How can digital transformation take your company to the podium?

My inspiration for this article came from watching Lewis Hamilton win the Turkish Grand Prix, when, mathematically, the driver became champion of the 2020 season. challenges, the ingenious Hamilton drove his Mercedes, overtaking everyone in front of him, finishing the race in first place. 

 In this year of 2020, Formula 1 completed 70 years. In February, I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by Mr. Mark Gallagher at the Baker Hughes annual conference in Florence. Gallagher was a senior executive at the competition for 30 years and shared how the digital transformation has had significant impacts on racing. 

These 70 years can be divided into 3 distinct phases. The first 20 years were dedicated to the development of mechanics: the most efficient engines, the transmission system, the brakes, suspension and tire compounds. For the next 25 years, the focus was on aeronautical technology and materials science: how to get the best out of vehicles with lightweight materials and the most aerodynamic design. The last 25 were about digital transformation.

Today, vehicles and drivers are equipped with around 300 sensors, bringing gigabytes of real-time data, which are transmitted to staff computers in the paddock. This big data is processed by the algorithms in a digital twin, resulting in a consistent analysis of the vehicle and the driver, which generates indicators for the team to make the best decisions. As a result, the two main benefits of this data analysis are pilot safety and performance.

The first 45 years of competition were marked by 45 fatal accidents. In the last 25 there was only 1 fatality. This is largely explained, according to Gallagher, by the predictive performance of on-board electronics, which minimizes the chance that a pilot error will result in tragic damage. In addition, the data collected allows engineers to design safer cars and systems to protect drivers. Monitored with weareables, the pilot's physical condition is transmitted online to the control room.

 The performance of drivers and vehicles was also positively impacted by the digital transformation. Just like in an industrial process plant, there are operators evaluating the car's performance and real-time race data. There are 12 monitors per vehicle that provide predictive analysis in different projected scenarios and allow the team to make the best decisions, defining the ideal strategy for those conditions: being the fastest in every lap does not necessarily mean being the champion. Efficiency is defined in the strategy generated by predictive analytics. For Gallagher, Hamilton is not only a genius and talented driver, but also a driver who has the ability to faithfully follow the winning strategy indicated by the algorithms. For the past two seasons Hamilton has been unbeatable, consistently stepping up to the podium or scoring in every race.

 As in Formula 1, making processes safer for employees and obtaining the best performance from an industrial plant necessarily involves technologies associated with IIoT, cloud computing, digital twin, wearables and digital collaboration. These technologies are a tangible reality for the Brazilian industry. 

 Fluxo is recognized for bringing the most innovative technologies for industrial processes to the Brazilian market. It has been operating for over 30 years and today we have a comprehensive portfolio for digital transformation. Part of this is reflected in this edition of the newsletter.

 How can Fluxo help your team to pilot the processes to reach the optimum point of performance and safety?