Smart Industry 1/2016

SMART COMMUNICATION INTERVIEW
Getting the picture
Studies show that
people remember
80 percent of what they
see, but just 20 percent
of what they read and
10 percent of what they
hear. Our brain can
processes images
60,000 times faster
than text.
data like customer reviews. These
different types of data have to be
organized. Put simply, we need to
make sure the data all speak the
same language. It is also very important
to validate the data by
asking ourselves: “Is the data plausible?”
“Are some observations
obviously wrong, perhaps due to
coding error?” “Are important values
missing?” What we call data intelligence
is often the most intense
phase of the project, and it’s where
most of the work needs to be done.
Good data quality is crucial for the
actual analysis.
Why, exactly, is a picture is worth a
thousand numbers, as you maintain?
We need to clarify here: the right
picture is worth a thousand numbers.
But an interactive dashboard
is even better than a picture. Studies
have shown that people remember
80 percent of what they see, but just
20 percent of what they read and 10
percent of what they hear. Our brain
can processes images 60,000 times
faster than text.
How do you use visuals to get your
messages across?
Visualizations are especially helpful
to communicate relations and results
to the management – and to
get their attention! We once presented
a dashboard to the management
of a client showing them their
market position across different regions
in Germany and across all age
groups. The whole map was blue
which meant they were the market
leader. Only one region was grey
because there their main competitor
was ahead. Then we changed
the picture to show the age group
18-29, and suddenly the whole
map went grey! Our dashboard
proved that they had a serious problem
with young customers. Simply
showing them a table with hundreds
of figures wouldn’t have had
the same dramatic effect.
You believe that machine outages
and downtime will eventually be a
thing of the past. How so?
Though predictive maintenance.
True to the motto “fix it before it
fails”, predictive models can calculate
the right time to schedule the
maintenance of plant or machines
in order to avoid unnecessary costs
and machine failure. One of our clients
is a global automobile manufacturer
who wanted to identify defective
vehicles before they actually
break down. Thanks to our forecast
model they are now able to identify
two-thirds of all affected vehicles
beforehand. The warranty costs
went down by over 50 percent!
You say that car manufacturers will
be able to certify automobiles remotely
without any need for manual
inspection. How so?
Honestly, I think we are not very far
away from that. Tesla can already
update a car’s software via the Internet
– for them it’s just one click.
Today’s cars have loads of sensors
on board to monitor things like tire
pressure or engine temperature.
Other sensors provide information
on things like speed, distance, etc.
By entering all this data into a predictive
model, we can reliably identify
cars where a problem is likely
to occur soon. Remote certification
of cars will be technically feasible
in four or five years. However, it will
take a lot longer to establish such a
system in practice. You need to lots
of long-term tests, not to mention
legal changes and a new infrastructure.
Banks are especially keen on gaining
predictive insights on the creditworthiness
of people and businesses
seeking loans.
First of all, it is important to note
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