Getting a head start on tackling the climate crisis will be the biggest KPI for the industrial community in 2022. But this challenge will require us to team with partners and peers to execute a comprehensive action plan. Bringing global warming levels down to 1.5°C is something no company can achieve on its own.
2022 will be a year of collaborative digital transformation aimed at achieving our sustainability goals. The first step will be to link up to the connected industrial economy. The first step will be to link up to the connected industrial economy. This data-led network links enterprises along a single digital data thread that connects engineering, operations, supply chain, and employees using the power of the cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize performance and unlock value and sustainability gains for every stakeholder. Getting a head start on tackling the climate crisis will be the biggest KPI for the industrial community in 2022. But this challenge will require us to team with partners and peers to execute a comprehensive action plan. Bringing global warming levels down to 1.5°C is something no company can achieve on its own.
More companies will embrace AI-driven automation
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Sectoral leaders have already embraced industrial automation as a route to increasing productivity. Industry-specific AI empowers these organizations by providing sector-specific decision support and unified intelligence.
When leveraged over the cloud, these systems are operable remotely, anytime and anywhere. Because they collect greater amounts of data about operational systems, leveraging this information supports workers in making faster and more effective decisions.
Despite its factories in Asia being closed to its workforce, manufacturer Schneider Electric was able to achieve 30% increases in productivity, even while operating remotely. Our AI systems, leveraged over Microsoft’s Azure cloud, contributed to this achievement.
Data sharing can boost sustainability gains
But why stop at one facility? Cloud-based data-sharing improves integration of working teams and drives the decision-making that helps minimize carbon use, increase profit, and ensure agility.
An example here is the way Veolia Water Technologies leverages the cloud to unify engineering teams across five continents on a single, data-centric platform. An immediate result was a 20% improvement in IT agility and freeing up of resources, while project transparency was enhanced through improved engineering visibility. Veolia can now realize maximum benefit from each drop of water produced across the world, thanks to a holistic operations view that combines the collective expertise of teams with unified data to identify opportunities for resource efficiency and energy savings while sparking innovation and sustainable operational improvements.
Industrial frontrunners are now looking to go one step further, by sharing data securely but agnostically, across the entire industrial ecosystem. Expanding connected networks to suppliers, partners, and even industrial peers can drive exponential, sustainable growth for all players across the value chain—while also realizing sustainability gains. We have a long history of alliances with industry partners; we are now looking forward to extending these partnerships for the greater good.
Alliances will be key to tackling the climate crisis
A great example of cooperation in action is the global biofuels leader Neste. The Finnish-headquartered company uses a strategic digital solution to reduce emissions from conventional refining while boosting production of renewable diesel, saving energy emissions by up to 20% and helping teams benefit from improved collaboration and real-time operational agility in supply chain management. Now the company is using data collected throughout its value chain to improve their operations and help other companies reduce their own emissions.
In the wake of the disruption of the past two years, digital technologies underpin the way we operate. As we look to 2022 and beyond, collaborations will be essential to driving innovative ways of doing business. Digital partnerships are needed to protect the planet for ourselves and for our children. Working together can achieve net zero more quickly.
By Kerry Grimes, head of global partners, AVEVA
