Like everything else these days, the manufacturing world is using more technology to stay abreast of new trends and maintain a competitive edge. By 2020, Business Insider estimates that global manufacturers will invest around $70 billion on IoT technologies; this is in comparison to the $29 billion spent in 2015 on IoT solutions. Using automation and real-time data impacts a company’s levels of efficiency and streamlines operations. When industrial robotics are used in manufacturing plants, human employees can spend more time on higher-level tasks that require their attention.
Industrial IoT applications are time-savers and productivity boosters. Because physical devices on a manufacturing floor use smart sensors as an extension of internet connectivity, data received from the devices can be transferred in real time over a network. Real-time intelligence allows manufacturers to increase output, adapt business models to sales trends, and provide a more secure environment for employees. In this piece we’ll dive into how industrial IoT applications are impacting the manufacturing industry in 2019.
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Automation brings a whole new level of getting the job done. It can save your company in overhead costs and eliminate inefficiencies. Hiring, training and overseeing the work of new employees can cost your company both time and money. With the use of industrial robotics, you can cut out the training and rely on the precise, dependable, and reproducible outcome of your automated production system.
What happens when you add machines that leverage big data analytics to your manufacturing floor? The machines produce more precise and consistent communication when it comes to problems that arise or inconsistencies found during the production process. They can more accurately detect the point of concern so that it takes less time for manufacturers to search the machine when they need to fix a problem.
Aside from the smart sensors allowing you to more quickly solve a mechanical issue, they also lower management overhead because no training is required and daily supervision is taken out of the schedule. Removing manual operations from the production floor means more manpower can be allocated where it needs to without worrying over production output being affected.
The supply chain becomes more effective when industrial IoT applications are used on the production floor because the smart technology can target product demand. Industry 4.0 practices can thus use supply chain networks sensors and business systems to better engage in smart manufacturing.
Increasing Supply Chain Efficiency
Tools are an important part of the manufacturing process. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) brings smart tool tracking to the forefront of how manufacturers do their work. It keeps tools secure and allows workers to quickly locate them. Through the use of tags, antennas, and readers, radio frequency can track where on the production floor every tool is located. The tags have ID numbers and information about each tool is attached to the tag. This information is then stored in the cloud for future reference. Because of its smart technology, insights about each tool and their availability can be easily fetched. When an employee needs to find a certain tool, he or she can put the ID number into their computer or mobile device that is set up with the correct software.
Overall benefits of tool tracking: prevent the loss of tools and increase traceability, reduce the time it takes to search for easily misplaced items such as handheld tools, be able to schedule the use of tools to optimize how frequently they can be used in a day, and avoid potential theft since the items are traceable.
Working in Real Time
Smart machines use diagnostics to monitor their health and produce reports in real time. Cloud computing and big data analytics allow machines to be self-aware. This saves on maintenance and upkeep time because manufacturing checks don’t need to happen outside of when the machine sends an alert. You’ll see a change in productivity when your machines and equipment are connected by a cloud-based network. The big data analytics are processed into information that is meaningful to you and your company. You can take that information and analyze it to more thoroughly understand where your company is at in terms of production. The numbers you see will also tell you what you need to focus on day-to-day to optimize workloads and manpower.
Automation and network connectivity often will require a hardware and software redesign. At Total Phase, we have the ability to take your existing systems and the information from traditional development tools and extract the raw information and data to transform it into information engineers can use. Information from protocol analyzers and host adapters analyze the data from embedded systems to debug and develop your production practices.
Protocol analyzers provide real-time information in an interactive display that can be searched and filtered, giving manufacturers the visibility and insights they need to be able to conduct business more efficiently. Host adapters and interfaces transmit data that comes in. This means that the industrial internet of things will have information coming into its platform. It can then analyze this data and use it to advance interoperability for other, similar developers.
How Industrial IoT Applications Add Value
When you use industrial IoT applications, you are not just improving efficiency levels and saving time in your company. You are also showing the people buying your products that you genuinely care about their experience with your brand. You have invested time into researching analytics. You have spent money on adapting to new practices such as real-time data sharing and supply chain networking. You have improved your business, and you have improved your customers’ experience.
Since analytics provide insights into how much of one of your products is selling or how much a particular item is being produced on the floor, there will be an added value on your company because it will show that you read and understand your audience and that you are willing to make adjustments based on what they are looking for in your products. Monitoring consumer behaviors shows that you care about their needs.
2019’s Industrial IoT Trends
There are a number of trends that will impact Industrial IoT applications in 2019. Many of these have to do with enhanced security, improved connection speeds, and new products being brought to market. We’ll review some of the biggest trends related to Industrial IoT here.
Increased Integration with A.I.
A big part of nailing Industry 4.0 is being able to analyze and act on the wealth of data the embedded systems that make up an IoT ecosystem produce. We’ve discussed the potential of AI and the Embedded System in an earlier piece, and 2019 will see further growth in this area.
Applying artificial intelligence to your company’s manufacturing processes will help improve the algorithms drawn from real-time data as well as enhance products because machine learning will help the systems iterate and maintain an effective workflow that creates steady output of products.
Smart Vehicles
If you’re manufacturing cars, the thing to focus on this year is connected cars. More IoT features are being added to cars for ease of driving as well as consumer needs. In the realm opposite luxury vehicles, workplace safety is a key driver of automation these days. If there is a dangerous job such as mining and gas or oil drilling, robotics and automation is making it easier to keep employees out of harm’s way.
Customization
Industry-specific platforms will be using IIoT technology to provide streamlined management that will enhance the automation within companies because all of the smart technology will just be sending information to one platform. The sensors, meters, machines, and other tracking tools can thus leverage industry-specific information to better tailor manufacturing processes to what consumers will be spending more time and money on.
The Power of 5G
5G is one of the biggest buzzwords in tech today. In 2019 as 5G networks begin to ramp up growth, we can expect to see Industrial IoT applications look to better integrate this high-speed wireless technology.
The importance of Security
IoT devices create a new attack surface that IT security teams haven’t had to deal with in the past. In the world of Industrial IoT applications, a compromised node could bring business to a halt or lead to malicious users accessing private company information. As the stakes are so high, the market will focus significant energy on securing IIoT devices.
Conclusion: Industrial IoT is Changing how Manufacturing Gets Done
From prototype to production, your company should remain on top of industry trends and be able to be smart about industry practices. Enable your production floor with industry 4.0-level machinery and you’ll start to see a rise in efficiency in no time. Check out our products here; they might be just the hardware you need to open up your business to streamlined, real-time connectivity.