Sixth Sense bulletin: Week 3

The latest newsletter is here! Read on to learn more about some of our newest companies – why they joined Sixth Sense, and what they consider to be the biggest challenges facing manufacturers and engineers today – and get updated on their journey with us.

By @Milan Koci?

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Slush 2022

With our new cohort now onboard, we have kicked off the training and mentorship program. The past two weeks have seen our companies start to match with their Hexagon sponsors, and begin defining what they want to achieve under Sixth Sense and how.

The team has also been out and about at ImpactFest in the Netherlands with Unknown Campus ?and Slush in Finland, to meet some of the new and exciting start-ups making waves in the industry. Both events have been eye-opening, and we wanted to thank the organisers and the companies we’ve met. Both events were a first for us, but certainly not the last, and to the start-ups we met – we’re already planning challenge 3, so watch this space!

A particular highlight this week was also the fireside chat with alumni RIIICO ?, SmartParts ?and Praemo ?, who talked through their experience being part of the platform earlier this year, and how their companies have since progressed.

“Through Sixth Sense we have had the chance to create relationships and opportunities … It has been an excellent programme for us in how we think about what we do. It has led to commercial success, and helped us pursue what we need to go forward. You get out what you put in.” – Paul Boris, Praemo

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Spotlight on:

We asked four of our eight cohort companies why they decided to apply for the platform, and what they think are some key challenges facing the manufacturing industry today.

Chris Kuntz , Augmentir

“We joined Sixth Sense because Augmentir’s solutions are very complimentary to many of Hexagon’s, and this is a great opportunity to showcase how we can help Hexagon shape the future of industrial work. We are hoping to build connections and demonstrate how our unique AI-based technology, together with Hexagon, can shape new ways of operating in manufacturing.

We believe that the most pressing issue facing the manufacturing industry today is the unprecedented level of workforce variability that had been brought on by a steep increase in employee turnover, absenteeism, and an overall shortage of skilled labor. Augmentir addresses this by helping manufacturers digitally transform frontline work, helping manufacturers understand and support their workers at an individual level, enabling work in ways that are specifically engaging, rewarding, safer, and easier for each worker.”

Frederic Scherer , JITbase

“The Sixth Sense program is the perfect opportunity for us and Hexagon to collaborate, learn from each other and accelerate the introduction of new Smart Manufacturing solutions. We hope to use this experience to leverage our and Hexagon’s respective strengths and release an offering that helps the industry address enduring challenges.

The manufacturing industry is facing major challenges with the labor shortage of specialized employees. It is critical for manufacturers to optimize the way they use their available workforce. With its product Optimal Path System (OPS), JITbase has proven results to tackle the problem by improving the operator per machine ratio."

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Dr. Markus Gro?e B?ckmann , oculavis

“With Sixth Sense, we saw an opportunity to leverage the relationship with Hexagon to deliver solutions that reflect our joint expertise. Our ambition is to define the digital business model within customer service, and together with Hexagon identify new market segments that are in need of greater efficiency and innovation in their customer service offering.

AR video support services such as ours have an important role to play in today’s industry. With experienced technicians retiring, CO2 emissions from travel causing climate change, and machine breakdowns being so cost intensive, manufacturing companies need to optimize how they approach this. With AR Video Support in the customer service we address all these issues.”

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Stefan Domdey , Threedy GmbH - instant3Dhub

“We applied for Sixth Sense because it gives us a great chance to explore and utilize synergies with Hexagon’s ecosystem, and we saw opportunities for our two companies to elevate each other’s innovation. In terms of output, we are looking at the possibilities of partnerships that will elevate the usage of industrial 3D within the Hexagon ecosystem. We want to enable the manufacturing industry to build custom 3D apps throughout the entire value-chain.

For manufacturing, 3D data is currently stuck in the engineering process. With our infrastructure component, we give companies the chance to harness 3D data’s true value – leveraging complex datasets throughout the entire value chain – which increases productivity, and introduces cost savings on a number of fronts.”

From the blog

·???????Six lessons we’ve learned from the first Sixth Sense cohort

?Sixth Sense in the news

·???????Eight “digital reality” start-ups win opportunity to advance manufacturing – CIMdata

·???????Start-ups Get a Leg up With Hexagon’s Sixth Sense Program – engineering.com

·???????Eight ‘Digital Reality’ Start-ups Win Opportunity to Advance Manufacturing – Manufacturing & Engineering Magazine

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Stay tuned

Next time, we will hear from the other half of our cohort, and share insights from the fireside chats on design thinking and the art of storytelling.

Sixth Sense

Sixth Sense is an open innovation platform by Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division. It is where ambitious, scaling start-ups can connect with world-class companies to solve some of humanity’s biggest challenges.

We’re combining resources and expertise to turn pressing global issues into transformative solutions. Inviting innovation, ideas and inspiration to power progress and enable an autonomous future with people at its heart.