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【2020 Application Example】 AI-Enhanced 'Banana Contract Cooperation Management System', Effectively Increasing Banana Export Value!

Banana industry faces low-priced impacts from abroad

In recent years, our country's banana industry has been impacted by low prices from the Philippines and Ecuador, with sales volumes decreasing annually, no longer seeing the golden era of Taiwan's banana exports to Japan.

The structure of banana pricing at the green stage doesn't vary much internationally, with similar inputs of fertilizers and harvested weights among countries. However, international banana pricing for a box from the Philippines is around 11 USD, whereas Taiwanese bananas cost around 22 USD per box. This is primarily due to the efficiency of investment capital and output at the 'collection centers' post-harvest. The fragmented and scattered local farmlands substantially increase the costs of final products and thus restrict the export dynamics.

Furthermore, climate change affects the traditional southern export regions for Taiwanese bananas. Warmer winters and altered summer rainfall patterns affect the physiognomies of the bananas produced, causing their size to rapidly exceed export standards and increasing the cost per unit of qualified goods during collection center processing; or excessive water content which depreciates the taste historically associated with them, leading to a decrease in market prices. These pressures from rising costs and dropping prices further squeeze the commercial value and viability of Taiwanese bananas.

Differences in planting environment affecting the stability of banana quality for export

A fruit and vegetable cooperative in Yunlin County, originally a domestic banana collection center located in Yunlin, wasn't historically a part of Taiwan's banana export regions. Since a field survey conducted in 2017 by TaiNong Co., Ltd., it was discovered that the quality of bananas produced in Yunlin has been comparatively stable against those from the southern regions. The tighter organization of local farmers and crop rotation practices between rice and banana farms helped reduce incidences of Yellow Leaf Disease and effectively maintain production levels.

Banana export

▲ Banana export

However, without prior experience in exports, TaiNong gradually introduced Japanese standards for exporting with the local farmers, defining the size and width of fruit fingers, stalk cutting, and boxing methods. This aims to gradually establish a banana export hub in the central region. Yet, the climate in Yunlin significantly differs from the southern regions. Current practices in banana exporting are based on experiences from Kaohsiung and Pingtung and do not incorporate how the shift in production areas northwards affects banana growth. Hence, there remain excessive rejections at the collection centers occasionally causing disputes among farmers.

Agricultural risk management data service, development of banana specification volume fluctuation prediction model

台農發股份有限公司既有之集貨場對契作香蕉農戶包裝分類品檢機制,收集之數據資料與悠由數據應用股份有限公司配合,運用資料科學研究方法,透過研究規劃、資料蒐集擷取、資料清洗、特徵萃取、資料融合、資料分析演算法建立、分析結果、模板開發、專家會議討論等步驟建立分析應用流程。

By integrating dataset including collection centers' incoming batch container numbers, origin, banana quantities, data on each box of fruit bunches, and data of defect sampling records, along with internal purchase prices and prices from various purchasers, through the Banana Contract Cooperation Management System linked with data decision analysis systems and APIs, it supports subsequent judgments by providing analysis data to the fruit and vegetable production cooperative.

悠由數據擷取與蒐集香蕉契作戶產地之歷年氣象環境資料、公開批發市場的產地價格及香蕉生理模式等數據,結合台農發的分類品規數據,建立「香蕉品規量能波動預測」演算機制,並將分析預測結果回饋至香蕉契約合作作業管理機制。

Visualized harvest scheduling analysis

▲ Visualized harvest scheduling analysis

By leveraging varied predictive analytic outcomes of banana specifications, collection centers can utilize this as an advance warning and risk management decision-making tool, further adjusting supply to tackle inconsistent production capacity and specifications faced during acquisition.

Fruit and vegetable cooperative X TaiNong X Youyou Data Applications collaborating closely, creating a win-win-win!

This successful alliance formed a close cooperative relationship between the place of production, TaiNong, and Youyou Data. Previously, farmers often distrusted traders, and traders lacked control over farmers, leading to conflicts. This alliance allows the requirements of the distribution side to reflect actual shipment specification fluctuations and present them digitally, enabling farmers to objectively understand their shipping quality and empathize with the difficulties of traders, thus fostering cooperation.

Innovative model of banana contract management

TaiNong's cooperation with Youyou Data on the banana contract management system provides a platform that combines crop physiology with climate predictions to obtain foresight data. For other products managed by TaiNong, such as pineapples, lettuce, carrots, and pineapple sugar apples, this has been greatly enlightening.

In the future, by facilitating farmers to participate in the Production History System and connecting land registry data with this contract system, the introduction of the Production History System will be aided. This system is also considered by TaiNong for commercial acquisition moving forward.

「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only. Translation date:2024-05-19」

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【導入案例】維繫遊艇王國美譽 嘉信遊艇導入國內第一套FRP複材超音波智慧檢測
Maintaining the reputation of the “Kingdom of Yachts” - Kha Shing Enterprise introduces the first domestic FRP ultrasonic smart inspection of composite materials

The Kaohsiung-based Kha Shing Enterprise Co, Ltd was established over 40 years ago, and is Taiwan's largest customized yacht company with customers all over America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, earning Taiwan the reputation of the "Kingdom of Yachts" Current FRP hull inspection still relies on traditional methods, such as visual inspection and knocking sounds, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive Kha Shing has applied PAUT array ultrasonic inspection to hull FRP composite materials for the first time, and combined it with AI to interpret ultrasound images, develop complete intelligent solutions, and create emerging markets for inspection companies Kha Shing Enterprise Co, Ltd was formerly Kha Shing Wood Industry Co, Ltd, and was a factory specializing in wood import in Kaohsiung Linhai Industrial Park when it was first established It began to design, manufacture, and sell yachts in 1977 After the second-generation successor of the company, President Kung Chun-Hao entered the company, he made a breakthrough in the previous manufacturing model that relied mainly on the skills of master craftsmen, introduced digital manufacturing to accelerate shipbuilding, and began to make larger yachts, ranking in the top 20 manufacturers worldwide among manufacturers of large yachts over 24 feet It also set a record of delivering 94 yachts within one year, earning Taiwan the reputation of "Kingdom of Yachts" Defect detection ensures yacht quality, using AI to replace humans to achieve higher efficiency Defect detection is very important to ensuring yacht quality At present, the yacht industry still uses very traditional defect detection methods The hull structure is usually made by hand lay-up or the vacuum infusion process, using visual inspection or knocking and the frequency of the sound to determine defects It requires time-consuming manual inspection If there are any defects, they must be reworked and repaired, and a gel coat subsequently sprayed The hull must be constructed in sections to facilitate inspection For large yachts over 24 meters long, construction in sections is very time-consuming and labor-intensive To shorten the time of the yacht manufacturing process, Kha Shing Enterprise will first carry out the gel coating process for the hull, and then perform the hand lay-on process The hull manufacturing process has two types of composite material test specimen structures In terms of 54-foot yacht hulls, the hull contains gel coat, core material, fiber and resin, and the total thickness is about 32cmplusmn01cm, which is twice the total thickness of FRP hull without core material of about 16cmplusmn01cm Defects such as incomplete impregnation of glass fiber or residual air bubbles between glass fiber and resin occasionally occur during the manufacturing process The types of defects include insufficient resin, voids, and delamination Once defects occur, the supply of hull materials will be insufficient and yacht delivery will be delayed Schematic diagram of types of FRP hull In order to solve this problem, Kha Shing Enterprise has engaged in technical cooperated with the metal materials industry and the AI technology industry, combining the ultrasonic inspection expertise of the metal materials industry with AI technologies developed by the AI technology industry in recent years to help solve issues of Kha Shing Enterprise with defect detection The method uses PAUT on the composite material structure of yachts, conducts FRP ultrasonic evaluation to determine the thickness of the yacht hull and material properties, and evaluates the ultrasonic probe frequency applicable to the hull structure based on professional ultrasonic experience After testing, a frequency of 5MHz and a probe width of 45mm can successfully find the location and size of defects in the simulated defect test specimen The three parties jointly found defect detection solutions from array ultrasonic evaluation, AI technology model development, and actual application in yachts The image inspected is an ultrasound image The image displays different colors based on the ultrasonic feedback signal An AI model that automatically identifies defective parts is established through the YOLO algorithm If the amount of abnormal data collected is insufficient for training, the CNN-based Autoencoder algorithm is used to collect normal image data for training and construct an AI model for abnormality detection The object detection YOLO model is trained by inputting image data marked as having defects, while the abnormality detection model is trained by inputting image data without defects Simulated defective specimen corresponding to PAUT results Defect detection by and AI system can shorten the construction period by 15 months and speed up determination by 50 After the development of this AI system is completed, it will be validated on actual 54-foot yachts of Kha Shing Enterprise, and can effectively resolve issues with defects The application of AI technology in ultrasonic inspection for intelligent determination is expected to accelerate determination by approximately 50, and will also shortens the construction period by 15 months, effectively improving the speed and quality of the yacht manufacturing process As Taiwan develops larger and more refined yachts, it will create opportunities for industry optimization and transformation, as well as opportunities for the development of key technologies The application of an AI ultrasonic inspection solution for composite materials is the first of its kind in the yacht industry, and is expected to attract more yacht manufacturers with inspection needs The AI ultrasonic inspection solution for composite materials has three major competitive advantages 1 Professional inspection experience and digital database to facilitate process management and analysis 2 Automatic AI determination and identification quickly identifies defects and provides immediate feedback to process engineers 3 High-efficiency process inspection provides defect repair recommendations, reduces damage rate, and improves the strength and quality of composite materials The application of AI technology can optimize the yacht manufacturing process, reduce manual inspection, create added value through the application of AI in Taiwanrsquos yacht industry, increase international purchase orders, and allow Taiwan yachts to continue to enjoy a good reputation in the world Furthermore, this business model has also spread to fields of application related to composite materials, increasing cross-sector market usage It is estimated to contribute approximately NT14 to NT2 billion in economic benefits to Taiwan's equipment maintenance and non-destructive testing market

這是一張圖片。 This is a picture.
AI-Based PCBA Surface Defect Detection Improvements

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【解決方案】搭上綠能商機 華鉬實業打造全釩液流電池儲能系統設備 長效儲能的最佳選擇
Taking advantage of green energy business opportunities, Hua Molybdenum Industry creates all-vanadium redox flow battery energy storage system equipment, the best choice for long-term energy storage

Green energy is the future trend and will surely lead to huge business opportunities in the future Wind power has been one of the green energy sources that have attracted global attention in recent years It will become an important force in my country's renewable energy and help Taiwan's power generation reach the goal of 20 by 2025 to improve Taiwan's energy independence As the number and power of domestic wind turbines wind turbines increases year by year, it is particularly important to ensure that the power storage equipment achieves safe, long-term performance, is not easily attenuated during charging and discharging, and is sustainable, low-carbon and environmentally friendly At the same time, the wind turbine equipment itself Health inspection, maintenance and repair have also become the focus of wind farm operators In order to meet the needs of wind farm customers, the green energy business unit of Hua Mo Industry has launched long-lasting energy storage all-vanadium redox flow battery electrolyte and wind turbine AI predictive operation and maintenance, providing 100 safety, long-term efficiency and reducing customer initial manufacturing costs cost-effective power energy storage equipment, and through AI predictive operation and maintenance services to help customers reduce power generation costs by 10 and save up to 30 in maintenance and warranty costs Hua Molybdenum Industry was established in 1998 The industry started by refining vanadium, molybdenum and rare metal elements and other products, and used them in high-end steel, professional chemicals and specialty chemicals industries, and vanadium is more like a steel-making Vitamins can increase the effectiveness of steelmaking Among them, vanadium and molybdenum related products are one of the company's main projects The company sees that the all-vanadium redox flow battery, which is 100 vanadium-based, will be a very promising mainstream green energy technology in terms of long-term energy storage in 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turbines uses machine learning The main technology provider comes from ONYX Insight, a subsidiary of British Petroleum BP The company uses AI Hub analysis software technology to analyze the wind turbines faced by Taipower Pain point analysis, including power generation loss of road-based wind turbines and damage prediction of key components of land-based wind turbines such as gearboxes, pitch bearings under abnormal vibration three-dimensional vibration frequency or abnormal temperature, etc output Through this implementation, it can effectively help Taipower reduce power generation costs by 10, increase asset value by 12, and save up to 30 in maintenance and warranty costs In the past three years, ONYX Insight has successfully predicted and operated more than 20,000 offshore or onshore wind turbines around the world, accumulating extremely high AI model accuracy It is believed that the international partnership established with ONYX Insight will effectively guide and accelerate the green energy division of Hua Molybdenum Industry in its goal and layout to become an independent technology service provider for wind turbine AI predictive operation and maintenance Works with partner ONYX insight to provide customers with an AI predictive operation and maintenance system, including wind turbine power generation loss and damage prediction of key wind turbine components Building a solid foundation for domestic wind turbine operation and maintenance, using Taiwan as a base to expand to Southeast Asian wind farms The market output value of offshore wind turbine AI predictive operation and maintenance in Taiwan will exceed NT30 billion in the future, and the energy storage market has an output value of more than 100 billion US dollars globally In the future company vision, Hua Molybdenum Industrial hopes to become An independent technical service provider for vanadium flow battery electrolyte and wind turbine AI predictive operation and maintenance The long-term goal is to establish a local supply chain of vanadium flow battery electrolytes around the world by accumulating abundant technology and performance capital to supply industry needs nearby 「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only Translation date:2024-05-19」