Article submitted by Panagiotis Vlacheas, Senior Solution Architect / Co-Owner at WINGS ICT Solutions
1.Tell us about WINGS ICT Solutions, what is your core business and role within the project?
WINGS ICT Solutions provides complete integrated, intelligent digital (software, hardware) solutions and transformation for vertical business sectors; Environment (air quality, natural disasters), Utilities and Infrastructures (energy/water/gas, transportation, construction), Production & Manufacturing (food, factories/logistics), Service Sectors (health, education/culture, government, security/defense), as well as Smart Cities. In order to achieve these results, WINGS exploits advanced technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cloud technologies, Telecommunication Networks (4G, 5G, WiFi, Lora, etc.), advanced visualization techniques (AR / VR), mobile applications, etc.).
In the context of the ECOFACT project, WINGS serves as the core developer partner for the ECOFACT data platform, with key contributions to the Decision Support System, as well as the local integrator partner for the Athenian Brewery pilot demonstration.
2. Why did your organisation get involved in the ECOFACT project? How does this activity fit with the normal business of your organisation?
WINGS leverages its ARTEMIS platform for the proactive management of utilities (energy, water, gas infrastructures), which is integrated in the Athenian Brewery pilot demonstration and will be also used as the core data platform for all the demonstrators. Our participation in ECOFACT helps ARTEMIS to optimize its applicability to industrial environments, while new services (i.e. AI models) are being developed, leading to a better product to penetrate the market.
3. How will the outputs of the ECOFACT project help production system energy performance?
ECOFACT, leveraging the ARTEMIS platform, can offer significant monitoring capabilities and optimizations in the daily operations of the Utilities of the Brewery plants – combustion boiler, CO2 evaporator, heat exchangers for the must cooling operation in the brewery – in particular, since they constitute a significant percentage of the energy used in the industry.
4. What are the technical challenges your work in ECOFACT is trying to overcome?
ARTEMIS comprises physical and data driven AI models to optimize the daily operation of the industrial – such as brewery – plants. The technical challenge is how to manage the collection of energy data in industries and exploit this data through analytics and AI models, in order to digitalize, automate and accelerate the energy transition of industries.
5. What positive impacts will the projects have when complete?
Considering the rising energy costs of today, reducing energy usage should be a high priority at all industries. For instance, energy, in its various forms, touches all areas of the brewing business. Proper solutions, such as ARTEMIS in ECOFACT, for energy efficiency and conservation, as well as solutions that can reach beyond greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and lead to operating cost reductions, can turn a perceived necessary evil into a competitive advantage. They will also help industries such as breweries to reach their sustainable development goals in their production process, in a shift towards a more sustainable production and development.
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