AI – Affectli

Machine Learning

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 10:35:45 +0000

Rikus Combrinck teaches machines how to collect and process data like humans, but more efficiently. In 1982, growing up in Prieska, South Africa, he encountered a VIC-20 computer during a school outing to Kimberly. It had 5 kilobytes of memory, much less than required by a single desktop icon on current computers. It used a television for display and a tape drive for storage. As a young boy he loved disassembling things, exercising his analytical mind. After studying electronic engineering, Rikus’s postgraduate studies included AI and machine learning, which fascinated him.

After many years in software development he reconnected to his early interests and now practices as a data scientist, helping organisations analyse their data to detect patterns that can be used to solve business problems. Current projects include the accurate valuation of used vehicles for getWorth (getworth.co.za) and automating the marking of adult maturity assessments for Aephoria (aephoria.co.za). Data-centric organisations like these invest in AI because decision making based on accurate data clearly gives a competitive edge. Heads up programmers, the industry is growing rapidly as organisations realise that these valuable tools are becoming more accessible.

Machines are getting better at making decisions like humans, but still have a long way to go. For example, with the Aephoria’s maturity assessments, machines struggle to process subtle incongruences or ironic nuances in questionnaire responses. But the ability to process human language is rapidly developing. To help solve linguistic problems Rikus uses AI tools made freely available to the public by companies like OpenAI (founded by Elon Musk), Google and Facebook. The latest version of OpenAI’s Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT-3), an autoregressive language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text, has not been released for public use as it is deemed unsafe. The quality of the text it produces is frequently indistinguishable from human writing, posing risks that outweigh the benefits. In the wrong hands it could be used to impersonate users communicating online for criminal gain.

Rikus acknowledges the fear of computers replacing us in the workplace, along with its social and economic complexities. However, as a result of AI becoming more pervasive, products and services will become affordable to people who do not currently have access to them. This includes critical services like healthcare and education. So the shrinking job market may be offset by a decreased need to earn as much as we do now. This is a generalisation but the idea is that if all goes well, AI could actually serve us whilst tasks that require a personal touch will remain in our hands.

Rikus speaks of an online backlash against freebie-based advertising, adding that Google is in the process of eliminating third-party cookies in favour of less invasive ways to gather browsing statistics across large groups. People simply won’t stand for surreptitious and unsolicited marketing practices for much longer. Although lack of privacy is mainly a threat to those who have something to hide, there are also security issues at play. As time passes and technology matures our concerns will hopefully be better addressed. In Rikus’s opinion we are already cyborgs as information technology is seamlessly integral to our daily functioning.

For more thought pieces by Dimitri, please visit www.dimitriotis.com.

If you are looking for a trusted solution to help your organisation orchestrate and analyse your data, mitigate risks, increase productivity, improve efficiencies and increase your bottom line results, reach out to us by emailing get in touch and one of experts will get in touch to schedule a demo and discuss a tailor-made solution.

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Oil & Gas

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 18:43:56 +0000

Smart Laundry

A trusted solution for ANY organisation looking to improve risk management, increase innovationand make meaningful data-driven decisions.

Affectli for Smart Laundry

About the Industry

Our Client, a market leader in the Oil & Gas industry, sought out a Digital Transformation solution for Vessel Tracking Services (VTS) and monitoring of Mobile Assets in their operational locations.

Project Summary

The Client required real-time position data of mobile assets for effective command and control response.

It entailed the tracking service of multiple marine vessels, as well as other moving assets both in their operational areas, as well as that of their subcontractors.

The Solution

Among the extensive list of requirements by our client, the digital solutions included:

The post Oil & Gas appeared first on Affectli.

Smart Laundry

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 18:43:35 +0000

Smart Laundry

A trusted solution for ANY organisation looking to improve risk management, increase innovationand make meaningful data-driven decisions.

Affectli for Smart Laundry

About the Industry

Typically, a laundry operation will be measured on its success by measurement and monitoring and by input vs output.

The Challenge

Historically, operators and management would receive a stream of numbers and alerts after the fact, when boilers fail and machinery is not operational, or when deliveries are not fulfilled.

Typically, smart devices or machinery would have alarms and alerts software, operating in silos, bombarding operators with disparate information, and no automation of contextual data.

They would have to send out delivery delay notifications, and reactively submit requests for technicians to repair machinery and service boilers. The result is that businesses often react to daily crisis management, as opposed to service delivery through a more effective, planned, proactive and controlled approach to their operational challenges.

The Solution

In the Industrial Laundry sector, AFFECTLI is an effective solution for an industrial laundry facility. Revolutionising the operations of entire industries, smart devices, data and system integrations allows commercial laundries to engage in smart washing and service delivery for improved operations.

By engaging in a digitisation process, a business can integrate AFFECTLI to interconnected computing devices and machines that will allow individuals to transfer and receive data across a network, without resorting to human contact.

The Affectli Orchestration

Affectli captures real time data that every device is capable of sending data throughout the entire range of operational activities in one single command and control centre. The platform digests all that data and presents it into geographically and statistically organised dashboards that are developed according to the customer’s needs. It also processes that data in the background in a management instruction system grafted on the organisation’s standard operating procedures raising instantaneous alerts when procedures and normal patterns of behaviour are not met.

This voluminous data is presented in clear dashboard aggregates that will allow any business to assess the performance of its own operations against the targets it sets itself as well as compare relative performance of its partners against the partner’s own targets and against each other. It will also allow for the timely issue of instructions for reactions to emerging situations acting across the barriers between itself and its partners and between the partners themselves where it is to its benefit to do so.

An industrial concern will be able to ensure that its clients achieve their supply chain objectives, that they are able to monitor and manage customer satisfaction goals through analysis of customer behaviour, and finally, manage its HR/workforce and contracted employment complement in order to ensure that efficiency is primary out of the organisations and can be accounted for and losses prevented and bottom line affected positively.

To ensure proactive operational management, an industrial laundry digitisation would be able to improve its operational efficiencies and apply best business practices while minimising downtime to providing uninterrupted services and improved customer satisfaction. The implementation of Affectli will enable management to be more efficient in monitoring and managing temperatures of boilers, water usage and monitoring and further along the line, distribution management.

The client´s IoT endpoints and assets and all the required variables would be integrated and captured into the Affectli platform to give an overview of the business in real-time using GIS and geo-reporting tools.

Within the Situational Awareness feature of Affectli, icons representing the client’s assets change colour when a fault occurs (such as overheating boilers, or tanks running low of water) or an alarm is triggered when lights are left off or drier doors are not closed properly) making it easier to identify and address problems as and when they arise. The status colour changes in real time, as the issues are resolved or escalated.

Pre-defined parameters enable processes to manually or automatically be started, when alarms are triggered. These processes are in the form of a work card / or tickets which are generated and sent to the nearest and most qualified service agent for attention. The bi-directional communication between the platform and smart devices also allows for Affectli to switch devices on or off or communicate a relevant command to automatically rectify alarms, without human intervention. (This is, of course, device dependent.) With Affectli supporting an agile environment, this feature also provides for contextual collaboration on all tasks, ensuring that the right people get the right information at the right time, as well as provides historical data and a full audit trail.

Having applied calculations to historical data received from signals and alarms, we are able to establish a predictive pattern of when a tank or boiler would be empty based on the rate of consumption. We would also be able to assign technicians prior to service dates of drying / washing or ironing equipment, in order to schedule these routine service and maintenance tasks according to load schedules.

Affectli can be configured so that parameters are applied to the intelligence, to notify operators minutes or hours ahead of time that the tanks would be reaching critically low levels, providing tools for a proactive approach to avoid unnecessary service interruptions and emergency shutdowns. Regular reports of water levels of tanks, temperatures and meter readings can be provided as and when required. Published at incremental intervals that are relevant to the operational requirements, giving them an accurate overview of water level, temperature and other readings of their operations.

OUTCOMES AND OTHER AREAS OF OPERATION

In addition to the machinery and equipment on a more focussed front, Affectli can be applied to the actual laundry process, with automated wash settings that don’t just save money and time – it’s also much better for the fabrics being laundered. In this regard, smart washing machines analyse load size and type, determining the amount of detergent to be used prior to the washing and drying process.

This information is critical in consumables procurement planning as well as care for the customer’s garments or linens. Furthermore, these smart machines also determine whether hot or cold water is most appropriate for each cycle and alert employees when each wash cycle is completed. In more sophisticated washer/dryer systems, anti-wrinkle measures, such as tumbling or steam, can be initiated without a manual prompt, and cycles can automatically be moved on from one cycle to another.

Take this one step further, to client notification that their laundry is completed and ready for collection, based on time factors configured into the platform. The information gathered from the disparate systems is processed in Affectli to provide insights on how to optimise consumption and increase savings.

This data is useful for making evidence based investments, and the positive effect on the bottom line through temperature and detergent regulation, can be significant. To boot, a reduction in energy consumption and harmful substance emittance into the environment, contributes to the business sustainability objectives, leading to a positioning of industry leadership in green operational principles.

When it comes to smart washing in commercial laundries, automation plays a significant role in reducing inefficiencies. By implementing an effective Digital Transformation solution like Affectli that is agile and scalable, as well as device and system agnostic, it provides an organisation with smart technology and connected systems that are the very foundation for business efficiency.

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Safety & Security

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 18:43:07 +0000

Safety and Security

A trusted multi-tenancy solution for ANY organisation looking to improve risk management, increase innovation and make meaningful data-driven decisions.

Affectli for Safety & Security

About the Industry

Client A is a leading service provider of complex security and logistics services for high profiled clients and events across the Globe, and a leading provider of security and logistics services, which represents their core business. They operate throughout the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East, former Soviet Union, Central Asia, Africa, North America and South America and Europe.

They provide products, services and innovative solutions for security and critical infrastructure protection activities, corporate risk management, crisis management and emergency response – all of which are aligned and tailored to the full life cycle of the business needs or objectives.

The multi-sector approach reflects the highly professional and extensive background of their professionals who come from military, police, commercial, logistics, engineering and legal areas.

The Challenge

Client A commissioned Mi-C3 to develop two security APPS within the Affectli Platform for a high profile, security-sensitive event that took place in Italy.

Client A commissioned Mi-C3, to develop two Security APPS within the Affectli Platform in order to showcase the responsive behaviour, collaborative communication and effectiveness of the IoT / Smart Workspace platform at a live, high profile, security-sensitive event.

This event, which took place in Sicily and had diverse security facets to consider. These included the security sensitive profile of the attendees, the intensive logistics around the event, as well as various forms of transportation that needed to be monitored across 3 events and resident sites.

The Solution

In past events, Client A manually managed the security process, guarding and foot patrol access, so one facet of the solution design was to bring all these elements together into one collaborative space.

We created an OBSERVATION BOOK APP and a CRISIS MANAGEMENT APP on the Affectli platform. These were used for incident reaction and provided a more efficient way to manage and mitigate the risk, security and logistics aspects of the event.
We provided an experienced team on site to provide user training and full time support to the operations team throughout the event, and as a result of the successful implementation of the pilot Affectli solution, Client A continues to digitise their live operations due to the flexibility and agility of the Affectli model.
In addition to which, Mi-C3 was invited to present the solution to the Association of Directors of Safety in Portugal (ADSP) at an annual event attended by an elite group of security professionals across Europe, Africa and Asia.

The Affectli Orchestration

Historically, Client A manually managed the security process including guarding and foot patrol access. They required a system that was more efficient by way of monitoring, reporting and tracking security observations in real time in order to mitigate and effectively manage risk and exposure.

An OBSERVATION BOOK APP process:

Enabled the “boots on the ground” to report all observations to the control room using their mobile devices (phones and tablets).
Included functionality for the control room to quickly deploy additional security personnel to areas as demarcated in the map of the application, to ensure that the incident was either rendered as minor and resolved, or escalated to more serious actions, such as in extreme cases, an evacuation.

In addition to being in a position to mitigate risk and have a faster response time, the control room operators were continuously able to:

Check the status of the site,
Draw reports instantly on incidents per severity, and
Display these in sunbursts on their screens to get an overall assessment of the status of security, all day, every day, as and when needed.

The Logistics challenges for Client A were complex and required a solution that would integrate a variety of moving parts into one cohesive system in order to effectively manage executions in real time.

A second LOGISTICS APP was provided on the Affectli platform.

The APP required the integration of Third Party vehicle tracking systems to collect signals that were displayed in real-time within the Affectli MAPS functionality.

The results was a display of complete operational awareness and tracking of all assets on ONE platform, allowing for a more efficient process with regards to managing the complexities of logistics, people and security risks associated with an event of this nature.

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Utilities Management

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 18:42:48 +0000

Utilities Management

A trusted solution for ANY organisation looking to improve risk management, increase innovationand make meaningful data-driven decisions.

Affectli for utilities management

INTRODUCTION

In a world of constant change, Governments and Regulatory Bodies will need to become more intuitive in order to identify, respond and adapt to new technology opportunities, social changes and citizens / business needs, as and when they emerge.

Government, Public Services, Regulatory Bodies and Commissions will need to integrate their respective systems. Breaking down silos by seamlessly connecting and streamlining data and process flows will uproot outdated systems and practices, replacing them with new models that result in a more efficient process and effective business models.

Government policy is known to drive some of the largest IoT projects worldwide due to the positive Economic, Societal and Environmental impact that digitisation delivers. In order for organisations to understand digitisation trends, they would need to leapfrog over yesterday’s legacy IT systems, straight into more agile, digital-age models such as cloud computing and cognitive technologies.

Regulatory reform has often been part of governments’ approach to job growth. Much of the recent focus has been on replacing paper forms with websites and e-forms, overlaid with tools such as rules engines. But governments rarely have the resources to timely address complaints, often taking months or years to investigate long after the damage was done. Governments are starting to take advantage of digitization to better regulate companies and enable economic growth. Many reforming regulators use digital approaches to more effectively target risks, while reducing the compliance burden. This is a disruptive approach to regulatory reform, using data analytics tools coupled with streamlined reporting and third-party data to focus regulatory enforcement on risks.

Considerations

The unprecedented convergence of forces reshaping the electric power industry—from moderating demand and aging infrastructure, to environmental mandates and the proliferation of distributed energy resources (DER)—requires an increasingly flexible and robust grid. The grid is evolving from a one-way system where power flows from centralized generation stations to consumers, to a platform that can detect, accept, and control decentralized consumption and production assets so that power and information can flow as needed in multiple directions.

This common industry vision is known as the “intelligent grid.”

This intelligent grid builds on the industry’s innovative heritage of increasing interconnectedness using sensors, “smart” devices, and networked operations, and achieving it, requires a myriad of technologies, including numerous IoT applications.

At the heart of these advances are exponential technologies like sensors, robotics, and advanced analytics, which together, form advanced, interconnected systems capable of quickly analyzing large amounts of data. These critical systems are the sensory organs, nerves, and brains capable of giving our electric system the flexibility and agility necessary to enable ideas like a self-healing grid and plug-and-play generation—an intelligent grid.

The Solution

AFFECTLI is the overlaying layer of these systems and devices which brings a plethora of disparate systems and silos of information together into one management view in real-time, ensuring that contextual collaboration is optimised, across all data sources:

Installation of the core application and database using OS;
Integration of AIS data into the dashboard;
Integrations of devices / systems & databases into the Mi-Stream in order to bring all the data into one platform;
Real-time asset monitoring dashboard;

THE AFFECTLI ORCHESTRATION

In order to supply constant and reliable power that covers a wide national footproot to maximise access to electricity, a power regulator would need to ensure that appropriate regulations are enforced. Safe, adequate, reliable and affordable services need to be delivered in order to fulfill the regulatory compliance prerequisites.

Energy supply, maintenance and regulation solutions can be built within the AFFECTLI platform, and configured in line with the organisation’s own business process flows, herewith, to name a few:

Maintenance & Management of power sites and infrastructure
- Digitised processes such as:
  - Asset Management
  - Predictive Maintenance
  - Workforce Management
  - Fault reporting
  - Fault rectification (field services)
- Demand Planning
  - Predictive outages
  - Delivery & quality control
  - Measurement of meters
- Consumption Management
  - Smart Electricity Meter Integration
  - Readings for power delivery
  - Readings of power strength
- Asset utility consumption
  - Threshold Management
  - Asset Security
  - Power Factor Correction

In order to visualise the organisation’s state of play, live and in real-time, AFFECTLI allows for GIS interface mapping, using AI and current & historical data to deliver predictive data in the form of reports. These customisable reports are available in relation to geo locations, and displayed in any format required. Examples of such reports are as follows:

Reports of consumption, usage and service delivery
Real time visualisation of GPS & Threshold management
Maintenance scheduling
Usage & consumption trends and patterns
Pricing structures across networks and grids

CASE STUDY IN A SIMILAR ENVIRONMENT

In the Smart Utilities sector, AFFECTLI has been proven as an effective solution for a multi-million dollar independent company based in South Africa who supplies water that rates among the cleanest, safest and healthiest in the world. This company provides water and sanitation services to over 3 million people daily by way of nearly 11 000 kilometers of distribution pipes that deliver water to 33 water towers, 87 reservoirs and pump stations 24 hours a day.

Their reservoirs are measured and monitored by Programmable Logic Controllers and historically, system operators and management would receive a stream of numbers and alerts when alarms were triggered. They would have to send out emergency shutdown notifications, down tools and manually open and close pumps to ensure that sufficient water was delivered to their customer base. The result is that they were reacting to daily crisis management, as opposed to service delivery through a more effective, planned, proactive and controlled approach to their business.

To ensure they would meet service delivery and best business practices while minimising downtime to providing uninterrupted services and improved customer satisfaction, they implemented AFFECTLI to make them more efficient in monitoring and managing water levels in their most critical reservoir tanks.

The client´s IoT endpoints and assets were integrated into the AFFECTLI platform to give them an overview of their business in real-time using GIS and geo-reporting tools.

Within the Situational Awareness feature of AFFECTLI, icons representing the client’s assets change colour when a fault occurs or an alarm is triggered, making it easier for them to identify and address problems as and when they arise. The status colour changes in real time, as the issues are resolved or escalated.

Pre-defined parameters enable processes to manually or automatically be started, when alarms are triggered. These processes are in the form of a work card / or ticket which is generated and sent to the nearest and most qualified field service agent for attention.

With AFFECTLI supporting an agile environment, this feature also provides for contextual collaboration on all tasks, ensuring that the right people get the right information at the right time, as well as provides historical data and a full audit trail.

Having applied calculations to historical data received from signals and alarms, we were able to establish a predictive pattern of when a reservoir would be empty based on the rate of consumption.

We then applied a parameter to notify the client 3 hours ahead of time that the reservoir would be reaching critically low levels, providing them the tools for a proactive approach to avoid unnecessary service interruptions and emergency shutdowns. The next step was to include a summary of all the water levels within the reservoirs. This was published every 2 hours to their mobile devices, giving them an accurate overview of water level readings of their reservoirs.

Before the implementation of AFFECTLI, our client was reporting 5 to 6 low level alarms daily on their critical tanks, with the average level of those reservoirs being low, and marginally above empty. Within 8 days, this was reduced to only one low level alarm.

By implementing an effective Digital Transformation solution like AFFECTLI that is agile and scalable, as well as device and system agnostic, it provides an organisation with smart technology and connected systems that are the very foundation for business efficiency.

More information on AFFECTLI’s features and capabilities, available here.

The post Utilities Management appeared first on Affectli.

Telecommunications

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 18:42:12 +0000

Telecommunications

A trusted solution for ANY organisation looking to improve risk management, increase innovationand make meaningful data-driven decisions.

Affectli for telecommunications

ABOUT THE COMPANY

One of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared telecommunications infrastructure in the world have sites in remote areas that are responsible for servicing a vast growing emerging market. They are committed to operating environmentally sustainable and reliable towers while meeting the increasing demand from their subscribers for data services and wireless telecommunications infrastructure.

The Challenge

In emerging markets where there are far fewer fixed lines, less broadband penetration and unreliable power supply, network downtime can have far reaching implications. Our Client was faced with challenges meeting their stringent SLA criteria due to flawed computerised systems that were overloading their servers, resulting in inaccurate reporting and difficulty managing, tracking & monitoring their equipment situated in remote locations. In addition to which, they faced efficiency challenges managing tenant, vendor and third-party supplier access to various sites.

The Solution

Provide the client with the ability to:

Give the client ownership of their own data.
Provide a single view of their operation.
Customised solutions including the ability to automatically generate alerts & tasks to refuel tanks resulting in Zero No-Fuel days.
Effectively monitor abnormalities & breaches.
Manage tenants, vendors and third-party supplier access to the site. Provide accurate customer reporting.
Manage Power over Efficiency (POE) in their DataCentre.

Reduced Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) from 4 to 2 hours.
Accurately track, trace & monitor all their assets in real-time.
Provide the client with tools to build their own secure, scalable solutions through a digitised workflow APP made up of user-friendly no-code-low-code drop and drag capability.
Pinpoint where in the value chain ore has gone missing.

THE AFFECTLI ORCHESTRATION

We started by connecting multiple systems and devices to AFFECTLI. We then captured our client’s intellectual property of the organisation using iBPMN compliant workflow with the Affectli Designer© and digitised their processes and workflows.

Customised app solutions that have the ability to be duplicated and re-engineered according to client-centric needs included:

FIELD OPERATION MANAGEMENT

This included a Refueling app for Fuel Monitoring.

NOC operators receive an automated task as soon as the fuel tanks reach 35%.

Detailed information is included, namely the location, tank ID, tank capacity, and request for a refuelling order.

Additional controls can be implemented such as time stamped pictures taken on site, but aligned to the client’s criteria, the task is not considered completed until a three-way matching process is completed, namely:

The GPS location matches the site to be refuelled.
The gauge on the tank registers as full.
The operator sends confirmation that the order has been filled.

The client has the ability to duplicate this process to include the ability to monitor anomalies, breaches or monitoring systems such as open/closed doors, overheating of batteries, etc.

CUSTOMERS

This included a Service Desk app.

Requests to access a particular site are made online within the AFFECTLI platform. This allows the customer to identify themselves, select which entity within the organisation they represent, which site needs to be accessed and can specify the type of visit – whether it be maintenance, repairs, or otherwise.

This request is then verified against a database that was designed for the Client. Once submitted,
The customer receives a confirmation notification in real-time, either through an email or sms, or through AFFECTLI’s A-Live communication platform.

The client has the ability to limit their customer’s access to the site to control the frequency of visits if this forms part of their KPI requirements. In addition to which, they are able to draw reports for their customers to show specific data pertaining to each asset, extract a report on the severity of problems, as well as indicate things such as tasks completed by technicians – including an indication of criteria such as the time it took to complete the task(s).

A similar application is duplicated to accommodate site visits, such as access to the DataCentre in order to effectively manage their POE. The result is their ability to prevent cross heat transfer between hot and cold channels, thereby saving energy, cutting energy costs and eliminating unnecessary maintenance on air conditioning equipment.

NETWORK SURVEILLANCE

This included Incident Management apps for Network Surveillance that included:

Network Incident Management
Problem Management
Incident Management

It’s imperative to our client that tower communications are up and that sites are fully functional because their MTTR and service delivery is benchmarked and managed against a stringent SLA.

Processes were digitised. As the system gathers information over a period of time, the intelligence that is built, enables the client to predictively assist with maintenance and pre-emptive issues that may arise. It also allows the client to predict macro environment occurrences such as weather and geolocation through the Maps Interface, to plan for potential issues at the sites due to incidents such as inclement weather or political instability.

Apps have been built to digitise various report for the client, including Sunburst style reports showing the NOC which sites are down, the severity of the issue, and allows the interaction of the various parties involved to getting the site back up, and to contribute to the issues that have been raised automatically through the system.

ASSET MANAGEMENT

This included Asset Management apps in order to efficiently manage assets belonging to Client A, as well as the assets belonging to tenants, vendors and customers and included:

Asset Capture
Asset Movement
Asset Maintenance
Asset Repair.

These apps resulting in significant savings on overhead costs through digitising their asset tracking, streamlining processes, and their ability to maintain accurate audit trails through the ability to:

Capturing and ensuring the efficiency of all assets;
Ensuring regular maintenance is carried out, and that repairs are actioned when assets break; and
Ensuring that when assets are moved, that they are tracked and located in realtime.

More information on AFFECTLI’s features and capabilities, available here.

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Mining

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 18:24:04 +0000

Mining

A trusted solution for ANY organisation looking to improve risk management, increase innovationand make meaningful data-driven decisions.

Affectli for mining

ABOUT THE COMPANY

One of the world’s Largest Gold Mining companies began Commercial Production in 2006 in a remote region of Africa. The site includes operating both surface and underground mines.

The Challenge

Added to the challenges of managing such a remote location, our client was looking to consolidate critical information to drive informed decision making, mitigate risk and improve labour & equipment efficiencies.

The Solution

Provide the client with the ability to:

Improve security; safety and mitigate risk.
Consolidate multiple sources of data from a plethora of disparate systems and equipment into a single control room.
Provide meaningful, real-time data to drive informed decision making.
Provide meaningful, real-time contextual data that is dispatched to the right people at the right time.
Effectively manage people, equipment and components within the organisation.
Maximise efficiencies through the ability to convert labour-product and equipment-product productivities in real-time.

Real-time monitoring and factoring of geological conditions; operating time & delays; declining ore quality; equipment and purchasing of consumables.
Calculate and predict productivity.
Visualise actual production vs. budget in real-time through a single dashboard.
Pinpoint where in the value chain ore has gone missing.
Real-time audit trails, reporting and super analytics available at the click of a button.

THE AFFECTLI ORCHESTRATION

AFFECTLI was overlaid onto the existing infrastructure without any downtime, and consolidated into a single control room.

The integration included various subsystems such as conveyor belt weightometers, plant SCADA, drone technology, weighbridge, and geo-fencing that work in conjunction with CCTV live feeds and vehicle tracking devices. The powerful MI-STREAM processor then ingests all the data from these multiple points, which is then transformed into meaningful, contextual data that is viewed on a single dashboard in real-time.

The multiple live CCTV feeds are folded into the GIS infrastructure of the AFFECTLI system, allowing the control room to view remotely, as well as locate assets on maps. Through an ontological approach, these assets can then be drilled down into granular detail that includes the likes of blueprints and technical drawings – all with the ease of clicking a button.

More information on AFFECTLI’s features and capabilities, available here.

The post Mining appeared first on Affectli.

Digital Transformation Solution

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 12:00:00 +0000

The biggest challenges organisations face when managing remote locations is Accountability, Visibility & Security (both physical and digital).

By implementing an effective Digital Transformation solution like Affectli that is agile and scalable, as well as device and system agnostic, it provides an organisation with smart technology and connected systems that are the very foundation for business efficiency.

“When digital transformation is done right, it’s like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.”
– George Westerman (MIT principal research scientist and author of Leading Digital: Turning Technology Into Business Transformation)

One of our clients, a Global telecommunications company with remote locations across the globe, employed our services to improve their operational efficiency and ensure that they met stringent KPI´s aligned to their SLA agreements. Essential to the success of their business was:

Efficiency to take their performance to the edge and beyond.
Productivity to maximise output and minimise waste.

In order to address the challenges of managing remote facilities, coupled with the objective of improving efficiency and productivity, we collaborated with our client to put the framework in place that included:

Integrating their existing systems,
Connecting their IoT Endpoints,
Generating Digital Twins applying semantic ontologies,
Digitising their business processes and
Customising reporting tools.

The result of which is that the client was able to cut costs significantly by meeting their SLA KPIs, rid their organisation of over 14 million emails a year, reduce their MTTR from 4 hours to 2 hours within 6 months, and produced a more efficient NOC.

They were able to achieve these milestones by implementing an effective Digital Transformation strategy as follows:

The Entities & Asset Management feature is used to create profiles for everything within their organisation including their people, assets, clients, vendors and tenants. With the ability to create parent-child relationships through the Classifications Manager, they are able to customise setting permissions and effectively control access to information.

With Digital Information being key to their efficiency, the Affectli Designer provides them the tools to expand functionality by building their own apps and designing custom processes, workflows, pipelines and forms with a simple drag and drop functionality that allows them to create business processes ranging from business management, problem management, preventative management and service delivery to ensure that the right people get the right information at the right time.

The situational awareness feature allows the client to visually track their entities, assets and people within a single map interface using GIS and geo-reporting tools – a functionality that gives them an eagle eye over their entire operation and assets.

The Digital Twin is a schematic visualisation of any entity or group of entities within the system. The graphical representation is drillable right down to granular detail including things like generator fuel levels, security breaches, server room temperature controls, maintenance schedules, etc. With this information at hand, the client is able to trigger a task and dispatch the right teams at the right time, resulting in less down-time and an improved MTTR from 4 to 2 hours within the first 6 months.

From the cutting edge Mi-Stream Integration engine that processes data feeds from a myriad of disparate sources and millions of sensors in the field, Affectli has the ability to collate and assimilate that information, then triggers actions and alarms – including data that is augmented by AI, which is then pushed through to the Events Monitor that provides real-time data that can be filtered according to their preferred view or business objectives. By simply clicking on a record, the Mi-Stream provides a full contextual history relating to that particular task/incident including people, documentation, status, action taken, severity level, to name but a few.

The creation of a contextual, collaborative smart workspace rid the company of more that 14 million emails in one year through orchestrating all incoming activities and tasks within a clear interface called the A-Box. It changed the way the organisation operates by giving them the tools for contextual collaboration that allows them to create, receive and follow digital processes while housing all relevant communication and documentation within each task or activity that is created.

The Dashboard view for the user creates their optimum working space with personalised widgets. This allows for efficient task and incident management.

With the Analytics feature, the client is able to generate an infinite amount of meaningful reports and graphs to analyse production, data and operations. Their reports have been customised to provide real-time information to ensure effective management within the organisation, with the added benefit of being able to toggle and filter displayed information specific to KPIs that can be pivoted and viewed hourly, daily and weekly. For example, sunburst reports represent and allow the user to pivot data in real time, stratified by region, as well as provide layers of data that can be filtered by parameters. Trending graphs reflect real-time performance, and guide their Root Cause Analysis. To build their Annual Report, it’s as simple as a BI interface tool that allows you to drag and drop any graph or parameter to create the report.

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Gearing Towards Smart Workplaces

Andrea — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 10:58:02 +0000

The big question on everyone’s lips at the moment:

Does your business continuity plan make provision for remote working capability?

In the face of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and with many countries declaring a State of Emergency, now, more than ever, it demonstrates the importance of building remote working capabilities into business continuity plans.

Critical to this transition is identifying a proven management system that allows you to work from anywhere and on any device. It’s essential that you digitise your IP and enable your business ecosystem community the ability to work more effectively and efficiently in order to help your business survive the economic downturn that is inevitable.

For companies that intend fast-tracking towards digital transformation of their business to Smart Workspace principles, consideration needs to be given to the platforms used to consolidate the various operational requirements of their business, and key to that is identifying a platform that can contextualise collaboration, offer superior process compliance, while at the same time, adapt behaviour that will drive digitalisation and transformation within the organisation.

With the ever-changing digital landscape and growing demands of organisations needing to consolidate their Smart Workplaces, Mi-C3 identified a need to develop a product that could successfully integrate and manage the operational needs of businesses and set out to solve that problem… Enter AFFECTLI.

In simple terms, what Android is to your Smartphone, AFFECTLI is to your business… It incorporates a unique combination of IoT, Big Data Analytics, Process Automation, AI and Contextual Collaboration to Digitise and Automate tasks & processes, making businesses more effective and providing a LIVE overall view of operations that creates the ultimate Smart Workplace and the added benefit of this solution is that it can be integrated into existing platforms for a more scalable, cost-effective and seamless transition.

For more information or to onboard with us, please connect with us at contact@affectli.com.

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The Human Centric Approach To Technology

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The principle behind the Human Centric model is that you need to apply empathy to understand the problems people and communities face, then design a solution that serves them.

Hal Rosenbluth published a book in 2002 titled “The Customer Comes Second”. At the time, it seemed a bit far-fetched because we had been programmed to accept that the Customer came First. Always. But once you drill down into the methodology, he goes on to explain that by looking after your staff, they, in turn, will look after your business.

Looking at the best companies to work for in 2010, standout benefits included on-site childcare, healthcare, work-life balance and telecommuting (up to 20% of the time).

In 2018 and 2019, Kaiser Permanente was listed for their “supportive family-like” culture. In addition to pay and healthcare benefits, they maintained their high ranking for recreational activities and benefits extended to employees and their families.

Fast forward to 2020, and a study by Glassdoor identified that within the Top 20 motivators for employees are Flexible Schedules, Childcare and Commuter Assistance. The common thread through all of these things is simple… over and above compensation and benefits, employees want more time. Time with families. And time to enjoy a good quality of life.

In “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren, he sums it up beautifully: “Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can’t make more time…. Your time is your life.”

If you’re still not convinced, FlexJobs conducted a survey in 2019 of Flexible Work Space Choices. Of the 7300+ respondents:

80% said they would be more loyal to employers who offered flexible work options
76% prefer to work remotely
65% said they would be more productive working from a home office
75% said they wanted a flexible work space for a better work-life balance
78% of people said having a flexible job would allow them to be healthier
86% said they’d be less stressed
44% said a job with flexibility would have a “huge improvement” on their overall quality of life
70% appreciated the reduced stress from commuting
72% were more productive as a result of fewer interruptions from colleagues
64% appreciated the minimal exposure to office politics

Whilst there will always be a need for a “conventional” workforce, we live in a day and age where technology can be used to meet the growing needs of employees without compromising on productivity and accountability through the implementation of effective tools to create a smart workspace solution.
For this very reason, Mi-C3 set out on a passion-project and developed an ecosystem called AFFECTLI. It’s a Human Centric Technology model that was designed to revolutionise the way businesses operate – designed to support humans in order to make them more efficient in the workplace, and in turn, give them more time with family and loved ones.

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