A-cx Llc

We pioneered a VR training tool to transform heavy machine operator training, making it safer, more accessible, scalable, and cost-effective. The challenge Industries relying on heavy machinery are primed for a revolution in training. Traditional methods, although effective, have cost, logistics, safety, and scalability constraints. In collaboration with our client, we’ve crafted a transformative VR solution that dovetails with existing training programs to enhance their efficiency, safety, and accessibility. How we helped Our transformative project started with us meticulously crafting a high-definition, true-to-scale 3D model of an excavator. This detailed model was then brought to life with interactivity applied in Unity. Through precision, every aspect of the virtual excavator mirrors its real-life counterpart, creating an authentic simulation that captures the experience of operating the machine. Within the VR environment, trainees perform a safety inspection before operating. Once in the operator’s seat, they’re presented with a realistic view of the controls. Reaching out, trainees can grasp and manipulate the joysticks, executing operations such as driving, turning, and controlling the boom and bucket, just as they would in real life. Integrating real-world mechanics and physics into the VR platform delivers an immersive, practical, and engaging training experience. Our breakthrough is this ingenious fusion of technology and practicality, which is driving the future of heavy machinery training. Results Our VR training tool is not just a revolution for heavy machinery training, it provides a safe and realistic environment for hands-on learning. It’s cost-effective, accessible, and ripe for industry-wide adoption. Notably, it fosters safer training, minimizes accidents, and helps improve safety records. Our VR training tool marks a significant step towards a more efficient future in heavy machinery industries. This case study is a testament to our commitment to product innovation and digital transformation in the heavy machinery industry. Languages C# Frameworks Unity Scrum Development Tools Visual Studio Visual Studio Code Blender Figma Photoshop Bitbucket Hardware Meta Quest 2 Read More

We implemented a TCP Proxy with decision-making sidecars to provide security when information/data crosses the boundaries of clouds/networks. The objective was to maintain low latency, design for scalability, and have no impact on the overall performance. Our client A leading global and highly regulated company headquartered in the USA. The challenge Our client managed critical and sensitive information in numerous on-premises and cloud applications and databases, lacking secure connectivity between clouds. Their challenge was that each application needed to secure communication between applications themselves. Security is paramount during communication with access control systems and must comply with industry standards. Our client needed a better, more secure solution and one less prone to human error. How we helped We worked directly with the client to develop a TCP proxy as a tunnel of encrypted data to secure communication between services deployed in the public and private cloud (on-premises). We had two teams working on the project, one to set up the environment, while the other developed within that environment. Our teams tackled the different aspects of development in the entire software development life cycle involving the product’s design, implementation, testing, and release. Results We implemented a tried and tested solution to a common problem of the exchange of information across boundaries, rather than each engineering team re-inventing the wheels. Our solution was a highly available, secure, robust, and scalable system that increased the security of our client’s infrastructure by controlling and monitoring the communication between boundaries. It currently services the communication of thousands of applications making millions of requests between them.  Languages Java Typescript Frameworks Springboot Undertow Terraform Cloud AWS GCP IDEs IntelliJ IDEA Read More

We secured communication between services while lowering our client’s operational maintenance cost by taking advantage of the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) design and microservices. Our client A leading global, highly regulated service company headquartered in the USA. Their challenge Our client was moving their infrastructure from in-house to cloud-based services like AWS, GCP, and Azure. They needed a scalable solution to allow multiple services to communicate securely. How we helped We deployed a PKI to meet the robust security needs and to automate operational processes at scale. Our technical team was accountable for the implementation, testing, and production deployment of every component. We then worked directly with our client’s technical team to integrate the microservices from the design, using the latest development, reliability, and DevOps standards. Results Our highly secure, automated, state-of-the-art framework supports millions of simultaneous Microservices. It also reduced our clients’ manual processes and human error margin, resulting in lower operational costs and increased efficiency. Languages Java Javascript Frameworks Springboot Webflux Terraform Multiple proprietary frameworks Cloud AWS GCP  Azure IDEs IntelliJ IDEA Read More

Step into the future of forestry with our cross-platform enterprise fleet management solution. Enhance your current operations, predict future output, and extend your competitive advantage. The challenge Today’s forestry industry is worth trillions of dollars. Like many other industries, it relies on telemetry data from its fleet to monitor performance and efficiency, and make data-informed predictions. Most companies utilize a multitude of brands in the field like John Deere, Caterpillar, TimberPro, Komatsu, Hitachi, and Ponsse. Each specialist machine has the ability to transmit telemetry data to the cloud. The challenge is that different brands of machines transmit differently formatted telemetry data, leading to a significant amount of time and resources to aggregate, normalize, and visualize the data into a meaningful representation that can provide an overview of the project.  In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, embracing intelligent automation is no longer a convenient option. It’s a necessity for staying relevant and competitive. By streamlining operations, your organization has the opportunity to accelerate growth and improve profitability, and sustain your competitive edge. Our solution The enterprise fleet management platform We built a centralized fleet management platform that receives telemetry data from multiple brands of machines, normalizes it, and then presents the information as data visualizations. This allowed project managers, project coordinators, data analysts, etc., to access the data efficiently from any device (phone/tablet/desktop computer), freeing up the bulk of their time and resources to perform the actual analysis and planning. Infographics Data visualizations were the primary method for delivering information – by request. We held customer feedback sessions with the end-users to listen to their needs and requests and understand how these features would benefit them. In the end, our dashboard gave the user the ability to zero-in on one machine, a subset of machines, or view the entire fleet. Users can view performance over a day, week, month, or a custom date range. They can look at performance by region, or compare performance between multiple regions over the same date. Real-time analysis Project managers can now instantly assess the number of machines that need to be refueled, and order the truck to be on-site at the right time, minimizing downtime. Maintenance intervals can be scheduled well in advance, giving the PM the ability to reorganize tasks to accommodate. Skills Primary & secondary research Workshop facilitation UX/UI design Prototyping Frontend development Backend development Frameworks Design thinking Business model canvas Value prop canvas Lean startup Scrum Technologies React Native Next JS Non-relational DB CSS, HTML Tools Figma Miro Visual Studio Code IntelliJ IDEA Github How we did it At A-CX, we deliver value to our clients. Before taking on any project, we thoroughly analyze the business and its challenges. This is to ensure we can make a meaningful impact. We only ever engage if we are confident that we can meet our client’s specific needs and goals.  Service Design To provide the best possible service, our Service Design team gains a thorough understanding of the four crucial components of the organization: People, Processes, Products, and Partners. Our team engaged in workshops with representatives from various teams in the organization, actively listening and posing strategic questions. We also involved relevant stakeholders in these workshops. Sometimes, this even included representatives from the Ministry of Forests, who ensured that our early ideas were aligned with their specific requirements. Design Sprints After thoroughly understanding the organization through our Service Design process, we embarked on a collaborative innovation phase called Design Sprint. Our software engineers, designers, and project coordinators collaborated with members of our client’s organization to identify pressing challenges and rapidly ideate, prototype, and test the most promising solutions. This approach leveraged the expertise of our client’s industry and our experience in parallel industries, creating a shared ownership of the final solution and setting the path for ensuring success. Creating an MVP We presented the fleet management dashboard to our target users: project managers, coordinators, analysts, etc. Their feedback was integral in shaping the solution through iteration until it was ready for implementation as a pilot MVP. The goal of this pilot was to observe and measure the team’s performance with the new solution and compare the results to their performance before implementation to assess the solution’s impact. Read More

Our client A major consumer product company and household name (specific details obfuscated due to confidentiality) The challenge Early in 2021, our client noted that many professionals lacked the adequate tools to perform their jobs efficiently in the new work-from-home/hybrid model. They needed an unbiased perspective to find out more about what specifically was lacking from this audience’s tool set where they were experiencing friction in their workflows. Gaining deep insights Our client needed fact-based evidence that a sizeable market opportunity existed to garner support and mobilize their organization. The Design Thinking framework helped us produce evidence-based insights and deeply understand the user’s challenge. We started with desk research, evaluating how current solutions on the market held up against the contextual shift in people’s working habits. To explore this further, we recruited individuals who matched our client’s target persona from all over the USA to participate in remote 1-on-1 interviews where we learned about their experiences and what they were struggling with (and, in some cases, succeeding). Our research insights and the corresponding data presented our client with the evidence to rally support within their organization and the confidence to proceed to the next phase: exploring solutions. Skills Primary & Secondary Research Workshop Facilitation Industrial Design UX/UI Design Physical Prototyping Frameworks Design Thinking Business Model Canvas Value Prop Canvas Lean Startup Tools Figma Miro Zoom Exploring solutions Seeking the right solution is an exercise in divergent thinking; one must explore all the options, leave no stone unturned, and find unique angles. We took an effective and efficient approach by running a co-creation workshop to generate ideas. One must explore all the options, leave no stone unturned, and find unique angles. We took an effective and efficient approach by running a co-creation workshop to generate ideas.  We invited a diverse team from our client’s multiple business units to help us find solutions from various perspectives. Each concept was measured against stringent criteria based on insights and the user’s jobs-to-be-done from the previous research phase. When the workshop was over, our team shaped the top ideas into creative territories: loosely constructed concepts designed to stimulate discussion and further refinement. To help visualize these concepts, we produced low-fidelity prototypes and ran an additional round of interviews with participants matching our target profile to test our ideas.  The feedback was insightful, helping us direct our efforts and prioritize features for the customers. Validating our solution Well into the convergent phase of the design thinking process, we aimed to test a solution and conclusively address the target audience’s challenges.  By applying what we’d learned from the previous two rounds of interviews, we iterated on our concepts to produce higher fidelity prototypes, this time comprising hardware and software. We then conducted in-person interviews at our Vancouver studio, asking participants to use our prototype and walk us through their experiences. The room was equipped with a camera array to document our participant’s feedback, body language, and facial expressions and record their actions in the software. Our evaluation criteria of the potential solutions hinged on the following factors: Desirability (Do customers want and need this?) Feasibility (Can it be achieved with existing tech?) Viability (Can we monetize this?) Results Our team delivered conclusive, customer-validated evidence that our proposed solution addressed their customer’s needs, was feasible to produce and had a viable business model to justify their actions and make a return on investment. Read More