Connected products open the door to powerful new digital features, services and business models, yet many companies shy away from making their products connected. Adding this extra layer of technical complexity also requires new skills, raises security concerns and brings up privacy issues. At the core of these digital transformation challenges lies one key enabler: the right infrastructure. Connected products require a real-time, reliable and maintainable architecture that bridges digital ecosystems and physical devices, without losing control over scalability, security or flexibility.

During the ‘Building the digital backbone of smart, connected devices’ webinar on May 20th, Dennis Daems, Chief Technology Officer, and Joachim Jansen, Senior Software Engineer & Project Manager, shared their real-world experience with connected digital innovation. Access the recording and summary below to learn how to approach this complexity with confidence and turn it into a competitive edge.

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For years, the MVP mantra ruled digital innovation to kick off the product journey. With connected devices, the rhythm of incremental updates kept products evolving: smarter, faster, and better with each release. As digital innovation has matured, so have user expectations, raising the stakes like never before. Today’s MVPs must not just meet regulations, but exceed usability, connectivity, and cyber security expectations. In this track, we’ll take a deep dive into real-world cases to explore how MVPs have evolved and why building secure, feature-rich products from the start is now a must. Check out the presentations from the Innovation Day of 2024 on:

• A minimal viable product to explore emerging markets
  By Dennis Daems, Technology Manager at Verhaert Digital Innovation
• Mapping the EU Cyber Resilience Act on digital products
  By Bart De Vos, Consultant Embedded Lab at Verhaert Product Innovation

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Everyone agrees that sustainable innovation is the cornerstone to addressing environmental challenges and lasting economic growth. The truth is that making meaningful changes is difficult and sometimes feels like speeding ahead and hitting the brakes at the same time. What’s holding us back? In this track, you’ll dive into the tricky obstacles slowing down progress and shine a light on fresh, forward-thinking approaches that can break the cycle. Check out the presentations from the Innovation Day of 2024 on:

• Design for sustainability, from an incremental toward a more radical strategy
  By Jeroen Wilms, Consultant MechLab at Verhaert Product Innovation
• The search for sustainability impact
  By David Pas, Customer Success Manager at Verhaert Strategic Innovation and Laurien Wolfswinkel, Head of Operations at Beacon Masters in Innovation

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Redefining your use case is the ultimate tool in beating your competitors. Get inspired by how we accomplished this for our customers and discover how including stakeholders can help you create new value and business opportunities in your application field. Whether it’s through market expansion, portfolio diversification or user needs alignment. Check out the presentations from the Innovation Day of 2023 on:

• Fostering cravings for bike experiences that last
  By Joris De Lamper, Manager Innovation Acceleration Product Innovation
• Enhancing patient interactions and trials with digital connections
  By Laurent Schauvliege, Director Innovation Acceleration at Verhaert Digital Innovation, and Tom Bertens, Director Research ‘Algorithms & Applications’ at Cochlear

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By leveraging the power of the Internet of Things, smart devices can revolutionize the way we interact with everyday household items. Moreover, the integration of artificial intelligence opens up a realm of new possibilities, providing valuable insights for users and manufacturers alike. The best and most efficient way for such cases is to connect them to a platform that acts as a one-stop shop for all stakeholders involved. In this perspective, we will delve into the digital innovation possibilities brought by connected devices, how they can create added value for all stakeholders involved, and how you can go the extra mile to differentiate from other brands and create loyal customers. Ready to take your rightful place of being the #1 provider in your product market?

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This article explores the transformative power of innovative software development on user experiences and business expansion. Get ready to dive deep into frontend and backend development, the art of crafting captivating UI/UX experiences, the integration of emerging technologies, and the never-ending pursuit of perfection through continuous improvement. If you’ve ever pondered these questions, you’re in the right place.

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In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, it’s no longer enough to simply acknowledge the hype surrounding AI with ChatGPT and LLMs. To gain a competitive edge, you have to understand how AI can genuinely revolutionize your products and services and find growth avenues beyond productivity. How do you leverage AI beyond automating routine tasks and exploring added value creation? How can you build future-proof products and services that focus on creating new added value for your customers in the digital era with AI?

During Verhaert Digital Innovation’s ‘AI-infused innovation’ seminar on September 12th, we invited Siegfried Mercelis (imec), Rudy De Groodt (BNP Paribas Fortis), Dennis Daems and Guy Clarysse (Verhaert Digital) to discuss how digital solutions can give you a competitive edge.

Access the recording and presentation below to:

• Get inspired on how to create unprecedented added value for you and your customers
• Gain insights on AI development and machine learning operations
• Learn to identify growth opportunities through added value functionalities

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How do you make sure your supply chain doesn’t become the weakest link in your construction projects? From manufacturers and installers to contractors and builders, the relationship with your stakeholders is a crucial step in your long-term growth strategy, because it relies on lasting loyal partners.

During Verhaert Digital Innovation’s ‘Relationships built to last’ webinar on May 25th, Thomas Lauwers, Manager Innovation Acceleration, invited Bert Verlinden, Innovation Consultant & Solutions Architect at Verhaert Digital, and Stephanie Kellens, Product Manager Digital Services at Reynaers Aluminium to discuss how digital solutions unlock loyalty in the construction.

Access the recording and presentation below to:

• Learn our proven approach to pinpoint supply chain communication challenges
• Gain best practices in digital roadmaps to overcome those challenge
• Discover DigiTrace, the comprehensive application at Reynaers

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Key trends in our focus industries

The initial wave of the pandemic resulted in widespread factory shutdowns and reduced demand for goods, leading to a decrease in production and a reduction in the supply chain. In addition, the pandemic has led to a shift in consumer behavior, with a growing focus on essential goods and a decrease in demand for non-essential goods.

In the wake of the pandemic, the manufacturing industry has had to adapt to new challenges and find new ways to operate efficiently while ensuring the safety of employees. This has led to a greater emphasis on automation and digitalization, as companies seek to reduce the need for manual labor and minimize the risk of virus transmission.

The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has also had an impact on the manufacturing industry in Europe. The ongoing conflict has led to disruptions in the supply chain and reduced access to raw materials and goods. In addition, the conflict has led to increased uncertainty and volatility in the market, making it difficult for companies to plan and operate effectively.

How to address the trends

To address these challenges, many companies in the manufacturing industry are seeking to diversify their supply chains and reduce their dependence on a single region or supplier. This includes investing in local production facilities and seeking out new suppliers in different regions. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms (MLAs) has become increasingly widespread, as companies seek to optimize production processes, improve decision-making, and enhance the customer experience.

One of the major trends in the machinery industry during the pandemic has been the shift toward automation and digitalization. AI and MLAs have played a significant role in this trend by enabling the development of advanced automation systems and digital solutions that help companies to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and minimize the impact of disruptions caused by the pandemic.

AI algorithms have been used to optimize production processes and reduce downtime, improving the overall efficiency of the machinery industry. To illustrate with a few examples:

1. Predictive Maintenance: Predictive maintenance is an AI algorithm that uses machine learning techniques to analyze data from machinery and predict when it is likely to fail. By detecting potential failures before they occur, companies can schedule maintenance during periods of low usage, reducing downtime and increasing efficiency.
2. Process Optimization: AI algorithms can be used to optimize production processes by analyzing data from machinery to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies. This can include identifying the optimal production speed, reducing waste and improving overall production time.
3. Quality Control: AI algorithms can be used to monitor production processes in real-time to identify and flag any quality issues. By using image recognition, machine learning algorithms can detect deviations from product specifications, reducing the need for manual inspections and improving the accuracy of quality control.
4. Supply Chain Optimization: AI algorithms can be used to optimize supply chains by analyzing data on inventory levels, production schedules, and shipping routes to reduce waste and increase efficiency.

In addition, the use of AI and MLAs has also contributed to the development of predictive maintenance solutions that help companies to reduce unscheduled downtime and reduce the need for inventory and spare parts. This has helped companies to remain competitive and maintain profitability even in the face of the challenges posed by the pandemic.
Another trend in the machinery industry has been the increased focus on supply chain resilience and security. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has added to the complexity of the global supply chain, making it more important for companies to have access to reliable and secure supply chains. AI and MLAs have contributed to the development of advanced supply chain management solutions.

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Let’s start with an example of the training process of a large language model. Don’t fall off your chair reading the rest of this sentence, but that process can produce up to five times the amount of carbon emissions of an average car over its entire lifetime. Yes, you read that right: up to 5 times! Take a moment to let that sink in because this issue will only grow over time as more and more data is being collected annually and more and larger (smarter) models are being trained on this data. So what can we do to deal with this growing problem?

The premise above might sound familiar if you’ve already read the blog by Jente or seen the talk by Bart De Vos and Niels on this topic. If not, we definitely recommend doing so first to get a general scope. In this perspective we dive deeper into this issue, shifting the scope to techniques focused on reducing the energy consumption of deep learning algorithms.

Decision-making AI

Let’s start by asking a very obvious question: “Do we really need a prediction that frequently?”. A prediction is not always needed, sometimes it’s perfectly fine to wait a bit or to even skip it completely. Reducing the number of inference tasks means a reduction of computations and subsequently also the energy consumption.
For connected devices, a second question comes up: ”Where should the inference be performed?”. Both cloud and edge have their advantages and disadvantages that need to be balanced against each other to determine the best choice.

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