Augmenting our ability to succeed
Creating a synergistic relationship between humans and
technology yields greater productivity, control and reliability in a workspace
So a guy walks into a suite and pulls the
sparger out of what he thinks is an empty bioreactor and ends up dumping a $3
million-batch of biologics on the floor—oops. No, this isn’t the start of a bad
pharma joke, this is a real story I heard from a customer in the industry,
which completely changed the way I thought about how humans operate in complex,
compliance-driven environments. With the right technology, that man could have
avoided making that mistake, or others, at work.
It
is my firm belief that the combination of humans and technology yields greater
productivity, control and reliability in a workspace than if each entity
operates independently. This is especially true for the pharma and biotech
industries in which you have scientists and engineers handling biohazardous
materials, working on time-sensitive projects and operating highly specialized
equipment and has been proven over the last 3 ½ years with our customers around
the world. The efforts put forth by that workforce have a direct impact on the
rest of us in the world who rely on safe drug production, clinical trial
research, or the manufacturing of everyday consumer goods.
“AR(Augmented Reality) is one of the most promising digital
technologies transforming all major enterprise industries.”
In 2014, I co-founded my company,
Apprentice.io, with the vision of creating a synergistic relationship between
humans and technology in the workplace. I wanted to provide
industrial that solved everyday problems and made a workforce stronger.
That
mission wasn’t easy at first. We had to first educate people about the
potential and benefits that AR technology can provide. Back then people were
hesitant to trust and integrate advanced software like AR in a real way. There
was this fear that too much tech may lead toward a dystopian Brave New World
society in which tech and machines take over. I couldn’t disagree more.
AR
is one of the most promising digital technologies transforming all major
enterprise industries.
It’s
changing the way companies do business and compete for space within their
respective arenas. In my opinion, the life sciences—especially pharma and
biotech —stand to gain the most from AR, machine learning and computer vision.
There is far more to be gained than just entertainment and fun.
It’s
been my personal experience that pharma and biotech companies are more educated
about this type of technology and are therefore significantly more willing to
adopt it into the workplace, which is why these industries served as my
inspiration when I first co-founded Apprentice. Major Fortune 100 pharma and
biotech companies were approaching us with use cases and problems they needed
solved that only AR technology could provide.
The
truth is that when applied smartly, this technology unleashes the fullest
potential of scientists and engineers operating in these environments. Imagine
easily visualizing procedures, generating immediate solutions and checking for
errors before making them.
I
realized early on in development that with AR in pharma we could remove the
physical restrictions experienced in lab and manufacturing suites caused by
manual data recordation, referencing SOPs, or waiting for on-site vendor
assistance, all while improving audit readiness and providing risk-free
training. We’re talking about safer, more reliable lifesaving research, reducing
overhead cost, improving workplace conditions and streaming workplace
operations. The applications for using AR for a greater social good are
limitless.
Luckily,
there’s been a shift in adoption and understanding as enterprises begin to
recognize the value and real-life applications of cutting edge technology such
as augmented reality and smart eyewear. Pilots have moved to implementations,
and implementations have moved to global expansions. Industry leaders
understand that technology can help propel a workforce to the forefront of an
industry and provide companies with valuable insight into their human
processes.
In
the end, it’s all about the user experience and how far can we humans can
engage with technology to achieve our goals, function in a new way and learn
from the involvement. The marriage between life sciences and AR technology does
more than just augment the workplace reality, it augments an individual’s
ability to succeed.
By Angelo Stracquatanio, CEO and co-founder, Apprentice
https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2018/augmenting-our-ability-to-succeed/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=60604162&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_2wu1msofLhGhleMAuLKgGqdaHfZy4DE_4SUYdY3BB8Z4AQv_6o00CjpeTr7cLoA9BgPSdcVT8ap6lPV3OyCtKI2v-4w&_hsmi=60604162
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