Komatsu: Converting Data for Intelligent Construction and Mining

Komatsu: Converting Data for Intelligent Construction and Mining

SAP customer Komatsu America is transforming its construction and mining business. Colin Boyd, CIO of Komatsu America, spoke to CXO Talk’s Michael Krigsman about the advances in technology and operations shaping the industry.

“You talk about autonomous vehicles; the mining industry has that already. Some of the technology that’s going into the construction products, they’ve had the same technology coming out. We have a product called Smart Construction,” Boyd tells Krigsman. “You can map a three-dimensional model of your construction site. You can then map out the three-dimensional model that you want it to look like when you’re finished. Here’s where the material is, and here’s what it has to look like. We want a six percent grade slope. Press the button, and let the excavator deliver.”

On his role as the CIO:
“I think it’s evolving. The distinction for me between a CIO role and the CTO role is kind of starting to blur, what traditionally used to be your CIO role, your infrastructure, applications. When you get into the product technology, IT then becomes part of the solution, so you’re integrated with the engineers designing the product and the people servicing the product. Really, you become a de facto CTO even if you’re not officially a CTO.”

On translating tech data to business information:
“We are close to a position where the machine can start to call for maintenance. Machine to machine is coming. Collision avoidance will be an initial place to start… and imposing operational parameters that would stop a machine operator taking it out of the safety envelope of the machine, overloading a truck. The trucks all have tonnage sensors on them, and they’ll tell you to stop if you’re trying to overload them.”

“We know where the half a million machines are,” he continues. “We know how much they’re being used. Therefore, we know how many hours they’re going through in terms of operations. This gives us direction on when their scheduled maintenance is coming up. So, if we know that you’re hammering the machines really hard in one country, the spare parts inventory will move in. If we see that your market has declined in your country and a lot of those machines are parked, we’ll move that inventory elsewhere.”

“You have to shift the culture in your organization,” he says. “You have to move from we are a manufacturer of machines to we are a provider of solutions.”

Watch the full interview above to learn more about Komatsu and how they are converting operational data into business data.

SAP Builds New HR Community with Simple Solutions to Big Problems

LAS VEGAS — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that it is building an open community of purpose-built and easy-to-consume applications designed to tackle the most critical people issues facing human resources (HR) professionals and business leaders today.

With this community approach, the company and its SAP SuccessFactors division is bringing together organizations of all sizes, from enterprises to startups, to co-create “simple solutions to big problems.”

“Today, we are seeing unprecedented levels of innovation in HR technology,” SAP SuccessFactors President Greg Tomb said. “The old ways of working are no longer relevant for HR or for employees. We are in the midst of a ‘human revolution’ that requires organizations to invest and intently focus on the people who differentiate their businesses and drive business outcomes. With this community, we can help assemble a complementary set of solutions for our customers’ diverse needs. And, if they don’t exist yet, we can co-create them together.”

Building upon the success of SAP App Center, this new community consists of partners organized around six initial pillars: well-being, pay equity, real-time feedback, unbiased recruiting, predictive performance and internal mobility. It will offer current and prospective SAP SuccessFactors customers a curated set of solutions to augment their existing systems and tap into the latest sources of innovation faster than ever.

SAP will continue to expand its network of partners and pillars in the coming quarters to cover all aspects of the employee journey.

As an example, the SAP SuccessFactors organization is working together with Thrive Global to operationalize a culture of well-being and improve the employee experience overall. As with SAP, Thrive Global believes that to inspire peak performance in employees and companies, it is critical to focus on the human element. Together with SAP SuccessFactors solutions and Thrive Global, organizations can truly offer a comprehensive well-being strategy for their employees.

Additional partners comprising this new community are focused on providing solutions to other critical people issues, including:

Helping employees dial down financial stress with Best Money Moves
Ensuring employees are paid equitably with PayScale
Developing next-generation leaders with AI-powered coaching from Cultivate, an SAP.iO Foundry company
Providing insightful feedback to enhance employee engagement with Culture Amp
Achieving diversity goals with Blendoor, an SAP.iO Foundry company
Eliminating recruiting bias with Brilliant Hire, an SAP.iO Venture Studio company
Hiring, growing and retaining top talent using AI to build a deep talent database with Plum, an SAP.iO Fund company
Hiring internal, external and contingent talent more effectively with AI from HiredScore
Mobilizing the workforce to cover understaffing with Andjaro, an SAP.iO Fund company

SAP also offers an open platform and tools to help developers and entrepreneurs create the next generation of innovative HR solutions. In October, SAP will launch a new SAP.iO Foundry in San Francisco, where the SAP SuccessFactors organization will provide support to select startups with access to curated mentorship, exposure to SAP technology and APIs, and opportunities to collaborate with SAP enterprise customers. Additionally, through SAP.iO Venture Studio, SAP helps its internal talent build successful businesses that enable customers to solve big problems. Together, this community will help address a wide range of people issues using emerging technologies such as machine learning and the Internet of Things.

Learn more about the SAP SuccessFactors app community here.

For more information, visit the SAP SuccessFactors solutions website and the SAP News Center. Follow SAP solutions on Twitter at @SuccessFactors and @sapnews.

About SAP.iO

SAP.iO is catalyzing an early-stage ecosystem of innovation for SAP by investing in and accelerating entrepreneurs building great software. The SAP.iO Fund directly invests in visionary, early-stage startups that leverage SAP’s unique assets, including SAP data, APIs or platform technologies, to deliver extraordinary value for SAP customers. The SAP.iO Foundries (“accelerators”) are top-tier programs that provide select startups with access to SAP data, SAP technologies and opportunities for exposure to SAP customers. SAP.iO Venture Studio helps its internal talent build successful businesses that enable customers to solve big problems.

About SAP

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 404,000 business and public sector customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

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Tags: SAP SuccessFactors, SAP.io, SuccessConnect, Thrive Global