< PreviousMerseyrail passengers can now travel the entire network using pre- paid electronic smart cards after the installation of contactless platform validators at the majority of its stations. The platform validators – provided by INIT, supplier of integrated planning, dispatching, telematics and ticketing systems for public transport – allow passengers to ‘tap’ for their journey using smartcards and purchase a Merseyrail season ticket online for retrieval via the platform validator. The use of smartcards will bring added convenience to passengers over buying a conventional ticket, with advance purchase options subsequently increasing customer satisfaction. INIT already delivers ticketing equipment and platform validators for Nottingham’s bus and tram network and has now installed 183 of its platform validators to help modernise Merseyrail’s services, which transported an average of more than 100,000 passengers per day before the Covid-19 pandemic. Jens Mullak, Managing Director of INIT, said, “Covid-19 has accelerated the shift away from traditional ticketing methods, with smartcards and other contactless payment methods becoming increasingly popular in recent years. With the move to customers using these technologies wherever possible, the introduction of this system in the Liverpool City Region has come at a critical time as the UK starts to move away from the current travel restrictions. NEWS IN BRIEF 10KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE MERSEYRAIL GOES TICKETLESS WITH INIT WYCOMBE WANDERERS FC SELECTS VESTEL VISUAL SOLUTIONS AS OFFICIAL AUDIOVISUAL PARTNER Vestel Visual Solutions has announced that it has been selected by Wycombe Wanderers FC as its official AV Partner. Vestel’s digital signage and interactive displays have been deployed throughout Adams Park as part of a major infrastructural project to digitally transform the stadium and boost fan engagement. Over 50 Vestel displays have been fitted to enhance key supporter areas across the ground. Within the club shop, which fronts Adams Park, a 75in PDX75 screen provides a stunning window display, with 2500 NIT brightness ensuring incoming fans can see the latest content in vivid detail as they approach the stadium - visible even in the summer. Within the store itself, a slimline 55in UHD model, alongside multiple 37in stretched displays, offer eye-catching visuals to promote the club merchandise, as well as wider news from the club including ticketing information for upcoming matches. Within the stadium, multiple bar areas including Monty’s Bar, Honours Lounge and the Vere Suite have been equipped with an array of vibrant digital signage solutions, which are expected to play an important role in encouraging supporters to spend more time in the stadium prior to kick-off and for the screening of away games. This is integral both in terms of building the pre-match atmosphere, as well as from a business perspective, with matchday income making up a significant proportion of the club’s revenue. Of particular importance is the club’s standard 3pm Saturday kick-offs, with many supporters often wishing to watch the earlier televised match prior to Wycombe’s game. With each of the key viewing areas across Adams Park now fitted with a number of displays of varying resolution, brightness levels, and sizes - from 55in up to 86in - fans are guaranteed a premium viewing experience when meeting at the stadium pre-match. Menus within bar areas have also been upgraded from paper to digital, with the installation of 55in displays in portrait orientation. ISE 2021 LIVE AND ONLINE Integrated Systems Events and its co- owners AVIXA and CEDIA have jointly announced ISE Live & Online, a series of local events in Barcelona, Munich, Amsterdam and London which will be supported by a comprehensive digital offering powered by CISCO. With the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and global travel restrictions, ISE Live & Online will take the place of the traditional in-person large tradeshow format. We welcome your news and contributory features regarding the kiosk and digital signage industry. Send your story to the editor: editor@kdseurope.com If you would like to discuss one of our advertising or advertorial packages contact: sales@kdseurope.comNEWS IN BRIEF 11 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE Crystal Display Systems (CDS) has announced it has signed a distribution agreement to become the Litemax Corporation’s UK distributor and value- added support partner in the UK for its high brightness industrial panel PCs. This has created a partnership to support all industrial display customers across Europe. CDS will promote, stock and support the Litemax range of ruggedised IP65 and IP68, standard and narrow bezel panel PCs as well as look at OEM/ODM customised bespoke solutions for customers from many industries including defence, aerospace, medical, outdoor, marine, MilAero and various industrial applications. Litemax's panel PCs come with high brightness LCD displays, in addition to versatile, powerful box PCs and CDS will promote mix and match solutions where the customer can make their own choice of display, brightness, type of touchscreen, processor and housing to give the optimised solution. Chris Bartram, Managing Director, CDS, said, “We feel this is an excellent agreement for CDS, Litemax and potential industrial customers as we bring the highest quality products to many industrial sectors and markets. Our technical sales team and project- focused processes mean we can help and advise customers, where needed, on the best-optimised solution for their specific application. We will be highlighting and marketing a number of these solutions over the next few weeks, so people get a great overview of the advantages as well as the options available now.”. HOSPITALITY APPS WITH TRACK AND TRACE SYSTEM Since the return to outdoor hospitality on 12 April 2021, venues are once again encountering the need to comply with the Government’s track and trace system in order to curb outbreaks of the Coronavirus. However, one of the major criticisms from users of the NHS track and trace app, was of its cumbersome nature and the requirement of a specialised app just to sign into a particular venue. At the return to hospitality premises, nimble ‘Order, Stay, Pay’ apps that work with hospitality venues provide a conduit for track and trace, allowing menus and tracing facilities in one centralised app. The NOMM (New Order, Magic Menu) from Ubamarket, offers guests the opportunity to browse menus, customise their orders, verify their age, identify allergens and order from their tables. The app also has the facility for ordering takeaways. While guests were previously required to go through the registration process on a separate app, NOMM’s technology allows for guests to be registered automatically, by simply selecting which venue they are ordering from. Will Broome, CEO of Ubamarket, said, “With the mass re-opening of hospitality venues across the UK, it’s widely reported that some sort of official registration will be required as part of the nation’s ongoing track and trace initiative. For this, there are two options. The cumbersome, one-dimensional and clunky ‘official’ NHS track and trace app, which is effectively just an even more long- winded version of the registration process we all spend our lives trying to avoid - and no use to the customer or venue whatsoever - or a useful, functional ‘order at table’ app which requires a one-time, simple registration after which your customers can actually use it, automatically registering them as soon as they enter your venue.” INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY JOINS AVPA Innovative Technology has joined the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) adding its support to the Association’s goal to educate the market about the emergence of new tools for automated age verification. Innovative Technology provides cash handling and biometric solutions. Its ICU - Intelligent Identification edge solution uses specially trained algorithms to perform age verification to control access to age-restricted goods and services and facial recognition technology to accurately identify and verify individuals. DRAG AND DROP GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE Hottinger Brüel & Kjær (HBK) has released the latest version of Aqira, a web-based data analytics and process management platform that leverages nCode software technology. Designed for scalable deployment within Aqira, nCodeDS (nCode Digital Streams) provides a new graphical interface for defining data processing networks required to analyse high volumes of sensor data coming from a wide range of sources. With the new graphical interface, analyses can be defined by simply dragging and connecting processing nodes on a canvas. The power of nCodeDS can also be used with Python scripting within Aqira enabling a high degree of flexibility. Dr. Fred Kihm, Product Manager, nCodeDS, said, “Applications involving the tracking of real-world product usage continuously generate large quantities of data. The challenge is to extract value from such big data. Engineers need to gain meaningful insights in order to reduce development, operational and warranty costs.” CRYSTAL DISPLAY PARTNERS WITH LITEMAXCashGenic, the hygienic cash automation kit from Innovative Technology, enables customers to pay with cash both safely and hygienically. Since it was first launched last year, ITL has secured several distribution suppliers firstly within the UK and now across Europe. The Covid crisis highlighted the need for businesses to accept cash while maintaining social distancing. Paying by cash carries no fees so remains a popular choice of payment and cash in circulation is still on the increase. Christian Dieterich, CEO, Perfect Money, provider of innovative payment solutions based in south Germany commented, “We decided to expand our product portfolio to include the CashGenic cash handling system and are proudly building the machines (renamed Vicky) here in Germany. This high-performance, smart cash dispenser has space-saving dimensions so fits onto any counter. Several businesses were surprised to discover that when Vicky was installed, they saw an uplift in cash takings of around 10%.” Patrick Vandeput, Automation Europe, said, “Contactless payment is not only for cashless terminals. With CashGenic, customers throw their coins into the machine or slide bills into it. The amount to be paid is entered and the correct change is given out by the device in coins and bills. It provides a safe way to protect your staff and customers without the need to handle cash at the checkout.” Thorsten Labusch, VP of Sales & Business Development, ITL, said, “Using CashGenic gives customers payment choice by allowing those who still want to make cash payments to do so safely while eliminating the need for employees to handle cash. In addition, staff no longer need to count cash as the machine automatically does this, therefore saving time and generating greater efficiencies for the business. It also helps eliminate shrinkage and accounting errors as cash handling is automated.” NEWS IN BRIEF FOCUSED LINES OF PRODUCTS BACKED BY CAPACITIVE TECHNOLOGY MicroTouch has introduced focused lines of products for users in the casino gaming, retail, hospitality, healthcare and financial industries. Backed by world-class capacitive display technology, the new product lines include MicroTouch’s signature Slim Line Kiosk Series and All-in-One (AiO) Series of Android Touch Computers. Bill Nulf, Vice President of Channel Sales, MicroTouch, said, “The arrival of our factory-direct products comes at a crucial time within an industry that’s struggling to meet the demands of customers worldwide. In addition to providing the highest quality of capacitive technology, MicroTouch is also bringing unmatched efficiency and flexibility through our regional engineering, global warehousing capabilities and local customer support with locations across North America.” MicroTouch’s new Slim Line Kiosk Series features commercial and industrial grade convertible monitors for high-use applications, with the ability to withstand harsh conditions while retaining high-performance levels. In addition, the Slim Line Series offers the flexibility to serve in a variety of formats, including wall mounts, desktops and embedded solutions—all from one platform. Meanwhile, MicroTouch’s AiO Series of Android Touch Computers features a range of touch monitors fully equipped with Google Mobile Services and built for a variety of applications for which Android is increasingly becoming the standard. Combining low-power consumption and high-performance computing, the integrated computer systems feature an ultra-slim aesthetic and a simple plug-n-play functionality for easy integration into new or existing applications. AUDIOLOGIC AND TP-LINK DELIVER PLUG AND PLAY NETWORK SOLUTION Audiologic and TP-Link have announced a UK technology collaboration. This delivers a turnkey network solution optimised to support the deployment and performance of business-class AV systems, through a range of pre- configured PoE+ switches. Networking has become an essential part of modern AV, with a huge rise in products based on IT standards and protocols. Audiologic identified the need amongst its customers for an accessible networking solution that could be implemented by AV engineers, with little prior technical knowledge of professional networking. The network solution offers the community a way of making networking plug and play. The two companies joined forces to optimise a selection of TP-Link UK’s business-class PoE+ switches to power and support the level of AV traffic from professional deployments. Typically, this includes microphones, loudspeakers, processors, computers and cameras. A custom pre-configuration written specifically for professional AV installs was developed by Audiologic and integrated into TP-Link UK’s TL-SG2210MP - JetStream 10-Port Gigabit Smart PoE Switch with 8-Port PoE+ and T2600G-28MPS - JetStream 24-Port Gigabit L2 Managed PoE+ Switch with 4 SFP Slots. 12KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE ITL EXPAND CASHGENIC SUPPLIERS THROUGHOUT EUROPENEWS IN BRIEF VESTEL ANNOUNCES Q SERIES RANGE OF 24/7 E-LED DISPLAYS Vestel Visual Solutions has announced the expansion of its display range with the arrival of the new Q Series family. Featuring four new 24/7 models - the 65in QN65, 55in QN55 and QP55, and 49in QP49 - the Q Series is built to meet the needs of businesses across a number of sectors, delivering outstanding high-res picture quality within a slender E-LED design. The Q Series has been created with high- end content front of mind. Excellent picture quality is delivered through UHD resolution and HDR 10 on the QN65 and QN55, and FHD resolution on the QP49 and QP55. A 500 NIT brightness level on the QN65 and QN55, and 700 NIT on the QP49 and QP55, also provide high brightness for displays of this size, making them a vibrant and cost-effective solution for areas of high ambient lighting. Each of the Q Series displays has been specifically designed and tested for 24/7 usage. This includes a panel lifetime of more than 50,000 hours, as well as a durable yet slim-line E-LED design with narrow bezels to provide a premium look and feel for any business. The flexibility of portrait or landscape orientation, combined with the option of three different display sizes, also ensures the Q Series is equipped with the versatility to be used in almost any space. Ease of use is built into the Q Series, with an abundance of connectivity and CMS options available to simplify operations for the end-user. Android OS brings with it access to a multitude of third-party applications and software, enabling users to manage and display content in the ways they want to. Built- in browser connectivity allows for quick and easy connection to the internet, meaning businesses can automatically showcase content from their website or a predefined URL. This is in addition to a variety of connectivity options, including three HDMI ports, an OPS slot, external control, and a USB media player. 13 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE SAMBA TV PARTNERS WITH PUBMATIC Samba TV, provider of omniscreen advertising and analytics, has announced a multi-market partnership with PubMatic, a sell- side platform for digital advertising. Samba TV’s extensive first-party Connected TV data will be integrated with PubMatic’s advertising platform to provide media buyers with advanced omniscreen targeting capabilities across four of Europe’s largest advertising markets: the UK, Germany, Italy, and France. This combination provides European advertisers with the ability to reach audiences based on TV viewing behaviours and drive incremental reach by targeting audiences that are not exposed to linear TV advertising. This offering is a tool for global advertisers who aim to optimise reach and frequency via a single, multi-market solution. In addition, advertisers will be able to deduplicate ad exposure data across linear, Connected TV, and digital channels. NOWSIGNAGE RECEIVES APPROVED BRIGHTSIGN INTEGRATOR STATUS NowSignage has announced they are the latest digital signage CMS to receive the status of approved BrightSign BSN. cloud Integrated Partner, providing a seamless way for customers to remotely activate the NowSignage application on any BrightSign device. The BSN.cloud platform is a free subscription included with every BrightSign device that allows users to remotely manage their device and to install the NowSignage digital signage CMS application. This increases the speed and ease of deployment and management of digital signage networks, anywhere in the world. KENNET PARTNERS AND GOLDMAN SACHS SELL NUXEO Kennet Partners and Goldman Sachs Growth Equity have agreed to sell co-owned portfolio company, Nuxeo, a content services platform and digital asset management (DAM) provider, to Hyland Software. Kennet and Goldman Sachs are expected to make a 5x return on their investment in Nuxeo. Nuxeo’s platform focuses on Digital Asset Management for companies with fast product life cycles such as media, fashion and consumer electronics, and Enterprise Content Management for financial institutions. Nuxeo’s range of global customers include ABN-AMRO, Fox, Electronic Arts, CVS, and Siemens. PE FIRM BUYS OUT OLIVE JAR IW Capital has announced the leveraged buyout and growth equity investment into Olive Jar Digital. This investment is focused on enabling the organic growth of the company through continued expansion into new segments in a growing market. Olive Jar Digital – founded in 2015 – is a digital consultancy, championing managed digital delivery services and provision of expert talent. They have been successful in delivering projects for all sectors, including government and retail, using their knowledge and experience in both Digital Transformation and Talent Acquisition to mobilise the right resources and team for client projects. MANUFACTURING RESILIENCY 14KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINEW ith some estimates placing high levels of automation at just 3% of all goods produced, there is a clear need for business owners to wake up to the benefits technology can provide in building the factories of the future. Here, Ian Millington, MD of adi Automation, a division of the multidisciplinary engineering company, adi Group, discusses how an accelerated adoption of technology can help fix supply chain vulnerabilities and boost business prospects in 2021. A weak link in the chain Before COVID-19 arrived on the scene, a business’ ability to adapt and respond to marketplace changes was a strong indicator of its industry success. Fast forward to today, and without this kind of business mobility, manufacturers expose themselves to a ruthless economic climate, whereby manufacturers across the world are having to down tools and shut up shop, maybe for the last time. Supply chains have been particularly exposed at this point in time, as manufacturing resiliency, flexibility and scalability are put into perspective with increased food demands, data centre needs and medical responsibility. Business owners have had to learn the hard way that dependency on human labour and access to physical space can make it vulnerable to disruption. So with the manufacturing industry looking to fight back against the virus, we’d argue that now is the time for automation to take its place in achieving a highly cohesive, resilient and responsive manufacturing ecosystem. Automating fear Manufacturers have long intimated a desire to automate systems, yet this has been juxtaposed by an ingrained resistance for decades. The cost of implementation and fear for the loss of human jobs has been well publicised over the years, and in an economic climate whereby job safety is at a premium, it’s little wonder that bosses have further retrenched into old habits. Low cost at a reasonable rate of quality has become the norm for the past 20 years, often meaning manufacturers have looked overseas for cheap labour, land and shipping infrastructure. But with COVID-19 rattling this old school supply chain in a massive way, now is the time for manufacturers to step up and act differently if they want to not only survive but thrive in the years ahead. Robot and human efficiency Firstly, there’s solid evidence out there that automation doesn’t really lead to a loss of human jobs. Think of one of the oldest industries out there – farming. It is true that in the early 20th century, there were over 10 million farmers in MANUFACTURING RESILIENCY AUTOMATING MANUFACTURING RESILIENCY NOT RESISTANCE Automation is causing seismic shifts across many industries, as the adoption of intelligent technology promises to transform the way we live and work. At its core, automation has the potential to reduce our reliance on manual or physical labour, drive process efficiency, reduce administrative burden and produce more effective workflows in the process. 15 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE IAN MILLINGTON MD ADI AUTOMATIONthe US alone, compared to just one million today. Yet this decline was accompanied by new technology, which created jobs in the service, blue-collar and white-collar industries. Automation creates jobs in new digital-based roles that are expected to have a global economic impact of over £11 trillion by 2030. Remote guidance Capital expenditure has been in heavy retreat during the pandemic, so it is of some relief that by deploying robots to automate many of the mundane, repetitive tasks associated with manufacturing processes, firms can shift their spending from capital to operating expenses, minimising both cost and risk. One of the huge benefits that have enabled many factories to continue operations as normal, amidst social distancing guidelines, is remote working practices. At adi, we’ve seen the benefit of this as manufacturers adopt a ‘lean’ or ‘thin management’ approach. Delivering centralised data management via a single server-based technology, manufacturers are able to shield themselves from costly periods of downtime and production outages. Understanding this further, take for example how manufacturing environments can be quite inhospitable to electronics such as computers. A typical PC may break down within two to five years depending on conditions. If you had 20 MANUFACTURING RESILIENCY There’s solid evidence out there that automation doesn’t actually lead to a loss of human jobs 16KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINEMANUFACTURING RESILIENCY Remote access and monitoring are transforming production sectors as diverse as food and beverage, chemical and general manufacturing 17 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE PC stations in one plant, that could result in a massive outage or loss of data to your business taking approximately eight hours to fix at best. That’s one outage potentially every two months. A lean management approach utilises single server-based technology, instead of bulky PCs connected to screens in the production environment. With no moving parts, thin clients are less prone to overheating and breakdown, while they can also operate as ‘plug and play’ devices, meaning any downtime is minimal. The ease of installation means extra screens can be easily installed for social distancing of personnel. Similar applications can be applied for remote monitoring systems, allowing personnel to access plant data in a variety of simple to use and graphical formats, from anywhere using equipment such as laptops, tablets or mobile phones. Data can be used and updated to maximise production whilst being away from the manufacturing environment. Remote access and monitoring are therefore transforming production sectors as diverse as food and beverage, chemical and general manufacturing. Companies are looking for ever more innovative ways to operate efficiently with fewer production floor operatives being available. Automation is just one of a number of technologies that can be applied to existing facilities to improve efficiencies through the use of data. By acting now, manufacturers can set the stage for the next wave of industrial transformation and futureproof themselves against manufacturing’s next inevitable wave of disruption.FOUR QSR TRENDS DRIVING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION 1 Digital Drive-Thrus According to Brian Geraghty, head of Restaurant Finance at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, QSRs that have survived the pandemic have “shift[ed] their focus to drive- thru and takeout offerings.” This was evident as early as October 2020, when the news broke that Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons planned to upgrade more than 10,000 drive-thrus in the coming year to take advantage of booming consumer interest in drive-thru food experiences. Industry publications reported the 40,000-plus digital screens being installed in the drive-thrus will offer some high-tech features to customers, including: • Predictive selling via artificial intelligence: parent company Restaurant Brands International said its technology can dynamically learn customers’ preferred ordering habits and show trending menu items for a specific location. This would allow for special promotions to be tailored to each customer based on previous orders, regional weather patterns, time of day and other factors. • Remote, contactless payments: the digital drive-thru menu boards can add immediate, remote contactless payments, so guests can order and pay simultaneously. • Integrated loyalty programs via Bluetooth, scanning or near-field communication: the new menu boards can integrate loyalty programs, so displayed menu options can be customised to a customer’s favourite purchases and redemption history. 2 Omnichannel Payments A key feature of the new drive-thrus at Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons is a better paying experience for drive-thru customers — one that is designed to be contactless. It’s not surprising the brands chose that feature. The pandemic drove many customers to prefer using contactless payment methods like QR codes or digital payment apps (Venmo, Square, PayPal, Google Pay and Apple Pay), which allow them to pay for purchases without having to pass a card or cash to a cashier — but cash and credit/debit aren’t fully going away, either. The pandemic also led to growing consumer desire for delivery and curbside pickup, both of which also can be contactless as long as QSRs offer the ability to order and pay via mobile app and website. DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Lessons learned during the pandemic are pushing QSRs to implement new technology-supported strategies The events of 2020 showed quick-service restaurants (QSRs) everywhere what they must do to ensure future success, maintain or boost business resilience and meet new customer expectations. Now, it’s time to act. These four rising trends use lessons learned from the pandemic to help QSRs optimise operations and drive continued digital transformation. DAN LYMAN HEAD OF GLOBAL PRODUCTS TNS PAYMENTS MARKET 18KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINEDIGITAL TRANSFORM ATION 19 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINENext >