1. Industry, reimagined. Although factories and much of economic life have begun a cautious return to activity following stringent lockdowns, the risk for new waves of infection remains a vexing concern. Technological solutions may prove to be critical tools in managing the risks of a post-covid world. This is particularly true in the case of sectors such as manufacturing which, unlike their counterparts in pure-software verticals, require physical presence to function. Excluding technologies such as remote conferencing tools and medical devices such as rapid testing or temperature measurement kits, delphai has identified 168 companies that offer products and solutions to help manufacturers resume production.

2. Innovation renovation. These 168 companies can be divided into five application clusters. They are employing one or a combination of different technologies to help maintain distancing guidelines and minimize physical interaction in manufacturing settings.

• The shopfloor density reduction cluster involves industrial robots which can accommodate personnel bottlenecks, or reduce the concentration of people within production facilities.
• The autonomous material delivery cluster involves robot-based material delivery solutions that can automate parts of the production process while creating resilience.
• The speech & gesture control cluster involves solutions based on optical sensors, computer vision, and artificial intelligence, which can eliminate theneed for physical controls in human-machine interaction.
• The social distancing cluster involves indoor location tracking tech that is already widely used in retail, public buildings (museums, hospitals), or coworking spaces. Companies in this cluster, however, are repurposing solutions to maintain distancing rules in factories using computer vision, Wifi motion sensing, or wearable devices.
• The virtual identity and touchless shop floor access cluster involves solutions that regulate facility access without requiring physical interaction.

3. Accelerating change. Just as the Covid-19-induced lockdowns have accelerated a sudden and widespread adoption of digital tools for remote work (consider Zoom or Slack, for instance), the pandemic could also speed up the deployment of Industry 4.0 and smart factory solutions in manufacturing sectors. Indeed, in addition to startups, investors also see opportunities in the ideas that are emerging as a consequence of Covid-19. The early-stage investor Partech, for example, has announced that its current fund will primarily invest in “post-Covid” startups whose business models, for example, make a contribution to the future of work and production.

About this briefing:

This briefing is a part of a delphai collaboration with Tagesspiegel Background, in which delphai’s artificial intelligence tools are used to provide Background with data insights on the technologies, companies, and applications that drive global innovation.

About delphai:

delphai is a market intelligence software that uses AI for the automatic analysis of market and technology developments. The software is used by companies to create insights that help them seize opportunities, manage risks, and make better decisions.

To learn more about this report, or how delphai can help your company grow, please get in touch through contact@delphai.com.