LPWA equivalents,…
In my previous articles here, and here, I explained the rationale for increased focus on device security and its challenges. The threats are more acute, especially from unknown foreign vendors offering predatory pricing. After reading the articles, a few people questioned me about the ills of such a situation and even suggested that the fierce…
