July 7, 2023 How Technology is Advancing Industrial Safety

Leaning into new technologies can help businesses expand their tech stack and boost industrial safety without sacrificing productivity.

by Scott Walker, Vice President, Supply Chain Product Management at Powerfleet

With approximately 2.3M workplace injuries occurring worldwide every year, human error has long been identified as a major contributing factor to this statistic. As a result, business owners are working harder than ever to ensure technology and safety are working in harmony – all while new technological advances impact their industries.

With many potential system risks, organizations operating industrial facilities must prioritize how they leverage data effectively to power cutting-edge technologies, like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to increase productivity while also improving employee safety. Leaning into new technologies can aid when ensuring a safer working environment.

Within the industrial sector specifically, business leaders can consider the following when planning a business-wide tech stack makeover.

Enhancing Visibility and Control with Technology

As a way to improve operational efficiency and decision-making within industrial facilities, enhancing visibility is key. With a SaaS-based data intelligence platform, businesses can enable real-time analyses of every fleet vehicle activity in a facility. Coupled with the use of camera solutions, operators can be notified of potential hazards and imminent danger. Given this increased use of AI, businesses are permitted to observe, predict, and plan everyday operations with the past, present, and future point of view in mind.

Another approach to improving visibility and providing control is to leverage a platform that can collect and analyze accurate data. Collecting and analyzing massive volumes of data is a key component since it allows facilities to extract important insights and trends to spot patterns and make data-driven decisions.

Advancing Autonomy in the Workplace

Deloitte predicts that 2.1M manufacturing jobs will remain unfilled in the U.S. alone by 2030. With ongoing labor shortages and staff turnover, employees are being asked to work longer hours. Now, almost 45% of manufacturing executives surveyed have turned down business opportunities due to lack of workers.

To resolve these challenges, increasing autonomy in industrial workplaces has advantages, including better safety, efficiency, and optimized resource usage. With the use of autonomous software, management can strategically align vehicle types with tasks to meet peak demand.

Through this, a data analysis platform integrated with automation systems aids in repetitive activities and can employ AI to map out what is required. However, with vast amounts of data flowing in from many directions and software, it is critical that the data be unified to automate processes within facilities. 

Autonomous systems provide a holistic view of the warehouse’s resources and current state and can also be configured to evaluate and interpret data in real-time, allowing teams to make intelligent decisions depending on the information collected. This allows for improved resource allocation and usage, such as energy, materials, and equipment.

Current Safety and Productivity Challenges in the Industrial Sector

Ten years ago, it was difficult to persuade someone to use technology for safety – it was about ensuring compliance with regulations. Now, we’ve started to see a lack of available resources within warehouses and manufacturing plants, as well as a lack of experience. As a result, this has increased the risk level of incidents, costing companies revenue and affecting employees’ well-being. 

When a technology like telematics is used alone or with an AI learning machine, facilities can use meaningful “risk profiles”, made up of a combination of data inputs that reflect on safety practices.  These risk profiles allow companies to look holistically and identify outliers, which are then used to understand who their model drivers are, or who may need coaching reassurance.

AI can also be utilized as a warning system to keep pedestrians safe by averting accidents caused by forklifts and other operating vehicles. Warehouses can also employ telematics to improve pedestrian safety by tracking forklifts in real time and reporting any safety incidents. These features allow management to readily assess productivity and safety while making the required changes. 

Additionally, smart hardware such as wearables and AI cameras are playing a major role in warehouse safety as they help teams in being proactive and can alert drivers about potential hazards in their direction of travel.

Refining for the Future

There is certainly a need and opportunity when it comes to safety and overall productivity across facilities. As companies continue to progress with new technologies, we’ll see the use of AI enabled software efficiently gathering data to reduce the gaps that continue to persist every day.

It’s evident that productivity, visibility, and safety are all cyclical in the workplace. When investing in the tools to create a safer workplace, businesses can attract and retain more experienced team members, increasing productivity and then continue decreasing the levels of overall risks at hand within their facilities.

Mr. Walker serves as Vice President of Supply Chain Product Management for Powerfleet, leading Powerfleet’s supply chain product teams to drive innovative products and solutions. Mr. Walker has over 25 years of experience leading product strategy, technological innovation, and product development execution. For the last 15 years, Scott has led various roles within Powefleet’s product, implementation, and sales teams. Prior to joining Powerfleet, Mr. Walker held various leadership positions at Emerson Electric as part of the Industrial Automation group. Mr. Walker attended the University of Rhode Island, holding a BS in Chemical Engineering.

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