When unexpected events occur and customer demand increases what can companies do to smooth out the resulting peaks and troughs? Henry Jinman at EBI.AI outlines four ways conversational AI can help and shares a real-life example. First there were Storms Ciara and Dennis, now Coronavirus. The impacts of the pandemic are changing every minute, causing widespread fear and uncertainty around the world. Frontline teams are under particular pressure as agents struggle to manage surging and often widely fluctuating volumes of customer calls. When disaster strikes, what can businesses do to smooth the peaks and troughs?

Swedish shipping company Stena Line is expanding the reach of artificial intelligence (AI) as a fuel-efficiency and cost-saving tool within the transport group's shipping fleet. Initial pilot tests have produced promising results, indicating that AI/digital technologies have the potential to revolutionise how ships operate. AI-supported automation trials have delivered cost savings and ship operational efficiencies. Stena plans to expand the use of AI to cut fuel costs on its vessels, and digitisation to enhance productivity across the group. There is an appetite for this in the Nordic region.

Stena Line is running a pilot study of artificial intelligence (AI) technology on board one of its ferries. With technology company Hitachi, an AI-model is being developed that will help predict the most fuel-efficient way to operate a particular vessel on a specific route. If successful it will make an important contribution to Stena Line's sustainability target to reduce fuel consumption by 2.5 percent annually. The model simulates many different scenarios before suggesting the most optimal route and performance setup. With the help of AI, it considers a number of variables, such as currents, weather conditions, shallow water and speed through water, in various combinations which would be impossible to do manually.

Working with technology company Hitachi, Stena Line are developing an artifical intelligence system that will help predict the most fuel-efficient way to operate a ferry on a specific route. The AI will support the captain and officers on board, and if successful will make an important contribution to Stena Line's sustainability target to reduce fuel consumption by 2.5 % each year. "The model simulates many different scenarios before suggesting the most optimal route and performance setup. With the help of AI we are able to consider a number of variables, such as currents, weather conditions, shallow water and speed through water, in various combinations which would be impossible to do manually" The pilot study is taking place on Stena Scandinavica, under the supervision of Senior Master Jan Sjöström who has been working with fuel optimisation at Stena Line for the last 40 years. "Since we are helping the AI to evolve, we might be assisting the AI more than we are at the moment, but it is a very exciting and rewarding process. We've been making adjustments to the model after each trip for about four weeks and it is amazing to see how quickly it is learning" The ultimate goal is to create a precise model that will support the captain when planning each trip.

Stena Line has partnered with Hitachi Europe to implement artificial intelligence technology (AI) to reduce fuel consumption costs, which will become an important tool in the company--s efforts to minimise environmental impact. The partnership will see a team of Hitachi experts from across its business units review the existing digital architecture in close collaboration with Stena Line, and advise the ferry company. Hitachi said by leveraging cutting-edge AI technologies, it will be able to identify the key factors causing high fuel consumption and, critically, advise how to make operations more efficient. Hitachi Global Digital Holdings Corporation chief executive officer Hicham Abdessamad said --Digitalisation plays a key role in helping industries such as shipping optimise their operations for both financial performance and environmental impact. We are engaged with Stena Line on a number of strategic co-creation initiatives and we see this as an important next step in providing digital expertise to help them achieve positive business and societal outcomes.--