FAQ 2: What is predictive analytics?
In this series you will find answers to questions we get asked a lot when speaking about data, analytics, digital transformation, emissions reduction, industry 4.0, IoT and data-driven automation.
What is predictive analytics? How it can help operations?
Predictive analytics is a set of statistical and machine learning techniques that uses past and present data to predict the outcomes. Predictive analytics is always applied in situations where a set of variable inputs is influencing variable outcomes (or outputs). The goal is to capture which inputs are influencing the outputs and formulate the relationships in input-output models. In operations predictive analytics would consider all relevant process control variables, variables that you may not necessarily control (ambient conditions, feedstock parameters, equipment parameters), and resulting outputs to build reliable input-output relationships. The goal is to get information about the future - to anticipate changes in the outputs before they are observed. The output of predictive analytics is the model, insights about input drivers, and the validation.