Tetra Pak is one of the largest companies that most people never heard of. Chances are, however, that you’ve used one of their products very recently, as the Swedish company supplies food processing and packaging solutions to manufacturers in more than 175 countries. Last year alone, they sold 188 billion packages, netting $12.2 billion in sales.

The original Tetra Pak carton changed the milk industry back in the 1950s
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Their original carton changed the milk industry back in the 1950s. At a 1961 press conference in Switzerland, the company presented the first machine for aseptically filled bacteria-free milk, but they haven’t stopped innovating in the decades since, and are now at the forefront of implementing technologies that will enable it to continue to scale its global operations in a much smarter way.

“Over the past few years we’ve invested in new technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation and data exchange to enhance traceability, predict potential machine problems and optimise operational performance for our customers,” explains Johan Nilsson VP, Digitalisation and Industry 4.0 at Tetra Pak. ”By embracing everything that the 4^th Industrial Revolution can offer, we can shape the future, and help customers seize the tremendous opportunities in tomorrow’s connected world.”

Industry 4.0 is essentially the idea of smart manufacturing, achieved through the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) which collects and connects data from devices to improve processes and increase efficiency in real-time. Digital technologies such as machine-learning, augmented reality and many others are part of that picture, as they can connect workforces, transform processes, analyse data, and provide greater visibility and flexibility across our supply chains.

By connecting packaging lines to the Microsoft Azure Cloud, Tetra Pak can collect operational data to help predict informed maintenance timing
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Across all sectors, we’ve seen businesses investing in the equipment and software that allows this information to flow between different platforms, people, and business processes to create new data-based revenue streams and systems. One example of how this works in practice is that Tetra Pak have sensors on more than 5,000 filling machines at customers’ sites, all connected to Microsoft Azure, which feed real-time performance data to the company for monitoring and analysis – nearly 700 million data points each year. As a result, maintenance can be scheduled much more precisely and cost-efficiently.

By connecting packaging lines to the Microsoft Azure Cloud, Tetra Pak can collect operational data to help predict informed maintenance timing. This means they can better foresee machine problems and quickly spot breakdowns – reducing plant downtimes

“When you have plants around the world, the service knowledge we gain from one plant comes to benefit another. This prevents issues from happening,” says Nilsson.

Data that’s gleaned from connected machines gives company technicians an operational snapshot across thousands of packaging machines in use. That information helps service engineers swiftly answer critical questions, such as: When did a specific failure happen and how long did it last? What was that machine’s temperature at the time? What was the pressure? The performance data is aggregated and available on technicians’ mobile devices.

Like many enterprises in various industrial sectors, Tetra Pak is using Mixed Reality technology to optimize its processes and increase efficiency
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When equipment does break down, however, the company has streamlined machine diagnostics and repairs for customers using Microsoft HoloLens devices. Like many enterprises in various industrial sectors, Tetra Pak is using Mixed Reality technology to optimize its processes and increase efficiency.

Back in 2017, Tetra Pak began selling service agreements that incorporated HoloLens to enable the company’s local service representatives to triage diagnoses and repairs in real time with heads-up, hands-free calling. By integrating those capabilities with Microsoft Azure, system specialists were empowered to remotely guide a HoloLens-wearing service engineer – via Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist – through the steps to fix the machine thousands of miles away.

“This is how we take the global expertise that we have available somewhere in Tetra Pak and bring it to the fingertips of the engineer in the countryside in Chile or Pakistan,” explains Nilsson, adding that this significantly cuts repair time and saves huge amounts of money in reduced downtime, not to mention travel costs.

“Our partnership with Tetra Pak and their investment in the technology is further evidence of the potential of Mixed Reality within automation and manufacturing,” says Lorraine Bardeen, general manager, Mixed Reality Business Applications, Microsoft.

Industry 4.0 has the potential to not only save manufacturers vast amounts of money, but also improve things across the board for businesses, employees and customers
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“In the context of industry 4.0, Mixed Reality is expediting processes such as engineering and maintenance to support the creation of smart factories, and companies like Tetra Pak are reimagining their business by leveraging modern, unified, intelligent and adaptable solutions that bring together the vast amounts of data across their organization to empower their employees with new tools for productivity.

Industry 4.0 has the potential to not only save manufacturers vast amounts of money, but also improve things across the board for businesses, employees and customers through sustainable use of resources, safer maintenance cycles, and empowered employees.

In 2017 Tetra Pak began selling service agreements that incorporated HoloLens to enable the company’s local service representatives to triage diagnoses and repairs in real time
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Industry 4.0 will ultimately enable global industrial operations such as Tetra Pak to function even more efficiently and intuitively
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“A product of mixed reality among other technologies, industry 4.0 will ultimately enable global industrial operations such as Tetra Pak to function even more efficiently and intuitively,” adds Bardeen. “With Mixed Reality, we can understand data in context and simplify workflows to extend human ability. When this happens workers feel more effective, businesses see more progress and everyone has a chance to participate in the modern workplace.”

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance and support on how best to incorporate these into your brand strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Packaging the Future appeared first on Tech Trends.

How Pluralsight wants everyone to access the skills they need to thrive in the digital age.

Tech Trends went back to the Silicon Slopes of Salt Lake City last week to check out this year’s Pluralsight LIVE. After last year’s amazing line-up which included Michelle Obama, expectations were pretty high, but the conference managed take a leaf from the former FLOTUS’ own book and reach even higher, delivering – among other things – an inspirational fireside chat with the world’s youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Malala Yousafzai

Pluralsight 2018 featured an inspirational fireside chat with the world’s youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Malala Yousafzai
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Technology and education are incredibly empowering forces
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One of my favourite Malala quotes ever – and I might be paraphrasing a bit – goes something along the lines of “nothing scares an extremist or dictator as much as a girl with a book. She told Pluralsight CEO Aaron Skonnard that she often wished governments around the world would realize the power of education to empower women as keenly as the Taliban has. “They understood it perfectly, which is why they tried to stop us going to school.” In today’s digital world, a logical extrapolation of that would be that despots should be even more scared of girls with computers.

Technology and education are incredibly empowering forces, and giving people all over the world access to the resources they need to develop technology skills would unlock amazing possibilities for everyone.

“We’re committed to help close the opportunity gap, and we’re doing it by addressing it at the root cause by magnifying the efforts of successful non-profits,” Skonnard told the attendees.

This is something he’s is very passionate about: His father first taught him to code when he was eight years old and he believes that every child should have access to the sort of opportunities that those skills unlocked for him throughout his life.

Using cloud, people have a choice. The only way we can earn their business is by having the skills to deliver value
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After their IPO in May, Pluralsight is in the enviable position to have over $200 million on its balance sheet to invest and grow the company, and social responsibility remains a cornerstone of that future growth and investment strategy. Which is why one of Pluralsight’s major announcements made sound strategic sense as well as chiming with the company’s philanthropic mission.

After their IPO in May, Pluralsight is in the enviable position to have over $200 million on its balance sheet to invest and grow the company
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In addition to partnering with non-profits to amplify their mission by providing them with discounted access to its platform, the Pluralsight One Fund will also give a $1.5 million grant to Code.org over three years to deepen opportunities for girls and students of color to access computer science education. Students taking Code.org’s Computer Science Principles course will also have the chance to gain free access to Pluralsight’s courses to further their learning.

The Pluralsight One Fund will also give a $1.5 million grant to Code.org
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Joining Skonnard on stage, Code.org CEO and Founder Hadi Partovi said that the problem that lies at the core of the digital skills crisis today is that formal education systems are simply not designed to keep up with the pace of technological change we’re experiencing. “As a society we’re not prioritizing technology enough. We’re not starting early enough, it’s not seen as a basic skill like reading, writing or maths,” he added.

Yet there has definitely been progress, much of it driven by organizations like Code.org which teamed up with the College Board to make the AP (Advanced Placement) Computer Science course more accessible. This year, out of the 135,992 who took the course, 38,195 were female. So while girls still make up only 28% of students taking the AP exams, females and under-represented minorities were among the fastest growing groups. African-American students rose 44 percent to 7,301, Hispanic and Latino participation gained 41 percent to 20,954 and female participation rose 39 percent compared to last year.

As a society we’re not prioritizing technology enough
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Among all the high-level tech companies attending the Pluralsight conference there seemed to be a clear understanding that addressing these issues – getting more people from all backgrounds to learn – and keep learning – those skills is not only about promoting equality of opportunity, but crucial to building a sustainable (and profitable) business strategy.

Formal education systems are simply not designed to keep up with the pace of technological change we’re experiencing
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This is easier said than done, however, as in order to do that, companies need to – in addition to providing access to learning tools and content – create a culture of learning which tolerates failure. As Oracle President of Product Development, Thomas Kurian put it during his keynote, building the future and being at the technology leading edge requires a sense of mission which goes beyond any individual product:

“If you don’t have at least 10% of products failing it means you’re not pushing hard enough, failure is part of the organic development process.”

“Agile is a culture,” agrees Cody Sanford, EVP & CIO of T-Mobile, which is another of Pluralsight’s Fortune 500 customers. Sanford believes it is imperative for companies like his to also create flexible paths for new talent to gain the skills they need, and constantly keep them updated as strategy evolves.

Role IQ gives a clear path to determining a technology professional’s expertise level by deploying their machine learning algorithms Iris
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Which is where Pluralsight’s latest product announcement fits in; Role IQ gives a clear path to determining a technology professional’s expertise level by deploying their machine learning algorithms Iris. Where the company’s previous product – Skill IQ, unveiled at last year’s conference – measures an individual’s proficiency in a specific software technology with a short five-minute test involving about 20 questions, Role IQ measures a collection of skills an individual needs to be successful in their role.

Nate Walkinshaw, Chief Experience Officer at Pluralsight said this will allow the platform to offer a highly personalized learning experience. “Iris will constantly tailor content based on the way each individual learns, but also benchmarking their existing skills against others in the industry and suggesting ways in which it would be most advantageous for them to develop further. It tells you where the gaps are.”

At the time of launch, over 120 skill assessments were already available across a variety of technologies such as Security Analyst, Unity Game Developer, Server Administrator or Node Web Developer. These also include three roles specifically tailored for Pluralsight’s launch partner Microsoft Azure.

Iris will constantly tailor content based on the way each individual learns, but also benchmarking their existing skills against others in the industry
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Jeff Sandquist, GM of Cloud and AI Developer Relations at Microsoft “This is not your mother and father’s Microsoft” much more flexible and dynamic, which also means being a lot more agile in supporting skills within the developer community. “Using cloud, people have a choice. The only way we can earn their business is by having the skills to deliver value. But how do you get your people trained, and how do you do that consistently? How do you assess that? It’s what Microsoft is looking to solve with Role IQ,” Sandquist added.

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Closing the Opportunity Gap appeared first on Tech Trends.

A new epilepsy consortium believes technology could improve patient treatment and reduce NHS costs by £250 million a year.

Today, up to one in 100 people in the UK are believed to suffer from epilepsy, leading to three per cent of all Accident and Emergency visits and a total of 1.3 million days in hospital a year. It’s a challenging condition to manage, particularly as existing medication only works for up to 70 per cent of sufferers.

This approach has the potential to revolutionise the management of epilepsy by optimising the use of currently available treatments
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Up to one in 100 people in the UK are believed to suffer from epilepsy, leading to three per cent of all Accident and Emergency visits and a total of 1.3 million days in hospital a year
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Of those who do not respond to medication, most are not suitable for invasive surgery, leaving many to continue to experience unpredictable and potentially life-threatening seizures. New research by Public Health England (PHE) has found a 70% rise in the number of deaths of epilepsy patients between 2001 and 2014. PHE said there was a need to improve the clinical management of patients and make improvements to their wider health by tackling smoking, alcohol intake and poor diet.

The consortium estimates that it could significantly reduce costs to the NHS in treating epilepsy patients by as much as £250 million
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MyCareCentric patients reported a three-week reduction in response to seizure notification time and 30% fewer hospital admissions
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This is what myCareCentric Epilepsy consortium – funded by Innovate UK and comprised of Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Kent, System C & Graphnet Care Alliance and Shearwater Systems – is hoping to do by equipping people with the ability to self-manage their condition. Running on Microsoft’s cloud platform Azure, the programme provides patients with wearable technology that records vital health data to help clinicians build a tailored record of a patient’s condition and seizure patterns. It has the potential to learn to classify seizures; to alert clinicians and carers in real-time so they can consult patients remotely; and provide essential lifestyle recommendations and drug prescriptions.

“For Epilepsy sufferers life can often feel uncontrollable and unpredictable. MyCareCentric is empowering patients to regain control of their treatment and their lives, helping them to significantly reduce the number of seizures they experience. As hospital Trusts across the UK continue to face growing pressures, it’s more important than ever to invest in the right tools that focus on the patient as a person rather than the condition, delivering the most effective care and the best outcomes for patients and their families,” says Suzy Foster, Director of Health at Microsoft UK.

Since launch in 2016, myCareCentric Epilepsy has seen extremely positive results, with patients reporting a three-week reduction in response to seizure notification time, an 80 per cent cut in the time taken for medical professionals to respond to individuals and 30 per cent fewer admissions to hospital. The programme is empowering patients with the data they need to manage and monitor their condition, with an understanding of the severity of their seizures. As a result of this reduction in seizures, the consortium estimates that it could significantly reduce costs to the NHS in treating epilepsy patients by as much as £250 million, as well as slash the number of outpatient appointments, easing up time for patient and medical professionals alike.

“This approach has the potential to revolutionise the management of epilepsy by optimising the use of currently available treatments,” says Dr Rupert Page, Chief Clinical Information Officer and Consultant Neurologist at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. “Simultaneously, the powerful insights gained from the much deeper awareness of the myriad of lifestyle and other factors which affect seizure frequency may open up entirely new areas of research or treatment. The timely, expert support that can be provided through this solution helps patients manage their own condition and restores to them some of the control that the diagnosis of epilepsy all too often takes away.”

In response to the success of the pilot, Microsoft and the consortium behind the solution recently launched a hack to gain insights into the data captured by the programme to help advance epilepsy treatments. Through this, they have confirmed relationships between lifestyle factors such as poor sleep and seizures, potentially enabling more accurate seizure prediction. Additionally, they found that even capturing seemingly innocuous background information could be useful in detecting seizures and improving patient outcomes.

“Putting data into secure Azure environments gives us huge scale and ability to leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities as services and ultimately to improve patient outcomes,” says Dr Jon Shaw, Director of Clinical Strategy at System C & Graphnet Care Alliance, explaining that this is a ‘first of type’ project that combines smart wearables, patient-facing applications and enterprise communication technology, which gets messages out to the care team in real time.

Now, the team are looking to expand the programme to more volunteers to empower them with the data they need to self-manage and understand epilepsy. They are also considering where it could drive new models of care for other conditions.

In response to the success of the pilot, Microsoft and the consortium behind the solution recently launched a hack to gain insights into the data captured by the programme to help advance epilepsy treatments
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Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Wearables Enabling Better Healthcare appeared first on Tech Trends.