Emerging Technologies in Industry: The AI Revolution Unveiled
/The AI revolution is here. If it wasn’t real before, it is now.
10/12 Industry Report covered the AI revolution for industry and energy producers, sharing how companies are (and aren’t) using emerging technologies like digital twins, robotics, generative AI, and more. The article delves into the evolution of emerging technologies within the industrial sector, emphasizing their growing importance and potential impact.
From Hardman & Co
Eric Allen, CEO of Environmental Intellect (Ei), shared the necessity of upgrading technology in high-risk environments like refineries. His company began with digitizing CAD drawings for industrial clients and eventually progressed to developing a platform for viewing existing data in a web browser, focusing on usability and problem-solving.
Adoption of these emerging technologies matters for a lot of reasons. It can not only impact safety and efficiency, but Allen said, “When a company is behind in technology adoption, it makes it harder to recruit people.”
Several major petrochemical complexes, like ExxonMobil Baton Rouge and Shell Geismar, are actively embracing technology. They're utilizing digital twins, robotic inspections, and AI for tasks ranging from inspections to equipment performance tracking. However, challenges persist in integrating vast amounts of data into accessible formats.
Coila LaFleur of ExxonMobil says the Baton Rouge complex is currently on a journey to implement digital twin technologies. The challenge, as it often is, has been data management. They’re also looking at using AI-driven technologies. “We’re trying to figure out how to use them to our advantage, and then, of course, there are concerns around cybersecurity.”
Shell’s Geismar plant has implemented a digital twin and can “walk” through some of its units using virtual reality. David Mustain, Shell’s digitalization and innovation lead in Geismar, said, “We are still at the early phases, but we are already seeing significant gains in our ability to avoid trips to the field and maximize efficiency of maintenance planning.”
Geismar is also looking at various AI technologies. He told 10/12, “Our global team developed a predictive machine learning model to track the performance of equipment. We took that and used it to track performance of control valves and other equipment…The model is actually teaching itself what normal looks like.”
AI Education for the Workforce
With all of these companies implementing AI and emerging technologies, they need a workforce educated in them. Andrew Schwarz, a professor in LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business, spearheaded a new “Emerging Technologies” specialization in the school’s Executive MBA program and included curriculum in AI strategy, cloud computing, cybersecurity, policies, programs, and governance.
He said the technical aspects are important, but something else takes priority. “You must start with the business case first. Once you start to unpack that, you start to identify sources of data and figure out where the data will need to come from to meet those objectives.”
LaFleur points out, “These technologies are going to change the way people work in a good way. Humans will be able to do what they do best, and these new technologies will handle all the mundane, repetitive and dangerous tasks.”
