Skilled laborers are needed across the nation. The shortage has affected overall construction costs and the recovery from Hurricane Ian, among many other localized issues. Increasing the number of vocational school graduates and providing resources to fund these programs may be a long-term solution.

A June 2022 assessment conducted by Indeed found that the average cost of trade school ranges from $3,674 to $15,923, which is more affordable than a traditional four-year degree program, but may still be a barrier for many Americans looking to develop trained labor skills.

Aside from grants and loans, 529 savings plans are an additional option to help students pay for trade or vocational programs, according to an October 2022 press release from the Education Trust Board of New Mexico, the organization that administers the state of New Mexico’s 529 education savings plan. A 529 plan is a state-funded savings plan that offers tax advantages and an opportunity to save for future education costs.

There are two types of 529 plans: prepaid tuition plans and education savings plans.

Under a prepaid tuition plan, the saver or account holder can purchase credits at the current rate for a beneficiary’s future use toward tuition. The contractual terms will vary by state, but most enforce a residency requirement and do not allow the funds to be applied toward room and board.

An education savings plan allows a saver to manage an investment account, including various mutual funds or exchange-traded fund portfolios, to fund the beneficiary’s future qualified higher education expenses. This includes tuition, fees and room and board, up to $10,000 per year.

According to the Education Trust Board of New Mexico, there is no required minimum contribution amount and savers have flexibility in how often they add to the account.

The demand for skilled workers will continue to grow. According to September 2022 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for construction laborers and electricians is projected to grow by 7% between 2022 and 2030. With no signs of slowing down, saving for trade school may be a promising option for those looking to invest in their or a loved one’s future.

Virtually every industry is becoming increasingly data-driven to keep up with today’s fast-paced business landscape. Big data solutions are essential for modern companies, as they help streamline operations, boost productivity and meet the bottom line.

The utility industry is undergoing a major overhaul in terms of digitization. Companies understand they must evolve in the era of big data, which involves adopting new technologies, updating operational processes and keeping up with ever-changing demands. As data analytics becomes more prevalent in utility operations, it will play a vital role in this industry’s growth and can offer important benefits.

Itron, which offers solutions for energy and water resource management, released a 2022 report analyzing how utility companies and cities were leveraging data analytics solutions. It discusses key findings from surveys of 600 utility executives and 600 informed customers from five countries, including the United States, Spain, India, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Itron’s report suggests that more than 9 out of 10 survey participants agree that leveraging real-time data analytics insights is very important. Disruptors in the industry are evolving, requiring the latest solutions to keep up and improve C-suite decision-making. For instance, electric companies handling pole inspections and inventories are notoriously siloed, meaning departments often neglect the company’s data needs, according to a March 2022 report from utility software provider Ike. Pole inspection and inventory data must be reformatted to prepare it for new data analytics.

This is only one example, but consider the other types of utilities and how many departments could benefit from a more comprehensive data management and analytics solution. Utility executives know that harnessing the power of data for analysis is something they must adapt to in the next few years.

Itron’s report also suggests that personalized utility insights for customers could be a major trend in the industry going forward. Companies that offer customers the ability to gain insight into their energy and water systems enable them to make better decisions regarding their bills and energy consumption. The report even suggests people are willing to pay more if providers offer personalized insights.

Eco-friendly consumers can also choose new electrical, water or heating and cooling systems to improve energy-efficiency and create a more environmentally friendly home or business.

Data analytics can also benefit utilities in terms of cybersecurity. Utilities are not immune from cyberattacks—in fact, the energy and utility sector is a major target for cybercrime, according to a July 2022 article in IIOT Power.

It’s no surprise that threat actors target these companies as more tech emerges in the field. They see an expanded attack surface and an increased likelihood of making a significant profit from attacking critical infrastructure. Any utility company must therefore understand the importance of cybersecurity as analytics becomes ubiquitous. These solutions must have various preventive security measures to be used effectively, whether water or electric utility data analytics.

According to the report, in the next five years, utilities will leverage data analytics capabilities, particularly those with compatible edge intelligence devices. The industrial internet of things and other advanced analytics devices will play a crucial role in effective analytics.

Leveraging tech investments equipped with edge computing technologies is a no-brainer for utilities. They can collect massive amounts of operational data while decreasing latency, ultimately speeding up decision-making processes.

Operating at the edge could have a major impact on the quality of life of utility customers due to the increasing severity of weather events. Managing extreme conditions is a challenge for utilities, but the edge is a transformational technology expected to increase efficiency and facilitate faster response times to significant events.

The report further notes that while utility companies might struggle to adopt and implement new data analytics solutions, these tools will become indispensable in the digital age.

Now is the time for leaders in the energy and utility industry to stay abreast of current trends, explore opportunities with data analytics vendors and begin the procurement process. The future of utilities will increasingly rely on data analytics solutions and the benefits they provide.

Harvesting wind energy is not new, but scientists from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore designed a new device to harness and store it as electricity. This low-cost device, called a wind harvester, can transform energy from winds with a velocity as low as 2 meters per second (m/s).

Announced in a September 2022 article in the scientific journal Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, the device is currently capable of producing 3V and generating power of up to 290 microwatts, although lab test results indicate the harvester can power 40 LEDs consistently with a wind speed of just 4 m/s.

The harvester can also generate enough to power a commercial sensor and send the data to a mobile phone wirelessly or to a battery for storage, demonstrating that it can store enough excess charge to keep the device powered for an extended period, even without available wind.

At only 15 cm by 20 cm (or just under 6 inches by 8 inches), the small-sized harvester is easy to mount on the side of buildings. Scientists hope it will eventually replace batteries in the structural health monitoring sensors on buildings and bridges.

Made of fiber epoxy—a highly durable polymer—the device features a dynamic design that vibrates in the wind. Its plate, made of inexpensive materials like copper, aluminum foil and polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), vibrates during wind flow, causing charges to form on the film. As they flow from the aluminum foil to the copper film, an electrical current is generated.

Yang Yaowen, a professor in NTU’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, led the project. One of the study’s purposes was to develop a device able to harness wind energy at low cost, with low wear and tear and requiring only occasional maintenance.

In addition, he said, “Our research aims to tackle the lack of a small-scale energy harvester for more targeted functions, such as to power smaller sensors and electronic devices.”

An added benefit of this harvester is that it could be an alternative to small lithium-ion batteries that use heavy metals, which can cause environmental issues if not properly disposed of. Widespread use of this not-yet-patented or commercialized device could reduce electronic waste.

“Wind energy is a source of renewable energy,” Yang said. In addition to being renewable, it is clean, producing no greenhouse gases or other pollutants as it generates electricity. “Our invention has been shown to effectively harness this sustainable source of energy to charge batteries and light LEDs, demonstrating its potential as an energy generator to power the next generation of electronics, which are smaller in size and require less power.”

NTU scientists continue their research to improve the energy storage functions of the harvester. As part of that research, they are experimenting with materials that might improve its output power.

Every project comes with large responsibilities, and life safety fire alarm systems most often represent a small portion of the total quote for work in the building. It is most often the last system installed in the building, and the fire alarm system installation often gets overlooked in terms of technology changes and quality control.

As stated in Section 901.6.3 of the 2018 International Building Code (IBC), “Fire alarm systems required by the provisions of Section 907.2 of this code and Sections 907.2 and 907.9 of the International Fire Code shall be monitored by an approved supervising station in accordance with Section 907.6.6 of this code.”

Most likely you have been relying on your equipment supplier to ensure the fire alarm system could make the appropriate connections. However, the code and marketplace have made changes that have caused some confusion with the authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs), and systems approvals are hitting a snag due to circumstances beyond our control.

Before the breakup of AT&T, the portion of the connection from the fire alarm system to the supervising station was treated as a “black box.” The technical committee had met with AT&T and determined that the phone line connections from the fire alarm system had a 0.99999 reliability factor, and although the code had no jurisdiction regarding the connection between the fire alarm system and the supervising station, the technical committee felt confident of the connection and used a digital alarm communicator transmitter (DACT) to make the necessary connections as required by the IBC and NFPA 72, the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code.

These connections were made over what was called (by the communications industry) plain old telephone service (POTS) through the public switched telephone network (PSTN) interconnection points.

Then the breakup of AT&T occurred. We now have communications provided by telephone and cable TV companies, and a new definition of connection to the supervising station.

We start with the NFPA 72-2022 definition of a managed facilities-based voice network (MFVN). The code defines the MFVN as “a physical facilities-based network capable of transmitting real time signals with formats unchanged that is managed, operated, and maintained by the service provider to ensure service quality and reliability from the subscriber location to the interconnection point with other MFVN peer networks or the supervising station.”

MFVN has replaced PSTN, which was used in the requirements for DACTs in Chapter 26 of NFPA 72-2022.

The Annex (A.3.3.161) in NFPA 72-2022 provides the following:

“[A] Managed facilities-based voice network service is functionally equivalent to traditional PSTN-based services provided by authorized common carriers (public utility telephone companies or local exchange carriers [LECs]) with respect to dialing, dial plan, call completion, carriage of signals and protocols, and loop voltage treatment and provides all of the following features:

1. A loop start telephone circuit service interface.

2. Pathway reliability that is assured by proactive management, operation, and maintenance by the MFVN provider.

3. 8 hours of standby power supply capacity for MFVN communications equipment either located at the protected premises or field deployed. Industry standards followed by the authorized common carriers (public utility telephone companies), and the other communications service providers that operate MFVNs, specifically engineer the selection of the size of the batteries, or other permanently located standby power source, in order to provide 8 hours of standby power with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Of course, over time, abnormal ambient conditions and battery aging can always have a potentially adverse effect on battery capacity. The MFVN field-deployed equipment typically monitors the condition of the standby battery and signals potential battery failure to permit the communications service provider to take appropriate action.

4. 24 hours of standby power supply capacity for MFVN communications equipment located at the communications service provider’s central office.

5. Installation of network equipment at the protected premises with safeguards to prevent unauthorized access to the equipment and its connections. When providing telephone service to a new customer, MFVN providers [must] give notice to the telephone service subscriber of the need to have any connected alarm system tested by authorized fire alarm service personnel in accordance with Chapter 14 to make certain that all signal transmission features have remained operational. These features include the proper functioning of line seizure and the successful transmission of signals to the supervising station. In this way, the MFVN providers assist their new customers in complying with a testing procedure similar to that outlined in 26.2.7 for changes to providers of supervising station service. The evolution of the deployment of telephone service has moved beyond the sole use of metallic conductors connecting a telephone subscriber’s premises with the nearest telephone service provider’s control and routing point (wire center). In the last 25 years, telephone service providers have introduced a variety of technologies to transport multiple, simultaneous telephone calls over shared communication pathways. In order to facilitate the further development of the modernization of the telephone network, the authorized common carriers (public utility telephone companies) have transitioned their equipment into a managed facilities-based voice network (MFVN) capable of providing a variety of communications services in addition to the provision of traditional telephone service.

“Similarly, the evolution of digital communications technology has permitted entities other than the authorized common carriers (public utility telephone companies) to deploy robust communications networks and offer a variety of communications services, including telephone.

“These alternate service providers fall into two broad categories: those entities that have emulated the MFVN provided by the authorized common carriers and those entities that offer telephone service using means that do not offer the rigorous quality assurance, operational stability and consistent features provided by an MFVN and are not regulated by the state public utilities commission.

“The code intends to only recognize the use of the telephone network transmission of alarm, supervisory, trouble and other emergency signals by means of MFVNs.

“For example, the code intends to permit an MFVN to provide facilities-based telephone (voice) service that interfaces with the premises fire alarm or emergency signal control unit through a digital alarm communicator transmitter (DACT) using an emulated loop start telephone circuit and signaling protocols fully compatible with and equivalent to those used in public switched telephone networks. The loop-start telephone circuit and associated signaling can be provided through traditional copper wire telephone service POTS or by means of equipment that emulates the loop start telephone circuit and associated signaling and then transmits the signals over a pathway using packet switched (IP) networks or other communications methods that are part of an MFVN.

“Providers of MFVNs must have disaster recovery plans to address individual customer outages and widespread events such as tornados, ice storms, or other natural disasters, which include specific network power restoration procedures equivalent to those of traditional landline telephone services.”

The important take-away from this discussion is that the MFVN is not a part of the fire alarm system and is not listed as a fire alarm device.

The UL listing of a currently listed MFVN product on the market states that the product is a POTS replacement “that connects to LAN and 4G to provide service to all traditional analog devices. This product acts as a managed facilities-based voice network (MFVN) and is considered part of the communication infrastructure, not the fire alarm system.”

Telephone service that is not provided using a traditional POTS line or with an MFVN would not be permitted for connection to a DACT in accordance with NFPA 72, Section 26.6.4.1.

MFVN testing and coordination with the building fire alarm interface is the building owner’s responsibility to arrange and coordinate. This last requirement inevitably falls into your lap to ensure compliance.

All the above, even with the quotes from NFPA 72, proves troublesome to the AHJ, and this single issue will have an impact on the final approval of your installed fire alarm system. To ensure approval by the AHJ, make sure the MFVN provider is a public utility telephone company or an authorized (by the state public utilities commission) local exchange carrier. Additionally, conduct the necessary tests to ensure the alarm, supervisory and trouble signals are transmitted to the supervising station.

Research and development in the use of robotics in warehouse and industrial settings is gaining momentum, fueling impressive growth in the market sector.

“Warehouse Robotics Market,” a June 2022 report from Future Market Insights (FMI), reveals that the global warehouse robotics market is projected to reach a value of more than $9.5 billion by 2032. In 2022, the market was on pace to exceed $5 billion, rising at a notable 13% compound annual growth rate throughout the forecast period. Robotics leverage digital technologies and computerization with artificial intelligence (A.I.) and machine learning to automate a host of operations.

“The market is likely to be driven by the growing trend of industrialization and the implementation of Industry 4.0,” according to the report.

Robotics services

Warehouse robotics are used in a variety of automated systems to bring greater efficiencies to processes in fulfillment, inventory and distribution. Different types of robotics, according to 6 River Systems, include automated guided vehicles for material and supply transport; automated storage and retrieval systems for inventory management; cobots, or collaborative robotics used to assist human personnel in performing tasks in the warehouse; articulated robotic arms that move products within warehouses; and goods-to-person systems that transport items to stationary pick stations.

Warehouse robots are applicable to many markets, including food and beverage, automotive, pharmaceuticals, electronics, construction, defense and oil and gas. Companies are investing huge dollars in research and development activities in the warehouse robotics market, especially in developed countries, for product innovation, more advanced automation and pursuit of quality production and manufacturing.

According to FMI, Amazon installed almost 15,000 robots in its U.S. warehouses to cut operations costs by one-fifth and meet increasing consumer demand. It used technology developed by Kiva Systems, a robotics company it would later purchase and rename Amazon Robotics. In October 2021, Amazon announced the opening of a new first-of-its-kind robotics manufacturing facility in Westborough, Mass. Amazon also unveiled plans to purchase iRobot in August 2022.

Market drivers and restraints

Important market drivers for the warehouse robotics market, according to FMI, include increasing demand of automation for time savings and cost reductions, increasing number of stock-keeping units, increasing demand and awareness toward quality and safety production, advancement in technology and increased use in various applications and industries such as food and beverage and electronics.

Some of the barriers cited in the report as potentially hampering the growth of the warehouse robotics market are the initial high adoption cost related to training and deployment, lack of awareness and difficulty in interacting with robots for some end-users.

The digital transformation and Industry 4.0 continue to revolutionize the way companies manufacture, improve and distribute products. Manufacturers are integrating new technologies, including internet of things, cloud computing, analytics, A.I. and machine learning into their production facilities and throughout their operations. That value proposition now includes robotics, for specific tasks and lessening the overall cost burden on the end-user.