Industrial Internet of Things - The Disruptive Technology Set to Rule Our Lives

The endless race of human beings to do better has given birth to a number of riotous technologies in the past which have redefined the way people live and work. The latest among these are the twin concepts of the Internet of Things or IoT and its cousin the Industrial Internet of Things or IIoT. The latter is the application of the former in the industry for modifying various industrial systems and improving automation and data exchanges among various cyber-physical objects in today’s digitally-connected world. In other words, when IoT is implemented in an industrial and manufacturing setting, it becomes Industrial IIoT.

IIoT, also known as industrial internet or Industries 4.0, amalgamates machine learning and big data technologies to interconnect the sensor data, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and automation technologies that have existed for years in industrial settings.

The difference between IoT and IIoT is only in their general usage- IoT is most commonly used for consumer utilities while IIoT is for industrial purposes such as manufacturing, supply chain monitoring and effective management of any system.

Off-late IIoT has been taking a pioneering role in improving visibility, boosting operational efficiency, increasing productivity and safety and reducing the complexity of industrial processes. The guiding principle behind IIoT is that smart machines are better than humans in term of accuracy and the capture and communication of real-time data.

With the use of Industrial IoT solutions, companies are able to detect inefficiencies and problems much earlier than before and save time and money. This gives a forward kick to their business intelligence efforts.

In manufacturing, Industrial IoT solutions have helped tremendously in improving quality control and supply chain efficiencies. In a given industrial environment, IIoT harmonizes processes such as predictive maintenance, enhanced field service, energy management, and asset tracking.

IIoT provides access to real-time supply chain information by tracking materials, equipment, and products on the move. This enables manufacturers to feed delivery information into ERP, PLM and other connected systems. For example, we can design IIoT for plastics which will provide intelligent insight into production, process, quality, resource and utilities.

Since IIoT connects critical machines and sensors in high-risk prone areas where failures can create life-threatening situations or even result in loss of human lives, it can have a great impact in improving safety in sectors such as aerospace, defense, healthcare, and energy generation.

Another area where IIoT can bring superb results, is the OEM sector. Machine performance benchmarking can help OEMs to have a comparative insight into devices used by various OEMs that use the same parameters at run-time and then select the best among them.

The advantages of Industrial IoT solutions can be summarised as -? Improvement in operational efficiencies? Real-time performance diagnostics leading to cost-effectiveness? Resource optimization in logistics as products move through a supply chain? Remote diagnosis of problems to avert life-threatening accidents and to improve safety? Effective inventory management and quality control? Regulatory compliance? Increasing ownership value

There a number of companies who have bespoke Industrial Iot solutions and these significantly lower the challenges for their small and large industrial units which do smart manufacturing.

Industrial IoT solutions are a great boon for the industry. They remove human beings from the actual area of industrial operation and allow machines to work autonomously, thereby reducing human error, sudden system failures or downturns and most importantly human injury. The correct use of industrial IoT can repair an oil rig before it becomes a catastrophic failure. IIoT has crossed the ravine to become a reality with more and more industries using it. Factories have now become smarter and machines are talking to the entire world and thereby continuously optimizing each other’s performance and ensuring greater returns for the efforts of industry and business.

K V Gopalakrishnan is a writer who has very good experience in writing articles & blogs. The writer has a flair for writing and he keeps on writing various articles and blogs related to the industry.