Gusto's Journey to Data-Driven Operations using AWS

Summary

1. Challenges Faced by Industrial Customers

   • Data is fragmented and lacks context
   • 80% of the time is spent gathering, ingesting, and preparing data
   • Building a solution requires significant time and resources, and scaling it is costly
   • Customers want easy access to their data regardless of its source

2. AWS Approach: The Industrial Data Fabric

   • Enables a data-centric approach throughout the data lifecycle
   • Provides abilities such as accessibility, interoperability, sensibility, versioning, and scalability
   • Utilizes various AWS services and partners to ingest, store, and actualize data

3. Gusto's Journey

   • Gusto, a meal kit company, faced challenges in ramping up production due to fluctuating equipment availability
   • They aimed to detect downtime quickly, minimize mean time to repair, and maximize time between faults
   • Gusto implemented a solution called "Factory OS" using AWS services and partners:
     • Ingested data from PLCs using Hyte
     • Routed data to AWS IoT Core for cloud connectivity
     • Built a fault detection system using AWS IoT Events
     • Implemented predictive maintenance using sensors and anomaly detection
     • Developed a real-time Scada system using Ignition
     • Integrated OEE data into the system for visibility and decision-making
     • Created a digital twin and simulation capabilities to test scenarios and optimize operations

4. Next Steps

   • Introduced containerization and GitOps for infrastructure resilience
   • Developing a "Factory API" to abstract the factory from vendor-specific implementations
   • Exploring the use of AI/ML for predictive maintenance and optimization

5. Recommendations

   • Start small, deliver value, and iteratively scale the platform
   • Leverage existing standards and tools, avoid building everything from scratch
   • Bring cross-functional teams together to foster collaboration and learning
   • Encourage the tech team to immerse themselves in the factory environment

The key takeaway is how Gusto leveraged AWS services and partners to build a data-driven, integrated system that enabled them to improve operational efficiency, reduce food waste, and increase productivity - all while preparing for future advancements in predictive maintenance and AI/ML-driven optimization.