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Capgemini's Accelerated Delivery Center (ADC) in Utrecht, the Netherlands, wanted to establish a more predictable and repeatable approach to agile development to keep up with customer demand. The center sought a solution that included strongly defined processes that incorporated set guidelines, templates, checklists, preferred practices and flexibility. The ADC also needed the solution to comply with its quality-control standards and Maturity Level 3 of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) process-improvement approach. Finally, the business wanted a solution that could run in the Capgemini Rightshore global-delivery-model environment.

CareCore National, a specialty benefit management company, was facing challenges with its software development processes. The company was using a reactive, project-focused approach that was not providing the speed and responsiveness needed to meet customer needs. The lack of integration between development applications was hindering overall speed. The company was tracking requirements and work items using Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS) software. However, many stakeholders were still submitting requirements using email or other methods, making it difficult to gain a comprehensive picture of all the requirements needed. As a result, 70 percent of the company’s software defects were attributed to poor requirements development. The company wanted to overhaul its processes and shift from a project-focused approach to a more strategic approach.

Servizi Informatici Bankadati, a technology service company for a banking group in Italy, was undergoing a fundamental shift from a product-centric to a customer-centric business model. This new model demanded unprecedented IT and process flexibility and agility. The company oversees more than 2,000 business processes for banking customers, which fall into two classes: 15 highly articulated processes that affect the core business of the bank and 1,500 low-complexity processes. Bankadati needed a process management platform that would handle both types.

Fraport AG operates Frankfurt International Airport and is involved in 12 other airports around the world. To succeed in this highly competitive industry, the company needs to keep its costs as low as possible while maintaining excellent service levels. The SAP® systems are a key component of operations at Frankfurt International Airport; but data volumes were growing rapidly, making these systems increasingly expensive to support. Due to these large data volumes – and the resultant need for additional high-speed disk storage and processing power – the cost of maintaining the SAP environment was rising rapidly. Fraport began to look for ways to improve the situation, and IBM suggested migrating from Oracle to the DB2 database platform.

ISS Consulting, an SAP solution consulting partner, was facing challenges in demonstrating SAP software to potential clients due to the cost and complexity of creating specific SAP demonstration instances on the on-premise data center. This resulted in the company not being able to reliably produce more than a few high-quality sales presentations per month. The data center servers used to run the SAP demonstration instances also ran general business applications, which affected the performance of the SAP solution. The local IT team tasked with creating the new demo environments were often busy with other tasks, further complicating the situation.

Banca Carige, a leading Italian bank, was facing intense competition and wanted to develop a customer-centric approach to service delivery. However, it first needed to gain a deeper understanding of customer needs and desires. The bank was looking for a robust and trustworthy platform for its new analytics and mobile capabilities. As banking customers increasingly embrace web and mobile technologies, their expectations for 24/7 service are growing. For Banca Carige, this raises the stakes for ensuring round-the-clock availability for its digital channels.

HANSA-FLEX, a hydraulics specialist, differentiates itself through the speed of its logistics processes. However, as the business grew, it faced the challenge of ensuring that its SAP landscape would keep up the pace. The company's previous server landscape, which was based on larger, monolithic servers, needed regular upgrades, which could lead to downtime. This was a significant challenge as HANSA-FLEX uses SAP ERP applications to operate a global network of branches and a fleet of express vehicles that enable its technicians to respond rapidly to failures and maintenance requests. The company needed a more flexible, modular configuration, where it could expand capacity as needed with minimal impact on its 12 production systems.

The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to an explosion of data from various sources. This data, if processed and understood correctly, can unlock new insights, exceed customer expectations, and provide a competitive edge. However, traditional databases struggle to handle high-velocity time-series data efficiently. Businesses that create, distribute, transport, re-sell or service physical products can benefit from sensor-sourced data that follows the movement of goods through the entire value chain, from manufacture to usage. For service industries, the opportunity is to blend environmental data with customer data to create innovative offerings. The challenge lies in gathering and processing these huge volumes of time-series data.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) needed to satisfy customer demand for access to financial services anytime, anywhere, through any device. The bank sought to launch these new services using only its existing IT assets. In today’s banking environment financial institutions compete on the ability to quickly launch products and services and deliver them through new channels. As BTMU developed a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) platform to realize this “cloud-banking” concept it found that long-term effective use of existing business systems and information was essential. The bank's biggest priority was to ensure zero impact on existing systems.

SinfoníaRx, a leader in Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services, was facing a challenge of managing and analyzing vast amounts of prescription data for millions of patients. The company needed to ensure fast, accurate analysis of this data to improve patient outcomes and save healthcare providers millions. The complexity of modern healthcare, with thousands of prescription drugs approved for use, made it difficult for doctors and pharmacists to determine the right combinations of medication for each patient. SinfoníaRx was established to address these needs by pioneering modern Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services. However, as demand for its healthcare data analytics services rocketed, SinfoníaRx needed a data-processing platform capable of huge scalability and uninterrupted performance.

The majority of network functions can now be hosted on Intel architecture-based servers. This has led to the expanded use of virtualized universal customer premises equipment (uCPE) networking systems that can deliver branch office networking functions with the capacity for additional virtual network functions (VNFs) that let communications service providers (CommSPs) deploy custom, value-added services. Kapsch CarrierCom, a global producer, supplier, and systems integrator of end-to-end telecommunications solutions, chose Advantech as its CPE hardware vendor, and together they have developed a comprehensive network customer deployment solution leveraging software contributions from an ecosystem of software vendors, including Cloudify, the TOSCA-based provider of management and orchestration (MANO).

Xiaomeisha SeaWorld, one of the biggest aquariums and theme parks in China, aimed to enhance visitor experience by installing interactive wayfinding kiosks in its eight exhibition buildings. However, the original kiosks, composed of a 32" touchscreen and a digital signage box, malfunctioned due to the high humidity in the aquarium. Moreover, the kiosks broke after only a few months of use. Therefore, the customer decided to look for a more rugged and attractive replacement kiosk solution that could provide stable operation in heavy-duty and high humidity environments, reflect SeaWorld’s premium image, and run interactive software smoothly.

The city of Lima was looking for a fleet management solution that would facilitate the city’s garbage truck fleet monitoring and waste management operations. They needed an in-vehicle solution that could monitor vehicle movements, diagnostics, and, crucially, driver behavior. The customer required the ability to log driver behavior and routes to ensure compliance with city safety regulations. The system’s power supply, shock resistance, and core temperature range should be suitable for operation in harsh environments. In-vehicle computers should conform to several special requirements. For example, older trucks tend to have an unstable power supply, excessive noise, and insufficient voltage, which hinder system activation. When connected to peripheral devices, a sudden voltage surge can damage the motherboard, and bumpy roads may cause power outages or computer failures. Moreover, systems without a wide operating temperature range cannot perform consistently in extremely hot or cold weather.

SetiBT, a specialist IT services provider based in Brazil, was approached by a large fuel and lubricant transportation company for an in-vehicle fuel transportation solution. The company operates a substantial fleet of tankers that supply fuel to remote locations such as sugarcane processing plants, construction sites, and mining operations. The challenge was to manage the fuel loading processes for specialist equipment in the field, inhibit fraud and fuel theft, and increase the accuracy of data acquisition to better control costs. The system also needed to be capable of automatically identifying the equipment being fueled, including tank size and type of fuel required, as well as synchronizing with the vehicle’s horometer, odometer, and GPS. These functions would offer a clear breakdown of each vehicle’s productivity, status, and risk, thereby providing customers with accurate data to increase efficiency and reduce costs.

CPC Corporation, Taiwan's leading enterprise in the development and supply of petroleum and natural gas, faced a challenge in ensuring operational efficiency in semi-outdoor environments. The company needed a high-performance POS system that could withstand environmental challenges associated with gas stations, including resistance to water, dust, shock, and oil. Additionally, the company needed to protect their customer database from unauthorized employee access, making traditional POS systems inappropriate.

The hypermarket industry is intensely competitive, and satisfying customer demands and increasing brand loyalty are the primary business challenges for Far Eastern A.mart. To increase customer loyalty, Far Eastern A.mart planned to establish loyalty programs that encourage increased purchasing. They wanted a wall-mountable POS system that could be used to check product prices and customer reward points in real-time to enhance the overall service quality.

DB Schenker, a globally active and integrated logistics service provider, aimed to implement new and innovative service stations that integrate delivery service orders, information inquires, and payment processing, to enhance customer convenience. The plan was to install self-service POS systems in convenience stores throughout Sweden. These self-service kiosks would allow customers to send and track postal packages, pay bills, and conduct other financial transactions autonomously. Because the POS systems would be operated by the customers themselves, the hardware needed to be extremely durable and reliable. Furthermore, to facilitate efficient and continual operation, easy-to-maintain hardware was required.

The automotive industry is characterized by high quality expectations, product variety, and process complexity. Globalization and increasing customer requirements have forced car manufacturers to offer a large range of vehicle models and options. This complexity, coupled with the pressure of international competition, makes efficient logistics a challenge. The industry also faces the challenge of ensuring that a vast variety of car components supplied by various sources in different countries is delivered to the production plant on time. This requires well-engineered mobile computing solutions. Another challenge is the just-in-sequence production principle, which requires the delivery of the correct individual automotive parts to every workplace in the production line, in the exact sequence in which the vehicles are being assembled.

Nippon Valqua Industries, a leading manufacturer of industrial packing and gaskets, faced the challenge of extending the service life of weld bellows. The bellows consist of an accordion-folded frame formed with elaborate metal disks cut out of corrugated plates, of which the inner and outer edges are alternately welded. The welded bellows have elastic and airtight features and are applied for seal application, such as ultra-high vacuum valves for the semiconductor industry, wafer processing equipment and single-crystal grower, as well as gyroscopes, accumulator and dampers used for aerospace vehicles. To extend the service life, it was critical to optimize the shape of corrugated plates comprising welded parts. For the design of welded bellows that receive concentrated reaction force on/around welded parts, it was critical to create a corrugated plate best suited to disperse such concentrated reaction force.

China’s metal manufacturing industry faces numerous challenges, including a lack of standardized communication interfaces, low-level intelligence in existing equipment, and a low level of informatization in existing systems. YCM, a leader in machine tool manufacturing, is not exempt from these challenges. With the advent of Industry 4.0 and new trends in IoT, YCM faces huge challenges in making their manufacturing smarter using digitized information and visualized data intelligence. Rapid changes in the marketplace, emerging market competition, limited resources and sustainability, slow growth, labor shortages and transitioning business integration are common problems in China’s metal manufacturing industry. To overcome these challenges, YCM needed to focus on process management that yields decreased time-to-market while delivering high-quality and competitive product pricing.

RE-DAI Precision Tools, a leading hand tool manufacturer in Taiwan, was facing significant challenges due to its traditional industrial manufacturing and management model. The company had a diverse portfolio of production machinery acquired over the years, which led to a haphazard approach to managing the machinery. The challenge for Impelex was to implement a real-time system that monitored machine operations and incorporated a mobile dashboard to prevent power outages and improve overall production efficiency. RE-DAI needed a fully mature communication solution to unify and control all the disparate systems on one platform.

Nippon RAD, a long-established IT system integrator in Japan, identified a significant challenge in the country's automotive industry. Many auto component manufacturers were struggling to effectively collect and visualize machine data from production lines, especially from different machines, purchased from different suppliers, each with multiple protocols. With an expanding portfolio of multi-branded production machinery acquired over a prolonged period of time, manufacturers felt unable to properly meet the challenges of increased competition and change management. The lack of real-time connectivity between people, machines, and devices, as well as information and communication technologies for the dynamic management of the ever-increasing complexity of the business process, was a major issue.

In Thailand’s export-oriented economy, manufacturing is the primary driver of economic development and growth. However, globalization provides increasing opportunities to sell Thai products around the world, it also fosters fierce competition between rival companies. In this ever more competitive market environment, manufacturers must leverage every innovation available to maximize the value and efficiency of their production lines. Yet, most factories in Thailand have limited space for new equipment. Facilities also vary widely in terms of environmental conditions and the ease of adding new cabling. Moreover, with limited margins leaving little funding for infrastructure investments, most Thai manufacturers cannot afford to even replace existing equipment. Considering these constraints, an effective equipment monitoring system must be sufficiently compact and flexible to allow installation in diverse factory environments and to support a wide range of machinery and equipment.

The production lines of a Japanese auto parts manufacturer required cutting-edge precision and coordination. The company faced a specific problem hindering the coordination of their production lines; namely, the inability to efficiently collect and visualize data from their FANUC CNC machines. The company needed a means of easily collecting and displaying data on power and air consumption as well as grinding wheel wear, which were to be used for machine analysis. However, the manufacturer’s in-house operations and IT engineers lacked the time and knowledge to establish an effective strategy.

A semiconductor equipment manufacturer in Korea was facing issues with their production line monitoring and management. The existing system lacked important capabilities needed for efficient data collection, visualization, and utilization. Individual line workers had no means of quickly reporting production problems, and important information regarding the problems that did occur often went unrecorded, allowing them to reoccur with unacceptable frequency. The company’s most critical need was ensuring the ability to collect, visualize, and utilize critical data as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The EMS company's clients were facing a challenge with their production line machines. Although various sensors collected critical data from these machines, the data was not consolidated in the cloud nor visualized to facilitate critical improvements to the production line and prevent costly interruptions. The company needed a solution that could provide seamless data integration and visualization to optimize production efficiency and preemptively maintain the machines to prevent unexpected system downtime.

The home appliance manufacturer in Thailand was facing challenges in tracking productivity and key parameters of the process. In modern manufacturing, production lines for different types of products share certain fundamental commonalities. By actively managing production line assets, manufacturers can ensure that production is optimized. However, the data provided by various production line assets is sometimes contradictory or unclear due to the sensors, meters, or PLC controllers being limited in connectivity or because different devices from different vendors may each have their own proprietary protocols.

The Indonesian manufacturer, a leading provider of key solutions to corporate partners worldwide, was seeking to enhance its production line efficiency. The company needed equipment monitoring solutions to bolster the output of its production line processes. The challenge was to find a solution that was compact and flexible enough to be installed in diverse factory environments and support a wide range of machinery and equipment. The company also faced budget constraints due to the realities of global competition, which limited funding for infrastructure investments.

Yeefung Robotics Technology, a leading provider of comprehensive Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and revolutionary parking solutions in China, was seeking comprehensive hardware and AGV controller solutions. The company wanted to leverage the benefits of Industry 4.0 to ensure that robotics and AGVs work at maximum efficiency with virtually no downtime, leading to reduced costs and increased profits. However, to ensure comprehensive monitoring and flexibility, smart factory AGVs must perform multiple arithmetic operations at speeds that traditional programmable logic controllers (PLCs) simply cannot handle.

The Ching Luh Group, a leading sports footwear manufacturer, was facing the challenge of automating the collection of real-time production information from manual transcription. The traditional approach of manually recording and entering data into a computer system was cumbersome, slow, and prone to errors and inconsistencies. This outdated method prevented managers from having a firm grasp of the real-time production status, hindering the ability to make meaningful improvements. In today’s fiercely competitive market with rapidly changing customer demands, a shoemaker that persists with this outdated approach risks devastation at the hands of competitors. With the advent of Industry 4.0 and associated smart factory technologies, shoemakers and other textile manufacturers must adapt or die, sink or swim.