Rapid prototyping made possible by low cost entry point, builds confidence and vision

The progression from prototype to a working solution often occurs within 3-10 days. It’s not hard to get excited about how to implement a working solution once everyone can see the data start to flow. By showing people what kind of data they can collect and analyze after such a short period of time, with very low investment in equipment – basically using a combination of a Raspberry Pi and an industry board – the workshop attendees quickly realize the possibilities of rapidly prototyping ideas, trying different approaches – which leads to a better understanding of what kind of data do we want to collect and analyze. With any problem, identifying the right questions to ask is the first step to getting answers that can help solve business problems.

For example, when you know that one machine starts to have quality problems when it heats up beyond a certain temperature, there’s no point in measuring the number of scrapped parts if you can work on a solution that measures temperature and immediately reacts, therefore preventing the problem in the first place.

Sell the problem you solve, not your product

Eric-Jan’s approach doesn’t lead with technology, but rather focuses on the people who are trying to solve a challenge within their organization. Understanding an organization’s problem in the context of how the leadership team will benefit from the use of data to improve operational efficiency and productivity is the secret sauce. He describes it as follows:

“When we go in, we start by talking to the maintenance teams, the production department, the workers on the shop floor because they sometimes know better when the machine is going to break because they have the right gut-feeling for spotting problems. Some of them have stood there for 35 years – they don’t need a sensor. They know it because they recognize the smell that the machine makes when it overheats. We call them the Machine Whisperers.

If you work with them directly and show them working prototypes, we can really understand the problems they are having. Only then we can go to the IT department with specific requests.

What we bring with IcoSense is the view that the industrial IoT is not just technical. What is the use of having that data in real-time if you still need 12 weeks for internal decision making to solve the problem? If you want to have real time data you also need to have real time decision making. Otherwise you lose the benefit."

The way people in the company interact, and the overall culture is critically important to transforming the business. Simply getting a new dashboard with real-time data is not sufficient and that is where Eric-Jan’s background as a leader becomes critical to successfully shepherding an organization through the process of transformation.

Accelerated learning within an organization form the building blocks of change

Through this method IcoSense is working with many clients that want to take advantage of better data and automation to modernize their organization. It takes a visionary leader to present them with the opportunity to experiment and to use data at the core of their business. It starts with Lego blocks and iterates through design thinking and prototyping to help people at every level of the organization be more effective through the use of data.

“You can never know where things will be in the next 3-10 years. [holding up an iPhone] this thing changed the world in 8 years. When I think about manufacturing I think about new technologies like IoT, blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, and 3D printing that represent new and unknown territories. There is no book of standards for implementing IoT. The constraints are not clear and there are infinite degrees of freedom. In this case you have to prototype and experiment.”