TECH & AI
HEADQUARTERS: KYOTO, JAPAN NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 26,600 INDUSTRY: AUTOMATION
“ Ironically, size can slow you down,” Tim explains. One major manufacturer calculated that manually connecting internet of things boxes to its roughly 70,000 machines across Europe would take about 70,000 man-hours, and the project stalled.
What is specific to Europe, Tim says, is the pressure to modernise regardless. A shrinking, ageing workforce and tightening legislation are turning digitalisation into a necessity rather than a choice.
Regulation cuts both ways. Legislation such as the EU AI Act, the Data Act and
GDPR is accelerating digitalisation, Tim explains, because companies cannot comply without first putting their data and security in order.
The same rules add complexity, though. Tim says:“ Regulation is simultaneously the strongest push and one of the brakes on digital manufacturing in Europe today.”
Human context Data is essential, but collecting it is just the beginning, Tim says. It needs to be reliable and usable, timestamped,