With its first annual Spotlight Awards Ceremony, Augury recognizes manufacturing facility teams’ dedication and hard work, going the extra mile with Machine Health. After all, while tech can work to impact people, plants, and the planet, it needs people to make it happen. Thank you to our 30+ site winners, including runner-up Frito-Lay Coventry and our grand winner Fortune Brands New London!

Celebrating Success

The inaugural Spotlight Awards ceremony took place on November 20, 2024. For the first edition, Augury highlighted maintenance and reliability teams with incredible initiative, awarding them the “Beam of Excellence” designation. 

Evaluating hundreds of plants, we identified the top 5% of customer sites based on their performance in the following criteria: high response rates, IoT serviceability, number of active users, and quantified wins. In short, these plant teams raised the bar on Machine Health and predictive technology for their companies – and deserve recognition. 

Listed in alphabetical order, the 2024 Spotlight Awards “Beam of Excellence” winners: Amcor / BAZAN Group / Canfor (2 awards) / Colgate-Palmolive (3 Awards) / Dairy Farmers of America / GAF (2 Awards) / Fortune Brands Innovations / Indorama (3 Awards) / ICL Group / Keurig Dr. Pepper / Molson Coors / Nestlé Purina Petcare / PepsiCo (8 Awards) / Reyes Holdings / Roseburg / Toray Industries / Wis-Pak.

It’s About People, Not Just Technology

Hosted by Ed Ballina and Alvaro Cuba, industry veterans and hosts of the popular Manufacturing Meetup podcast, the virtual ceremony opened with special remarks from Augury’s co-founders: CEO Saar Yoskovitz and CPTO Gal Shaul.

“Seeing the work that you guys are doing, the amount of dedication, effort, and creativity that goes into making wood products, food, beverages, toilet paper – and the list goes on and on – has just been amazing and inspiring for us to start a company and see how can we fit in to help you,” says Gal. 

“Especially these days, when manufacturing faces so many headwinds, from geopolitical challenges to supply chain issues, the economy, talent shortage, which we all feel daily. And we believe that there is a way out. Right by leveraging technology and modern tools, we can fundamentally transform how manufacturing is being done,” adds Saar.  

“This impressive diversity tells a great story about how technology is transferable across sectors and geographies.”

“At the same time, we understand it’s insufficient to put the sensor in the right location. It’s not enough to provide an alert just in time. If there’s no one on the other side to take action to repair the machine, we won’t achieve anything. And that’s why you are such a crucial part of our story.” 

It’s In The Diversity – And The Numbers

The winning facilities and teams, covering a broad range of manufacturing verticals, hailed from three continents, eight countries, and 20 U.S. states. 

“This impressive diversity tells a great story about how technology is transferable across sectors and geographies,” says Ed.

But there’s another big story: in the numbers. As a group, these top performers achieved:

• 1.3K+ Machine Improvements 
• 4,300K+ Hours of Downtime Avoided 
• $11.8M+ Maintenance Costs Saved 

Incredible Stories Of Cultural Change

However, metrics only tell part of the story. Leading up to the event, each facility helped craft their transformation story – providing additional input about how they’ve transformed the way they work around Machine Health technology. 

All of these sites have incredible stories of culture change, digital integrations, new processes, and updated roles and responsibilities. And in the end, two stories stood out and were recognized at the ceremony.

Drumroll Please. The Runner-Up Is… Frito-Lay, Coventry

The runner-up was PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay in Coventry, UK, which was already featured in a BBC feature about how the facility advanced manufacturing through Machine Health. Coventry’s numbers are impressive: a response rate of 94% and avoiding 650K+ costs and 65+ downtime hours.

“The introduction of Augury was a bolt out of the blue. We’ve gone from prehistoric to Star Wars in a couple of weeks,” says Kevin Thomas, Condition Monitoring Specialist at the facility. “It allows me to see the bigger picture and have an accurate story of what is going on. We used to run our equipment to destruction or until the line came down. Now, we can collaborate with the engineering teams to balance production. It feels good not to run about and react to major changes every week.”

“Part of what makes this site’s story so exciting is how they’ve connected the dots not just between Machine Health and cost savings, but also with the tangible impacts of other critical areas like safety, equipment lifespan, and team efficiency.”

And First Place Goes To… Fortune Brands’ New London facility

Like many other winners, the first-place team was initially skeptical due to poor experiences with other systems. However, that did not hold back the Fortune Brands’ New London, North Carolina facility. They fully embraced Augury’s solution, achieving 2.5X ROI in 8 months and 94% Serviceability. The facility is now expanding its Machine Health coverage from 40 to 140 machines. 

Part of what makes this site’s story so exciting is how they’ve connected the dots not just between Machine Health and cost savings, but also with the tangible impacts of other critical areas like safety, equipment lifespan, and team efficiency. 

“I was a bit apprehensive,” says Ric Wojcik, Senior Manufacturing Engineering Manager. “In my past maintenance life, I was introduced to and tried similar systems that simply did not perform. I could tell that Augury was unique from the other companies and could be a game-changer for us, and I was willing to take the chance. I am so pleased that we did!”  

“We’ve seen the difference and look forward to what the future holds.”

Looking To The Future: Upward And Onward

“We are excited,” says Ric. “And it just goes to show that the hard work that went in by these guys – Jesse, Jonathan, Troy, Matt, and Todd – was instrumental in getting all this stuff going on here at the facility. We’ve seen the difference and look forward to what the future holds.” 

As Saar put it: “It’s not just solving today’s challenges, but also looking towards tomorrow’s challenges. When we work with you and your peers, we hear these stories of life before Augury: waking up at 2 am, firefighting, heavy, laborious work… Today, you can focus on what really provides more and more impact and what really matters. So, we ask ourselves, how do we take that to the next level? And the answer is by working even closer with you, by listening to your feedback, by having you guide us on our journey.”

Cheers to the winners on a great 2024! Tune in next year for more success!

Learn more about the Spotlight Awards – and Machine Health. 

The post Spotlight Awards: Shining A Light On Augury Customer Achievements appeared first on Augury.

We have a remarkable number of happy long-term customers. Most stay for the same reason they signed up: being free of unplanned downtime. But there’s more, according to James Newman, Augury’s Head of Product and Portfolio Marketing. “It’s about reducing risk, elevating reliability, and continuing to fight the good fight for continual improvement.”

 

At Augury, we’re incredibly proud that our customer retention rate is currently 97.6%. We’re perhaps even prouder that our net dollar retention (NDR) rate is 130% – which means not only do people stay with Augury, but they spend an average of 130% more with Augury every year as they expand with us.

In other words, unlike Hotel California, it’s not that you can’t ever leave, it’s that you won’t ever want to. And there’s one big reason for this: value, which begins with the elimination of downtime. 

In most cases, we eliminate unplanned downtime in one or two years. And once you’ve achieved that, you’d never dream of returning to how it was before. However, you can begin to imagine what comes next. 

Yes, It’s The Reliable AI

We track this progress on our platform, repeatedly showing how sites and organizations eliminate the endless firefighting around unplanned downtime. When we began, this was the big problem of manufacturing we wanted to solve. And its solution brought people to Augury. 

But now that the problem is solved, why not eliminate Augury?

It’s because of what Augury does for a company’s workforce, processes, and operations. Customer after customer and plant person after plant person says, “I can’t imagine working without Augury. Every day, I walk in and decide what I should focus on based on what Augury tells me. It alerts me to a problem. It also tells me what’s not a problem.” 

Solving The Problems That Need To Be Solved When They Need To Be Solved

Hence, the sustaining value is the assurance that Augury will tell you how to spend your time on what needs your time the most. No one can imagine going back to that level of uncertainty they had before – which would probably be heightened now in an age of continued labor and expertise shortages. After all, companies are all about mitigating risk. Why would you put your plant at risk?

So, Augury offers reliability and risk reduction. And this used to be about having less unplanned downtime. Now, it’s about the reliability of having your people do the right things at the right time. 

Certainly, Our People Are Also Valued

It might be pushing to say we get paid because of our nice and supportive people, but our people are certainly valued! Just like with tech, it’s about having a relationship that you can grow, trust and count on. 

“She is a machine whisperer who can tell what’s wrong with our equipment from hundreds of miles away – while my technicians and I think everything is perfect.”

Recently, a plant manager from a food and drink manufacturer reached out to say how happy he was with our Team Lead for Reliability Success. He admitted he was initially highly skeptical of our solution and was “just waiting for Augury to be wrong.” But in the end, he was proven wrong. Our lead pushed him to act on our alerts, and she was proven right twice in a short period.

1)     “She called out bearing wear, and we reluctantly pulled the motor and sent it to a shop to inspect it. We gave them zero instructions on what to look for. The shop identified that very same bearing as problematic.”

2)     “Later, she pushed for weeks on an alignment issue, and during a stoppage, the maintenance manager pulled the guards and checked it with a straight edge. He confirmed Augury’s alert and made the repair.”

The manager said, “She is a machine whisperer who can tell what’s wrong with our equipment from hundreds of miles away – while my technicians and I think everything is perfect.”

Stories like this motivate many of our customers to say our people are just as important as our technology. I’d say it’s more about the combined relationship between our tech, our people, and those on your floor.  

But There’s More! How About Taking Continuous Improvement Beyond Assets? How About Optimizing Your Planned Maintenance Scheduling?

There often comes a point around continuous improvement when something seems as good as it can get – for instance, when you have put all your rotating machines into a real Machine Health Solution. In other words, the firefighting work is done. But actually, that moment really represents the beginning of your continuous improvement journey. In other words, it’s now time to focus your efforts on where they will have more impact. 

If it doesn’t break, try it across several machines. And once you’re sure it’s not an outlier, start looking holistically across your enterprise. How much are you saving now?

For instance, it might be time to change your planned maintenance schedule. Since the Augury system tells you when something doesn’t need to be fixed, why would you do maintenance on it every three months? Perhaps you can take that from a three-month cycle to a five-month or maybe even a 10-month cycle.

If you do push an asset to the breaking point, Augury’s AI will warn you to jump in. So why not let that machine go an extra two months? If it doesn’t break, try it across several machines. And once you’re sure it’s not an outlier, start looking holistically across your enterprise. How much are you saving now?

When you continually push the envelope in minimizing unnecessary maintenance, you might come across exceptions: instead of doing your maintenance every three months, you might look at the data and decide to do it every three weeks. But that’s okay. You will not only still save money overall, but you’ll also have better-prepared machines overall. 

It also puts a lot of power in the hands of Machine Health customers to not just stop failure but to make everything better.

And Why Not Extend The Life Of Your Assets?

Once you’ve optimized the operation and maintenance of your machines and they’re all running in the green all the time, you can follow the same principles to extend asset life. After all, if their performance isn’t degrading, why replace them? Yes, your OEM might say you should replace them every 12 years. But the data might tell you you can quickly push it to 15 years. Why not defer that cost for three years and make some free profit off that machine in that time?

Yes, this is very much a long-term play. However, with continual improvement now possible and trustable, it’s a play that’s actually executable. It also puts a lot of power in the hands of Machine Health customers to not just stop failure but to make everything better. And that power might go a long way in explaining why we have so many long-term customers.

Learn more, reach out. Or maybe you want to read this first: ‘How Do You Measure Success Once You Beat Unplanned Downtime?’

The post Why Do Customers Stay – And Grow – With Augury? appeared first on Augury.

Augury’s Process Health Solution, Process Navigator, is steering itself to market after a series of successful proof-of-concepts – including one that translates into saving millions annually on a single separation column. “We are in the middle of an exciting revolution in how manufacturing uses real AI,” writes Iftah Levy, Augury’s General Manager for Process Health. “We’re quickly improving how we can help operators make reliable real-time decisions that align with overall business goals.”

With Process Health, we aim to help Operation teams stabilize and optimize core manufacturing processes – in the name of maximizing yield and minimizing waste and energy use. This is our way of helping manufacturing become significantly more efficient and sustainable.

Next-Level APC

Process Navigator is the platform we built to do this. As a real-time solution using cutting-edge real AI, it provides operators with ever-evolving insights to help them attain and improve their often-conflicting objectives.

Watch the product webinar on Process Navigator:
‘Every Objective, Every Shift, Every Time: Unlock Process Health’

In many ways, Process Navigator can be seen as a new generation of Advanced Process Control (APC), which is a rather broad range of tools and techniques that began to be developed in the 1980s to address opportunities to improve performance and reduce costs. However, the differences are also profound. Process Navigator enables much quicker deployment and increased flexibility. It also supports non-linear optimization, and can not only learn but also be the foundation for full automation down the road.   

“You can find the sweet spot that optimizes both yield and sustainability goals.”

From Paper Maps To Full Automation

We often use automobile navigation as an analogy to describe what Process Navigator does. Remember the good old days of charting out your vacation routes on a paper map? Remember when GPS was introduced? Both approaches were, of course, super handy but also super static. We humans still had to do a lot of heavy lifting. 

Life got a lot easier with real-time turn-by-turn navigation, as we now enjoy using Google Maps, Tom-Tom, and all the rest. And that’s what Process Navigator represents for manufacturing: your best route is automatically charted out in response to real-time conditions. 

Of course, you can always choose not to take a turn. The system will not chastise you but merely recalculate your new best future scenario. And with manufacturing, instead of taking the scenic route, you can find the sweet spot that optimizes both yield and sustainability goals. 

And as with automobiles, the next step is fully autonomous driving.  

A Great Day For Maximizing Yield

A recent breakthrough with one of our early adopter customers, a major global oil refinery, is an exciting example of Process Health’s overall potential.  

As a proof-of-concept, Augury’s Process Navigator was deployed in a single separation column to divide propane-propylene into its component units. Our system offered a recommendation every two hours over a single shift, with three of the four recommendations implemented by control room operators during that time.

The result: purity levels remained high and within specs, while yield increased by three tons per hour – an increase of a whopping 9%. Taken on an annual basis, this translates into millions of dollars of additional capacity and savings for each separation column.

“The yield was so high that the collection tanks filled up quicker than expected, and the flow lines had to be shut down to avoid catastrophe due to excess success.”

If It Works, Scale

In fact, the yield was so high that the collection tanks filled up quicker than expected, and the flow lines had to be shut down to avoid catastrophe due to excess success. The company’s CEO was immediately won over: “Let’s also use it for the night shifts. And let’s start discussing how we can move to direct control.”

Now, as we expand our lines at the facility and switch to 24/7 use of our platform, we hope to share even more impressive numbers in the short term. However, a key challenge is already being overcome: the team is adapting their work processes to increasingly use Process Navigator to optimize their line. 

Larger Challenge: Building The Trust

Just as with car drivers, it will be a while before machine operators are all willing to hand over their controls entirely. Sure, those in the C-suite who worry about a diminishing workforce – in terms of both size and experience – would perhaps love to fast-track to full automation. But that’s not realistic.

Watch the product webinar on Process Navigator:
‘Every Objective, Every Shift, Every Time: Unlock Process Health’

What is realistic, albeit still challenging, is using technology to align the company’s goals more with the operators. Today, operators don’t necessarily make decisions based on what resonates most with company objectives. They want stability. They want to finish their shift without too many hiccups. They don’t always want to optimize performance or balance conflicting and often ever-changing objectives.  

“And we do all this with a simple and straightforward interface.”

Heavy Lifting Made Easy

In any case, there’s too much going on in terms of data for a single human to track, evaluate, and decide on the best course of action. And our system does this all for them. After establishing the set points around production priorities, our system can calculate the best route and adjust that recommendation based on any changes.

And we do all this with a simple and straightforward interface (also a relative rarity in the world of manufacturing in general, and APC in particular.)  

AI As Plant’s Go-To Guy (One Who Never Retires)

As we continue to test and develop our system with other early adopter customers from a range of industries, we are not only fine-tuning the tech but also improving the required change management to help operators better appreciate Process Navigator as that trusted go-to-guy who makes their day easier and more fulfilling while also aligning with the larger business goals.

So, yes, we can safely conclude: we’re excited. 

Reach out if you’re also excited.
Or start with watching the webinar: ‘Every Objective, Every Shift, Every Time: Unlock Process Health’.

The post Process Navigator: AI As Co-Pilot – And Your Plant’s Go-To Guy  appeared first on Augury.

A leading metals and mining manufacturer, operating dozens of facilities across North America, faced a significant challenge in monitoring one of their most critical pieces of equipment: a rotary kiln with a rotating rate of 23 RPM, far below the lower limit of standard vibration analysis.

Industry – Metals and Mining //
Machine – Rotary kiln //
Fault Type – Gear wear and misalignment //

<25 RPM Kiln Requires Unique Machine Health Approach

The manufacturer’s massive incinerator, essential for melting sand, is the center of the production process. With only one kiln per facility, any unplanned downtime could result in substantial financial losses and production delays. Complicating matters more, the kiln’s internal temperature exceeds 200 degrees Fahrenheit, creating a hazardous environment for maintenance workers. 

Initially, the company installed Augury’s Machine Health solution on the kiln, which measures temperature, magnetic flux, and vibration levels. However, the kiln’s slow rotation rate made it difficult to collect reliable data. The kiln is a barrel-shaped steel enclosure, approximately 12 feet in diameter, rotating at a mere 23 RPM, far below the lower limit of standard vibration analysis. This low frequency results in minimal vibration energy, making it challenging to detect subtle changes in the machine’s condition. 

Augury’s Low-RPM Monitoring Solution Uncovers Critical Gear Issue

A lot was riding on one machine–not just continued production, but consumer demand, customer satisfaction, and the company’s brand integrity. Recognizing the limitations of standard monitoring techniques, Augury’s team of experts recommended a novel solution: installing a newly developed high-frequency, ultrasonic sensor. It offered two key advantages that addressed the unique challenges posed by the rotary kiln.

Firstly, it was capable of collecting a longer data samples. By extending the sampling period, it could collect data over multiple rotations of the kiln, providing a more comprehensive picture of the machine’s behavior and enabling the detection of subtle variations that might occur only once per revolution.

Secondly, the ultrasonic component of the sensor enabled the detection of very high, ultrasonic frequencies. This capability was crucial for identifying issues in low-speed components within the slow-rotating kiln, such as the gears in the drive mechanism. It can detect early signs of wear, gear mesh, impacting, inadequate lubrication, or misalignment in these components before they manifest as visible vibrations.

The customer strategically placed sensors at key points including the drive end, non-drive end, and the gearbox. This comprehensive coverage ensured that data was collected from all critical areas of the machine.

Almost immediately after installation, an anomaly was detected. The data showed distinctive peaks indicating potential gear wear or misalignment. Augury’s advanced algorithms analyzed the low-frequency data, and identified these subtle changes. An alert was sent, triggering a collaborative effort between Augury’s analysts and the customer’s maintenance team. 

The maintenance team’s initial inspection of lubrication and other elements appeared normal. However, looking at the persistent abnormal data, Augury’s vibration analysts guided the maintenance team to look for specific signs of mechanical looseness in the internal gear. This data-driven approach led to the discovery and subsequent repair of a problem with the gear mesh. 

After the team made the necessary repairs, Augury’s Ultra Low RPM system continued to detect unusual vibration levels. Further inspection led to the discovery of a loose bolt, which was initially tightened but continued to cause issues. The customer’s team decided to reach out to the kiln manufacturer and they learned that a specialized wrench was required for proper tightening of the problematic bolt. Once the correct tool was acquired and used, Augury confirmed the machine finally returned to normal operation.

Crisis Averted, Downtime Avoided, Savings Realized

Without Augury’s low-RPM Machine Health solution and cross-team collaboration, the customer would have continued operating the kiln with undetected issues. The gear would have eventually failed catastrophically, potentially destroying the gearbox, damaging other kiln components, halting plant operations, and posing a severe safety hazard to workers.

Fortunately, with data-driven detection and early action, the customer avoided an estimated 3,696 hours of unplanned downtime. This translates to approximately 154 days of continuous operation and approximately $108,000 in repair costs.

In the metals and mining industry, where supply chain commitments are critical, the ability to deliver products on time can be the difference between retaining and losing major contracts. By collaborating with Augury and championing the new Ultra Low-RPM solution, this leading mining manufacturer not only avoided a potential disaster but reinforced their position as an industry leader committed to leveraging technology and partnership for continuous improvement.

The post Ultra-Low RPM Machine Challenge Prompts Tech Innovative and Collaboration, Yields $108K in Savings appeared first on Augury.

Tech revolutions create prosperity – but only after making a mess for a long time. Embracing new technology is one thing, but you must also find new ways to measure your success (and failure) while reorganizing how you work. And in the case of Industry 4.0, you have to do all this with a stripped-back and much less experienced workforce. Yes, it’s challenging but many are already showing the way … Read all about it in our regular round-up of manufacturing-related news.

Old-School Metrics No Longer Measure Up

According to ‘Industry 4.0 Gains Are Ahead of the Tools to Measure Them’, it’s time for a new range of productivity metrics. 

“If Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter is the father of creative destruction, then today’s entrepreneurs and inventors are his disciples. The term ‘creative destruction,’ coined by Schumpeter in his 1942 book Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, refers to the dismantling of traditional business and economic models to make way for revolutionary technologies and innovative processes designed to vastly improve living standards.”

“Economists and statisticians will also need to take a more cross-disciplinary approach to cultivating metrics that measure what cannot be measured today – including artificial intelligence and machine learning.”

But whether it was steam, mechanization, electricity, or computers, these revolutions all involved decades of muddling before the promised prosperity arrived.

Part of overcoming this “productivity paradox” is finding the right tools to track and prove success. GDP and other old-school econometric models like ROI “exclude the impact of AI and machine learning, automation and robotics, IT integration, e-commerce, improved processes and workflows and scaled-up supply chains. Therefore, the shift from traditional to digital manufacturing is not readily apparent.”

So, a Nobel Prize awaits anyone who can provide precise numbers to these obvious yet still intangible benefits. Only then can academia, policymakers, and business leaders come together under a shared set of insights to focus resources that help streamline the path to prosperity.

“Economists and statisticians will also need to take a more cross-disciplinary approach to cultivating metrics that measure what cannot be measured today – including artificial intelligence and machine learning. They, like the general-purpose technologies noted above, serve as force multipliers rippling through the entire economy.” 

Getting Organized… Differently

But yes, not only do you need better statistics, algorithms, and standards that can make realistic sense of the Industry 4.0 revolution, but you also need a wholly new kind of manufacturing organization. And the McKinseys of this world have been pumping out countless reports on how to do precisely that. 

“The experiences of exceptional organizations show that capturing technology’s opportunities means making eight mutually reinforcing shifts that strengthen people, processes, and technology in tandem,” according to ‘Today’s Industrial Revolution Calls For An Organization To Match’. 

The report then dives deep into these eight requirements and three additional critical factors. It also offers five “concrete tasks” to get you on your way:

–        Understand and shape your role in the ecosystem
–        Develop visionary and courageous leaders
–        Define and invest in your tech stack
–        Assess capability needs
–        Work in teams, not in pyramids

But yes, even these concrete tasks remain somewhat high-level. Can we break it down further?

“Gone are the 30-year veterans with average tenure down to only three years in 2023.”

How To Translate 30 Years Into 30 Days

And can we break it down further knowing that the old workforce is never returning? “Today’s manufacturing workforce looks radically different compared to 2019. Gone are the 30-year veterans with average tenure down to only three years in 2023. To make matters worse, 50% of new employees leave manufacturing roles within the first 90 days,” according to ‘How to Get a 30-day Employee to a 30-Year Performance Level’.

Meanwhile: “Traditional approaches to achieving a trained and competent workforce are failing. New generations demand step-change improvements across safety, health, and sustainability performance. Industrial organizations must fundamentally evolve to meet the needs of today and the future.”

In short, manufacturers must embrace AI-driven technologies on the work floor and in their (re)training processes. And here again, it’s time to follow some excellent, albeit high-level, advice: 

–        Accept the New Reality
–        Identify the Capabilities to Invest In  
–        Bridge the Skills Gap
–        Digitally Enable New Employees
–        Provide Next-level Support   
–        Focus on the Future 

“Balanced, stable financial performance and a classical hierarchy of operating metrics are central to the company’s culture. And yet, innovation and leadership on technology, sustainability, and organizational strategy are keys to its continued growth.”

Thrive By Focusing On Practicality And Scale

But what does all this excellent high-level advice look like on the ground? Well, the innovation leaders at Colgate-Palmolive have undoubtedly read these future-thinking reports – since the 218-year-old company is renowned for being ahead of the innovation curve. So, what’s their secret? 

“Balanced, stable financial performance and a classical hierarchy of operating metrics are central to the company’s culture. And yet, innovation and leadership on technology, sustainability, and organizational strategy are keys to its continued growth,” according to ‘Colgate’s Classic Approach To AI For Supply Chain’.

“Another is Colgate’s approach to automation. It starts at a plant level, looking first to site leaders and operators in places like China and Vietnam, whose digital skills are generally far more developed than those in North America and Europe. Coupling this ground-level perspective with system-level thinking about metrics like “robot density” helps ensure practical lessons are balanced with strategic thinking to benefit the whole company.”

So yes, Colgate-Palmolive found new metrics, evolved the organization, and found a way to leverage those still working the floor. “Getting the balance right is a matter of practical thinking about what AI can do to change work processes, and, even more importantly, scaling with good data, solid training, and measurable impact on growth, operating efficiency, and resilience.”

So here’s some inspiration: Colgate has been able to build their own metrics without waiting for a Nobel Prize winner to do it for them. 

Let’s get to work.

Read last month’s Manufacturing – The News: ‘Sun, Sand, And Human Ingenuity’.

The post Manufacturing – The News: Getting Constructive With Creative Destruction appeared first on Augury.

Augury’s AI has merged with Baker Hughes’ robust Ranger Pro sensor to create an unparalleled diagnostic solution for hazardous environments. “This collaboration not only delivers immediate customer value but it changed how both companies work,” writes James Newman, Augury’s Head of Product and Portfolio Marketing. “But there’s more! It also opens up exciting new possibilities for third-party technology integration into Augury’s platform – that can, in turn, work to rewire the entire manufacturing ecosystem.”

Tech Breakthrough

“When we first conceived this alliance, we aimed to combine our best-in-class hardware and infrastructure with Augury’s exceptional sensor-based AI and machine learning,” said Carlos M. Gomez, VP of Global Partnership & Alliances at global energy giant Baker Hughes during Augury’s recent ‘Beyond the Line’ event. “And the result has far exceeded our initial expectations.”

This collaboration integrated Baker Hughes’ sixth-generation Ranger Pro Wireless Condition Monitoring Sensor and Cordant Gateway with Augury’s Machine Health platform. In other words, our Guaranteed Diagnostics AI can now be applied to maintain machinery in hazardous conditions typical of heavy industries like oil fields and refineries, where safety and environmental resilience are critical.

This is good news for many – and for many reasons. 

“This co-developed solution showcases how innovation-driven companies of different sizes and capabilities can collaborate successfully.”

Changing The Way We All Work

Baker Hughes brings formidable technology to the table. With over 50,000 sensors deployed in high-risk areas, the Ranger Pro boasts the maximum hazardous environment rating (C1D1 / ATEX High) and can transmit data over a remarkable 150-meter line of sight. Their IoT network supports between 40 to 60 sensors per Cordant Gateway, significantly expanding Augury’s sensing capabilities and making it easier than ever to deploy at scale.

This co-developed solution showcases how innovation-driven companies of different sizes and capabilities can collaborate successfully. The partnership has also changed how both companies work.

Impact: Success Out of the Gate

The co-developed solution has already made a huge impact with Augury’s customers. In less than two months since announcing the availability of Machine Health for hazardous environments with Ranger Pro, Augury has seen significant demand from customers from the chemicals and building materials industries – notching up 3-7X ROI at existing installations.  

As our CEO Saar Yoskovitz expressed it: “Our customers know and understand the challenges of monitoring highly critical machines in hazardous environments. They rely and trust on Baker Hughes’s expertise and Augury’s technology to protect their machines and their plants from expensive unplanned downtime. It became instantly clear that this is the solution for them.” 

“That’s a true SaaS model of digital technology: to basically embrace your customer and say, I am not only delivering you something incredible, but I am going to actively help you get there in terms of demonstrating value and ROI.”

In the Name of Customer-Centricity

Carlos was lyrical in how he saw a legacy company like Baker Hughes embrace a new way of working that put the customer at the center. 

“I can see what the customer’s doing. They can see how we’re helping them. And together, we’re creating value together. It’s a whole different dynamic. And that’s a true SaaS model of digital technology: to basically embrace your customer and say, I am not only delivering you something incredible, but I am going to actively help you get there in terms of demonstrating value and ROI,” Carlos said during ‘Beyond the Line’.

“This experience has gotten us even closer to our customers.” 

“This new way of working can also contribute to rebuilding the manufacturing ecosystem from the ground up, with best-in-class technologies integrated into a single platform to support customer choice and maximize coverage.”

From Partnership To Ecosystem

The partnership certainly has transformative implications for customers in vertical markets like energy and for existing Augury customers who now have access to the highest level of hazardous coverage. It’s a big step for Augury, increasing the global reach of Machine Health and helping the industry scale it in new ways.

Specifically, it represents the first time Augury’s AI has been integrated with a third-party sensor, opening up new possibilities for future innovations. In fact, this new way of working can also contribute to rebuilding the manufacturing ecosystem from the ground up, with best-in-class technologies integrated into a single platform to support customer choice and maximize coverage. 

Works With Augury 

This project also aligns with Augury’s strategy to extend its IoT infrastructure through the “Works with Augury” program. This program enables leading IoT and application providers in the Production Health ecosystem to provide faster and higher-value services to manufacturers worldwide.

This lays the groundwork for the connected digital infrastructure needed for an AI-driven Production Health future.  

“We can both go to our customers and offer them more value. This is probably what folks in the alliance world wish could happen every time.”

It’s Only Just Begun

As Carlos said, “You always want the alliance to transcend and evolve from what we designed it to be upfront to what it could be later on down the road. And I think we’ve achieved that. We can both go to our customers and offer them more value. This is probably what folks in the alliance world wish could happen every time.”

And as our VP of Strategic Alliances, Mercer Rowe, said during the same conversations, “Watch this space: there’s a lot more to come from this exciting partnership.”

Time to put on our seatbelts.


Learn more about this partnership and the evolving manufacturing ecosystem by watching ‘Beyond the Line’, or reach out for a demo.  

The post Augury & Baker Hughes: Magic Happens When You Work Together appeared first on Augury.

It’s official – there’s a teenager in the house. To celebrate, we’ve compiled 13 of the nicest gifts we have ever received: impact statements and compliments from customers, partners, analysts, and the press.

1.

“It is by far the best thing that has ever come into this mill in the 28 years I have worked here in maintenance. Work smarter not harder.” — Anonymous, Pulp & Paper Industry

Read the Article

2.

“We scouted the world for different solutions, big companies and small companies, and we objectively tested them side by side. Augury was the solution that came on top.” — Anna Farberov, General Manager, PepsiCo Labs

Read the Case Study

3.

“Since implementing Augury and 24/7 machine monitoring, we have drastically reduced unplanned downtime and also found some gaps in our maintenance strategy.” — Michael Hill, Predictive Maintenance Lead, Purina

See Video

4.

“Augury’s made a difference in our maintenance program because it’s really the first and most critical step in our transformation of getting away from that calendar-based maintenance.” — Travis Schell, Divisional FP&R and Automation Manager, Hill’s Pet Nutrition

Read the Case Study

5.

“We had a problem getting the mechanics to trust what our technology was telling us. We have several tenured mechanics, and they had been taking care of the equipment for a long time. The failures that we find with Augury are very high in the P-F curve so when we asked them to change the component, they could not understand why we were changing good components out. We then started doing autopsies on the problems that we found. You would be surprised how many mechanics will come around to see what you are doing if you start tearing down a motor on the shop table. Once they see the problems that you found with Augury, they started to understand what this technology can do and how it can help identify the problem.

We are lucky that we have our upper management support with our predictive maintenance program. They realize the savings and help us to make the program a success.” — Roy Smithson, Maintenance

Read on our knowledge base, The Endpoint

6.

“‘The value of startup vendors such as Augury has initially been the combination of hardware and software predictive-maintenance solutions, especially machine learning-driven.’ said Emil Berthelsen, vice president and analyst at IT research and consulting firm Gartner Inc.

By using multiple data sources, such as historical and operational data, acoustic sensors and images, Mr. Berthelsen said, ‘the quality and levels of predictive-maintenance insights continues to improve.’”

Read The Wall Street Journal

7.

“We saw ROI of nearly four times the investment within six months, just in repair savings. If we include savings from downtime avoidance, it would be much, much higher.” — Adi Segal, Head of Maintenance & Service Department, BAZAN Group Oil Refineries Ltd.

Read the Article

8.

“My mission was to make the world’s best pet food. My mission wasn’t to be the world’s best at machine learning and end-to-end systems and predictive maintenance. So I wanted to find that strategic partner that was one of the best in that space and they could enable me to go fast and wide. Because there’s a time-to-value here from a money perspective, the longer it takes me to get this technology in, the more downtime I’m incurring.” — Terry LeDoux, Former VP Digital Manufacturing, Retired, Nestle Purina

Read Terry’s insights

9.

“The beauty of the solution that we have together with Machine Health, partnering with Augury, is…state of the art hardware and software delivering value immediately and maximizing on an ability to deliver something to the customer that they see now…We’re creating value together. That’s a very different dynamic, right? That’s a true SaaS model of technology and digital to basically embrace your customer and say, not only am I delivering you something that’s incredible, it’s going to get you the value you are looking for and the ROI you wanted to exceed your expectations.” — Carlos Gomez, VP, Global Partnerships & Alliances, Baker Hughes

See the Interview on Beyond The Line

10.

“Getting these wins up front and early is very important. The news spreads like wildfire around the company. People start saying, ‘Hey that’s neat, we need that at our facility!’ Of course, we were also collecting KPIs from the beginning, and not only on whether we prevented equipment failure. We also covered time to reaction, time to getting a notification, time to taking action… We’re tracking all of those. And once we saw they were all tracking the right direction, it gave us the confidence to move forward.” — Gary Binstock, Director of Technology for Strategic Innovation and Alliances, Colgate-Palmolive

See all of Colgate-Palmolive’s wins

11.

“But here, it’s not just human workers trying to hear signs of machine failure above the factory fray. Sensors attached to equipment are also listening out for indications of hardware faults, having been trained to recognise sounds of weary machines that risk bringing production lines to a grinding halt.

PepsiCo is deploying these sensors, created by tech firm Augury and powered by artificial intelligence (AI), across its factories following a successful US trial.”

Read the BBC Story

12.

“Whenever we prevent a failure, of course we prevent everything that comes from that. We reduce the amount of labor time, machine time, we reduce all the inputs that are used in our operating machines—including energy, water, and gas emissions. Any improvement we have in operation and the reduction of the inputs is helping us meet our sustainability goals. We really feel that we have a partner in Augury and this has made it very, very successful.” — Gofna Liss-Rubin, Open Innovation Manager, Osem-Nestlé

Watch the Video

13.

“Augury isn’t a program. Programs end. Augury is a culture. And this culture is saving downtime, money, and negative environmental impact at scale.” — Bill Hollman, Corporate Operations Manager, Nefco Biosolids

The post Happy 13th Birthday Augury! appeared first on Augury.

People make the tech drive the results – and value – you require. That’s why Augury puts as much effort into the people side of the business as its technical solutions. People’s success is an intrinsic part of the solution. After all, we can make new ways of working possible by getting everyone on board and driving engagement. At Augury, we have an entire community of industry experts covering your back. We help you drive adoption at scale – and fast. We do this with all your stakeholders regardless of where you are in your digital transformation journey. 

At Augury we aim to be your strategic partner – that vendor who loves solving your problems. Based on years of experience, we have playbooks to drive your success throughout your entire customer journey. It’s our responsibility to provide you with all the tools, methodologies, and expertise you need to achieve your goals. And that’s why we involve a full package in the form of reliability teams, customer success teams, VAs, project managers, field teams, board members, ecosystem partners, and more. 

This is the essence of 360° Success. In other words, you are getting not only technology but also the success elements that will ensure you get the most value out of your investment.  

It’s not as if you are buying a one-off like a car. We will be that partnership that scales with you – nurturing a relationship built on trust. 

But how does this work exactly? Let’s break it down:

1) The Solution
2) Training & Knowledge
3) Enablement & Growth
4) Data & Feedback
5) Rewards & Recognition
6) Innovation

1) The Solution

Our end-to-end solutions are designed to intuitively work the way your team works – in the systems they already use. We provide accurate, reliable, and actionable AI-driven insights you don’t have to second-guess. When doubts do arise, we have our human experts – such as in-house vibration analysts – step in to help dig deeper. 

Meanwhile, the on-site support starts at the beginning. We help with the initial asset and risk assessment and the IoT set-up. Our Solutions Architects also ensure our tech aligns with your tech. 

Even with everything in place, we understand how even the best intentions can be thwarted, and we’re there to get you over that initial adoption hump. The goal is speedy and measurable ROI so everyone – from the factory floor to the C-suite – can recognize the measurable value the right tech can bring. 

And as you grow, we have our proven Fast Track Methodology for helping you deploy globally. 

2) Training & Knowledge

But yes, manufacturing today is a very complex and dynamic business. Indeed, as we pursue continual improvement, we must also embrace continual learning. So, we provide online training so your teams understand how to use the Augury platform to its maximum potential. In addition, we provide learning opportunities for your teams to grow their knowledge and skills around topics like vibration and AI. 

Again, we involve all stakeholders here – not just those directly responsible for running the machines. Our Industry Advisory Board is filled with industry leaders who share their experiences driving innovation and the required change management. Meet Dave Penrith, retired Chief Engineer at Unilever! Watch/listen to the expert podcast Manufacturing Meet-Up!

3) Enablement & Growth

We are continually expanding our online community, The Endpoint, as a place to empower your teams to grow their skills and knowledge. It’s where our partners, customers, and even students (those future manufacturing professionals!) can come together and discuss how we can best apply and expand new technologies on the factory floor. Conversations can be about a specialist technical matter or how to think differently about time-to-market. Over the last year, the Endpoint has become a connective thread between 360° Success and the rest of the ecosystem.

We understand the challenge of helping teams embrace a new way of working and we have built our services to be that partner in change management who makes sure the adoption happens and the value is delivered. 

4) Data & Feedback

We have ongoing conversations with our customers. You will receive online reporting, regular updates, check-ins, and QBRs from our reliability pros so you know what’s working in your program and what needs attention. On one level, our Reliability Success Managers work directly with those responsible on the floor. We also have Customer Success Managers who align with corporate leaders on the business impact and change management. 

It’s hard not to overemphasize the importance of change management when it comes to successfully embracing a new technology.  We understand the challenge of helping teams embrace a new way of working and we have built our services to be that partner in change management who makes sure the adoption happens and the value is delivered. 

In addition, since we work with so many customers, we are able to not only flag  trends, but also common challenges, for which we can offer methodologies and best practices on how to best overcome them.

In short, our people speak your language and understand the particular challenges of your vertical and what’s going on across the larger industry. 

In addition, since we work with so many customers, we are able to not only flag  trends, but also common challenges, for which we can offer methodologies and best practices on how to best overcome them.

5) Reward & Recognition

We support programs to reward early adopters and best performers to change behavior. It works, and it can even be a simple show of recognition and appreciation. Ultimately, people will drive transformation and the associated value. That’s why we want to build bonds that will allow us to really help our customers be successful – and grow professionally. 

6) Innovation

Based on your feedback, we aim for continued solution improvements and innovations – so we keep evolving as you evolve. We owe much to our early adopters at Frito Lay, Nestlé Purina, Colgate-Palmolive, and PepsiCo. In fact, we celebrate all our success stories. 

In addition, Augury isn’t only your partner, we also act as a gateway to the larger manufacturing ecosystem. We want to transform the industry and know we cannot do this alone. It takes everyone to point a ship in a different direction. 

And neither you nor Augury can be an expert in everything. Meanwhile our more significant partners – such as Grundfos, Baker Hughes, and Schneider Electric – can offer more extensive and interoperable platforms that can potentially fold in every specialized Best-In-Class solution – which can interact with each other and, in turn, drive more innovation. We’re also taking our knowledge and learnings and passing that on to our ecosystem so that we can all learn from each other and understand what works best with our products. 

So let’s do this together. After all, enjoying success while transforming the industry can be considered the ultimate team sport.

The post Augury’s 360° Success: We’re The Vendor Obsessed With Solving Your Problems – Full Stop. appeared first on Augury.

During peak vacation season, the last thing you want to do is wait endlessly for your luggage to arrive after a long flight. Rest assured, Augury is doing its bit to keep those conveyor belts running optimally. You’re welcome! And meanwhile, Happy Holidays!

Imagine you have just flown to your family vacation destination. Even though it’s the summer rush, you’ve miraculously offboarded and gone through the Passport Check in record time. You make it to Baggage, and you see loved ones waiting excitedly through the separating glass. Everything is perfect. But then you wait… and wait… and wait. We’ve all been there: miming “This sucks!” through the glass to our waiting family and friends.  

Let’s Keep That Baggage Moving

Now, there’s good news in the world of baggage handling. We’ve been applying our Machine Health Solution to the baggage system at the ‘Best Airport Over 40M Passengers in North America’ for the last few years.  

“Considering 40 million people utilize this airport annually to begin their bucket-list vacations, important work meetings, honeymoons, and plenty of other trips – one can imagine there is a lot of baggage that needs to be moved without disruption, too. That’s where Augury enters the picture!” according to ‘Enhancing Airport Baggage Handling Efficiency for Smooth Travel Experiences’, an article published in Augury’s community The Endpoint.

In short, our predictive health system alerts the airport maintenance team to any faults in their conveyors’ motors and gearboxes – so they can repair the problem before it becomes a problem for you and your fellow passengers. 

Another Endpoint article, ‘Augury’s Role in Reliable Airport Baggage Conveyors’, states: “With constant coverage capabilities, airport maintenance teams use Augury as their go-to tool to plan daily maintenance tasks and ensure bags get to their destination. Without a predictive maintenance tool to help prioritize tasks, valuable hours would be spent tending to machines functioning correctly and missing ones requiring attention.” 

Welcome To The Vacation Factory

At Augury, we are usually focused on keeping those machines running that supply you with everything from chips to diapers, from milk to medicine – so you can buy these products at the best quality and price. 

But now we’ve found ourselves in another sort of factory: the vacation factory. And, of course, we’re only too happy to make a difference in rendering vacations more stress-free.  

In the words of a CTO of a major airport writing in Fortune: ‘AI Isn’t Destroying Jobs In Aviation – It’s Giving Us Superpowers To Improve Air Travel’.

So, Bon Voyage! May your next airport experience be seamless!

Join The Endpoint’s Aviation Industry Group to keep up with Machine Health’s positive impact on the aviation industry.

The post Holiday Scoop: Augury Is Helping Cut Down Luggage-Waiting Time appeared first on Augury.

The Automation Pyramid has served us well in representing the different layers of automation in a typical factory. However, some argue the Pyramid is now hindering progress in achieving Industry 4.0. Augury System Sales Engineer Jordan Sprunger believes the Pyramid is far from having lived out its usefulness. “It remains the key to understanding what happens in a factory when introducing innovation.”

Out To Share The Big Picture

My faith in the Automation Pyramid is fully restored – yes, it needs to evolve, but it doesn’t need to disappear. Whether I am talking to colleagues or customers, it’s often a shortcut to mutual understanding. 

Take my colleagues, for example. While Augury specializes in helping manufacturers improve their production, we are a deep-tech company with a focus on Machine Health and Process Health. However,  modern manufacturers use many technologies both legacy and cutting-edge, and the Pyramid helps us understand the entire scope of our customers’ digital ecosystem.  

At the same time, our customers sometimes ask us questions that are antithetical to how our solution is built. I wanted to help bridge these gaps. And in the process, I rediscovered the power of the Automation Pyramid.   

The Big Picture

Almost 30 years ago, the ISA95 Enterprise-Control System Integration standards were established to solve an important issue in manufacturing: having a standardized way to communicate between the varying protocols and interfaces of a manufacturing company’s different levels. Successful in its aim, the pyramid-shaped system was soon widely adopted.

Part of the Automation Pyramid’s appeal is its structural clarity, which provides a straightforward view of the different levels involved in automation. From the field level at the bottom to the enterprise level at the top, the model offers a logical framework for understanding how various components interact. And this clarity is invaluable for both seasoned professionals and newcomers to the industry – and particularly when these two groups come together to collaborate. 

If It Isn’t Broken, Why Fix It?

However, as we progress deeper into Industry 4.0, it’s assumed that the traditional hierarchal pyramid model will be replaced by a network-structure architecture – a structure more in keeping with the digital IoT world we live in. But, we’re not there yet. The Pyramid still has too many obvious advantages besides just structural clarity and wide-scale use. 

For instance, in an era of increasing cybersecurity threats, the segmentation provided by the pyramid model allows for more effective security measures. Each level has its own security protocols, creating multiple layers of protection for critical systems. 

The Art Of Looping In Innovation

At the same time, data no longer flows in a strictly hierarchical manner. For instance, in the case of how Augury’s Machine Health Solution is architected, we actually jump from the base to the tip. Our sensors capture the temperature and vibration data coming from the machines at level zero. But instead of getting bottlenecked by moving through levels 1 to 3 up the pyramid, we go outside the regular path and go straight up to a cloud which, for all intents and purposes, is Level Five – where all the AI magic actually happens. 

Meanwhile, our customers are asking for some magic back down at Level Two or Three. So we have to loop that data – along with the actionable insights – back in where the actual action is. This is the level that plant personnel, operators and reliability engineers operate so our insights need to meet them where they work – for instance by triggering automatic work orders when the Machine Health Solution identifies an issue.

This rethinking of the architecture, where all these Level Zero devices can send all their data to a central broker and then to any device or application at any level, is why some industry insiders are saying ‘The Pyramid is dead’ and only slowing us down in achieving Industry 4.0. 

As we speak, concepts like edge computing and cloud integration are being seamlessly integrated into the existing framework – enhancing its capabilities without dismantling its core structure.

Tapping Into The Greater Ecosystem – And A Brighter Future

But the fact is the Pyramid’s standardization can facilitate integration of new technologies and can help maintain compatibility between systems from different vendors. And hence, rather than becoming obsolete, the Automation Pyramid is evolving to incorporate new technologies – like what Augury has to offer.

Thankfully, these enhancements promise easier access to data at all levels and that the insights generated can be routed to the right personnel at the right level. This leaves manufacturers free to choose best-in-class solutions for their particular challenges. And you can rest assured that these insights drive value.

In other words, while the underlying technologies and protocols are evolving within the Pyramid, the basic foundational concepts remain. As we speak, concepts like edge computing and cloud integration are being seamlessly integrated into the existing framework – enhancing its capabilities without dismantling its core structure.

This is why many argue for a continued hybrid model that adds an industrial edge computing software layer – one that collects the data from anywhere whether OT or IT. As the underlying technologies may change, the concepts presented by the Automation Pyramid remain relevant to manufacturers operations. Thankfully, these enhancements promise easier access to data at all levels and that the insights generated can be routed to the right personnel at the right level. This leaves manufacturers free to choose best-in-class solutions for their particular challenges. And you can rest assured that these insights drive value.

In other words, it’s about embracing a broader vision.   

The Proof Is In The A-Ha’s

However, personally, the best proof for the enduring usefulness of the Automation Pyramid took place last month. I had the luxury of meeting over 100 of my colleagues in person during an offsite at a lakeside camping ground. As I gave my presentation on the Automation Pyramid using the delicious case study of an ice cream factory, I saw many eyes light up. Later, I was approached by many colleagues who thanked me for providing them with the “big picture”.

Mission accomplished. 

Case closed.

The post The Automation Pyramid Is Dead. Long Live the Automation Pyramid appeared first on Augury.