Andy Hancock
TECH & AI
technology is revolutionising a range of industries , including agriculture , healthcare , financial services retail and even advertising .
For businesses that produce or transport physical goods , IIoT tech can offer significant efficiencies , and can help businesses reimagine operational modus operandi .
In supply chain , for example , sensormanaged inventory can automate the supply ordering process , just before items go out of stock . This reduces waste and frees up employees to focus on more-strategic tasks .
In manufacturing IIoT-enabled machines can self-monitor and predict potential problems , meaning less downtime and greater efficiency .
But IIoT having the potential to help , and it actually helping , comes down to one critical factor : data . Or , more specifically , how data is harvested , and then used .
Andy Hancock
TITLE : GLOBAL VP CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
COMPANY : SAP DIGITAL SUPPLY CHAIN INDUSTRY : IT SERVICES
Hancock says of himself : “ I strive to drive our business forward by making sure our customers can make informed decisions on the future of their businesses .”
“ Data is all about identifying exceptions , rather than recording everything ”
ANDY HANCOCK GLOBAL VP , CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE ,
SAP DIGITAL SUPPLY CHAIN
Andy Hancock is Global VP Centre of Excellence , SAP Digital Supply Chain . The Centre of Excellence is like a global SWAT team of industry experts , serving SAP colleagues in the field , with knowledge transfer .
Hancock points out that IIoT networks generate mountains of data and warns that powerful 5G technology – with its huge data capabilities – can “ make people lazy , and so they end up throwing tons of information around just because they can ”.
He adds : “ The trouble is that when you scale-up this approach to enterprise level you soon end up with 50 million data points that flood the network , making it inefficient .
He adds that the danger is that businesses who fall into this trap then end up “ chucking more technology at the problem ”, where really what they should be doing is “ coming back to fundamentals ”.
Hancock says the secret to working with big data , like that generated by IIot networks , is “ to always be looking out for exceptions ”.
He adds : “ Think of a temperature gauge on a piece of equipment that is feeding back data . As long as everything is running okay , the equipment will always be roughly the same temperature . supplychaindigital . com 155