INDUSTRY News
Innovative platform helps discover previously-
undiscoverable data
Multi-dimensional vector search technology can provide a faster and more efficient method of data discovery, claims Cambridge-based AI-enabled knowledge management software solutions company, iKVA.
Vector search can help organisations find the most relevant information from their data based on context, as opposed to traditional keyword search that usually relies on prior knowledge, which makes it inherently biased. Not only does vector search find relevant information from even the shortest pieces of text, such as Slack messages for example, but it can also pick up paragraphs from longer documents, making the search results even more relevant.
Vectorisation, where high-dimensional vectors are stored and indexed as knowledge packs, can also index documents that have been created in any language, even those with a large vocabulary containing many rare words. “We typically don’t look for data or information that we don’t know exists, but vectorisation has revolutionised this process, allowing us access to information that we didn’t know existed. With the help of AI, this type of data discovery can embed, index and serve up data from many different documents and siloes within an organisation, including speech utterances, video, podcasts, messenger chats and library databases,” said Richard Mortier, professor in Computing and Human-Data Interaction at the University of Cambridge.
Born out of research from University of Cambridge’s Computer Laboratory and The Alan Turing Institute, iKVA’s solutions are focused on AI knowledge management using multi-dimensional vector-mapping techniques, enabling organisations to access and use data that traditional enterprise search techniques can’t support.
ABB COLUMN RESHORING WITH ROBOTS
The last two years have been a game-changer for the UK manufacturing value chain. The impact of soaring energy prices, an increased focus on carbon footprints and the environmental impact of transportation, supply disruption and the lingering after-effects of COVID-19 have led many businesses to take a fresh look at their operating models to find ways to make themselves more
resilient against future shocks. One noticeable change has been in attitudes towards bringing
production and distribution chains back home. As part of a worldwide survey covering 1,610 businesses, we recently surveyed 250 UK manufacturing companies about their attitudes to reshoring their production and distribution operations. Of those surveyed, 72% reported that they had experienced supply-chain disruptions in the past 12 months, with 56% attributing these disruptions to the effects of COVID-19. To increase their resilience, 30% are currently planning to invest in their supply chain, with a further 38% devising plans to cover the 12 months. Reflecting the growing appreciation of the role that robotic automation can play in helping to augment human workforces, 69% of respondents saw a major role for robotics and automation in helping to address supply chain issues within their business. Specific areas identified for potential automation included manufacturing and assembly (61%), logistics and distribution (36%) and intralogistics applications within factories and warehouses (28%). The benefits of using automation to help bring production back home are clear. Whilst fifteen years ago moving production to a low-cost country might have meant significant cost savings, times have changed, with new production technology opening a wealth of possibilities for enhanced manufacturing competitiveness without leaving the UK. Moreover, with sustainability moving to the top of the agenda in many boardrooms, it is becoming less and less acceptable for companies to be damaging the environment by shipping goods around the world. With robots offering an increasingly attractive solution to the UK’s supply chain woes, now is the time to discover how onshoring your production could be the key to a more competitive future. To find out how your business can become more resilient and grow with robots, visit
www.abb.com/robotics.
Nigel Platt, LBL Manager, UK and Ireland, ABB Robotics
automationmagazine.co.uk
Automation | November 2022
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