Abstract: As companies globally reframe their world on the exit from lockdown and continue to the future state of the “new normal”, the list of challenges prior to the global pandemic remain and a few others have been added. In this lecture, we will share our knowledge & experience of industrial digitalisation as well as providing a practical insight into what can be achieved now and going forward. Some insightful and interactive demos will be presented to stimulate thinking and highlight some real, practical use cases addressing several key themes/ challenges, such as Productivity Gain – getting more out of your assets (people and plant), Environmental impact, Manage the skills challenge using Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality technology.

Gordon Semple – Innovation Business Leader, Booth Welsh

Gordon is the Technical Innovation Lead for Booth Welsh (BW). Prior to this he was Design & Engineering Director for 10 years responsible for all E&I and M&P Engineering & Design activities. The innovation role is a relatively new one and was created to focus on the co-ordination & development of BW’s new Industry 4.0 platforms and digital solutions. The R&D work in this space over the last couple of years has been facilitated via an intense period of internal & external collaboration with BW staff, clients, academia, and industry partners, all to help fine tune and customise their platforms & solutions to meet their end user’s requirements and challenges.

Hugh Welsh – Digitalisation & Systems Manager, Booth Welsh

Hugh manages the Digitalisation & Systems Integration activities at Booth Welsh (BW) where his team’s focus is two-fold – complete project delivery, consisting of design, development, installation, testing and commissioning of process control systems, including both hardware and software. Projects may range from small stand-alone installations to large factory wide automation upgrades. Hugh’s other priority is overseeing the development of new digital technologies cantered around the areas of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Big Data, and the use of mixed reality (AR & VR).

Booth Welsh (BW) are recognised as a premier organisation in the delivery of practical Industry 4.0 solutions. We are continually developing our capability and capacity for the current & future needs of the sectors that we operate in. BW have recently won several awards in this area including the ‘Digitalisation Award’ at the EIC Survive & Thrive annual event and ‘Best Use of Technology 2019’ at the British Chambers of Commerce.