We help you collect and analyze sensor-generated data that enables support equipment monitoring and maintenance, production process analytics, and control, to name but a few.
The manufacturing industry is constantly evolving and manufacturers need to stay up-to-date with the changing technology landscape to keep up with the pace of digital transformation happening around them.
Manufacturers today are looking for smarter ways to handle machine maintenance, manage their supply-chain logistics, and improve employee workflows to speed up their product delivery.
As such, the industrial internet of things (IIoT) has become a promising choice for manufacturers all around the globe because it helps manufacturing businesses streamline their asset management and make informed decisions.
IIoT in the manufacturing space is gaining traction because IIoT solutions such as Smart Factory Software help factories improve product quality, achieve better operational efficiency, and minimize wastage.
According to a research report from ITIF, manufacturing plants that use IoT applications are shown to increase their productivity by 10–25%.
The finding aligns closely with other discoveries about the growing popularity of IIoT in the manufacturing sector: 80% of organizations that have adopted IoT say that they have achieved “better-than-expected results” and 30% claim that IIoT has helped them better understand the health of their factories.
IIoT is still in its nascent phase—and it comes with a lot of opportunities and risks that remain unknown to the manufacturers.
The biggest risk about leveraging IIoT in manufacturing operations is the real-world repercussions it will have on your production line. Because of its cyber-physical connection capabilities—if something goes wrong in the digital world, the outcome extends to the real world.
Like other relatively new technological advancements such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, or augmented reality—IIoT also suffers from the impending threat of security risks coming from the Internet channels.
The more network-connected devices you have in your manufacturing environment, the greater the attack surface for bad actors to target your operations.
Other than that, there are conventional manufacturing problems like improper integrations or miscalculations in implementations that can damage your manufacturing processes if not carried out properly.
These risks are heightened when you rely on IIoT to automate some parts of your manufacturing workflows. For instance, faulty algorithms when left unchecked can cause device overheating, explosions, system malfunction, workplace injury, or equipment damage.
IIoT gives manufacturers the need for speed they want in their production line combined with the digital transformation that enables them to brace themselves for the future.
The use of smart sensors and access to real-time analytics is why IIoT has also earned its stripes as “industrial internet” or “Industry 4.0.”
Industrial IoT lets manufacturers automate their production and shop floor processes, therefore optimizing their operating efficiency. Automation and robotics provide precision and accuracy that the traditional machines can’t offer—leading the factory plants to achieve unprecedented productivity and huge profit margins.
Implementing an IoT-based predictive maintenance strategy puts your overall efficiency on autopilot and helps you identify downtime patterns, synthesize real-time data across all systems, and monitor machines in areas that are hard for humans to intervene.
According to a McKinsey survey, the use of predictive maintenance is shown to reduce maintenance costs of machines in manufacturing companies by 20% and bring down unplanned outages by up to 50%.
Over time, the timely report and analysis on a machine’s health can extend machinery life by years and yield better ROI.