PODCAST

Christina Cardoza: Hello, and welcome to “insight.tech Talk” where we explore the latest IoT, edge AI, and network-technology trends and innovations. As always, I’m your host, Christina Cardoza, Editorial Director of insight.tech, and today I’m joined by Anna from NexAIoT to talk about green manufacturing.

But before we get started, Anna, welcome to the show. What can you tell us about yourself and NexAIoT?

Anna Kiseleva: Hello, everyone. My name is Anna, and I’m one of the product managers at NexAIoT. My role is focusing on industrial automation, especially factory automation fanless systems. And with over 10 years of experience in the IPC industry, I’ve had the privilege of working on many automation projects. NexAIoT is committed to delivering Industry 4.0 total solutions to our clients globally. And we are the leading company that introduced innovations in the industrial-automation field.

Recently, we have been doing green manufacturing practices in response to the new global ESG regulations. Our strategy is to focus on sustainability, and this allows us to integrate edge AI capabilities, which streamline processes and reduce carbon footprints, leading to more eco-friendly production models. By leveraging the latest advancements in AI technology, particularly, with Intel^® Core^™ innovations, the company’s enhancing operation efficiency and ensuring compliance with evolving regulations. These strategic directions position NexAIoT as a significant contributor to the shift towards environmentally friendly practices.

Christina Cardoza: Yeah, that’s great to hear. You know, especially in this world of Industry 4.0, all those tools and technologies that you’ve been talking about—automation, edge AI—is something that has really been important to manufacturers. But as a result of that things have been becoming more sustainable. And it’s interesting, all the regulations that you were talking about, we often don’t think of having manufacturing or businesses have sustainable practices.

So that’s sort of why I wanted to start the conversation here today. What does it mean when you talk about green manufacturing? What does it mean to be a green manufacturer? And in addition to the regulations, why is it important in today’s Industry 4.0 world?

Anna Kiseleva: By adopting greener practices, industries can mitigate their ecological footprint, preserving ecosystems and biodiversity. So, let’s talk about what does it mean to be environmental friendly as a company? First and foremost, reducing power consumption is the environmental and fundamental aspect of environmental conservation, because excessive energy use contributes to the depletion of natural resources and increased carbon emissions, leading to climate change and ecological degradation.

So the first step in being an environmentally friendly manufacturer is to reduce your power consumption. Second is the automated combustion control that also helps to reduce emissions. The third part of it is to minimize waste and promote recycling, which means sorting and recycling waste materials in your factory using automation. Fourth, sustainable supply chain management to track and manage commodities sourcing. Fifth is the green logistics and transportation, which can be achieved by adopting hybrid and green vehicles, and autonomous or smart logistics systems. And lastly, the last part of the whole sustainability is worker safety to reduce the risk of accidents and improve efficiency. So basically these five parts that I mentioned before will lead to more sustainable practices.

Christina Cardoza: Yeah, I love that checklist. It really is end-to-end in the manufacturing operations and shows not only how important this is but all the different areas in a manufacturing plant where you can start making these changes.

Obviously you were talking about automation in the beginning of your introduction; you talked about edge AI. So I’m just curious how can factories meet that checklist? What are the tools and technologies that they should have in their tool set to be able to start making some changes in these efforts?

Anna Kiseleva: Okay. So, before talking about tools and techniques, it’s important to mention that many traditional manufacturers are facing the challenges that slow down the transitions towards sustainability. This problem includes the lack of networking capabilities of old production equipment, incomplete production-management systems, low equipment-utilization rates, long product-delivery times, and insufficient information transparency.

NexAIoT provides complete Industry 4.0 one-stop services, including industrial IoT and automation products, customer systems-integration projects, and consulting services for building whole-factory smart manufacturing. From all the above, we start by hand print what we can design and reduce carbon emissions and directly impact the carbon footprint accordingly.

Then we also have our NexDATA and NexWall as platforms for digitalization and visualization. Once you collect data from the equipment, you need the software to visualize it. So here we also help our customers. And finally, our automation team can help to deploy the traceability solution to the customer’s digital transformation, not only increasing the company’s profits by more than 50%, but also laying the foundation for future green manufacturing and smart factories.

So basically here we’re talking about tools and equipment that will help us to collect data from the bottom of the factory—from the production line—upload it to the cloud, and visualize the data for managers to make more strategic decisions and do the tracking of the data. And also keep the data in the cloud—so, for future AI-model training and predictions. This is the whole industrial automation solution that we can provide right now in order to reduce the carbon emissions at least, and also waste management.

Christina Cardoza: I want to dig deeper a little bit into that industrial-automation and edge computing aspect of NexAIoT. Because when we’ve been talking about automation, it’s really been to improve business operations; speed up the factory; make manual processes less error-prone, automated; provide real-time insights, high performance.

But then in addition to all of these great benefits that you’re getting by implementing these, it’s also helping manufacturers become more sustainable. So can you talk a little bit about how these efforts that they already have going on, or these transformations they’re already making, are just an easy path to their sustainability efforts?

Anna Kiseleva: Of course. So, to achieve green manufacturing, all the equipment should be connected and the coverage of the computer networking might be close to 100%. For example, an edge getaway for analog inputs and outputs and digital inputs and outputs by our products—which is called nDAS and nPAC—can be used as a data collector as well as an edge monitoring device. So, basically they help to collect all the information from sensors and send it to the cloud.

And also we have a nice NISE series which works on a variety of Intel’s platforms—like Atom^®, Celeron, Core i—as a machine-controller automation gateway—basically to redirect this data and also upload it to the cloud. Edge controllers and AI-enabled, and with more efficient connectivity performance, so more data and decision-making can be made at the edge side for better communication from machine to machine.

So once we establish machine-to-machine communication we can move to the next level, while monitoring the operation status of the entire factory equipment. It’ll also start researching ways to reduce carbon emissions and prepare for carbon-tax policies. In addition to coping with labor shortages and improving production-line efficiency, warehouse-management systems, and autonomous vehicles, these technologies will be introduced when building or expanding new factories.

To implement AIoT as edge computing, traditional industrial automation is no longer OT devices, but data collectors and AI-enabled controllers and more intelligent IoT devices. So here’s the core: Our industrial computers basically will help to collect data from the field, upload data to the cloud, and visualize data for managers, and, further, will help with AI models to do some predictions.

Christina Cardoza: Great. And it sounds like those industrial computers, they’re also helping your customers be more energy efficient and optimize their resources a bit better.

Anna Kiseleva: Yeah. Right now green manufacturing and industrial sustainability focus a lot on carbon-emission reduction. So basically we need to monitor the power consumption in the first place, because this is where the most waste come from. If you consume too much power which is not needed for your factory, this will lead to increased expenses and, of course, not very sustainable practices. So we need to monitor every device; we need to connect them, monitor, and track where we can do improvements.

Christina Cardoza: Now, you mentioned you offer a one-stop solution to be able to do all of this, and you mentioned a couple of different solutions in your responses earlier. So I want to learn a little bit more about how NexAIoT is helping customers—if you have any use cases or examples that you could provide us with or any additional information about the solutions you want to share.

Anna Kiseleva: Well, basically we can divide industrial computers into three main categories. One is smart meters and controllers to collect data from equipment locally. Second is gateways to collect data from various controllers and upload the collected data to the cloud. And third is servers to store a huge amount of data. NexAIoT provides all of the industrial equipment that you may need for your solution.

Recently we have been working on many factory-automation projects in Taiwan. As you may know, the government has regulations regarding power consumption and sustainability indicators. One of the main KPIs for the factory is the total yearly power consumption. Typically the factory applies for a certain electricity capacity and pays for this accordingly. At the end of the year the factory will have to report the real power-consumption numbers to the government.

Ideally the amount of electricity applied must be equal to what has been used through the year. If the value exceeds, then the factory will have to pay a fine. If the value is lower than expected, then the factory ends up paying extra for the amount of electricity that they do not need. But the question from our clients is: How can the factory managers know the KPI for this factory facility in the beginning? When they’re building a new factory, they have to apply for this, but how can they know? How can the factory knows its baseline?

Typically what we see is that manufacturers will apply for a higher power-consumption limit and end up paying extra for what they need. But after installing our automation solutions and smart meters in the factory, a factory can estimate the baseline, so they will apply for this required amount of power limit that they need.

And also we have another example. One of our customers, an aluminum manufacturer, receives penalties from the government every year; they receive the fine every year. But the problem is that the factory managers couldn’t understand why. What equipment is the most power-consuming? How to know if the indicators are correct? We see the different electric panels are connected to the power meters, so there is no way to trace the power consumption of the whole system.

After working with NexAIoT, we installed our nDAS smart meters and the whole automation solution so we can see where the main power consumption is located and then do the system adjustments to achieve the goal. After installing the solution they know which equipment consumes the most energy, so they can do the adjustment—maybe turn off the equipment when it’s not in use. After we achieve this goal to calculate the baseline, the next goal is to achieve the government KPI, is to lower the consumption by 1% yearly.

I’m not sure about practices in other countries, but in Taiwan there is the KPI for the factories, so once you apply for a certain limit then every year you will have to reduce your power consumption by 1%. But how to achieve this goal? The factory manager will face the problem of not knowing what to turn off: “Should I stop the production line or turn off the AC system?” If they don’t have the automation solution of the whole factory, that will be very difficult for them to achieve this KPI.

So for the customers it’s more cost-effective to pay for what they’re using and to know their baseline and their limit. Here we come to help them. So we’ll work with the factory—either with a new factory or with an old factory that requires modernization—to modernize the equipment, install all their required automation solutions, and help them to trace their power consumption.

Basically here I was talking about these two examples to give you a more clear picture of the real-life examples of how to work on green manufacturing, because these practices will eventually lead you to green manufacturing. Even if green manufacturing was not your goal in the beginning but you just wanted to achieve the government standard, but slowly by adopting these practices, by lowering down your power consumption by 1% each year, companies will start to adopt more and more green manufacturing practices. For example, lower waste or lower water usage, and so on.

Christina Cardoza: Yeah, and that’s not only great for the manufacturer, but it’s great for everyone. It’s amazing to hear how you’re helping these factories, because I think about conversations we’ve had about smart sustainable buildings—it’s easy in an office building to turn off lights, to turn off some equipment when there’s not a lot of people in the office. But in a manufacturing plant, where you can’t necessarily have downtime and things are always running, it makes things a little bit more complicated.

And I’m just thinking about that checklist you mentioned in the beginning—all of the different opportunities and things manufacturers can do to become green manufacturers. It sounds like they really need a partner like NexAIoT to make sense of it all and to really put them on the right path.

I am curious though, because you mentioned earlier some of the Intel technology that you guys are using in these efforts and these solutions—and I should have mentioned, “insight.tech Talk” and insight.tech as a whole, we’re sponsored by Intel. But I’m curious how the right partnerships for NexAIoT can help provide these solutions that are really helping these manufacturers.

Anna Kiseleva: Basically, NexAIoT solutions are based on Intel technologies that have been used in factory automation to bring unparalleled precision, efficiency, and flexibility to manufacturing processes. Of course we have other providers, but Intel is our main partner. The new generation of Intel CPU has a lot of enhanced features. For example, real-time control, TSN, and TCC—whether it’s low-power Intel Atom or Celeron processors with TSN, or high-performance Intel Core processors delivering features including Intel Time Coordinating Computing to reduce latency and provide real-time control—this is very crucial in our applications.

We need real-time data to be uploaded to the cloud and to do the calculations and predictions. It should be real time, and Intel is helping on this. The Intel processors also support multi-display outputs, which allow them to work on different workloads at the same time for better efficiency. So, the manager can see the screen from different equipment and monitor it.

And also the new generation of Intel computers, like the Intel NPU as an accelerator integrated into Core, Intel Core Ultra processors, characterized by unique architecture, comprising compute acceleration and data-transfer capability. Intel does the improvements so we can provide better solutions for our customers. And we are very grateful to have Intel as our partner so we can achieve the automation projects and bring our customers the best solutions as we can.

Christina Cardoza: Yeah, and I think it’s extremely important as technology keeps changing and this space keeps moving that working with Intel and NexAIoT, both of you make it easy to scale as flexible, to add new capabilities, to take advantage of new innovations that are always coming out. Seems like every day, every other week, there’s something new to take advantage of.

So, on that note, I’m curious, do you anticipate any additional advancements in this space? Or how do you foresee this technology evolving and continuing to contribute to that green manufacturing goal you were talking about?

Anna Kiseleva: Future advancements will focus on reducing energy consumption, optimizing resource usage, and integrating more sustainable practices. NexAIoT is looking at ways to use AI to optimize factory operations, to achieve ESG goals, and is also investigating the use of AI to identify and mitigate production-process bottlenecks.

In the coming future we’re looking forward to see not only GPU compatibility but also AI-model optimization to provide the right solution for AI to help carbon-emission optimizations. In the coming future we have prepared an AI system that is all Llama-based GPT for manufacturers’ CO₂ management. Our solution collects data directly and securely from local NexDATA and can be updated and uploaded to the customers locally. Other advancements will include AI automation, real-time training, AI models to help water treatment plants, and water recycling to control air compressors.

So basically what we are seeing is the AI usage in industrial automation, and we hope to see the model improvements. The more data uploaded, the better AI models become. And also another trend is AI-model customization, because you cannot use one AI model for all the factories. All the factories are different, and they require different procedures and different data tracking, so there will be a trend for customized AI models for the particular factory. Whether their goal is to reduce power consumption or to recycle or to reduce waste in the factory, there will be more and more customized AI models.

Christina Cardoza: Yeah. I can’t wait to see how else this base continues to take off as these technologies come out, and it makes it easier for manufacturers to take the path of green manufacturing. You mentioned some manufacturers just go on this path because of the regulations out there, but then they get all of the added benefits: the cost, waste, energy savings. So I expect to see this becoming a bigger priority, and I am excited to see how else NexAIoT is going to help manufacturers reach those goals.

Before we end our conversation today, Anna, are there any final thoughts or key takeaways you want to leave our listeners with?

Anna Kiseleva: Sure. The incorporation of edge computing and cloud technologies into manufacturing processes aligns with green manufacturing objectives by promoting resource efficiency, reducing waste, optimizing energy consumption, and enhancing overall sustainability in production operations.

There will undoubtedly be many challenges along the way, as well as new possibilities. This is to be expected and embraced. Green manufacturing is not just another solution; it’s a long-term journey to continue improving manufacturing practices for greater efficiency, sustainability, and profitability.

Christina Cardoza: Thank you, Anna. I love how you said it. It’s a journey; there’s no endgame here. Green manufacturing—there’s always going to be opportunities and improvements.

So I want to thank you again for joining us on the podcast, and thank you, NexAIoT. I invite our listeners to visit the NexAIoT website: See how they can start helping you and get you on the path to green manufacturing. So thanks to our listeners for listening and joining us today. Until next time, it’s been the “insight.tech Talk.”

The preceding transcript is provided to ensure accessibility and is intended to accurately capture an informal conversation. The transcript may contain improper uses of trademarked terms and as such should not be used for any other purposes. For more information, please see the Intel^® trademark information.

This transcript was edited by Erin Noble, copy editor.