If we insist on taking the ‘blunt force’ approach – upload all our big data to the cloud and let the big analytics systems sort it out – we may be riding for a fall. So we would expect to see many ‘edge’ processing solutions incorporated in the machinery on show at IMHX 2022.
True sustainability is, in many aspects, within reach for materials handling suppliers and their customers. But there is a final snag – again related to our increasing dependence on IT. Cyber-security will surely be a top topic at IMHX 2022. In recent years there have been well-reported attacks on major corporations and other bodies, ranging from ‘ransomware’ to random damage, inflicted just because the perpetrators can.
The latter, in particular, could afflict the operations of any firm, of any size, anywhere in the world, for no particularly apparent reason. To the extent that our handling systems and the automation that supports them are vulnerable, we have a problem. It could be worth asking people at IMHX 2022:
- ‘What does my business do when the Internet goes down?’
- Can individual operations, even individual mechanisms, be isolated and run, albeit less efficiently, ‘by hand’ or by their on-board intelligence?
Another interesting topic for discussion when you attend IMHX 2022.