26 minute read
TECHNOVATORS
Advertisement
Thirukumaran Nagarajan
Co-founder and CEO, Ninjacart Ninjacart Promotes ‘Safe Food a Billion People’
India’s largest fresh produce supply chain company, Ninjacart is solving one of the toughest problems in the world through technology. The startup based in Bengaluru, has a vision to build India’s most efficient and largest Supply Chain platform and improve the lives of producers, businesses, and consumers in a meaningful manner. Ninjacart connects producers of food directly with retailers, restaurants, and service providers using in-house applications that drive end to end operations. While talking with Nitisha from BISinfotech, Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Co-founder and CEO, Ninjacart explains the adoption of ML (Machine Learning) and AI (Artificial Intelligence) and its impact on agriculture. He says that now farmers can take decisions on which crops to produce by providing automated warnings and updates on weather conditions.
QKindly explain Ninjacart’s unique services and the use of AI and IoT in it?
Ninjacart is India’s largest B2B fresh produce supply chain company connecting farmers directly with retail outlets. We have reduced uncertainty related to demand and supply by creating market linkage. Every day we transport tonnes of fresh produce, from farms to businesses, in major cities across India within 12 hours. At Ninjacart, we have developed special apps for farmers, which enable them to check prices across the market. So the farmers have the freedom to settle on the marketplace for better price recovery. Retailers and small business owners associated with Ninjacart enjoy the convenience of receiving farm fresh produce at their doorsteps. At Ninjacart, the prowess of AI algorithms has been applied in several dimensions of the supply chain including the tasks of Predictive Demand Forecasting and Planning, Logistics Route Optimization as well as making Catalogue Pricing decisions as dictated by data. Demand Forecasting & Planning begins with identifying the leading indicators of demand changes. This is followed by modeling our decisions depending on these indicators using a regression-based approach which helps us provide better value and guarantees to the farmers.
Another important application lies in the optimization of our logistics routes for maximising efficiency. For the same, we have taken a constraint-based modeling approach. Constraints are based on distance, vehicle, cost, capacity & time. Post defining these constraints, we use a metaheuristic optimization technique (Guided Local Search), to maximize our objective function and reduce our supply chain cost.
RFID Scanning: The traditional supply chain lacks transparency, which is one of the many challenges in the Agri Supply Chain. Ninjacart uses RFID chips on crates to bring transparency by tracking the movement of vegetables and fruits across the supply chain as they move through numerous processes and facilities. Transparency is key to assure the quality of produce and accountability for farmers. Ninjacart’s integrated technology helps us track the movement of thousands of tonnes of produce from farms to shelves, every day.
Vehicle Route Planning: Vehicle Route Planning is key to driving the Ninjacart Supply Chain to move tonnes of fresh produce from farms to retailers in less than 12 hours. The algorithm registers retail customer order details that were placed the previous day. It utilizes information such as customer location, tonnage, crate count, delivery time window, etc. to determine the optimal delivery route. In the same manner, the algorithm utilizes vehicle information such as vehicle type, start location, max crate capacity, max no. of points, the time window in which it’s available, and average speed of the vehicle to assign the delivery route the next day for the door to door deliveries to stores. After considering customer specifications and vehicle information, the algorithm perfectly optimizes the vehicle route towards the customer locations. The route is determined to use the vehicles more efficiently in terms of vehicle usage, occupancy, and positioning the orders to be delivered. Our algorithms automate the planning and optimization of logistics by mapping 1000+ routes for vehicles crisscrossing 15 states for delivering to customers daily across 7 cities.
Facial Recognition: Being a supply chain company, Ninjacart has a large workforce that operates on the ground level and labour is one of the biggest costs for the business. It becomes a mammoth task to keep a track of every single worker to ensure they get work done on time. Moreover, fraudulent activities are rampant on the ground, which leads to problems such as false reporting, increased dependency on the worker, issues with cash handling, incomplete work, pilferage, and less accountability. This can have a direct impact on the P&L of the company and the outcome of the supply chain. A comprehensive solution to all of these problems that Ninjacart’s tech utilizes is Facial Recognition Software. The software swiftly captures the entire face and it is fragmented into small pieces that are converted into data streams. Each time, 90% accuracy is required to mark the attendance. This data can be further used for tracking worker productivity from start to finish and at various touchpoints in the Supply Chain and also solve many of the prevalent problems to ensure an order is delivered on time without any hiccups. Machine learning / AI is also used in enhancing customer experience and value
1. an automated, goal-seeking revenue & margin optimizing pricing system which takes care of both supply & demand side constraints. 2. Customer segmentation, temporal, personalised, product frequency-based model to recommend the set of products and offers.
The prediction model analyses hundreds and thousands of market factors. For instance, we analyse past buying data of consumers and the frequency of orders to determine the kind of produce that needs to be procured. This way, we inform farmers about what is expected of them for that particular month by issuing a ‘Harvest the farm’ calendar for weather forecasting.
QWhat will be your next project and how will it be impactful for the farm industry?
Our vision is ‘Safe Food a Billion People’, to make safe food affordable and accessible for millions of people of this country. We have made significant advancements towards this, early last year we had launched ‘Foodprint’ initiative. Foodprint is a foundational information highway that allows us to know everything about the food we eat. Starting from, who is the farmer, when was it harvested, the truck that carried the produce, the warehouse that processed it, the helper who handled the product at the warehouse, a retailer who brought the product and how it was delivered to your doorstep. The 100% traceability helps us control the quality in each and every step and monitor how your product is handled in the entire supply chain with a robust and instant feedback loop.
Our recent association with Kilofarms brings us closer to our vision to adapt residue-free farming methods. Residue-free vegetables are grown with optimal farm inputs to meet the expected global food safety standards. There are inefficiencies in the traditional farming practice and with our association with Kilofarms, we are moving towards creating a community of farmers who are well informed about advanced technologies in agriculture. After achieving success in producing the first batch of residue-free tomatoes, we intend to add 18 more crops by mid of this year.
With residue-free methods, we can increase farm productivity and consistency, empowering farmers with emerging technology concepts like moisture sensors, data analytics, software, and many other tools. For example, moisture sensors give a predictive estimate of the water content of the soil influencing the yield of the crop. Further, it helps reduce the amount of water used in the field by telling the farmers which part of the field has less water, thereby bringing more efficiency to the entire process with minimal wastage. This entire system is controlled through an app wherein farmers can take care of 30 to 40 acres of land during a single day, without having to spend the whole day in the field.
We will continue to introduce various innovations that will bring us closer towards our vision and therefore enable us to bring in about a change and create a powerful impact towards the industry.
We are also investing in Machine Learning (ML) to improve forecasting, price engine, crop monitoring recommendations based on our 5 years of data and research. Leveraging strengths and resources to ensure quality and efficiency remains our main focus as an Agritech platform.
QHow the business was during lockdown and what will be your future plans for such kinds of issues?
When the nationwide lockdown was announced there was no clarity on which part of the supply chain would be operative. Due to irregularities in the supply chain, we were unable to reach the end consumers. Retail outlets were closed, and we were allowed to operate a few hours a day, so we started working with government bodies to figure out how to ease the process. At the outset, we started engaging with farmers to understand the market value as they were struggling to find buyers and sought our help in selling the produce. After analyzing the situation and mutually agreeing on a price point we started delivering fresh produce to consumers, residents, supplying to orphanages, and multiple initiatives to drive the supply chain.
During the nationwide lockdown, operations at Ninjacart were temporarily shifted from B2B to B2C to assist the farmers with the harvested produce.
y At the initial phase of the lockdown, essentials like fruits and vegetables went out of stock, and if it was available it cost double the market price. As a result, Ninjacart launched the initiative- Reaching the underprivileged and began supplying fresh produce in bulk to old age homes, orphanages, community kitchens, and slums at subsidised rates. Additionally, to fill the gap between demand and supply, we started delivering fresh produce societies, colonies, and apartments across cities y Later, owing to the lockdown millions of farmers across the country were left in the lurch. That is when Ninjacart deployed the ‘Harvest The Farm’ initiative, and established a direct connection between the farmer and the end consumer through Swiggy, Zomato, and Dunzo. All this was managed by leveraging our existing supply chain while working overtime to help farmers and end consumers in an on-going lockdown situation y Due to the Covid-19 virus outbreak, customers become more cautious about what they are consuming. We saw this as an opportunity and started working towards our vision ‘Safe Food for Billion People’ and launched ‘FoodPrint’ initiative. Developed a traceability system that not only guarantees 100% traceability but also serves the purpose of safe food till last-mile delivery
The pandemic has changed the way we source, manage and deliver fresh produce. The plan is to make the supply chain transparent, resilient, and smarter with recovery operational capabilities after a disruption. We see this as an opportunity to re-design the supply chain with technology and long-term initiatives on this front.
QHow do you define Ninjacart different from the other agritech companies?
The supply chain infrastructure of fruits and vegetables is extremely fragmented with several uncertainties. Wastage is involved at every stage- assembling, transporting, storing, grading/sorting, processing, packaging and distributing. Given the complicated nature of the supply chain, the presence of too many middlemen resulted in exploitation of farmers pushing them to sell produce at cheaper rates. We have eliminated the intermediaries by taking control of the supply chain by using technology and analytics. Ninjacart is equipped to move tonnes of perishables from farms to stores every day, in less than 12 hrs.
Price and demand confirmation to farmers before harvesting is initiated by setting both purchasing and selling prices using an average of national prices to avoid price risk, which is never heard of before. Farmers have to complete Ninjacart’s quality control test and visit their nearby collection centre (CC) to sell their produce. Then, the merchandise is shipped to the fulfilment centre (FC) where it undergoes a second check and is dispatched to the distribution centre (DC). Finally, the produce is packed as per retailer’s orders and delivered via planned routes at the scheduled time.
Vehicle Route Planning is key to driving the Ninjacart Supply Chain to move tonnes of fresh produce from farms to retailers. The algorithm generated by Ninjacart registers retail details like location, crate count, delivery time window, among others to determine the optimal delivery route. In the same order algorithm utilises vehicle information like start location, max crate capacity, the time window in which it is available, etc. After considering both the factors the algorithm perfectly optimizes the vehicle route towards the customer locations.
We have taken a constraint-based modeling approach. Constraints are based on distance, vehicle, cost, capacity and time. Post defining these constraints, we use a metaheuristic optimization technique (Guided Local Search), to maximize our objective function and reduce our supply cost. Furthermore, we ensure transparency in the entire food value chain through RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), it enables us to track fresh produce as it undergoes various facilities.
We follow the best practices and utilise top-of-the-line monitoring tools to check what goes into a farm to produce a particular vegetable which can be concluded as follows:
y RFID Technology: Everything is enabled through the app. Every crate has a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag so that the company can know exactly which vegetables and fruits have been delivered. y Tomorrow ready ERP: Mobile ready ERP ensures use zero paper in the supply chain
y Demand Forecasting: Leveraged deep machine learning to perfect forecasting upto 97% and reduce the overall wastage to 4% [Traditional supply chains have wastage up to 25%]. y Farmer apps: Ninjacart also have specific apps for the farmers wherein they help them not only in demand forecasting but harvest planning and determining the price indent as well y Connected Logistics: Speed and cost can make or break any supply chain. Ninjacart’s indigenous route optimization and utilization keeps the load factor at 92% and puts fresh vegetables on the plate (they move the produce from farm to store within 12 hours) at a cost almost 1/3rd of the traditional supply chain y Vehicle Route Planning: Key driver of the supply chain at Ninjacart y Social security: Cashless and instant
QIs there any expectation from the government? Explain.
Over the years, the government has provided tremendous support to farmers through policies and reforms. We can expect the government to collaborate with agritech players as they hold the potential to overcome the challenges faced by farmers in terms of pricing, technology penetration, farm tools, better market linkage, and many more. The government’s focus has been to provide technology access to farmers for better decision making while improving small and marginal farmer incomes. Post the COVID-19 outbreak, the government has announced several amendments to support farmers. However, execution remains a challenge.
QChallenges and scope in the industry?
Indian agriculture grapples with challenges such as limited digital adoption, lack of infrastructure, uneven quality, and supply chain inefficiencies. The farmers have very limited access to technology, and the production part remains highly fragmented and unorganised. With a rise of new players and startups coming into the market, agritech has the potential to become a dominant industry in India. The scope is huge as these platforms are already leveraging technology for market linkages, controlling the end-to-end supply chain, and assisting farmers with access to data. On the demand side, consumers demand towards consuming healthier food, urgency to reduce food waste in India, quality management and traceability are helping push the adoption of agritech in the nation. As the agritech ecosystem matures, there are likely scenarios that could play out in this sector. There is an opportunity for players to expand and to own the end-to-end relationship with the farmers. Besides, they can build up a robust digital platform and physical infrastructure to handle post-harvest supply chains. Finally, leveraging data driven precision techniques in agriculture to increase the output. water, crops vary within the field itself, and therefore farmers need to have information that directs them to handle these fluctuations in the field accurately. To supervise the field performance technology that is helpful is satellite imagery, GPS, Information Technology (IT), and other geospatial tools.
The farmers are slowly getting to understand how leveraging solutions that use the latest technologies can offer them greater solutions. For example, the strategic combination of ML (Machine Learning) and AI (Artificial Intelligence) influence their decisions on which crops to produce by providing automated warnings and updates on weather conditions. With precise forecasting, farmers are empowered with actual data rather than relying on intuition or observation alone.
As technology improves every day, mobile technology has also advanced. The use of IoT (Internet of Things) has altered the way of using data in a more prominent manner. It allows farmers to measure all kinds of data remotely and provides this information to the farmer in real time to save both time and money.
QImpact of IoT and advance technologies in the agri tech biz?
Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced technologies have acted as a driving force in the supply chain, enabling agritech businesses to improve productivity, neutralize wastage, reduce cost and ensure competitiveness in the market. Advanced technologies and IoT have the potential to transform agriculture in many aspects and it has gained momentum after the nationwide lockdown. It has made it easier to function on large scale operations such as agriculture planning, connecting logistics, internal communication in ways previously impossible if it were not for advanced technologies.
At Ninjacart, with the strategic use of IoT we have developed a Facial Recognition Software for employees, which captures the entire face and it is fragmented into small pieces that are converted into data streams. In this way we track workers productivity and ensure order is delivered timely without any hiccups.
QThe role of technology for farmers and how it can improve the style of agriculture?
Farming is becoming scientific and more technical, holistically- right from seed germination to the harvesting methods and processes. Whole facets of farming such as cultivation, soil,
QTrends you foresee to shape agri-tech industry?
We can expect a surge in the development of new technologies. y Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) facilitate distribution methods from farm to fork in the food supply chain, making it efficient at all levels. y With startups and Agritech players, we can expect new business models that will be scalable, affordable and low cost. y A global shift towards healthy, residue free food with fewer pesticides and fertilizers and cheaper and more scalable than organic food. With the use of technology, farmers can control inputs and target specific areas in the field. y Farm data, along with basic digitization will help agribusinesses meet short and long-term goals.
Infineon EasyPACK CoolSiC MOSFET Module
Infineon Technologies unveils new EasyPACK 2B module in the company’s 1200 V family. The module comes in 3-level Active NPC (ANPC) topology and integrates CoolSiC MOSFETs, TRENCHSTOP IGBT7 devices, and an NTC temperature sensor along with PressFIT contact technology pins.
Features:
• The module also increases the power rating and efficiency of solar systems. • Designed to operate over the entire power factor (cos φ) range. • A single module per phase is capable of supplying a power level of up to 75 kW. • Ensures short and clean commutation loops with reduced stray module inductances.
Features:
• System development cost and schedule optimization by leveraging standard software and hardware tools from the consumer devices. • Extending the portfolio of Microchip’s radiationhardened Arm Cortex-M7-based MCUs • Analog functions on top of a >100 DMIPS processor unit with Digital Signal Processing (DSP) capabilities.
Applications:
Fast-switching applications like energy storage systems (ESS).
Availability:
Available Now
Microchip Develops Radiation-Hardened Arm MCU Family
Microchip Technology has declared about the qualification of its SAMRH71 Arm-based microprocessor (MPU) and the availability of the SAMRH707 microcontroller (MCU), both implementing Arm Cortex-M7 SoC radiation-hardened technology.
Applications:
Automotive and industrial processors
Availability:
Available Now
Mitsubishi Electric’s New X-Series HVIGBTs and HVDIODEs
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has developed seven new X-Series products—two HVIGBTs and five HVDIODEs—boosting the X-Series lineup to 24 power semiconductor modules suitable for increasingly large-capacity, small-sized inverters used in traction motors, DC-power transmitters, large industrial machinery and other high-voltage, large-current equipment.
Features:
• Expanded lineup accommodates wide-ranging inverter capacities • Increase in rated current to support larger-capacity, smaller-sized inverters
MORNSUN has released the newly 450W and 550W LOF series products to provide customers more options to satisfy the requirement for higher power AC/DC converter in Medical applications.
Applications:
Traction motors, DC-power transmitters, large industrial machinery and other high-voltage, large-current equipment.
Availability:
The models will be released sequentially
MORNSUN High Power Density AC-DC Converter
Features:
• Maintaining the high-power density advantage of the LOF AC/DC Converter series. • The LOF450 series has the dimension of 127mm × 76.2mm × 38.5mm (19.79W/inch3), and the LOF550 series is 127mm × 76.2mm × 40.5mm (22.99W/inch3). • Meet the reinforced insulation 2xMOPP, have active PFC function.
Applications:
The AC/DC Converter is suitable for BF medical devices and non-patient contact medical devices of its low leakage current, and also for industrial applications.
Availability:
Available Now
ROHM’s New 600V IGBT IPMs
ROHM’s new four new 600V IGBT Intelligent Power Modules (IPMs), BM6437x series deliver best-inclass low noise characteristics together with low loss ideal for power conversion in inverters. The devices are used in compact industrial equipment, such as small capacity motors for robots, as well as home appliances – including air conditioners and washing machines.
Features:
• New 4-model lineup of IGBT IPMs that achieve class-leading characteristics by simultaneously reducing both radiated noise and power loss. • Optimizing the built-in IGBT’s characteristics and soft recovery characteristics of the internal FRD (Fast Recovery Diode).
Features:
• Rated to deliver up to 1.5A, with 90% typical efficiency at full load. • The L6981 converters are available in two variants optimized for light-load efficiency and noise performance.
Applications:
Power conversion in inverters.
Availability:
Available Now
ST Adds STGAP2SiCS to its STGAP Family
STMicroelectronics has expanded its portfolio of STGAP family of isolated gate drivers with the addition of STGAP2SiCS that is optimized for safe control of silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs and operates from a high-voltage rail up to 1200V.
Features:
• Capable of producing a gate-driving voltage up to 26V. • The STGAP2SiCS has a raised Under-Voltage Lockout (UVLO) threshold of 15.5V to meet the turn-on requirements of SiC MOSFETs. • The UVLO ensures the MOSFET is turned off to prevent excessive dissipation.
Applications:
Consumer and industrial applications.
Availability:
Available Now
STMicroelectronics has recently unveiled L6981 synchronous step-down regulators, extending the family of high-efficiency converters that simplify power-supply design by integrating power elements, feedback circuitry, and safety features on-chip.
Applications:
Well suited to use in 24V industrial bus-powered applications, 12V and 24V battery-powered equipment, HVAC power supplies, decentralized intelligent nodes, smart sensors, and always-on applications.
Availability:
Available Now
Extremely Small TVS Diodes Introduced by TDK
TDK Corporation releases tiny high-power TVS diodes for ESD protection, extending its portfolio of components for bidirectional overvoltage protection of I/O interfaces. The space requirement of the so-called chip scale package (CSP) is just 400 x 200 µm2 (CSP01005) or 600 x 300 µm2 (CSP0201), while the package height of just 100 µm is also very low.
Features:
• Operating voltage of 5 V and a response voltage of 6.8 V. • The clamping voltages of the two new components are 7.2 V at a peak pulse current of 8 A or 8 V at a peak pulse current of 16 A. • Short response time and low leakage current of just 2 nA at 3.3 V.
Applications:
IoT, smart home, and Industry 4.0 applications.
Availability:
Available Now
Aker Solutions and AVEVA Extend Collaboration Indium Corporation’s Sze Pei Lim to Attend Virtual ICEP
AVEVA has sustained its long-term partnership with Aker Solutions to help accelerate the company’s digital transformation strategy.
The two organizations will work together to deploy new engineering capabilities which will enable multi-discipline teams to work effectively together to develop and maintain the detailed definition of all the key operational items as well as deliver the full range of AVEVA’s process simulation, design, engineering, and lifecycle management technologies.
The extended partnership which now comprises most of AVEVA’s Engineering offerings, including AVEVA E3D Design, AVEVA Enterprise Resource Management, AVEVA Asset Information Management, and AVEVA Point Manager, will further strengthen Aker Solutions and AVEVA’s relationship.
Aker Solutions is one of AVEVA’s top 100 customers. The renewal of the agreement will extend the existing strategic partnership and secure AVEVA’s position as a leading industrial software solutions provider on the Norwegian continental shelf. Indium Corporation has recently shared that Sze Pei Lim will present a paper on low-temperature first level interconnects during the virtual ICEP, May 12-14.
The factors that are driving the wider electronics industry towards lower process temperatures are also having an impact on the first level interconnects that are the interface between the increasingly complex processors and the circuitry that relies on those processors for delivering the functionality on which modern society is now so dependent. In Low-Temperature First Level Interconnect in Packaging and its Challenges, Lim examines materials and processes currently used for first level interconnects and possible options for achieving significant reductions in temperatures to which the processor is exposed during packaging.
Lim is the Global Product Manager for Semiconductor and Advanced Materials and is based in Malaysia. She manages the semiconductor product lines globally and works closely with the internal sales and R&D teams to develop solutions for industry needs and requirements.
She also collaborates with external customers and corporate partners to support the industry’s move towards heterogeneous integration. Some of her recent work includes the development of materials and processes for advanced packaging for fine feature printing for SiP applications as well as for one-step OSP ball-attach applications. Lim has more than 25 years of experience, specifically in the areas of PCB assembly and surface mount technology.
Maxim, Aizip to Provide IoT Person Detection
Maxim Integrated and Aizip, a company focused on artificial intelligence (AI) for applications in the Internet of Things (IoT), have declared that Maxim Integrated’s MAX78000 neuralnetwork microcontroller can detects people in an image using Aizip’s Visual Wake Words (VWW) model at just 0.7 millijoules (mJ) per inference.
This is 100 times lower than conventional software solutions, and the most economical and efficient IoT person-detection solution available.
The low-power network provides longer operation for batterypowered IoT systems that require human-presence detection, including building energy management and smart security cameras. The MAX78000 low-power, the neural-network accelerated microcontroller executes AI inferences at less than 1/100th of the energy of conventional software solutions to dramatically improve run-time for battery-powered edge AI applications.
The mixed precision VWW network is part of the Aizip Intelligent Vision Deep Neural Network (AIV DNN) series for image and video applications and was developed with Aizip’s proprietary design automation tools to achieve greater than 85 percent humanpresence accuracy.
NTT Collaborates with Fujitsu STMicroelectronics’ 2021 First
NTT Corporation (NTT) and Fujitsu Limited have announced Quarter Financial Results collaboration for the “Realization of a Sustainable Digital Society,” leveraging their respective strengths to deliver innovation that contributes to the resolution of societal and environmental challenges. The two companies envision a new, energy-efficient digital society founded on global and open collaboration with a wide range of partners supporting the IOWN (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network) initiative.
Specifically, Fujitsu and NTT will conduct joint research and development activities toward the realization of a variety of energy efficient, sustainable technologies in areas including open architecture optical transport and mobile communications technologies, combined with disaggregated high-performance computing, all of which are made possible by innovation in photonics-electronics convergence device technologies.
As the digital transformation (DX) of society and industry accelerates against the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, many anticipate a drastic shift toward a more decentralized society built around the premise of protecting public health as part of a post-pandemic “New Normal.” The ICT (information and communication technology) systems supporting this will connect vast amounts of data generated from people, devices and sensors, and digital space, and process these in real time, demanding ever faster and larger-scale communications technologies as well as enormous computing resources.
Simultaneously, humanity continues to confront urgent societal and environmental challenges, including climate change. Awareness around these issues continues to grow, and a consensus has emerged throughout the world that businesses can no longer go on without making bold commitments to achieve sustainable growth that combine economic efficiency with the meaningful, substantive measures necessary to resolve these challenges. STMicroelectronics has reported U.S. GAAP financial results for the first quarter ended April 3, 2021. ST reported first quarter net revenues of $3.02 billion, gross margin of 39.0%, operating margin of 14.6%, and net income of $364 million or $0.39 diluted earnings per share. Jean-Marc Chery, STMicroelectronics President & CEO, commented, “In the first quarter of 2021, net revenues increased 35.2% year-over-year. All product groups contributed to this growth, on continued acceleration of demand globally. Operating margin improved 420 basis points to 14.6% and net income increased 89.6% to $364 million. “On a sequential basis, net revenues decreased 6.8%, 270 basis points above the mid-point of our outlook. Automotive and Power Discrete products and Microcontrollers increased sequentially, partially offset by Personal Electronics products. “ST’s second quarter outlook, at the mid-point, is for net revenues of $2.9 billion, increasing year-over-year by 39%, and decreasing sequentially by 3.8% due to usual seasonality in Personal Electronics; gross margin is expected to be about 39.5%. “We will drive the Company based on a plan for FY21 revenues of $12.1 billion, plus or minus $150 million, a year-over-year increase of 18.4% at the mid-point. This growth is expected to be driven by strong dynamics in all end markets we address and our engaged customer programs.
u-blox Module Named 2021 Industrial IoT Product of Year
u-blox has reported that its ALEX-R5 LTE-M module with IoT Security-as-a-Service has been honored with the 2021 IoT Evolution Industrial IoT Product of the Year Award from IoT Evolution World.
The ALEX-R5 LTE-M SiP module with IoT Security-as-a-Service makes it extremely simple to protect your data, both on the device and during the transmission of data from the device to the cloud. u-blox implements a true end-to-end concept where data are protected from the device to the end-user and are not visible by the intermediate nodes or platforms, nor by the service provider.
Its out-of-the-box, simple, secure, and cost-effective onboarding process to leading cloud IoT platforms speeds up development, shortening timeto-market. IoT Security-as-a-Service is specifically optimized for low power wide area (LPWA) deployments that use resource-constrained IoT devices.
