SMART vision for the future of Manufacturing

SMART vision for the future of Manufacturing

04 March 2013

SMART Visibility, a new manufacturing mobile solution developed by an Irish start-up, has made the final of the annual SAP Innovation Challenge, a prestigious manufacturing competition which takes place in Las Vegas next week.

Enabling mobility for manufacturers, the app, designed and developed by SMART Visibility Ltd. is set  transform the way manufacturing companies can view, analyse and interact their production processes, by allowing users to access real time data from machines and enterprise management systems data, such as SAP, securely using handheld Smart devices. The SMART Visibility concept and solution was developed by Cork based engineer, Will Wilmot, who saw the opportunity to use Smart device native technologies to improve how manufacturing companies can monitor and interact with their production processes more efficiently.

SMART Visibility has partnered with US, SAP consultancy company, Neoris Inc., in presenting this forward thinking solution. Co-submitted by Neoris for the annual SAP Innovation Challenge, SMART Visibility has now been shortlisted as one of just three finalists for the coveted award. At next week's Manufacturing 2013 Conference in Las Vegas, Will Wilmot will present SMART Visibility in front of an audience and SAP VIP panel of judges, who selected the top three mobile manufacturing application concepts based on business value, user experience, and "wow" factor; with the winner being announced on March 6th.

The SMART Visibility app is set to transform the management of manufacturing worldwide, and will transform the way workers interact with production processes, allowing them to obtain real-time information from both the production machines and enterprise systems via Smart devices. Once implemented, users will be able to view order statuses, view work centre data and view equipment information.

Using integrated features on Smart devices such as camera functionality for example, users can read barcodes and will be able to manage and control inventory on the plant floor. While, using GPS location services to provide location centric data to the user will allow users to focus on data that is central to their location. But that's not all; as SMART Visibility has also developed a revolutionary Augmented Reality portal that will allow users to simply point to the machine device that they require information on and the device can contextualise the actions of the user.

SMART Visibility's developer, Will Wilmot said "The way that people are interacting with systems is changing. People are now expecting all interactions with systems to be as intuitive and simple as common Smart device apps. This is driving an expectation of simplicity and performance, and manufacturing systems need to adapt to these new expectations. We no longer expect to be limited by standard desktop devices, and now can leverage our Smart devices to allow us to view, manage and control manufacturing operations."

Will added "We have created an application that has a user experience that is synonymous with all the great apps on the market. We have deployed practical solutions on the mobile architecture using innovative and advanced technologies of the native mobile application to transform how operations can interact with their manufacturing process. Using SMART Visibility, I can simply point my device at a piece of equipment and the device will tell me what's happening now; as well as allowing me to analyse what's happened yesterday, last week, or even last year."

He concluded "It is an amazing honour to be shortlisted for the SAP Innovation Challenge, and I look forward to presenting our ground breaking solution to industry experts from all over the world at next week's Manufacturing Conference in Las Vegas."

Some basic examples of how users of SMART Visibility can access information, as part of its many functions, include how it allows a user to look at virtual gauges on machine via their device, see how full a tank is, or to obtain a running total of how many units that machine has produced; all on the screen of their device, by simply pointing and viewing. It also combines this shop floor data with management level SAP information to provide an overview of the entire production process and can transform the way operations will be able to interact with their systems.

For more information on SMART Visibility visit www.smartviz.ie.