Optimism at scale - the power of you, technology, and community

Hexagon’s CEO and President Paolo Guglielmini kicked off HxGN LIVE Global 2023 last June with an energetic opening keynote. Speaking to an audience of 3,600 attendees from 77 countries, he was joined by five visionary technology leaders across industries served by Hexagon to explore how a combination of entrepreneurial leadership, passion, technological innovation, and a community of like-minded people can deliver real impact for businesses and the planet.

As an engineer and former president of Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division, Guglielmini is no stranger to the manufacturing industry. The former project leader for the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) learned firsthand the intricacies of building effective relationships between clients and technology vendors. He also cultivated a strong vision and optimistic attitude about the possibilities and opportunities afforded by technology. While inspiration may be easy to find working alongside international experts to build the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, how can we apply this kind of revolutionary vision and optimism to everyday engineering jobs?

Hexagon set out just over 20 years ago with an ambitious technological mission: to combine real-world measurements with software to help manufacturers plan and predict outcomes. This vision resulted in the development of digital twin technology. Along with progress in the development of underlying data infrastructure — such as cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) — we think it’s the most powerful technology enabler today.

When interviewing with Hexagon, Guglielmini said he could see the power in Hexagon’s vision of the digital twin as the foundation for an improvement journey. Digitising a part, product, factory, mine, city — and just about anything else we can dream up — empowers us to ask, “What if?” and provides the data-driven insight required to build an improved iteration in digital reality. He also discovered an inclusive culture of shared purpose, where Hexagon and those we serve create a future of mutual opportunity through sustainability, vision and passion.

This vision of shared opportunity was illustrated by guest speakers in the HxGN Live keynote, which featured Albert Becker of Bayer AG, a global life sciences enterprise; Ben Macnamara of CBH Group, Australia’s global leader in the grain industry; and Nick Pfenning of Mortenson, a top-20 US construction company. Becker, Bayer AG’s head of CAE (computer-aided engineering) and BIM (building information modelling) support, explained that the company’s close partnership with Hexagon enabled its use of digital twins to improve data analysis and reduce waste.

According to CEO Macnamara, it was automation technology that proved a game changer for CBH Group, which achieved a reduction in waste and increased profitability with the implementation of autonomous haulage. Pfenning, senior superintendent at Mortenson, shared that digital construction and green AEC (architectural engineering and construction) helped the company introduce modular guest rooms to a citizenM hotel through reality capture and autonomy, drone flights, photo documentation and robotics for all units.

Erik Josefsson, CEO of R-evolution, Hexagon’s sustainable innovation and green-tech investment subsidiary, took the stage to share our progress with seagrass conservation in the Bahamas. The Bahamian government has awarded the groundbreaking project blue carbon credits, or credits linked to the growth and conservation of carbon-absorbing plants and used by companies to offset the amount of carbon emissions and greenhouse gases they release. Josefsson shared a video from the country’s prime minister, Philip “Brave” Davis, who spoke about the project’s importance.

During his address, Guglielmini also spoke about the pivotal role that hyperscale cloud partners such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft play in putting data to work. He was joined by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang to share the news that Hexagon and NVIDIA will connect their industryleading technology platforms to enable intelligent realtime digital twins and metaverse applications for factory planning and digitalisation.

If you’re from the manufacturing sector, you might wonder what this has got to do with your world — enter guest speaker Lukas Czinger, cofounder and COO of Czinger Vehicles and Hexagon partner Divergent 3D, who explained how a small team of like-minded individuals set out with an ambitious vision to address the business challenges of automotive and aerospace manufacturers and the environmental impact of their product lifecycles. “Small but mighty,” the team succeeded in using innovative design optimisation, 3D printing and robotic assembly technologies to digitalise manufacturing.

Czinger reflected on the power of asking “What if?” and using a digital twin to both scale the project and accelerate its progress. The result is Divergent 3D’s Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS) process, which is being applied to industrial manufacturing applications for vehicles, drones and even the Czinger 21C hypercar. The system is product agnostic, developed for use with no downtime and is capable of producing products and subsystems that are 30-40% lighter, consume less energy throughout the product lifecycle and are 95% recyclable.

You, technology and community are integral to the future of Hexagon as we navigate relationships with customers and partners and continue to embark on innovation journeys that address the needs of individuals, businesses, communities and the manufacturing ecosystem.

Growing our businesses sustainably demands imaginative solutions that require expertise, collaboration and the innovative use of technologies throughout the product lifecycle to make a positive impact. We hope you find inspiration in this magazine and we look forward to creating positive change together.