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The Evolution of AI in Manufacturing

The evolution of AI in manufacturing has seen tremendous growth over the past few decades, now becoming more adaptive and collaborative, and being used to augment and directly support frontline workers.

The evolution of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in manufacturing has seen tremendous growth over the past few decades, with astounding leaps in technology and industry-wide transformations.

evolution of ai in manufacturing

Dating back to the 1960’s, manufacturers started using AI in robotics and basic automation. This early usage focused on automating manual, highly repetitive human tasks such as assembly, parts handling, and sorting, allowing for higher levels of production and efficiency.

Over time, this evolved with AI-enabled machine vision systems, which were used to automate visual inspections, allowing for better quality control and precision during production cycles. More recently, AI has been at the center of warehouse automation, as well as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), where physical machines and equipment are embedded with sensors and other technology for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data, which is used in predictive analytics for machine health monitoring. Manufacturers can now glean valuable insights from data collected over time about optimizing their operations for maximum efficiency without sacrificing quality.

Despite the breath of applications that AI has in the industrial setting, there is a common thread across all of the above examples – AI has largely been used to automate highly repetitive or manual tasks, or perform functions designed to replace the human worker.

However, these examples laid the groundwork for the adoption of AI in manufacturing and for the use of AI technologies that augment and directly support frontline workers today.

Read below for more information on how the use of AI and GenAI is evolving in manufacturing, and being used to augment the human worker, transforming productivity and efficiency at a time when workforce optimization is needed most.

Using AI to Augment, not Replace the Workers in our Factories

Today, AI technologies in manufacturing have evolved to encompass a diverse range of applications. According to Deloitte, 86% of surveyed manufacturing executives believe that AI-based factory solutions will be the primary drivers of competitiveness in the next five years. Robotics and automation have become more adaptive and collaborative, working alongside and augmenting human workers to streamline production processes and increase efficiency – rather than simply trying to replace them.

As computing power and algorithmic capabilities improved, AI in manufacturing has become more advanced and widespread. The emergence of Industry 4.0, characterized by the convergence of digital technologies, further accelerated AI’s role in manufacturing. By leveraging tools like connected worker solutions to gather frontline data, manufacturing organizations can now capitalize on AI’s extraordinary computing power to analyze that data and derive actionable insights, improved processes, and more.

Much like the industry has learned to optimize equipment from the 1.7 Petabytes of connected machine data that is being collected yearly, we are now able to optimize frontline work processes and people from highly granular connected worker data, with one major caveat: In order to leverage this incredibly noisy data, a system has to be designed with an AI-first strategy, where the streaming and processing of this data is intrinsic to the platform – not added as an afterthought.

The potential for AI to help augment the human worker is there, but why now?

Because for today’s manufacturers, time is not on your side.

The workforce crisis in manufacturing is accelerating, and at the forefront of the minds of Operations and HR leaders. Job quitting is up, tenure rates are down, and manufacturers struggle daily to find the skilled staff necessary to meet production and quality goals. The threat is huge – with significant impacts to safety, quality, and productivity.

AI-based connected worker solutions allow industrial companies to digitize and optimize processes that support frontline workers from “hire to retire”. These solutions leverage data from your connected workforce to optimize training investments and proactively support workers on the job, across a range of manufacturing use cases.

 

paperless factory

Furthermore, solutions that leverage Generative AI and proprietary fit-for-purpose, pre-trained Large Language Models (LLMs) can enhance operational efficiency, problem-solving, and decision-making for today’s less experienced frontline industrial workers. Generative AI assistants can leverage enterprise-wide data, provides instant access to relevant information, closes skills gaps with personalized support, offers insights into standard work and skills inventory, and identifies opportunities for continuous improvement.

Augmentir’s AI-First Journey

At Augmentir, since the beginning, we pioneered an AI-first approach toward manufacturing and connected frontline worker support. 

augmentir's ai-first journey

Many manufacturing solutions incorporated AI technology as an add-on or afterthought as the technology gained more advanced capabilities and popularity. We, however, have been championing and building a suite of solutions using AI as a foundation. Our platform was designed from the bottom up with AI capabilities in mind, placing us as a leader in the connected frontline worker field. 

  • 2019 – Augmentir launched the world’s first AI-first connected platform for manufacturing work empowering frontline workers to perform their jobs with higher quality and increased productivity while driving continuous improvement across the organization. This marked the start of our AI-first journey, giving industrial organizations the ability to digitize human-centric work processes into fully augmented procedures, providing interactive guidance, on-demand training, and remote expert support to improve productivity and quality.
  • 2020 – Augmentir unveiled True Opportunity™, the first AI-based workforce metric designed to help improve operational outcomes and frontline worker productivity through our proprietary machine learning algorithms. These algorithms take in frontline worker data, then combine it with other Augmentir and enterprise data to uncover and rank the largest capturable opportunities and then predict the effort required to capture them.
  • 2021 – Building on user feedback and field data, Augmentir reveals True Opportunity 2.0™, with improved and enhanced capabilities surrounding workforce development, quantification of work processes, benchmarking, and proficiency. By Leveraging anonymized data from millions of job executions to significantly improve and expand the platform’s ability and automatically deliver in-app AI insights we were able to increase benefits and returns for Augmentir customers.
  • 2022 – Augmentir announces the release of True Productivity™ and True Performance™. True Productivity allows industrial organizations to stack rank their largest productivity opportunities across all work processes to focus continuous improvement teams at the highest ROI and True Performance determines the proficiency of every worker at every task or skill enabling truly personalized workforce development investments.
  • 2023 – Augmentir launches Augie™ – the GenAI-powered assistant for industrial work. By incorporating the foundational technology underpinning generative AI tools like ChatGPT, we enhanced our already robust offering of AI insights and analytics. Augie adds to this, improving operational efficiency and supporting today’s less experienced frontline workforce through faster problem-solving, proactive insights, and enhanced decision-making.
  • 2024 – As this year progresses, we have already continued to refine our AI-first solutions and apply user feedback and additional features to best support frontline industrial activities and workers everywhere.
  • 2025 and beyond – True Engagement™, looking forward we predict the evolution of AI in manufacturing activities will continue, progressing until we can accurately measure signals to detect the actual engagement of industrial workers and derive useful information and insights to further enhance both HR and manufacturing processes.

We are deeply involved in applying AI and emerging technologies to manufacturing activities to augment frontline workers, not replace them. Providing enhanced support, access to key knowledge (when and where it does the most good), and improving overall operational efficiency and productivity.

The Future of AI in Manufacturing – The Journey Forward

As we press onward into the future, we at Augmentir are determined to champion the application of AI and smart manufacturing to augment and enhance frontline workers and industrial processes. We will continue to evolve our application of AI and its use cases in manufacturing to help frontline teams and workforces, reinforcing our AI-first pedigree.

The addition of Augie to our existing AI-powered connected worker solution is an important step forward. Augie is a Generative AI assistant that uses enterprise-wide data, provides instant access to relevant information, closes skills gaps with personalized support, offers insights into standard work and skills inventory, and identifies opportunities for continuous improvement. Augie is a result of our dedication to empowering frontline workers, leveraging AI to support manufacturing operations, and giving manufacturing workers better tools to do their jobs safely and more efficiently.

With patented AI-driven insights that digitize and optimize manufacturing workflows, training and development, workforce allocation, and operational excellence, Augmentir is trusted by manufacturing leaders as a industrial transformation partner delivering measurable results across operations. Schedule a live demo today to learn more.

 

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AI: Revolutionizing How Humans Work in Manufacturing

AI is playing a key role in changing the manufacturing landscape, augmenting workers and empowering them with improved, optimized processes, better data, and personalized instruction.

Deloitte recently published an article with the Wall Street Journal covering how AI is revolutionizing how humans work and its transformative impact. They emphasized that AI is not merely a resource or tool, but, that it serves almost as a co-worker, enhancing work processes and efficiency. This article discussed how the evolving form of intelligence augments human thinking and emphasized this as a catalyst for accelerated innovation.

Manufacturing is uniquely situated to benefit from AI to improve operations and empower their frontline workforces. The skilled labor gap has reached critical levels, and the market is under tremendous stress to keep up with growing consumer demand while staying compliant with quality and safety standards. Manufacturing workers are crucial to the success of operations – maintenance, quality control and assurance, and more – manufacturers rely upon their workforce to ensure production proceeds smoothly and successfully.

AI is playing a key role in changing the manufacturing landscape, augmenting workers and empowering them with improved, optimized processes, better data for informed decision-making, troubleshooting, personalized instructions and training, and improved quality assurance and control. According to the World Economic Forum, an estimated 87% of manufacturing companies have accelerated their digitalization over the past year, the IDC states 40% of digital transformations will be supported by AI, and a recent study from LNS Research found that 52% of industrial transformation (IX) leaders are deploying connected worker applications to help their frontline workforces. Not only that, AI technology is expected to create nearly 12 million more jobs in the manufacturing industry.

Integrating AI into manufacturing not only enhances productivity, but also opens the door to new possibilities for worker safety, training, and innovative new manufacturing practices. Here are some ways AI is transforming manufacturing operations:

  • AI-based Workforce Analytics: Collecting, analyzing, and using frontline worker data to assess individual and team performance, optimize upskilling and reskilling opportunities, increase engagement, reduce burnout, and boost productivity.
  • Personalized Training in the Flow of Work: With AI and connected worker solutions, manufacturers can identify and supply training at the time of need that is personalized to each individual and the task at hand.
  • Personalized Work Instructions: AI enables manufacturers to offer customized digital work instructions mapped to their skill levels and intelligently assign work based on each individual’s capabilities.
  • Digital Performance Support and Troubleshooting Guide: Generative AI assistants and bot-based AI virtual assistants offer support and guidance to manufacturing operators, enabling access to collaborative technologies and knowledge bases to ensure the correct actions and processes are taken.
  • Optimize Maintenance Programs: AI algorithms analyze data from sensors on machinery and other connected solutions to predict when equipment is likely to fail. This enables proactive maintenance, minimizing downtime and reducing maintenance costs. Additionally, with AI technologies, manufacturers can implement autonomous maintenance processes through a combination of digital work instructions and real-time collaboration tools. This allows operators to independently complete maintenance tasks at peak performance.
  • Improve Quality Control: AI-powered solutions can improve inspection accuracy and optimize quality control and assurance processes to identify defects faster. With connected worker solutions, manufacturers can effectively turn their frontline workforce into human sensors supplying quality data and enhancing assurance processes.
  • Ensure Worker Safety: AI-driven safety systems coupled with connected worker technologies monitor the work environment, supplying real-time data and identifying potential hazards to ensure a safer workplace for employees.

connected enterprise

As AI continues to advance, the manufacturing industry is poised for even greater transformation, improving both the quality of products and the working conditions for employees. AI is revolutionizing the way humans work and how the manufacturing industry approaches nearly every process across operations, augmenting work interactions, productivity, efficiency, and boosting innovation.

Paperless Manufacturing: Your Guide to Transitioning to a Paperless Factory

Learn how to digitize your operations and build a paperless factory in this paperless manufacturing guide from Augmentir.

Manually managing and tracking production in manufacturing has become a thing of the past. That’s because manufacturers are adopting a new digital approach: paperless manufacturing.

Paperless manufacturing uses software to manage shop floor execution, digitize work instructions, execute workflows, automate record-keeping and scheduling, and communicate with shop floor employees. More recently, this approach also digitizes skills tracking and performance assessments for shop floor workers to help optimize workforce onboarding, training, and ongoing management. This technology is made up of cloud-based software, mobile and wearable technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms, and advanced analytics.

More recently, your journey to paperless manufacturing is being accelerated through the availability of generative AI assistants and supporting import tools that can streamline the conversion of existing content into interactive, mobile-ready content for your frontline teams.

paperless manufacturing and digital factory

Paperless manufacturing software uses interactive screens, dashboards, data collection, sensors, and reporting filters to show real-time insights into your factory operations. If you want to learn more about paperless manufacturing processes, explore this guide to learn about the following:

What is a paperless factory?

A paperless factory uses AI-powered software to manage production, keep track of records, and optimize jobs being executed on the shop floor. Paperless manufacturing is intended to replace written record-keeping as well as paper-based work instructions, checklists, and SOPs, and keep track of records digitally.

For example, in most manufacturing operations, everything from quality inspections to operator rounds and planned and autonomous maintenance is done on a regular basis to make sure factory equipment is operating properly and quality and safety standards are met. In most manufacturing plants, these activities are done manually with paper-based instructions, checklists, or forms.

Operators and shop floor workers in paperless factories use software to execute work procedures and see production tasks in ordered sequences, which enables them to implement tasks accordingly. Workers are able to view operating procedures, or digital work instructions, using mobile devices (wearables, tablets, etc.) in real-time.

benefits of digital work instructions

Furthermore, paperless manufacturing incorporates the digitization of shop floor training, skills tracking, certifications, and assessments.  This digital approach uses skills management software helps optimize HR-based processes that were previously managed via paper or spreadsheets, and includes the ability to:

  • Create, track, and manage employee skills
  • Instantly visualize the skills gaps in your team
  • Schedule or assign jobs based on worker skill level and proficiency
  • Close skill gaps with continuous learning
  • Make data-driven drive operational decisions

digital skills management in a paperless factory

What are the benefits of going paperless in manufacturing?

There are a number of reasons for factories to go paperless, from cost-effectiveness to increased productivity and sustainability. A paperless system can revolutionize production processes, workforce management, and business operations.

Here are the top benefits of going paperless:

  1. Accelerate employee onboarding: By digitizing onboarding and moving training into the flow of work, manufacturers can reduce new hire onboarding time by 82%.
  2. Increase productivity: Digitizing manufacturing operations means no more manual, paper-based data collection or record-keeping. Workers have more time to run their equipment, execute shop floor tasks, and find solutions to problems.
  3. Boost data accuracy: People are prone to making mistakes, but digital data capture and validation can help offset human error and improve accuracy.
  4. Improved workforce management: Digital skills tracking and AI-based workforce analytics can help optimize production operations and maximize worker output.
  5. Manage real-time operations: Human-machine interface systems eliminate the need for paper, files, and job tickets. This means that workers can analyze inventory and other data in real-time.
  6. Save money: Although going paperless means that the cost of paper is eliminated, the savings extend beyond that. With greater productivity, operations in real-time, and improved production optimization, costs can be reduced in many areas.

How do you go paperless in manufacturing?

Going paperless starts with digitizing activities across the factory floor to increase productivity, and extending that value through a digital connection between the shop floor and enterprise manufacturing systems. We lay out below the four basic steps for how to go paperless in manufacturing:

Step 1: Digitize your existing content with Gen AI and Connected Worker technology.

Paperless manufacturing starts with the use of modern, digital tools that can quickly and easily digitize and convert your existing paper-based content. Tools like Augmentir’s Augie™, a generative AI suite of technologies, helps you import and convert existing content regardless of format. Once converted, Connected Worker solutions that incorporate enhanced mobile capabilities and combine training and skills tracking with connected worker technology and on-the-job digital guidance can deliver significant additional value. A key requirement to start is to identify high-value use cases that can benefit from digitization, such as quality control or inspection procedures, lockout tagout procedures, safety reporting, layered process audits, or autonomous maintenance procedures.

Pro Tip

You can now import existing PDF, Word, or Excel documents (just like the PDF above) directly into Augmentir to create digital, interactive work procedures and checklists using Augie™, a Generative AI content creation tool from Augmentir. Learn more about Augie – your industrial Generative AI Assistant.

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Step 2: Augment your workers with AI and Connected Worker technology.

AI-based connected worker solutions can help both digitize work instructions and deliver that guidance in a way that is personalized to the individual worker and their performance. AI Bots that leverage generative AI and GPT-like AI models can assist workers with language translation, feedback, on-demand answers, access to knowledge through natural language, and provide a comprehensive digital performance support tool.

As workers become more connected, companies have access to a rich source of job activity, execution, and tribal data, and with proper AI tools can gain insights into areas where the largest improvement opportunities exist.

Step 3: Set up IoT sensors for machine health monitoring.

The industrial Internet of Things (IoT) uses sensors to boost manufacturing processes. IoT sensors are connected through the web using wireless or 4G/5G networks to transmit data right from the shop floor. The use of machine health monitoring tools along with connected worker technology can provide a comprehensive shop floor solution.

Step 4: Connect your frontline to your enterprise.

Digitally connected frontline operations solutions not only enable industrial companies to digitize work instructions, checklists, and SOPs, but also allow them to create digital workflows and integrations that fully incorporate the frontline workers into the digital thread of their business.

The digital thread represents a connected data flow across a manufacturing enterprise – including people, systems, and machines. By incorporating the activities and data from these previously disconnected workers, business processes are accelerated, and this new source of data provides newfound opportunities for innovation and improvement.

 

Augmentir provides a unique Connected Worker solution that uses AI to help manufacturing companies intelligently onboard, train, guide, and support frontline workers so each worker can contribute at their individual best, helping achieve production goals in today’s era of workforce disruption.

Our solution is a SaaS-based suite of software tools that helps customers digitize and optimize all frontline processes including Autonomous and Preventive Maintenance, Quality, Safety, and Assembly.

paperless factory

 

Transform how your company runs its frontline operations. Request a live demo today!

 

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Augmentir Wins Gold at 2024 Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Awards

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Augmentir recognized by the Brandon Hall Group for the “Best Advance in Generative AI for Business Impact”, wins gold in the 2024 Technology Excellence Awards.

We did it again!

We are excited to announce today that Augmentir won Gold in the 2024 Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Awards for “Best Advance in Generative AI for Business Impact“.

augmentir wins gold at 2024 brandon hall group awards for generative ai business impact

The 2024 Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Awards™ are given for work in Learning and Development, Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Human Resources, Sales Enablement, Future of Work, and Education Technology. Augmentir received its gold award in the Future of Work category based on our breakthrough, innovative use of Generative AI to address skilled labor shortages and workforce challenges that are crippling the manufacturing industry today.

Entries were evaluated by a panel of veteran, independent senior industry experts, Brandon Hall Group analysts, and executives based upon these criteria: fit the need, program design, functionality, innovation, and overall measurable benefits.

“In our 31st year, the Excellence in Technology Awards continue to showcase the best innovations in learning, talent management, talent acquisition, HR, workforce management, and sales enablement technologies. We are proud to receive applications from a diverse range of organizations globally, reflecting the ever-evolving landscape of technology solutions,” said Brandon Hall Group Chief Operating Officer Rachel Cooke, leader of the Excellence Awards program.

 

Augmentir’s generative AI solution – Augie™ – is a central component to the Augmentir Connected Worker platform. Augie is a generative AI assistant that improves operational efficiency and supports today’s less experienced frontline workforce through faster problem-solving, proactive insights, data analysis, rapid content creation, and enhanced decision-making.

Augmentir recently unveiled powerful new updates to Augie, and launched the industry’s first Industrial Generative AI Suite, targeted towards improving safety, quality, and productivity for the industrial frontline workforce. Augie’s suite of gen AI services expand on the platform’s existing capabilities, which have been in use by leading manufacturers for over a year, transforming operations and addressing the skilled labor shortage through advanced troubleshooting and real-time digital assistance to frontline workers. The Augie Industrial Gen AI Suite includes:

  • Augie Industrial Work Assistant
    Provide real-time support and guidance to workers on the floor or in the field. Augie helps workers with standard work, troubleshooting, and information access.
  • Augie Content Assistant
    Automatically convert existing digital content (Word Excel, PDF, etc) into native Augmentir Work instructions, SOPs, OPLs, CILs, Checklists, etc., accelerating deployment. Generate training, checklists, and quizzes from a wide range of source types including images, manuals, free-form tests, etc., to streamline worker training and onboarding.
  • Augie Data Assistant
    Augie provides insights from any source of operational data, including standard datasets such as Skills, Standard Work, Safety, and Work Execution, as well as customer-specific datasets generated through Augmentir’s report configurator. Augie eliminates the need for “report writing” and through its conversational interface answers questions, performs math, and generates graphical reports, increasing responsiveness.
  • Augie Extensibility Assistant
    Augie increases the productivity of developers building new functions and supporting existing user-defined functions within Augmentir’s extensibility framework. Augmentir’s unique Platform-as-a-Service offering empowers customers and partners to create unique solutions that solve critical business challenges—a capability that no other platform on the market offers.
  • Augie Industrial GenAI-as-a-Service
    As an industry first, Augie exposes its GenAI capabilities as APIs within Augmentir’s extensibility framework. This allows companies and partners to create innovative, customized GenAI solutions tailored to business, or industry-specific needs and use cases. Commonly used APIs include: translateText enabling on-the-fly translation of dynamic content, and imageQA, enabling direct comparison or summarization of images, supporting critical applications in Quality, Safety, and Operations.

“We’re thrilled to be recognized by the Brandon Hall Group for bringing the transformative power of generative AI to industrial frontline operational processes,” said Russ Fadel, CEO of Augmentir. “Just as we have seen GenAI deliver transformational value to the consumer and enterprise, the Augie Suite provides the tools to enable companies to empower their frontline workers, regardless of experience, to perform with higher levels of safety and productivity. Additionally, this provides the tools for our partners to build innovative use cases to solve previously unsolvable problems.”

Augmentir introduced Augie in early 2023, becoming the first software provider in the manufacturing sector to offer a generative AI solution focused on the industrial frontline workforce. Since its launch, Augie has been adopted by industry leaders across all manufacturing and production verticals, helping prevent safety and quality issues at the point of work, driving operational efficiency, and giving frontline workers the tools, guidance, and support they need to do their best work.

Augie’s generative AI capabilities are built into the core of the Augmentir platform, so customers can quickly and securely leverage the latest AI advances within the framework of digital collaboration, skills management, and work execution. This allows customers to leverage existing data, documents, applications, and their existing tribal knowledge, increasing their ROI.

Interested in learning more?

If you’d like to learn more about Augmentir and see how our AI-powered connected worker platform enables Augmented Connected Worker initiatives to improve safety, quality, and productivity across your workforce, schedule a demo with one of our product experts.

 

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Frost & Sullivan Names Augmentir the Leader on the Frost Radar™: Augmented Connected Worker Platforms, 2024

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The latest Frost & Sullivan Radar report recognizes Augmentir as the Leading Augmented Connected Worker Platform.

Augmented Connected Worker (ACW) solutions revolutionize manufacturing and industrial operations and Augmentir is leading the way!

The recent Frost & Sullivan Radar report recognized Augmentir as the Leading ACW Solution with our AI-powered connected worker platform. AWC is a concept that combines the methodologies behind connected worker and augmented worker initiatives to provide a clearer, more accurate picture of what the future of manufacturing work looks like.

augmentir named the leader in frost radar for augmented connected worker platforms 2024

Read below to learn more about Augmentir in the Frost Radar report and how ACW technologies benefit both manufacturers and their workers alike.

The Frost & Sullivan Augmented Connected Worker Radar Report 2024

The Frost & Sullivan Radar Report, or Frost Radar™, is an analytical tool that benchmarks the future growth of leading organizations across multiple industries. Through careful selection and research across criteria that encompasses 2 major indices and 10 evaluation criteria, analysts select organizations that will be able to successfully support users into the future.

This edition of the Frost Radar, ranked Augmentir #1 out of all the ACW vendors. Augmentir empowers organizations to embrace Augmented Connected Worker initiatives through a comprehensive platform that combines connected worker and AI technologies to connect and support frontline workers like never before.

frost radar augmented connected worker platforms

As manufacturing workers become more interconnected, they can use AI tools in conjunction with smart connected worker solutions to gain insights that pinpoint areas with significant potential for improvement, this allows them to truly augment their workforces equipping them with the knowledge and abilities to complete their work safely and competently.

For more information on the Frost Radar, and the evaluation methodology used by Frost & Sullivan, click here.

Augmentir Ranked #1 Connected Worker Platform, Most Complete Solution on the Market

Frost & Sullivan has identified nine functionalities that are essential for a complete ACW solution.

  1. Knowledge and data management. The solution serves as a repository of knowledge.
  2. Work assistance and productivity. It provides digital tools to enhance frontline workers’ tasks, such as digital work instructions, digital Kanban boards, and navigation guidance.
  3. Seamless experience. The solution must be easily accessible from available devices (phones, tablets, wearables) to integrate seamlessly into everyday operations.
  4. Skills management. This serves as an extension for learning management systems (LMS) and provides supervisors and plant managers the necessary tools to upskill the workforce.
  5. Channel for communication. The solution offers native features to enable collaboration across operations, such as remote assistance, multi-site or multi-team workflows, and news feeds.
  6. Reporting and analytics. This refers to pre-built dashboards with workforce and task execution data. The ACW platform can also provide tools for configuring custom dashboards and integrating data from other systems.
  7. Integrations. The solution comes with a variety of pre-built connectors and tools to easily build new integrations to common systems.
  8. Platform capabilities. NC and LC development environments allow the building of digital procedures, workflows, training programs, and dashboards. Standard templates are available to accelerate time to value and the default deployment option is cloud-based.
  9. Integrated AI. The solution leverages AI in one or more ways. AI-enabled features include predictive maintenance, automatic creation of workflows/digital work instructions/troubleshooting procedures based on video or worker input, automatic analysis and optimization recommendations for processes, AI-powered search engines, copilots, live translations, and more.

Frost & Sullivan ranked Augmentir as a Leader in both innovation and growth within the ACW solution landscape.

According to Frost & Sullivan:

Augmentir offers one of the most comprehensive ACW solutions in the market. Its new AI copilot sets it apart from most other products in the market by covering a variety of use cases. The company’s plans to leverage engagement data from the workforce is a unique initiative in the current market. All these factors contribute to making Augmentir the leader in the Frost Radar Innovation Index.

Augmenting Frontline Workers with an AI Platform for Connected Work

Manufacturing is uniquely situated as an industry to benefit from Augmented Connected Worker solutions leveraging AI-powered connected worker technology for process improvements, quality, management, enhanced training, and more. ACW initiatives facilitate faster onboarding, increased workforce flexibility, and the retention of essential knowledge.

augmentir connected worker platform

AI – including generative AI tools, software, and assistants – plays a crucial role in ACW initiatives, addressing overarching trends like skills variability and the loss of tribal knowledge within the workforce. It serves as the cornerstone for implementing data-driven improvements in operational performance and continuous enhancement.

At Augmentir, we believe that a connected worker platform’s purpose goes beyond just delivering instructions and remote support; it should continually optimize the entire connected worker ecosystem and augment the capabilities of frontline workers. With this in mind, we introduced Augie™ – our generative AI assistant for industrial work, in early 2023.

With Augie, manufacturers can unlock previously untapped potential in their frontline personnel and operations. Our recent expansion and enhancements now offer the first-ever suite of dedicated GenAI assistants for manufacturing enterprises covering anything from Troubleshooting, Operations, and Data Insights, to Content Creation and even GenAI-as-a-Service.

Interested in learning more?

If you’d like to learn more about Augmentir and see how our AI-powered connected worker platform enables Augmented Connected Worker initiatives to improve safety, quality, and productivity across your workforce, schedule a demo with one of our product experts.

 

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Get in Touch for a Personalized Demo
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Augmentir: New Look, Same Powerful AI and Connected Worker Solution

You may have noticed that our website and brand look a little different. Augmentir has a new look, but under the hood, its the same powerful AI that is helping to transform the industrial workforce of the future.

You may have noticed that our website and brand look a little different. Well, that’s because behind the scenes for the past few months, we’ve been under construction (no pun intended).

Augmentir was founded in 2018 with the vision to use AI to empower the industrial frontline workforce to perform at their best. This was a continuation of our rich history – our founding team has been at the forefront of three of the most important of these software technology revolutions in manufacturing over the past three decades – Wonderware Software in 1987, Lighthammer in 1997, and ThingWorx in 2008.

A lot has changed since then. The world we live in today is not the same as it was 4 years ago. And in the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the stability of the workforce and drastically magnified some of the industry’s top workforce challenges, which stem from the unprecedented levels of dynamism in the areas of skills diversity, reduced tenure, and increased churn from the “Great Resignation”. Unlike the stable and predictable workforce of the recent past, today companies have to live in the new normal where workers are hard to find, hard to engage, and hard to keep.

These top challenges of today have only reinforced the need for an AI-powered, data-driven approach to empowering frontline workers.

This data-driven era we’re entering into is one of continuous learning and development with tools like remote collaboration and digitized work processes truly integrating frontline workers into the fabric of the business from a collaboration standpoint whereas they may have been overlooked before.

Augmentir’s AI-powered connected worker platform provides the tools to not only survive in this new normal but to thrive.

You can’t build a truly modern, connected workforce without AI

The term “connected worker” has become a recent buzzword in the manufacturing world, and is now considered a tool that the new generation of workers expect to work with. But true connected work means using AI to allow frontline workers to have access to internal and external resources that are appropriate for when and how they need them.

Augmentir isn’t your typical connected worker platform. Our platform was built from the ground up on an AI foundation. AI algorithms are ideal for analyzing large amounts of data collected from a connected workforce. AI can detect patterns, find outliers, cleanse data and find correlations and patterns that can be used to identify opportunities for improvement and create a data-driven environment that supports continuous learning and performance support. Our connected worker platform utilizes AI to help train, guide, and support today’s frontline workers in a dynamic workforce by combining digital work instructions, remote collaboration, continuous development and advanced on-the-job training capabilities.

This approach aligns perfectly with the dynamic, changing nature of today’s workforce, and is ideally suited to achieve and sustain effective on-the-job performance.

As the world’s only AI-powered connected worker platform, we decided it was time to refresh our brand identity to accentuate our strongest feature and the thing that makes Augmentir unique – AI. We’re still the same AI-first connected worker platform that you know – just with a new look.

Empowering Your Frontline Workers to go the Extra Mile with Augmentir

Augmentir, a data-driven, AI-powered Connected Worker solution ensures that your frontline workers can go the extra mile every day by providing training, guidance, and support through the combination of digital work instructions, remote collaboration, and advanced on-the-job training.

In 2009, the Extra Mile America Foundation, a foundation promoting action and empowering positive change, first celebrated the “Extra Mile Day”.  Fast forward to 2014 and 527 US cities declared November 1st as the official “Extra Mile Day”. This day is designated to living life to your full potential, having a positive influence, and always striving to make the world a better place. At Augmentir, we believe in positive change, living to your full potential, and going the extra mile every day. In 2018, our founders decided to continue their journey of creating some of the most important software technology revolutions in manufacturing (Wonderware (1987), Lighthammer (1997), and ThingWorx (2008) by focusing on the most important asset, the frontline workers.

We recognize that today’s industrial workforce is different, and the old way of supporting workers just doesn’t work anymore. The static “one size fits all” approach used in the past, no longer applies to this generation of workers.

Augmentir, is a data-driven, AI-powered Connected Worker solution that ensures that frontline workers can go the extra mile every day by providing training, guidance, and support through the combination of digital work instructions, remote collaboration, and advanced on-the-job training.  

As your workers become more connected, companies have access to a new rich source of activity, execution, and tribal data, and with proper AI tools they can gain real-time insights into areas where the largest improvement opportunities exist. Artificial Intelligence lays a data-driven foundation for continuous improvement in the areas of performance support, training, and workforce development, setting the stage to address the needs of today’s constantly changing workforce.

When it comes to our frontline workers, let’s enable them to go the extra mile, not just on November 1st, but every day, by empowering them with the only AI-powered Connected Worker solution.

Gartner Highlights Augmented Connected Workforce as a Top Trend for 2024

Gartner identifies Augmented Connected Workforce initiatives as a top manufacturing technology trend for 2024.

According to Gartner, an Augmented Connected Workforce is the intentional management, deployment, and customization of technology services and applications to support the workforce’s experience, well-being and ability to develop their own skills. It is a revolutionary approach that leverages smart connected worker platforms, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, and other innovative solutions to augment and support frontline workers and create a seamlessly connected and dynamic work environment.

gartner augmented connected workforce

Gartner predicts that through 2027, 50% of Fortune 500 manufacturers will create new positions through innovative engagement models enabled by Augmented Connected Worker strategies.

In manufacturing, specifically, the driving factor behind the rapid increase in Augmented Connected Workforce adoption is the need to accelerate and scale talent. There is a significant gap in the skills of the workforce today and consumer demands are rapidly increasing. Even the World Economic Forum recognizes the benefits an Augmented Connected Workforce brings to the workplace, stating that it:

  • enables workers to acquire new skills and knowledge
  • creates a more accessible and inclusive working environment
  • improves worker well-being and safety
  • increases the efficiency and effectiveness of industrial operations
  • supports human connection and collaboration
  • and more…

Given these benefits it is clear that enabling an Augmented Connected Workforce will be key for manufacturing success going forward.

Augmentir Recognized in 5 Gartner Hype Cycles for its Connected Workforce Solution

Augmentir empowers organizations to embrace an Augmented-Connected Workforce by providing a comprehensive platform that combines connected worker and AI technologies. Through Augmentir, companies can seamlessly connect frontline workers with digital tools and knowledge bases, enabling them to access real-time guidance, instructions, and support directly within their workflows. This integrated approach augments frontline workers enhancing their capabilities, productivity, and overall business processes. By leveraging Augmentir’s platform, organizations can enhance productivity, quality, and safety while fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation within their workforce.

Gartner recently highlighted Augmentir as a key software vendor providing functionalities and features that allow manufacturers to implement an Augmented Connected Workforce and empower frontline workers with AI-driven insights and real-time data for more productive, efficient, and safe frontline activities.

Augmentir was recognized in five separate Gartner Hype Cycle reports covering generative AI and emerging technologies in manufacturing.

augmentir recognized in gartner hype cycles

 

These five reports include:

  • Hype Cycle for Generative AI
  • Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies
  • Hype Cycle for User Experience
  • Hype Cycle for Frontline Worker Technologies
  • Hype Cycle for Workforce Transformation

These hype cycle reports and innovation profiles are provided by Gartner to help organizations decide which new innovations and technology to adopt, as well as what value they can provide to their manufacturing operations.

Enabling an Augmented Connected Workforce in Manufacturing

Manufacturing is uniquely situated as an industry to benefit from an Augmented Connected Workforce leveraging AI-powered connected worker solutions for process improvements, quality, management, enhanced training, and more.

As manufacturing workers become more interconnected, organizations gain access to a valuable source of data related to manufacturing activities, execution, and team dynamics. By utilizing emerging AI tools in conjunction with smart connected worker solutions, companies can derive insights that pinpoint areas with significant potential for improvement.

At Augmentir, we believe that a connected worker platform’s purpose goes beyond just delivering instructions and remote support; it should continually optimize the entire connected worker ecosystem. AI plays a crucial role in addressing overarching trends like skills variability and the loss of tribal knowledge within the workforce. It serves as the cornerstone for implementing data-driven improvements in operational performance and continuous enhancement.

For example, after Augmentir is deployed for a period of time, our AI engine will start identifying patterns in the data that will allow manufacturers to focus efforts on the areas that have the biggest customer satisfaction, productivity, and workforce development opportunities. This gives organizations the ability to answer questions like:

  • What areas should they invest in to improve operational performance?
  • Where are their biggest areas of opportunity to improve productivity or quality management?
  • Where do they have skills gaps and what kind of training do their frontline workers need?

Augmentir’s AI continuously updates its insights to enable companies to focus on their largest areas of opportunity, enabling you to deliver year-over-year improvements in key operational metrics.

Interested in learning more?

If you’d like to learn more about Augmentir and see how our AI-powered connected worker platform improves safety, quality, and productivity across your workforce, schedule a demo with one of our product experts.

 

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