Technology

Article Autumn Hines

What do racehorses and industrial machines have in common? Both reach peak performance once they have a tiny sensor attached.

For years now, manufacturers have been using small, internet-connected sensors to measure how machines are vibrating. They use that data to identify when performance is declining or the risk or breakdown is rising—and the sensors have been remarkably successful at helping manufacturers get more predictive, preventive, and proactive.

Of course, a running horse produces vibrations too. Sensors used to track vibrations for industrial applications can just as easily track them for equine applications. And once trainers have a reliable and accessible way to monitor every single stride of a horse’s performance, it will transform horse racing as we know it, and the equine industry more broadly.

In fact, it’s already happening. 

Why Put Sensors on Horses?

Placed in the saddle cloth, these sensors weigh only a few ounces and track forces in four directions: up, down, forward, and back. Trainers can use that data to develop performance baselines for an animal, and then identify when performance deviates in any way.

That’s useful for two big reasons:

  • Health and Wellness: Sensor data can help to flag health issues that might be invisible otherwise, and help to flag them early enough for trainers to intervene before injury occurs. The sensors take the guesswork out of vital health and safety decisions so that horses receive the best care possible.
  • Training and Performance: Trainers know more about how horses develop when they can track how much and how quickly the sensor data changes. They can dynamically adjust training routines based on the data to help the animals achieve more than they could with past training methods informed more by observation than data.

These are just the two most obvious and exciting use cases, but many more will likely emerge as adoption increases—until one day when there’s a sensor in every saddle.

Getting Started with Sensors

Sensors are compact, inexpensive, and user-friendly. Plus, the sensors have been extensively studied in Australia, New York, and now by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, resulting in a rich pool of data to develop baselines and benchmarks to follow. This all makes it easy for trainers, racetracks, vets, and anyone else in the equine industry to adopt this game-changing technology.

It takes more than just sensors, though. The space where the sensors will be used – racetrack, training facility, etc – needs a robust wireless network to transmit the data. It takes dedicated software to organize the raw data into a usable format and analyze results in real-time. With all these pieces in place, individual operators can begin using sensors—but the biggest beneficiary will be the equine industry as a whole as sensor data, continually collected from thousands of races around the world, connects us with horses like never before. With decades of experience in the equine industry, along with comprehensive technical expertise, Dean Dorton can help you integrate sensors into your operation. Contact us to learn more

Article Dean Dorton

Where will companies spend their budgets in 2024? On software, it seems. Gartner expects enterprise software spending, which totaled almost $800 million worldwide in 2022, to increase more than 11% in 2023, after increasing almost 15% in 2021. Modern software gives companies abilities and advantages they’ve never had before, and it’s increasingly becoming a competitive differentiator as tech-savvy companies rise to the top of their industries.

It’s almost a foregone conclusion, then, that 2024 budgets will include substantial investments in software, probably greater than the year before. But now that software is both vital for operations and a major line item on the budget, it’s important to invest wisely and implement carefully – otherwise, the software could be an underwhelming waste of money at best or a total disaster at worst. The stakes are high for not embracing technology – but there are also risks associated with embracing it the wrong way.

Whether your close is coming up at the end of June, or you still have a few more months to finalize your decision, it’s never too soon to start considering where and how to plan for your technology. After all – so much depends on getting it right! Find out how to effectively plan next year’s tech spending:

  1. Evaluate Existing Technology – What are the strengths, weaknesses, and remaining lifespan of the software currently in place? Is it meeting of the company’s needs, especially after the shifts caused by the pandemic? Be as honest as possible, both about what’s working and what’s not.
  2. Forecast the Future – How will the year ahead (and beyond) affect tech requirements? Are new technologies necessary to achieve strategic goals or keep a competitive edge? Compare what it takes to thrive or compared to the tech already in place.
  3. Solicit Employee Feedback – How do employees who spend every day using different systems feel about the pros and cons? Likewise, how does the IT team feel about the security and scalability of the IT infrastructure? The people closest to technology have an essential perspective on what should stay or go (but not necessarily the final word).
  4. Create a Business Case – In what way will tech investments make the company more productive, efficient, innovative, or profitable? And in what way will keeping the existing tech put the business at a disadvantage with customers or competitors? Any tech decision must have a compelling business case.
  5. Vet All Vendors – What vendors offer the technology, support, and price structure that fits the business case from above? Is it better to work with one vendor or select best-in-class solutions from multiple vendors? Vendor selection matters just as much (or more) as selecting what kind of software to implement.

To work systematically through these steps and make the smartest tech upgrades possible, Dean Dorton is here to help. Contact us to get started before the year’s over.

Article Dean Dorton

The Manufacturing industry faces challenges and risks that are unique from any other industry. Since manufacturing is a vital spoke in the global economy and an essential component of many other industries, risks to manufacturers tend to have a much larger ripple effect. If risks go unaddressed they can lead to operational and financial losses throughout our economy, not to mention damage to the reputation of the company. It’s important for manufacturers to be aware of the basic and evolving risks they may face and take appropriate steps to mitigate them.

Some key risks include:

  • Supply chain constraints
  • Attracting and retaining quality workforce
  • Cyber security threats
  • Inflation


Our team of Manufacturing Experts have put together a risks overview so you can explore the risks to the manufacturing industry in detail and search for opportunities for growth as we cruise through 2023.

Risk Description
Supply Chain Constraints
Parts/materials difficult to find/long lead times.
  • Acquire logistics companies or develop in-house logistics operations. Greater supply chain visibility and higher quality as well as reducing shipping costs and time due to more streamlined logistics networks
  • Consider new suppliers and sourcing options
  • Relationship management
Attracting & Retaining Quality Workforce
Labor challenges experienced through a shrinking pool of applicants, aging workforce and shortage of highly skilled workers.
  • More favorable working conditions including pay increases and flexible work arrangements
  • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) approach to attract more women and racially and ethnically diverse groups
  • Manufacturing companies today have a hard time finding employees who will show up and be on time for work and stick with their jobs
  • Considerable void when it comes to skills and experience – Manufacturers need to work with schools and universities in their communities to ensure that manufacturing focused subjects are being well promoted and taught
Cyber Security
Rise in cyber security incidents across manufacturing companies.
  • Potential effects of a network infiltration include shut down of operations, theft of sensitive customer information, or theft of sensitive banking information
  • Education of employees of potential phishing schemes is paramount to a successful cyber security campaign
Technology
Technology continues to evolve with endless possibilities.
  • Take ERP to the Cloud
  • Data analysis predictive maintenance and use of data analysis to identify anomalies in equipment performance
  • Data decision making around sourcing, production, fulfillment, cost reduction.
  • Controls around Artificial Intelligence
  • Autonomous vehicles in warehouses to move materials and product
  • Robots will change the economics of manufacturing with less time focused on low cost labor positions
Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)
A sustainability mind-set becomes more of a focal point.
  • Complete visibility throughout supply chain for own compliance and that of their suppliers
  • Manage waste
  • Increase supplier diversity
  • Smart buildings
  • Electrifying fleets
Product as a Service (PaaS)
Diversifying revenue sources has become more important in establishing an indefinite future.
  • Manufactures lease equipment to customers and offer a list of subscription based value-added services
  • Collect equipment usage data from customers
Inflation
Manufactures have to integrate higher priced materials into budget and determine how much to increase prices to customers to absorb these cost increases.
  • Producer price inflation for goods other than food and energy slowed to an annualized 4.2% in the three months ending in December 2022 from 11.5% in the three months ending in April 2022. (Reuters)
  • Manufacturing payrolls increased at an annualized rate of 1.6% in the three months ending in December, down from annualized growth of 5.5% in the three months ending in April. (Reuters)
Possible Recession
Managing through a potential slowdown in the economy will be a focal point of 2023.
  • Sixty-two percent of manufacturers expect the U.S. economy to enter a recession in 2023, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers

Manufacturing Services

Article Dean Dorton

For most of the history of bread, it was eaten by either tearing off chunks or, eventually, slicing each piece one at a time. As store bought bread became more popular, manufacturers made it softer and softer to entice the buyer with its “fresh” appearance – rendering it extremely difficult to cut.  Along came an intrepid inventor named Otto Frederick Rohwedder who invented the machine that could cut a full loaf of bread into consistently sized slices and enable it to be packaged for sale, out on the market in 1928.  Not only did this make producing, selling, and eating bread much easier, but it also generated an increase in sales for toasters and delicious spreads. (When Was Sliced Bread Invented? | History of Sliced Bread (goldmedalbakery.com)

Can you imagine the pushback poor Otto must have received when he first started trying to sell his idea?  “Who needs a bread slicer? We’ve always done it this way! The loaf will be stale! No one will buy it! So, you waste a few pieces trying to cut the bread, that just means we sell more!” Yet, for the average consumer today sliced bread is such a standard that it would be hard to imagine our food life without it.

I often wonder how many of those same changes – world changing or even just life improving – are passed up every day? Do we continue with the same repetitive tasks, manual processes, and unorganized useless data in spreadsheets just because we haven’t thought of trying something new? What if you were open to exploring new ideas and ways of working that might significantly change the way you do business?

Perhaps, starting down this path would be easier if you thought about it in simpler terms. After all, Otto probably didn’t set out to become the recognized standard for “The Greatest Thing” of modern times.  Make a list of all the repetitive and/or manual tasks you (or your team) perform every week and the amount of time required to complete them. Further identifying if they occur on a daily or weekly basis might help. It is quite possible that you will be shocked at the length of the list, particularly if you add up the amount of time chained to these items. Even the smallest of tasks can add up across time and repetition.

After reviewing the list, the next step is to begin the process of envisioning how the underlying business needs for these tasks could be accomplished via other, more efficient, means. As an example, you might consider putting in place an approach that provides any of these options – and crosses key items off your list!

  • Automating routine processes
  • Capturing data once, and pushing it to the right locations
  • Identifying and resolving discrepancies in information
  • Validating contract terms for compliance
  • Managing approval processes

As our team continues to work with customers to automate and improve their business processes, along with increasing data visualization and analytics, we’ve focused heavily on using Microsoft’s Power Platform. The toolset within this platform provides an extensive amount of functionality to easily accomplish all the items on the list above – plus so much more!

In fact, we’ve put together an approach to process transformation that organizations to work at a speed and budget that fits their internal needs – and we are right there with them on the journey every step of the way. Each quarter we walk through the list of items that are keeping team members from focusing on the accomplishing the work they need to be doing and identify the top priorities to retool and transform. This ongoing process allows the impact of the changes to be felt quickly – and measurably – so that the real work of the organization can flow through.

How much time would you like to regain in your work week? Perhaps enough to squeeze in a lunch with some really good bread?  Let’s talk soon.

Article Dean Dorton

Many organizations are planning and budgeting for 2021 technology needs. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations were working on technology solutions to help their people and their customers or clients collaborate efficiently. The pandemic has caused a heightened focus on collaborative technology. In this article, we will share some thoughts about collaborative technology and invite you to answer some questions about how your organization is addressing the challenges of working efficiently in today’s business realities.

Collaborative meeting solutions that function well can dramatically increase efficiency. These solutions should work regardless of team members’ location (home or office), type of device being used (computers, tablets, or phones), and whether the communication is by voice, video, messaging, or content sharing. Webex Meetings and Teams, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom are examples of now widely-used collaborative technology.

Here are some questions you might ask yourself:

  • Do your team members and clients or customers find your collaborative technology easy to use and effective in doing business?
  • Is the quality of audio, visual, and screen sharing sufficient to meet the needs of your organization?
  • Is the performance of your systems consistently good?
  • Are your systems secure from hackers?
  • Are you able to take notes and “whiteboard” ideas for multiple users, and are these notes readily accessible later?

If your current phone system does not support modern collaboration solutions, you may need to modernize your calling platform, either by replacing your on-premise equipment or by migrating to the cloud. In either case, it is very important to make sure your meeting, messaging, and calling solutions are integrated.

In the pandemic-caused rush to increase the productivity of remote workers, many organizations have relaxed controls on purchasing, and vendors have lowered the burden on acquiring their collaboration solutions. This has led to users acquiring disparate technologies overly focused on immediate needs, rather than being part of a longer-term organization-wide strategy. Including IT professionals in the planning and budgeting processes is important in maximizing the return on your technology investments and protecting your systems’ security.

Want to learn more about collaborative solutions?

IT Infrastructure Services Associate Director
drice@ddaftech.com
859.425.7735

The modern way to communicate

This article was originally published in News & Views (Dean Dorton’s quarterly newsletter).

Go to News & Views

Article Dean Dorton

C-suite and technology leaders need to assume a more strategic role in organizational intelligence and planning. To do that, you need better visibility into technology, financial, and operational metrics, so you can make better decisions and keep your team members’ productivity high and keep your organization’s information secure working across various platforms in multiple locations.

Virtual Desktop

Significant improvements have been made to virtual desktop platforms during the past five years. In order to keep your productivity high, it’s important to have a system that is fast, secure, and easy-to-access. When is the last time you thought about upgrading your virtual access?

Here are some things to consider:

Hardware Costs in a Virtual World

As you consider your technology costs, it’s important to critically look at your current stance and analyze how best to utilize cloud solutions to help support your organizational goals and mitigate technology expenses. Cloud-based systems are far more secure, easy-to-access, and easier to manage from the technology team’s perspective across your organization. The right cloud-based solutions are scalable to your organization’s size and complexity making them cost-effective and efficient. Additionally, Cloud-based systems ensure your team always has access to the latest tools making working anywhere, anytime easier and more productive.

Cybersecurity Risks

As cybersecurity threats become more sophisticated, it’s not a matter of if but when your company will fall victim. Is your system fully secured against an attack? Do you have the visibility to know where your company is most vulnerable? Do you know what your first five steps should be after you know an attack has occurred? Does your current security insure you can avoid spending hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in remediation when you get hit?

We worked with many clients throughout the last year who needed remediation assistance for cyber-attack incidents that could have been avoided if they had the right cyber tools in place. We often see companies pushing cybersecurity initiatives out to the next year:

  • Cybersecurity Scorecard for Small Business
  • Cybersecurity Risk Assessments (for medium and large businesses)
  • Multi-factor Authentication Platforms
  • User Awareness Training (for your team members as they are often prime targets)
  • Security tools and technology that integrates seamlessly with your existing systems

If you’d like to explore how to better control costs to meet your company’s needs and keep projects on budget, please contact me.  I am happy to answer your questions and offer meaningful recommendations.

David Rice
Senior Infrastructure Engineer
drice@ddaftech.com • 859.425.7735