The following appears on cio.com
Brad Clay, who is upgrading everything from how Lexmark replenishes printer toner to how employees consume corporate information, says the company must learn fast and learn continuously.
By Clint Boulton – If Brad Clay gets the formula right, Lexmark printers will no longer go thirsty, running out of their precious toner during critical business tasks. Leveraging machine learning (ML) and internet of things (IoT), Lexmark’s printers will soon predict when their business-critical liquid will run out and automatically order more before leaving customers high and dry, says Clay, Lexmark’s CIO.
Printers typically warn corporate staff when their cartridges are down to their last 10 percent of ink or toner, but an uptick in use can quickly drain supplies before they can be replenished. Clay says his team is building proprietary algorithms that read information firing from sensors to track quantities and usage rates, as well as quarterly close or other timelines that precipitate spikes in use, to ensure that fresh toner arrives the day it’s needed. Just-in-time replacement can also help curb waste associated with replacing cartridges before they’re empty.
