Monthly Archives: September 2021

Utah reporter interviews Jordan Clarkson about Jazz and doesn’t realize it – Yahoo Sports

Posted: September 27, 2021 at 5:41 pm

If you're doing a story on the Utah Jazz, you might as well go to an expert. One reporter in Salt Lake City did just that ... only didn't realize it until it was too late.

KUTV reporter Hayley Crombleholme is "highly embarrassed" after not realizing she interviewed Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson about the team. Crombleholme admitted the mistake, and graciously shared two clips from the interview.

The first included Clarkson saying and spelling his name:

The second clip is among one of the funniest exchanges you'll see on a news program. It featured Crombleholme asking Clarkson if he attended any Jazz games last season.

Clarkson, completely deadpan, replied, "Yeah, a lot."

Clarkson wasn't offended about not being recognized. He responded to Crombleholme's tweet about the incident by laughing.

In Crombleholme's defense, Clarkson hasn't been with the team that long. After spending three and a half seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, and then two and a half seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Clarkson was dealt to the Jazz during the 2019-20 season.

He's been with the team since then, averaging 17.3 points and 4.0 assists over 110 games with Utah. Clarkson won the Sixth Man of the Year Award during the 2020-21 season.

Jordan Clarkson joined the Jazz during the 2019-20 NBA season. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)

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Utah reporter interviews Jordan Clarkson about Jazz and doesn't realize it - Yahoo Sports

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How relevant are deportment classes and finishing schools to young people in today’s world? – ABC News

Posted: at 5:40 pm

Deportment classes and finishing schools have been teaching mostly young women posture, poise and presence for centuries.

They're a master class in how to be ladylike, covering everything from nail care to the correct way to eat a banana (hint: it's apparently with a knife and fork).

In their heyday of the 18th century, young women from wealthy or aristocratic families were sent off to finishing schools where they were taught all the social graces needed to secure a husband.

Think curtseying, books on heads and lessons in how to eat soup delicately.

Given today's world of self-expression and self-empowerment, where individualism is celebrated and communication is increasingly informal, finishing schools have undergone a major re-brand in the hopes of staying in step with today's values.

So could this practice be a dying art? How relevant is deportment to young people in today's world? And what social currency does it hold?

Deportment expert Jodie Bache-McLean is at the helm of June Dally-Watkins a school that's taught modelling and deportment to mostly young women for more than 70 years.

ABC News: Mark Leonardi

After surviving the 1960s when deportment schools "lost their flavour", the managing director said deportment was in the midst of a revival.

"I'd say it's making a comeback," she said.

"Especially now. We're at home, we're in this insular world and our interaction in some instances is purely with people on a screen."

She said the past 18 months of lockdown had sparked renewed interest among parents who were "shocked" to witness their children's eating habits at the dinner table.

Others contacted Ms Bache-McLean in the hope of resolving their children's anxiety and self-esteem issues a creeping pandemic of its own among young people.

ABC News: Mark Leonardi

Not only does Ms Bache-McLean believe learning deportment has become more important now than ever, she's hoping the government will recognise it as "an important life skill" and introduce it to the national school curriculum.

"There's a saying that's been around for centuries: don't judge a book by its cover. And I totally respect that, but we do regardless," she said.

"We make conscious decisions, it's part of our flight-or-fight response. We're judging situations constantly."

While maintaining an emphasis on physical appearance, Ms Bache-McLean said deportment had "evolved" over the decades to be less about how to attract a man and more about cultivating self-confidence.

ABC News: Mark Leonardi

"It was very much about that decades ago," Ms Bache-McLean conceded.

"It's less about being a gentleman or being ladylike and more about being a human.

"[The classes have undergone] slight changes but the messaging remains the same, the terminology may differ.

"There's a wonderful saying what do people say about you when you've left the room? the best we can hope for in that experience with that person is that they were impressed."

June Dally-Watkins' lessons have stayed with you for decades. These are some of the more memorable, from the harsh to the helpful.

Deportment expert Renee Chambellant has witnessed countless transformations in students over her 40-year career teaching deportment, personal development and grooming to models, corporate workers and juniors.

"It's basically the same, obviously we've moved with the times and we've updated," she said.

"We teach how to go in and out doors, up and down stairs how to sit in your seat, how to get into a theatre and move between the chairs."

Ms Bache-McLean said: "It's about feeling comfortable and having self-confidence being the best version of you."

But by whose measure?

It's a question Helen Dalley-Fisher the senior manager with national women's advocacy group Equality Rights Alliance has taken issue with.

"A lot of deportment classes use the language of empowerment how they're empowering women to get ahead, to participate in high-powered situations," she said.

"But it's not empowering to worry all the time about whether you're looking right and about whether you're conforming properly."

ABC News: Greg Nelson

Ms Dalley-Fisher said she was bothered by how manydeportment classes place anemphasison "external appearance and obeying the rules".

"It's a problem when a woman's primary value is reduced to how she appears," she said.

"To suggest to a young girl, particularly when you're in that vulnerable stage in your teens and your 20s, that the way you appear is firstly not acceptable and needs to be changed and secondly it needs to conform to a set of rules [is problematic]."

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Ms Dalley-Fisher said a truly empowering deportment class would help students assess their own inherent value beyond their appearance.

"Perhaps what deportment classes are really offering is reassurance and a sense of security," she said.

"But when the sense of security is about how you look rather than what you do, and when it's about whether you're conforming, rather than what you're doing is of objective value that's not going to serve you well in the long term."

ABC News:Phoebe Hosier

Emily Searle, chair of a University of Queensland's Women's Collective a student body made up of young women echoed the sentiment, describing deportment as "exclusive" and "regressive".

She said most deportment schools reinforced gender roles society was working hard to undo.

"[They're] really only for people who can afford to spend that much money to teach skills that aren't that necessary today," she said.

"Young people less and less fit into these gender roles. More and more we're shifting away from 'men do this, women do that' and more towards this is what's expected of people.

"They [deportment classes] kind of look in the opposite direction."

Ms Searle said etiquette should reflect the multitude of multicultural communities that exist in Australia, rather than just the British way.

"There's no right way to set a table with Australia being such a multicultural community. There's so many different ways to perform etiquette and there's no one size fits all," she said.

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While some of Australia's leading deportment schools teach mostly in private schools, Ms Bache-McLean said her organisation also worked with state schools and was accessible to an array of demographics.

"I have students who are on the spectrum, who are vision impaired, who are in wheelchairs it's not about walking, it's about your presence," she said.

"I have gender fluid students, I have students undergoing a transition and they would like to work with us to make their gestures more feminine than masculine, so we have evolved in that way."

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How to Become a Therapist | SNHU – Southern New Hampshire University

Posted: at 5:40 pm

The word therapist is a broad term that can encompass many mental health professionals. Counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and psychologists are all considered therapists.

Depending on the individual, the geographic area in which they practice and their respective state licensure or regulatory practices, many mental health professionals use the term therapist to speak broadly about themselves. Regardless of what term is used, providing mental health services to clients is a meaningful way to offer help and support to others at the individual and community levels.

While the term therapist is often used as a general term to encompass the mental health field as a whole, it is important to note that there are very real and significant differences between and among the mental health professions, said Kristi B. Cannon, PhD, LPC, NCC, director of counseling programs, assessment and evaluation at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU).

These differences include:

While the term therapist can be used across professions, state licensure boards restrict the use of particular terms such as licensed professional counselor or licensed psychologist to those who have received specific educational, exam and practice requirements for licensure in that area, Cannon said.

And, because educational training, ethical guidelines and licensure are critical to each of these fields, it is important for potential clients to understand that the term therapist is not regulated, Cannon said. Therefore, the term therapist can be used by anyone across the profession.

These terms are often used interchangeably. Both a therapist and a counselor engage in a helping relationship, said Metoka L. Welch, PhD, LCMHC (NC), director of counseling programs for the learning environment at SNHU. The difference between the two lies within the goal of the professional.

A therapist provides mental health therapy to clients, Cannon said, while a counselor is a specific type of mental health professional whose offerings align with a wellness model of healing and who believes in the empowerment of clients to accomplish their goals in mental health, career and education.

According to Cannon, some types of counselors include:

Just like with the term therapist, there can be distinct educational, training and licensure requirements for each of these professions.

The type of professional counselor most often associated with therapist is a clinical mental health counselor. This person is someone who provides direct client counseling in a private practice, hospital or community-based setting, Cannon said.

The first step toward becoming a therapist is to decide which type of therapy you wish to provide.

These are some common pairings of interests and career pathways, according to Welch:

Once you have chosen your focus, the next step to becoming a therapist is to investigate the educational pathway you will need. An undergraduate degree is necessaryto become a therapist in any area. Most programs will specify if the degree for your chosen field needs to be in a social science, such as psychology, or a related discipline, such as sociology, Welch said.

If you already have a bachelors degreein another field, do not worry. It has been my experience, said Welch, that counseling programs are understanding that people are often enrolling in counseling programs as a second career, so their undergraduate degree could be in political science or, in my case, English. Most bachelors degrees will provide the foundational concepts and information you will need to move forward.

After you determine which area of counseling you would like to pursue, go to your states licensing board website to determine what educational credentials you need. Then, look into programs that offer the qualifying curriculum, said Welch.

A bachelors degree is only the beginning, however. A graduate degree is needed as well. Some types of therapy practice, such as a counseling psychologist, will need a PhD in counseling psychology as the minimum requirement for licensure, said Cannon. Other types of therapy practice require a masters degree.

Licensed professional counselors must have a masters degree in counseling, which includes the educational requirements established by the state counseling licensure board to practice, said Cannon.

While in school, you will likely complete a practicum and gain internship experience. Depending on your state and area of specialty, you will need to complete 2-4 years of post-graduate experience in order to be licensed, Welch said. I often tell students that (becoming a therapist) is a 25-year investment.

For most therapist specialties, such as clinical mental health counseling or clinical social work, the minimum education needed is a masters degree.

A doctorate is required for certain specialty areas, such as a clinical psychologist or counselor educator. And to become a psychiatrist, you need be a medical doctor, Welch said.

When it comes to how to become a licensed therapist, it's important to note that there are different types of licenses required for different counseling specialties. The type of license required is determined by the mental health field you choose and the state in which you will practice.

Requirements for licensure include a set number of clinical hours completed under the supervision of an approved supervisor as well as passing required state licensure exams, Cannon said.

Different types of licenses include:

The demand is growing for therapists and mental health professionals. This is due to a combination of factors, Cannon said, including the fact that mental health issues have gained more prominence in society over the last few years.

The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as an increase in awareness of concepts like self-care, work-life balance and even mental health days, have helped normalize mental health issues as part of a collective sense of overall health, Cannon said.

There are many possibilities to build a robust and meaningful career as a therapist. Often, when people think of being a therapist, they think of working in private practice, Welch said.

Welch also noted that therapists could work in areas such as:

The combined awareness, acceptance and prominence of mental health issues and the need for care is only growing the field, and I fully anticipate this will continue, said Cannon.

In fact, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors will grow 23% from 2020 to 2030, which is much faster than the average for all other occupations.

Because becoming a therapist is a tremendous time investment, you may not see a higher salary until you are licensed or working in a specialty. Most people who go into this line of work do so because they had a personal experience with a counselor, said Welch, or because they want to make a difference in the world. So, a good bit of the reward of being a therapist is intrinsic.

Depending on the educational background, license, area of client focus and geographic location, salaries can vary considerably. The Occupational Outlook Handbook of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics notes a median pay range from $47,660 to $82,180 for mental health counselors and psychologists, respectively. Marriage and family therapists and social workers earn a median salary of just above $50,000.

Being flexible, adaptable and empathetic are at the top of the list of traits that both Cannon and Welch say are important for a therapist to be successful. Welch also notes the ability to be courageous and set boundaries as necessary traits. The willingness to constantly work on yourself, your biases and hidden assumptions are essential traits for any therapist to succeed, said Welch. The willingness to be a client yourself, and to recognize the strength of human resilience are also important, she said.

All of these skills together enable therapists to help their clients strengthen their internal resources. We want clients to use their own coping skills for the issues that come up in their lives, Welch said. This skill can take years to build, so the ability to continuously grow and learn is key as well.

The ability to embrace and weather change is also crucial. I cannot stress enough how important it is to be able to deal with ambiguity, Welch said. Often graduate programs in counseling are difficult for type-A perfectionists. You have to have a willingness to let go of what you think and become a student of the clients work.

In clinical terms, a therapist works directly with clients and provides some form of psychotherapy, Cannon said. In more personal terms, the role of the therapist is to hold space for the broken places of their clients and allow space for people to grow and change, said Welch.

In terms of day-to-day responsibilities, the job can vary based on specialty. As a mental health counselor, Cannon works with clients one-on-one, with couples or families or in groups to provide direct mental health counseling services. The type of issues addressed can range from life transitions to more significant and pervasive diagnosable mental health issues, Cannon said.

Therapy can occur in a private practice setting, such as in an office or via telehealth. A community mental health agency, hospital, school or outpatient program provides opportunities for practice as well.

The job itself can look very different setting by setting, therapist by therapist, because the needs of clients and the services provided to those clients can vary so widely, Cannon said. Regardless of the setting, the overall focus of a clinical mental health counselor is to utilize a specific set of counseling skills, driven by an empirically valid theoretical orientation and interventions, to empower client growth and well-being, said Cannon.

Both Cannon and Welch agree that being a therapist is a tremendously rewarding career. Welch acknowledges that helping clients work through issues can result in both small and large changes. The reward comes not from the size of the change that you help your client make but from helping clients realize the possibility that things can change, she said.

For Cannon, being a clinical mental health counselor is a highly rewarding career:

In my work, I have the capacity to empower and support people in meaningful ways every day of my life. For some clients, this may be as simple as working through a difficult decision or navigating a challenging relationship. For others, this could truly be fostering a will to live or work through a significant life trauma. Either way, I am hard-pressed to think of many other careers that center on such meaningful change and offer opportunities for such significant long-term impact.

As you might imagine, while the rewards of being a therapist are great, there are some significant challenges as well. As much as this career can be rewarding, said Cannon, it can also be emotionally and mentally taxing.

The biggest challenge, according to both Cannon and Welch, is the risk of burnout. Therapists need to know their limits and ensure they are seeking good self-care as part of their practice, said Cannon. The importance of self-care and personal therapy is often a part of therapist training, according to Welch.

Another great challenge is that of demand. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for services, and, right now, many licensed therapists have waitlists, said Welch.

Becoming a therapist is a big investment of time and energy. Because it can take years to achieve licensure and become qualified to establish a practice or work full-time in your chosen area, this is not a career field to enter into lightly.

This is also a field that can be very rewarding for some but is not the right fit for everyone. For that reason, its worth taking the time upfront to research the different options within the field of therapy to decide if this is the right career for you. This is not a profession you can just try out to see if you like it, Cannon said. Becoming a therapist takes some "front-end research, identity alignment and a commitment to the profession before deciding if it's right for you, she said.

Welch advocates the importance of becoming a client yourself because it takes a great deal of vulnerability to sit in the clients seat and reveal deep, often painful parts of your life to a stranger, she said. Once you respect that position, you realize how sacred this work is. For that reason, she recommends having your own therapist because if the idea of that is off-putting to you, reconsider why you want to do this.

Welch believes that the key difference between a good therapist and a great one is as simple as having the willingness to seek therapy yourself.

Marie Morganelli, PhD, is a freelance content writer and editor.

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Supply Chain Automation: What is it and how can it benefit me? – Manufacturer.com

Posted: at 5:39 pm

With efficiency, certainty and waste reduction being absolutely key elements of a manufacturers supply chain, Bizagi tells us how automation can assist.

If your factory is the heart of your organisation, then your supply chain is the veins and arteries. Your operational efficiency depends on everything being connected to deliver a reliable service.

However, many organisations have built up a patchwork of legacy systems, with gaps between applications leaving a disconnect in the supply chain, which can lead to inefficiencies, lack of visibility and general uncertainty.

Supply chain automation provided by a low-code automation platform can automate tasks within the end-to-end supply chain and connect systems for a 360-degree view of operations.

Supply chain automation is the use of digital technologies to improve efficiencies, connect applications and streamline processes within supply chain operations. It usually incorporates intelligent technologies such as Digital Process Automation, Robotic Process Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

There are multiple benefits that can be seen when supply chain automation software is introduced to operations. Here are the four primary benefits:

A connected supply chain supported by automation technologies provides the opportunity to free employees from these menial, manual tasks.

Various documents are part of the supply chain management: delivery orders, receipts and bills generate numerous time-consuming tasks performed manually by employees who store and process the documentation.

These tasks are often carried out on pen and paper by employees in the warehouse, taking up valuable time and often leading to human error when recording and submitting information. The benefits of automation, both in and out of the warehouse include increased efficiency manifested by increased fill rates and decreased cycle times, as well as increased warehouse throughput time, reduced labour and operational costs, elimination of human error and improved inventory management.

The benefits of automation were realised by Bizagi customer Adidas. The largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe needed to transform its supply chain across 400 factories. Using Bizagi and an agile methodology allowed for less development, more efficiency and cost reduction.

They created standardised, reusable processes to deliver automation across departments. These automated processes eliminated manual tasks and reduced operational costs, such as eliminating a million emails per year through system integration. They also halved factory onboarding time and sped up the two-month sports asset contract approval cycle to just one week.

Traditional supply chains often face unpredictable lead times and lack the transparency to know how inventory is progressing. Digital technology means that now even the everyday consumer is used to being able to see where their online delivery is in its journey from the warehouse to their front door. So why shouldnt businesses expect the same visibility earlier on in the supply chain.

The reason for lack of transparency in the past couple of decades has been due to poor connectivity. As more systems and applications were introduced to increase efficiency, they created silos and left gaps between systems, which meant that information could not be passed between them and it was hard to follow the status of a process end-to-end.

A low-code automation platform can connect all systems and create a centralized location for your employees to access information, providing complete process visibility and orchestration. This provides real-time data to employees, not only giving them up-to-date status updates, but also allows them to act with certainty when executing tasks that rely on important information.

Transparency not only benefits employees, but also customers as they can easily get an overview of how their order is progressing through the supply chain. Traceability is now essential for customer satisfaction and a low-code automation platform can provide appropriate visibility.

If 2020 taught us anything, its to expect the unexpected. For some organisations, the COVID pandemic meant scaling operations back and operating on a bare bones basis. For others, it meant ramping up production and shipping capabilities to meet increased demand.

Using a low-code automation platform provided the benefit of adaptability to respond to unforeseen circumstances, which is built-in when you connect information and data across your organization.

Diminishing risk and meeting compliance standards is particularly hard in a post-COVID world. Even more so for manufacturers and suppliers with global sites observing different regulations, ranging from health and safety to best business practice. Auditing is then required to prove these standards have been met.

Establishing business processes that are then executed, either in part or fully, by automation technology can help improve both risk management and the overall supply chain management. All stakeholders can ensure best practices are followed while integrating compliance for effective and risk-averse operations.

Documenting and automating workflows is the ideal way to ensure specific requirements are met, and that operations can be agile enough to evolve. Additionally, the real-time visibility brought to the supply chain by a low-code automation platform can help organisations to mitigate risk and ensure compliance by identifying issues as they arise and preventing them from escalating further.

Connectivity and automation bring the efficiency and agility that so many supply chain operators crave. If you would like to find out more about how a low-code platform can help transform your supply chain, download the free Bizagi ebook, The Essential Guide to Automation in Manufacturing.

In addition to insight on how to optimize your supply chain, you will also learn:

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Gold Fields orders ABB integrated power and automation system for Salares Norte – International Mining

Posted: at 5:39 pm

Posted by Paul Moore on 27th September 2021

ABB is to provide six electrical rooms plus an integrated digital system solution based on the ABB Ability 800xA distributed control system (DCS) to Gold Fields Salares Norte mining project in a remote region of northern Chile. The open-pit gold-silver mine project by the South African mining company is located in the Atacama Desert amongst the highest peaks of the Andes mountain range.It is 1,300 km from the Chilean capital Santiago and has elevations between 4,200 m and 4,900 m.

ABB will deliver a common platform for process and power control using ABB Ability System 800xA, Power and Process Control Library, and Camera Connect (the ABB video system embedded in the control platform for optimised process monitoring). ABB Ability Knowledge Manager will be used to manage information production through Plant Information Management System (PIMS), alongside ABB Ability Asset Vista Condition Monitoring (integrated with SAP), an Extended Operator Workplace (EOW) as an integrated control room at the site, a collaboration table and 800xA Smart Client stations to enable read-only access to displays via a web browser.

As a common platform for the monitoring of productive, operation and support areas, ABBs system will reduce technical risks and the number of interfaces to enable Gold Fields to unify processes at the highest level. The electrical system is fully integrated via the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard 61850, which ensures total control and visibility for the plant operations. ABB is also providing engineering and project management.

The digital aspect is critical to this project due to its remote location the nearest town being Diego de Almagro, 180 km away, the altitude of the project and adverse weather conditions which make site access and fieldwork difficult especially during the winter, said Max Combes, Project Director of Gold Fields. Gold Fields has developed digital infrastructure through initiatives at operations around the world. ABBs complete solution, integrated engineering and remote operations technology will enable us to build on this digital capability and overcome the particular challenges at Salares Norte.

The scope also includes a dynamic process simulator to allow checks on all control logics and for operator training purposes. The simulator will allow for shorter and more efficient start-ups on site, said Ivn Villegas, Solutions Manager at ABB in Chile. It will also support the training requirements, meaning Gold Fields will have several accredited operators with the right skills for high-quality operations.

Together with Gold Fields we can demonstrate over the long-term that ABBs control systems connect and perform their functions in totally isolated areas, within satellite range, and with minimal latency, said Cristian Gallegos, Mining Account Manager for ABB in Chile. It is an opportunity to modernise mining and showcase the benefits that digital transformation brings by controlling and supporting the mining plant and equipment at Salares Norte from 1,300 km away.

Satellite Telematics Test

In parallel to this project ABB proposed and was part of an initiative together with Gold Fields to successfully connect different ABB technologies between Santiago and the Salares Norte project. Using satellite telematics they carried out remote control and monitoring of smart electric motors and a simulation of telemedicine care between the two locations. The tests were carried out in isolated areas, but within reach of the satellite and through a connection controlled by ABB Ability System 800xA and conventional mobile equipment with minimal latency. Through mixed reality lenses, both virtual reality and augmented reality, two authorities of the Ministry of Mining in Chile (the Minister and the Regional Secretary) each at one end, were witnesses and protagonists of the successful test, where the two held a conversation that flowed in real time, each seeing the avatar of the other, as if they were together in a physical environment.

Salares Norte is expected to produce 3.7 Moz of gold over an initial mine life of 11 years and is estimated to be a $834 million expenditure project. The operation involves drilling, blasting, loading, and hauling methods for ore extraction. It has a production capacity of two million tons per annum and the life-of-mine average recovery of gold and silver will be 92.7% and 67.5%, respectively.

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Automation can be our friend, but we must not let it turn into a foe – The Guardian

Posted: at 5:39 pm

What the economic historian Aaron Benanav calls the automation discourse has been going ever since the luddites smashed textile machinery in Nottingham in 1811.

At issue is whether machines destroy or create jobs. The first case is easiest to understand. Machines are labour-saving; and labour saved means labour unemployed. Fear of unemployment has always been the dominant response of the workforce to the introduction of machinery.

The second case involves taking into account repercussions. The cheaper it is to produce something, the more demand there will be for it. This means more workers can be employed.

One can see then, how the spread of mechanisation to all branches of industry can multiply favourable effects: more people employed producing more and varied goods at higher wages for reduced effort. The fear of unemployment, say economists, is really a displaced fear of leisure.

With computer technology, not just physical work, but so-called cognitive work can be automated. Modern luddites foresee the growth of white-collar and service-sector unemployment. Again, say the optimists, they fail to notice the upside. The economic argument is straightforward: Higher productivity implies faster economic growth, more consumer spending, increased labour demand, and thus greater job creation, Sir Christopher Pissarides and Jacques Bughin argued in their 2018 paper.

The problem is social: to ensure that the fruits of increased productivity are passed on to the mass of the people in the form of higher wages and non-work income. The political debate is about how much public intervention is needed to ensure that the wealth created by machines trickles down to all sections of the population.

The interesting question right now is: what effect will the Covid-19 lockdown have on this automation discourse? Three effects in particular are worth noticing. The first is the likely speed-up in automation; the second, the increase in automatic shopping; and the third, the growth of home working.

Despite all the hype, automation made little progress in the UK before the pandemic. According to the International Federation of Robotics in 2018, the UK had only 71 robots to 10,000 workers. The main reason, I think, was that cheap labour from abroad was an alternative to automation, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises that could not afford the capital cost of installing machinery.

However, this supply has dried up, and will not be rapidly restored. We now have the paradoxical combination of a near-record adult employment rate together with the highest ever job vacancy count.

Covid-19 is almost certain to accelerate automation in line with the experience of past pandemics such as Sars in 2003, with the driving forces being economic recession and the need to cut labour costs, and the perceived increased risk of human contact. Jobs with higher levels of physical proximity, such as retail, hospitality, leisure and medical care, are the most likely to be automated post-pandemic.

Unless the government intervenes to subsidise investment (say, through a national investment bank) the financing of automation will be brought about through a further concentration of industry in large firms and the bankruptcy of many small and medium-sized enterprises.

The second source of automation will come from the consumer switch to remote shopping. This is the joint result of a change in habits forced by lockdown and fear of contamination. One symptom is the rise in cashierless stores. The first Amazon Fresh convenience store (with automated sensors to detect when items are taken from shelves and which automatically charge customers) opened in London in March, promising a more frictionless consumer experience. Many more are promised.

Finally, increased home working will demand increased use of surveillance technology. The proportion of working adults who did any work from home grew from 27% in 2019 to 37% last year on average, with Londoners the most likely to work remotely. Business sees a clear productivity gain in the reduction of time spent travelling and chatting in offices.

However, the realisation of such gains requires investment in surveillance technology. A recent report in the Financial Times highlighted the growth of electronic techniques for monitoring home working, including the installation of cameras and microphones in every house. This widens the discussion to the impact of technology not just on jobs but on freedom. When Jeremy Bentham invented his panopticon for monitoring the movement of prisoners, he suggested that it might be fruitfully applied in schools and hospitals. George Orwell carried this thought to its logical conclusion in his futurist novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. A two-way television screen in every flat ensured that Big Brother is watching you the whole time.

So on which side of the optimism-pessimism divide does the automation discourse now fall? Automation is not good in itself; it is only a means to an end. We need always to have in mind the question of what purposes it is designed to serve.

Unless this question is continually asked, and answered with action, we are destined to become slaves to the machines and those who control them. The luddites understood this.

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Egypt to automate 22 wheat silos – World Grain

Posted: at 5:39 pm

CAIRO, EGYPT IBM, in collaboration with ACME SAICO, on Sept. 27 announced the automation of 22 wheat silos in Egypt by the end of 2021 using IBM AI-powered software.

The announcement comes as the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade plans to digitize the wheat supply chain and implement governance systems on the countrys strategic stock.

Using IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation and IBM Cloud Pak for Integration, the new solution will allow full automation and governance of all the steps ofshipping, transport, storage, and supply of the wheat silos.

Through this advanced technology, the automated platform is engineered to collect data from different sensors that are embedded in the silos. These sensors will send near real-time quantitative analytics of the wheat supply and stock status to the main platform at the Ministry of Supply. The Egyptian Holding Company for Silos and Storage (EHCSS) will be able to monitor and store all information related to the incoming shipments to maintain quality standards, report accurate views of the stock in silos, as well as address leakage in wheat silos extensively.

The system also is designed to help to better manage the communication and coordination between different storage points, and mills.

We are committed to expanding the wheat silos automation across the country, said H.E. Dr. Ali El-Moselhi, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade. The automation enables us to instantly monitor the wheat stock through a digital platform, providing the needed visibility to secure the supply chain. The platform, powered by IBM technology, ensures efficiency, stock protection, in addition to addressing logistical redundancies.

Major General Sherif Bassili, chairman of the board of directors EHCSS, added: After renovating and increasing the number of silos across the nation, our goal was to build a digital platform to connect all silos with the main center at the EHCSS. Another goal was to automate the documentation processing of the wheat supply chain and monitoring process of the 22 silos and storage points.

Earlier this year, the launch of the pilot model for the first automated wheat silo took place in Banha, Qualyubia Governorate. Following the success of the pilot, the ministry decided to expand automation to 22 silos before the end of this year. All silos will be monitored from the ministry headquarters and the General Authority for Supply Commodities through IBM Cognos Analytics with Watson connected to the automation platform in use.

As part of the sustainable development strategy of Egypts vision for 2030, the government is planning to automate 400 silos, adding them to the wheat supply chain monitoring system.

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Inductive Automation Explains What’s Next for Ignition – Automation World

Posted: at 5:39 pm

At its 2021 virtual Ignition Community Conference, Inductive Automation highlighted the steps it has been taking over the past year to position the Ignition industrial automation software platform for its next steps, indicating that several new updates will be forthcoming in the next few months.

Carl Gould, director of software engineering at Inductive Automation.Carl Gould, director of software engineering at Inductive Automation, said, Our primary area of focus for the software development team is on quality and process improvements. He said the company has been staffing up the quality team to achieve a nearly one-to-one staffing ratio of software engineers to test engineers. We're also building up our QA (quality assurance) infrastructure with automated test infrastructure and automated benchmarking so that every release we put out has undergone a rigorous set of testing to ensure that Ignition can be as stable and defect free as possible.

Two industrial automation technology trends having a big impact on Ignition are mobility and data access, said Travis Cox, co-director of sales engineering at Inductive Automation. With a greater focus on mobility, developers are extending automation systems to smartphones and tablets to take advantage of mobile device capabilities such as GPS, the built-in camera, NFC (near-field communication) and Bluetooth, and leverage those features to build the bigger solution, he said. Inductive Automations Ignition Perspective module allows users to build industrial applications to monitor and control production processes from a mobile device, desktop, or touch panel.

Travis Cox, co-director of sales engineering at Inductive Automation.As for the data access trend Cox noted, he said industrys increasing interest in leveraging edge computing and MQTT communications is targeted at bringing [production floor] data into a modern infrastructure and the cloud for additional applications, such as analytics and machine learning. We're seeing a lot of customers leveraging AWS and Azure and their asset modeling tools to go a lot further with the data they collect, he said.

A fixture of the Ignition Community Conference is its Discover Gallery, where key Ignition implementations are spotlighted to show off the softwares capabilities as an automation platform. In part of his keynote presentation at the conference, Cox noted several applications in this years Discover Gallery, including:

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4 Ways Automation Future-Proofs Businesses for Unpredicted Events – Supply and Demand Chain Executive

Posted: at 5:39 pm

As we emerge from the pandemic and look to recovery, it is important for finance leaders to keep two points on automation in mind to drive resiliency and growth. The first is the ability to react quickly to changing requirements and demands, and the second, the many processes that can now be done remotely and in much less time.

There is no doubt that automation not only drives efficiency, control and visibility to spend, but can also maximize resiliency and minimize risk. Here are four ways through which automation does just that, and ultimately, future-proofs businesses for unpredicted events.

1. Enabling a remote workforce and automating manual processes will allow companies to be better prepared for future disruptions.

At the onset of the pandemic, businesses struggled to go remote or be automated overnight, as some tools, applications and networks needed to be created or implemented. While many executives scrambled to find the right investments and create a resilient infrastructure, they were looking for solutions that could help convert paper invoices to e-invoices and easily approve and process for automatic payment, which resulted in a new interest in how the accounts payable (AP) process was viewed, including how it interfaces with the purchasing process. For example, capturing invoices in an online portal provides businesses with complete visibility of what has been spent and planned expenditure along with reducing manually intensive and error-prone aspects of invoice processing.

The future is looking a bit different. A newly released survey from JP Morgan Chase shows that more than 50% of business leaders are planning for a flexible work environment post-pandemic and are doing some form of remote work model as a result of COVID-19. There is so much that is cloud-based and employees can have access anywhere, through any software and in a secure way. Now companies have the visibility and control that many lost at the onset of the pandemic. Today, providing the right software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions for remote workers will future-proof businesses.

2. Speed in automation adoption matters in todays complex environment.

The manual process to receive, process and pay invoices was one of the last things that executives looked to automate. As companies have been slow to adopt digital innovations towards automating AP and accounts receivable (AR) processes, it is putting the spotlight on the back office forcing it to change. Whether it was budget constraints or implementation concerns, many had avoided this process until the pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities that laid within it. Processing payments and handling invoices in an automated fashion better enables resiliency. For example, since suppliers wont change how they submit invoices overnight, a flexible AP model one that can efficiently handle paper, data-layer and image-based pdfs, XML and portal invoices, regardless of how the team is set up is the most reliable approach to take. By implementing both AP automation and a modern P2P system, finance leaders benefit significantly as it relates to the financial close, reporting and ongoing audits.

Forward-thinking companies, e.g., big Fortune 500 companies, have already traveled part of the road to automation and seen the efficiency and have the capital to do it. What is interesting is the mid-tier and small-to-medium enterprises. These are the ones who can benefit from automation. Automation not only saves money and time, but also it could be doors to a greater opportunity for strategic projects.

3. Now is the time to prioritize risk management.

Risk management is something relatively new from a supplier and payments standpoint. People have experienced and realized that a disruption to revenue can disrupt the resiliency in supply chain and are investing in systems and processes to manage suppliers from anywhere and more efficiently.

Suppliers who could not shift, find a product or operate were in a bad position. Businesses looked for resiliency and redundancy within suppliers, along with the need to communicate and react quickly. Minimizing supplier risk is and will continue to define success for many businesses. With consistent, consolidated, and on-going management of supplier information throughout the supplier relationship lifecycle, a true visibility of supplier risk can be maintained.

Todays complex world taught businesses risk management simply cannot be ignored. Executives are now asking for transparency, visibility, and diversity there. Procurement teams are able to make that happen when supplier management becomes exponentially more efficient and consolidated through automation.

4. Use automation to increase efficiency, maximize control and drive visibility in their spend.

The big trend now is how to get automated and how to do it efficiently to drive resiliency. A problem we have seen is that if all the knowledge for a supplier contract or how they get is with one person or one small group, there is a lot to lose. What happens when that person or group is not available? That is an exposure, and it has manifested acutely this past year. Businesses will benefit greatly from transparency by including an online system.

Theres a lot of talk about maximizing working capital and minimizing your risk. Many finance leaders think of working capital in a broad sense and may not look at it through the lens of supply chain financing, which has many benefits. Working capital is known as the fuel behind any successful mid-market company. While working capital maximization is an interesting angle that does not always translate into this growing trend of supply chain financing, there are many ways to go about this such as giving suppliers the opportunity to take early payment discounts or by offering them different payment terms. If a business needs more cash, which we saw in the pandemic, many looked to offer supplier discounts. Those that had automation in place were able to work with their suppliers quickly to give them the ability to see their invoices or move through the approval process quickly.

The events of the past year have accelerated automation and created a new wave of transformative changes for many businesses to enhance customer experiences. Businesses need to assess where they are today and take action in their approach to their automation journey, especially when they look at how they can enhance and future-proof their businesses for unforeseeable events.

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ABB PackLog.Now virtual summit to reveal how flexible automation is transforming the future of packaging and logistics – Packaging Europe

Posted: at 5:39 pm

In our latest Innovation Spotlight, digital technology expertABBintroducesa dedicated virtual summit exploring the exciting future for robotic automation in the packaging and logistics industry.During the summit,ABB experts and industry leaders will discuss key issues and how they are being addressed by developments in robotic and automation technology.

ABB is holding its first summit for the packaging and logistics industry, looking at how robotic automation can be used to address the growing challenges presented by changing consumer trends. Taking place on Thursday 7th October, PackLog.Now will see ABB experts and representatives from the world of consumer goods manufacturing, retail, and logistics discussing how robotics and automation can help businesses to transform their operations into highly efficient, flexible, and productive factories and warehouses.

The manufacturing, retail, and logistics sectors are currently facing several disruptive megatrends that are demanding a new approach in the way that goods are produced and distributed.

Foremost among these is the increased expectation of consumers for goods produced, packaged, and delivered to their personal requirements, demanding new flexible technologies capable of handling low volume, high mix, and batch size one processes. With additional factors also including labor shortages and the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on worker availability, the growth of omnichannel distribution, and the continued rise of e-commerce, companies are increasingly looking to robots and automation for a solution.

The summit will open with a plenary session, where Sami Atiya, president of ABB robotics & discrete automation, will look at the impact of the megatrends affecting the packaging and logistics sectors.

Marc Segura, group senior vice president and managing director of consumer segments & service robotics, will follow this up with an introduction to ABBs Consumer Segments and Service Robotics (CSSR) and a look at some of the new robotic technologies capable of providing new levels of flexibility, speed and consistency in consumer manufacturing, packaging and logistics applications.

There will also be a Voice of the Customer roundtable session, where representatives from industry leaders companies like Procter & Gamble or Schwarz Gruppe, among others, will give their insights into their current production challenges and pain points and the solutions they are deploying to help tackle them.

Pieter Abbeel, co-founder and chief scientist for robotic AI specialist Covariant, will provide an additional look into the role of artificial intelligence in the factories and warehouses of the future.

Attendees will then be able to join one of three breakout sessions.

Each chaired by an ABB expert, these sessions will look at the various ways that robotics and automation can be used throughout the manufacturing and logistics supply chain, including creating integrated end-to-end lines; enabling flexible processing, picking, packing and palletizing; and optimizing the performance of eCommerce, Fulfillment and Post, and parcel operations.

With the impact of COVID-19 accelerating changes in consumer behavior, the event is part of a move by ABB to help build awareness of the role that robotic automation can play in packaging and logistics applications, and the technologies available that can help companies to achieve new levels of performance, efficiency, and adaptability.

The event will run from 10:00 to 12:30 CET on the morning of 7th October, with a repeat session in the afternoon from 16:00 to 18:30 CET.

To find out more, and to register for the event, visithttps://packlognow.robotics.abb.com/home.

This content was sponsored by ABB.

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ABB PackLog.Now virtual summit to reveal how flexible automation is transforming the future of packaging and logistics - Packaging Europe

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