Verizon Business’ London hub: Where Innovation Thrives

Verizon Business’ Innovation Hub in central London is where the technology leader’s customers are invited to explore the future of their respective companies. 

Experts work in reverse with these customers, establishing which technologies could be the foundation and drivers of whatever change or transformation they wish to pursue. 

Highlighting the promise of gamification in the sector, Verizon Business has embraced simulation as a tool to not only improve manufacturing, but also to help companies build the ROI needed to make investment decisions on digital architecture.

Manufacturing Digital paid a visit to the Innovation Hub to learn more about Verizon Business’ innovative solutions for manufacturing.

Gamifying fashion & the factory floor

During our visit, we were introduced to something unexpected: Verizon Business’s virtual try-on (VTO) fashion technology.

Using this technology, users can virtually ‘try-on’ different clothes, which are animated to have realistic movements, textures and appearances.

The company had created a version of this in partnership with Britvic to advertise last year's Wicked movie, allowing users to virtually try on Elphaba and Glinda’s outfits.

Recent rises in inflation means fashion manufacturers must seek new ways to differentiate themselves and provide tailored sources of value. 

This digital tool – which reminded us of the internet dress-up games of the early 2000s – highlights the value of gamification as a strategy to provide newfound value. 

A similar thread also ran through Verizon Business’ award-winning solution that takes process manufacturing to three dimensions.

“For us it’s a conversation about the volume of data, the complexity of data, what you do with the data and what value you get out of it,” said Jason Plent, Senior Partner for 5G Acceleration at Verizon Business.
“And of course, how on earth do we find a good way of showing that?”

The solution resembled an industrial spin-off of The Sims – as was jokingly alluded to at the start of the visit. 

In reality, it was a comprehensive virtual twin capable of simulating factory environments in real time to test a diversity of scenarios, digital solutions and data-driven decision making. 

Featuring a comprehensive analytics suite and separate tabs for predictive maintenance, safety, AI and more, the simulation allows users to drag-and-drop assets into the factory environment. 

A manufacturer could do this with industrial robots, for example, evaluating their potential impact on the production line without needing to navigate real-world expenses and downtime. 

But what really sets this solution apart from others available to manufacturers is the scale at which it operates. 

Last year, we reported extensively on the rise of digital twins and AI in manufacturing, with many companies integrating individual solutions. On the contrary, this simulation is fully holistic and integrated, enabling manufacturers to see how these technologies interact with and impact one another and the surrounding factory environment. 

Verizon Business envisions it being extended far beyond the factory floor, digitalising the broader supply chain and enabling manufacturers to virtually track, monitor and collect data on every aspect of operations – from procurement all the way through to production.

“We’re going to narrow the lens today and focus closer to the shop floor, as it were, in terms of the factory, but we’re also going to pull back and talk about the global architecture that’s needed to support that,” added Tony Judd, Managing Director Nordics, UK & Ireland at Verizon Business.

“So, especially looking at integrated supply chains, intelligent supply chains, a high dependency as we’ve seen from recent global events on the supply chain and if something goes wrong how do you adapt quickly and effectively.”

To read the full story in the magazine click HERE

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