The biggest benefit of digitization across industries that have embraced the advanced technology of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) is that several features and aspects of the business processes that were earlier intangible have now become tangible and measurable. This has helped the decision-making process for businesses to become more data-driven and realistic, eliminating assumptions and guesswork. At present, huge volumes of data are created across several industries which require appropriate processing for better business outcomes. And technology has contributed immensely to the streamlining of business processes through automation, and computers have facilitated digitization that has now entered a new phase by utilizing the powers of the internet to create a new model of business operations. IIOT has provided new opportunities for creating a new business order based on the amalgamation of advanced machines and devices, human resources, and state of the art analytics
Communication technology has played a significant role in implementing IIOT for remotely connecting industrial devices and machines that can communicate with each other to create a system. It provides valuable insights for monitoring and analyzing data that contribute to process improvements, strategic support planning, improve productivity, and boost the bottom-line or business results. Being empowered by intelligent systems, business leaders and managers can make the best use of the insights for driving better business decisions based on facts and figures derived from the ground. The IIOT has been a game-changer that is driving businesses to the future.
A New Industrial Revolution
Complex process monitoring has now become easy, and manufacturers and industrialists in every sector can take advantage of it to look beyond monitoring the processes and take major steps in automation. Managers had already access to technology that helped them track progress in the plant. But now, with IIOT, they can gather more complex process data that can significantly boost productivity by improving efficiencies. It will not be wrong to say that IIOT has created a new Industrial Revolution in the manufacturing sector. It has learned to use a system created by synergizing the physical capabilities with digitization to monitor physical factory processes and make data-based decisions for automation.
With endless opportunities for the industries to script their fortunes based on higher levels of efficiency, productivity, and performance, let us now look into the benefits they can derive by embracing IIOT.
Achieve optimal energy efficiency
Energy expenses are one of the largest expenditures in manufacturing organizations, and managers are keen not only to monitor the consumption correctly but also identify the opportunities of regulating the consumption without affecting the operations. By using the powers of IIOT, managers in the manufacturing sector can now fine-tune their monitoring abilities to identify the areas of energy wastage and determine how and when it is occurring so that they can plan for fixing it. Real-time data gathered from the system provides valuable insights into the consumption of energy during off-peak hours and pin-point other energy-saving opportunities so that managers can calculate waste and operational inefficiencies. Besides, the system also provides information about potential issues with regulatory compliance and waste as well as opportunities for increasing the efficiencies of machines to improve productivity.
Just in Time Manufacturing
To improve productivity, it is vital to reduce flow times within a manufacturing/ production system as well as response time between customers and suppliers and improve collaboration across the entire supply chain. In industrial parlance, this is better known as the practice of Just in Time manufacturing or JIT. IIOT helps in continuous monitoring of the basic metrics with a focus on uptime, throughput and fail rate, etc. Analysis of the data encourages ongoing improvements in manufacturing processes and human resources. Real-time data obtained from IIOT devices and sensors provides information related to manufacturing capacity, delivery schedules, personnel available for receiving and loading products during dispatch, and detailed updates on the inventory of materials, both raw materials and finished goods.
Machine repeatability
Machine repeatability is an important aspect to address in the manufacturing sector that helps to maintain consistent quality of goods. It enables testing and measuring as well as re-testing and re-measuring an item or an area and expecting to get the same results, which reflect the stability of the item as well as the operator’s skill and experience. IIOT allows gathering high-frequency sensor data during machine operations to monitor parameters like speed, temperature, and vibration while collecting the data in milliseconds. The data analytics provided by IIOT help managers to offer speedy ROI at a lower cost. For example, a company engaged in cross-drilling holes in a block of steel can monitor the torque of the motor and verify it with the data to determine if the drop in torque could help to drill cross holes straight enough.
Well-informed and fast decision making
Every aspect of machine performance and its problems are now on the fingertips of operations and production managers, courtesy of the use of IIOT. Managers have information in advance about the ground realities and can use it to take proactive decisions that help to avoid problems and improve productivity. The choices they make are much more fruitful because it is based on accurate data.
Reduced downtime, better product quality, and a competitive edge based on real-time are now within reach of manufacturers who are fast racing to the future by riding on the plank of IIOT. Industries that use IIOT are changing very fast and taking their operational efficiencies to new levels that they had never dreamt about. With extensive production data available for various analytics, managers can discover new opportunities of increasing capacity by uncovering the potential that had remained submerged and inaccessible.
It has now become easy to put behind the production hindrances with the help of predictive analysis that has also given a fillip to new product development and design initiatives or improving the product quality. Machine failures have reduced drastically due to data analytics that can predict failures, and equipment maintenance and replacement have become much easy. IIOT has paved the way for optimization of logistics and supply chain that contribute significantly to improving the bottom-line of organizations.
The power of IIOT in imparting predictive knowledge has brought about a complete change in industrial operations that promise higher profitability.
