Moon-shot technology’s false promise Vs true human digital twin productivity
by Axel Schmidt, ProGlove
Moon-shot technologies typically garner attention and investment because of the benefits they claim to promise industry. However, practically, within Industry 4.0, warehouse and logistics, and manufacturing environments, many of these technologies have not been effectively thought-through for industrial applications. Often, what has not been considered is how a particular moon-shot intends to drive mass adoption and usage on the shopfloor.
This is where ‘human friendly’, ergonomic design and user approval is critical. For almost any technology to succeed on the shopfloor, it must offer this kind of positive user experience. It cannot be intrusive or uncomfortable to use for extended periods of time either. Or, its likely to be thrown away and not used. This is especially true of technologies like wearables and AR.
Therefore, within manufacturing, warehouse and logistics environments, providing staff with easy-to-use tools that are robust, ergonomic and comfortable is crucial. Especially if you want that mass adoption, long-term productivity and a happy workforce. This is where proven, wearable scanner technologies can play a key role during scanning scenarios.
Coupled with industrial process analytics solutions, they enable organisations to benefit from human digital twin modelling. This provides managerial teams with a true narrative of the shop floor; which is based on wearable data shared from the bottom up by teams. Ultimately, it lets organisations identify efficiency blockers and areas where micro-efficiency gains can be made. Further, it raises questions about whether moon-shots deserve their investment? Or, if it’s better to trust and invest in proven technologies that have grown organically?
ProGlove explains more by covering the following points:
- The importance of ‘human friendly’ technology – ‘pick by voices’ drives people mad
- Failure to use/adopt any tool by a shopfloor workforce results in it being ‘thrown away’
- How combining wearable technology with other solutions could drive results
- How human digital twin modelling improves operations within industrial applications
- Moon-shot innovation and investment is important – but deal with life on earth too
- Dealing with life on earth – how to drive up to 20 percent efficiency gains
About ProGlove
ProGlove builds the smallest, lightest, and toughest barcode scanners in the world, connecting workers to the Internet of Things. This promotes human-machine collaboration and drives the digitisation of the shop floor. More than 500 renowned organisations in manufacturing, production, logistics, and retail use these smarter workforce solutions.
ProGlove was founded in December 2014 after winning the Intel “Make it Wearable” Challenge and is backed by growth-focused investors Summit Partners, DICP Deutsche Invest Capital Partners, and Bayern Capital. The company employs 200 people from over 30 countries with offices in Chicago, Munich (Germany), and Belgrade (Serbia). The World Economic Forum named ProGlove a Technology Pioneer in 2020
