Smart Production According to Worximity
“Getting started at the right time is key. Our product was timely, and because we had to allow the manufacturing or tech field to reach maturity for each project, we defined a very simple value proposition. The simplicity of our product, business model and solution implementation, which can be done in less than a day, is what makes Worximity a success in its sector.”
– Yannick Desmarais, Founder and CEO of Worximity
In their charming Old Montreal offices, with modern style and a superb view, Worximity creates a world of smart factories. The software publisher enables their clients to improve performance by providing them with new information, thus increasing their competitiveness and allowing them to conquer new markets.
Not only do Worximity’s tools connect machines and smart sensors, they also link operators, supervisors and the continuous improvement teams at each plant. “We give value to data provided by the machines, and connect to internal management systems, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, to obtain data on the product,” explains Yannick. “It’s with this combination of machine data, human data and product data that we monitor production performance within a factory and can recommend a corrective action plan to improve it.”
From 2012 to 2015, Worximity offered advisory services, focussing their activities since then on software products. Their CEO attributes the company’s success to the excellent work and talent of his team, which currently consists of 25 people.
Switching on the machine
As a mechanical engineer specializing in the manufacturing industry, Yannick spent around 12 years improving productivity in other companies. With pencil, notepad and stopwatch in hand, he gathered information on the production floor, then analyzed it, developing Excel tables, creating graphs, and posting it all on bulletin boards on a weekly or monthly basis to communicate his findings to employees. “But with that approach, it’s too late… what’s done is done: errors, downtime, rejects. It’s already too late to change things,” asserts Yannick. “So I began to imagine what a real-time, mobile, easy-to-use product might look like, and that’s how Worximity was born. To ease the ‘pain’ that I myself felt as a continuous improvement engineer for a manufacturing company.”
In the early days of Worximity, there were no manufacturing companies that worked with tablets and cloud solutions. “When I met my potential clients, I had to explain to them what we were doing, that my data was in the cloud and that in order for me to help them, they needed to buy tablets, which was, in and of itself, quite something,” recounts Yannick. This innovative approach was indeed critical for Worximity. Thanks to their cloud and mobile software, the company distinguished itself by offering scalable technology and the ability to do multiple installations, in various countries and languages.
Manufacturing innovation
Technological evolution continues to have an significant impact on Worximity. “Clients are starting to request even more data valuation, which we are providing with analytics and increasingly more artificial intelligence in data management,” relays Yannick. “The thrust of the next two years is really about using artificial intelligence to enhance our clients’ data and give them more useful knowledge, despite the fact that for the most part, AI users in the manufacturing sector are early adopters.”
In 2015, Worximity took on a renowned client, a large multi-plant company, which was a crucial step in their development. “That’s when you tell yourself that your product is ready for the international market,” notes Yannick. “Then, all it takes is a bit of money and the personnel to bring everything to another level… I would say that event was a catalyst for us.”
In the last year, Worximity has been carving out a place for themselves in international markets. The company’s future seems to be taking shape in the United States, Australia and Europe, among other countries, and they intend to continue investing there to maintain the momentum…
Translated by Jenn Mierau
Source : Mélanie Pilon, journaliste pour la Vitrine Star Tech