Industrial Internet of Things Helps Manufactures Achieve Digital Transformation

Many manufacturing companies are undertaking digital transformation of their business operations. Digital transformation refers to the process of becoming more efficient and productive, enhancing customer and shareholder value, discovering new business models, and bringing about comprehensive improvements in  the company’s operations and business & production processes, etc., by leveraging digital technologies – artificial intelligence, data analytics, digital twins, Industrial Internet of Things, and such others.

Digital transformation helps companies become real-time data driven and connected so that all production & business activities and processes are efficient and aligned.

Digital transformation involves gathering of as much relevant data as possible from equipment, machines, and people associated with the manufacturing operations, analysing that data by using the technologies to gain insights, and acting on them so as to improve operational performance and agility. 

Industrial internet of things (IIoT) is the foundation on which rests the concept of digital transformation. IIoT empowers the ‘things,’ such as the equipment, machines, people, and others, to become internet connected, gather & exchange data, and act autonomously.

In a way, IIoT is an embedded system; it is a microprocessor or microcontroller based system and designed to perform the crucial function of gathering data from ‘things’ & seamlessly sharing them with the ‘things’ in the network. IIoT has sensing, actuating, and Internet communication capabilities in addition to the necessary computing capabilities.

What is Industrial Internet of things?

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is an industrial device or a system of numerous industrial devices embedded with sensors, actuators, and computing & Internet communication capabilities. Such a device (devices), which is IP address-assigned, is capable of self-monitoring, generating data about its own functioning and communicating / sharing the data with other associated networked entities.

The data can be further analysed to obtain valuable insights; with the help of those insights, industrial companies can take smarter and faster business decisions. The term device includes machine and equipment, such as a pump, compressor, etc., in manufacturing / infrastructure industries.

Such a device (or devices), which is IP address-assigned, is capable of self-monitoring, generating data about its own functioning, and communicating with other associated entities.  

Why is IIoT crucial for digital transformation?

A manufacturing plant, for its operation and control, depends on the availability of data relating to the manufacturing process. For this purpose, it traditionally deploys operational technology (OT) systems. In a typical manufacturing plant, only some of the important parameters are measured & information visualised in the central control room and even-fewer parameters are automatically controlled / remotely operated.

Financial and technical considerations constrain the number of parameters monitored and controlled. In numerous instances, therefore, parameters relating to many of the company’s assets may not get monitored; and, if they are monitored, the data may not be in digital format.

But, deriving full benefit from digital transformation depends on the availability of not only all relevant data but also data in digital format.  Hence, the journey of digital transformation has to begin by ensuring that all data are in digital format. IIoT cost effectively and efficiently gathers and shares data in digital format about the manufacturing plant’s assets.

What is the value proposition of Industrial Internet of Things?

The major value propositions of IIoT are the following:

• It is the best option to cost effectively and efficiently gather and share data in digital format about a manufacturing plant’s assets
• It can digitally connect entities, such as the equipment, machines, inventory, and people in  manufacturing facilities, and thereby facilitate them to work together collaboratively
• It facilitates cost-effective big-data collection and application of big-data analytics. This can significantly help leverage big-data to improve asset performance
• Because of its remote monitoring capabilities, equipment suppliers are able to provide equipment-as-a-service
• The use of IIoT contributes to the flattening of automation hierarchy and converting the basic data into insights at the device level itself
• The current fervor associated with IIoT is its ability to gather & share data and establish connectivity. It is to be recognised that IIoT can facilitate the evolving and promising digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, digital twins, data analytics, augmented reality, and others, to complement the traditional processing technologies associated with typical automaton systems. Automation systems, which are built by combining the traditional and evolving technologies, can overcome many of the technological and economic constraints of the existing automation architecture.

With the help of IIoT, a manufacturing company can cost effectively and efficiently collect data from the manufacturing assets. IIoT can share the collected data with other networked computing resources, such as edge, fog, and cloud. 

The data generated by IIoT can be processed with the help of artificial intelligence, digital twins, and such other digital technologies to obtain valuable insights about the manufacturing operations and make informed decisions.

Such insights can help improve a manufacturing plant’s business, production, & operational processes and enhance asset performance & their availability. Data from IIoT can be further analysed to obtain prescriptive information, which could help a manufacturing company to develop contingency plans to circumvent possible future happenings / possibilities.

Manufacturing assets, which are transformed into IIoT, can communicate with each other; the outcome is more coordinated and streamlined manufacturing operations. IIoT is playing a key role in the digital transformation of manufacturing. 

Just as the Internet has transformed the way people communicate and network, IIoT is transforming the manufacturing companies. In order to gather data pertaining to a manufacturing plant’s performance & status and analyse that data for achieving intelligent & autonomous operations and transformational business outcomes, many companies are converting their plant assets, which include the plant machinery, equipment, devices, products, and others, into IIoT. IIoT plays a crucial role in the digital transformation of manufacturing companies.