Eschbach Advances Knowledge Management with Shiftconnector Smart Solutions

Innovative process industry software developer eschbach announced the launch of its Shiftconnector Smart Solutions. The release builds upon the company’s award-winning Shiftconnector platform, a centralized digital solutions hub supporting communication between fieldworkers, operators, and other designated teams within the process industries. Eschbach will demonstrate the capabilities of its Shiftconnector Smart Solutions in its booth (#516) at the ISPE Annual Meeting and Expo (October 13-16) at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center (Orlando, Florida).

The Smart Solutions AI module for Shiftconnector helps process industry workers mine structured and unstructured data, target relevant historical data, generate actionable insights, and provide useful recommendations for resolving process issues in real time. Image used courtesy of eschbach

Shiftconnector: an Overview

Shiftconnector is a private, cloud-based platform with several security layers and an infrastructure that reflects compliance with ISO 27001 standards. Compliance with the ISO 27001 standard means that eschbach has established a system for managing risks associated with data safety under ownership.

Eschbach corresponds with industry professionals in the security field to conduct frequent testing and analysis of its infrastructure and applications. Eschbach says it also conducts internal network checks, cloud server monitoring, software patches, and database backups to ensure data integrity.

The Shiftconnector platform helps enable smooth handovers between shifts to promote consistent and downtime-free operations. Tasks and procedures are visible in real-time, and incidents or errors can be recorded and tracked. The system also provides alerts for prompt decision-making to keep operations running, integrated machine data, knowledge sharing between teams, and AI-based smart searching to target fixes, retrieve information, and reduce data duplication to maintain quality.

To facilitate field workers' communication with operators through mobile devices, Shiftconnector provides a mobile version known as Shiftconnector GO. Shiftconnector GO's key features include eliminating paper rounds and checklists, using QR codes to target specific facility locations and equipment, attaching images and forwarding images to control rooms, and the creation of an audit trail, conveying guidance during safety rounds.

An overview of the mobile rounds app for fieldworkers in process industries, Shiftconnector GO. Video used courtesy of eschbach

Shiftconnector Smart Solutions

In this digital age, industrial companies leverage the latest innovations in IoT, sensor technologies, and AI-enabled smart vision systems. The generation and implementation of these technologies help users produce vast amounts of data. The challenge lies in processing, filtering, extracting, and analyzing big data to generate actionable insights in light of real-world scenarios in real time. Avoiding the compilation of data silos is key for maintaining the visibility of day-to-day facility operations, bringing in historical data to generate insights, and making optimal changes to evolve process workflows.

The Smart Solutions AI module for Shiftconnector employs process industry-specific language and process data training to mine unstructured and structured data, targeting historical data relevant to present facility issues. The Smart Solutions module then generates recommendations for process industry employees to act on and resolve problems in the most expedient way possible. This real-time, data-mining capability allows for speedier resolutions to plant issues, reducing downtime and maintaining operational efficiency.

Shiftconnector allows technicians, engineers, operators, and quality control managers to consult previous problems, solutions, and outcomes. The AI serves as a mentor by utilizing the accumulated wisdom of workers in various positions. In the future, Shiftconnector Smart Solutions will support several languages, collect data from several production locations, and offer translated solutions.