LIS Data Solutions specializes in the development and implementation of projects in the areas of Big Data and artificial intelligence. Their mission is to transform the Data of companies into useful information that will help them optimize their processes and make the process of decision making much easier. The multinational company’s headquarters in Germany is in Ulm. From there, the LIS Data Solutions team helps companies in the country to implement or improve various individual digitalization processes, paving the way for Industry 4.0.
Interview with Myriam Klatt, Marketing Manager at LIS Data Solutions.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Myriam Klatt: With our technology we can serve a very broad range of sectors and branches. Everywhere, where there is data to be analyzed and forecasts or predictions on how things will develop in the future, our algorithms can be of service. However, we do have a focus on the industrial sectors. For those we have experts as well for Logistics and Production as for physics, chemistry, or math. This way we can analyze very concretely what kind of influences need to be considered to make the most accurate predictions. In Logistics for instance, one big part is purchases. Here it is very crucial to know exactly how the market will develop in the future and what the needs of the customers will be, so that the right amount and the right products can be purchased. Another big part of Logistics is Transport, where on one hand you need to load your trucks in the most efficient way possible and on the other hand have an optimized transportation network. For Production our most important product would be predictive maintenance. With PM we are able to determine very precisely how high the risk of failure and the remaining useful life of the different machines are. This way we are preventing unwanted and very costly breakdowns of the production line and prolonging the life cycles of all machines.
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
M.K: A lot of times people try to make predictions; however, they mostly use internal and past data. It takes a lot of know-how to determine all the important external factors and to be able to add them as real time data to the analytics. We assembled a selected group of highly trained Data Scientists and Engineers who combine their know-how of these very different areas to combine these into our own algorithms and make them create real predictions. Another point is the Artificial Intelligence. With AI our algorithms aren’t just trained once to stay the same and always only consider the KPIs that were initially integrated, but they are enabled to learn from changes and impacts on the processes, to include new factors may influence those processes.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
M.K: Right now, we are working on creating real, scalable products out of our past and current projects for all the different areas we can work with. Currently, two of those are ready to be integrated and have already been integrated in the first companies.
The first one is Aidóo Purchases. With this tool, we can predict how the market will be evolving in the future. What are the specific requirements of our customers? How much will we be selling? When should we be ordering? How much should we buy? Those and more questions like these can be answered through this tool. This is an all-automated Tool with integrated Artificial intelligence which will learn from how the market changes continuously, integrate the changes and adjusts the results.
The second product is predictive Maintenance. In production, time is crucial. Only one minute of break-down time can result in costs over 25.000€, especially in the automotive sector, the costs are massive. Breakdowns mostly happen for two reasons: Either the machine shows a failure or disturbance because it needs to be maintained or the reason lies in exterior factors like temperature, pressure… that don’t fit the product, so that it turns out defective. To prevent these failures, all around “health” of the machine needs to be supervised through its many sensors, and all of the external factors that may have an impact on the products quality, also need to be monitored. This way, if there are any dangers to the functioning of the machines or to the quality of the products, action can be taken, before it affects the whole production line.
Myriam Klatt
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
M.K: Since the pandemic, all of the world has realized that digitalization and automation need to be our future and our present, if we want to be more independent from external change and want to keep up with our competitors. So, in these times, a lot of companies are looking for the right fit of technology to be used. Also, there is a shortage of qualified workers in a lot of sectors, which can be replaced through technology to unburden companies. On top of that, through technology like ours, you can save lots of resources in every aspect, which is not only great for saving money, but also a huge benefit to our environment, which companies are trying to be more and more aware of.
So, we encounter a high demand for technological enhancement and finally increased readiness for investments in our intangible products.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
M.K: In our experience the market is getting more and more attracted to new technologies that involve Artificial Intelligence. They not only benefit from AI in regard of their inner workings and processes, but also image-wise. People are searching for companies that are up to date on technology and feel more attracted to those, as they associate them with higher quality and efficiency. So, we are expecting the market to grow a lot more and bring up more and more acceptancy and demand for technology that uses AI.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
M.K: The most innovative products are definitely those using real Artificial Intelligence. A lot of providers are advertising AI, however usually it is about “simple” algorithms. Real AI uses neuronal networks, that can learn from new data and adapt accordingly, w it exceeds the mere estimation of what could be happening in the future, based on past data. It is way more specific and accurate and makes proposals to adapt strategies, to become more and more efficient in time and adapt faster to new happenings.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2022?
M.K: For 2022 this market will grow even further, and technologies will become broader and more differentiated. We will continue develop our concrete products and keep working on our cross-divisional AI-based tactical planner that will be launched in 2023. This AI will be able to combine all the previously named operational products and will be a supportive system for strategic and tactical decisions. In what direction should a company develop? What internal changes should be made to achieve higher efficiency and satisfy both customers and employees? These and more questions that are usually discussed in lengthy meetings, will be answered by our new AI so that leaders have all the needed information and data to make decisions faster and with less risks.