The Benefits of Industrial IoT in Manufacturing

Manufacturers are recognizing the world is changing around them and the need to change with it is only growing. Facing mounting threats, such as digital disruption and global competition, these manufacturers are increasingly turning to Industrial IoT (IIoT) as the cornerstone of their digital transformation initiatives. An IDC survey forecasts that manufacturing IoT spend will nearly reach $200 billion this year alone.

IIoT is transforming industry and changing the way industrial companies operate from day-to-day. Whether it’s enabling predictive analytics to detect corrosion inside a refinery pipe, or accelerating new product development by feeding operations data back into the product design cycle, IIoT is driving powerful business outcomes. In this article, I will outline three main areas in which IIoT benefits the manufacturing industry. Let’s take a look.

Operational Excellence Through Operational Intelligence

With IIoT, operations managers are more informed about equipment performance or problems. IoT enabled machinery can transmit their operational data to various stakeholders, like equipment manufacturers or field engineers. This transforms a manager’s approach from a reactive one to a proactive one. It enables factory heads to remotely manage the factory units and take advantage of process automation and optimization.

IoT in manufacturing can also enable the monitoring of production lines, starting from the refining process down to the packaging of final products. This provides a real-time scope to recommend adjustments in operations for better management of operational cost. Moreover, the close monitoring highlights lags in production, thus eliminating wastes and unnecessary work in progress inventory.

The power of IIoT lies in the accuracy of the data it provide – and the ability to take action based on insights from the data.

Ensuring Safety and Compliance

Apart from optimizing production processes in manufacturing plants, IIoT also helps to create a safer and more efficient environment for factory floor workers.

For instance, there are many critical machine tools that are designed to function within certain temperature and vibration ranges. IoT Sensors can actively monitor machines and send an alert when the equipment deviates from its prescribed parameters. By ensuring the prescribed working environment for machinery, manufacturers can conserve energy, reduce costs, eliminate machine downtime and increase operational efficiency.

Analyses using big data produced by these IoT sensors can also improve the overall workers’ safety and security in the plant. By monitoring key indicators of health and safety, like the number of injuries, short- and long-term absences, vehicle incidents and property damage during daily operations. Thus, effective monitoring ensures better safety.

Increasing Flexibility and Agility

Meeting the constantly changing demands of customers is pushing manufacturers to become increasingly flexible and agile across their shop floors. A recent global survey of 1,300 CEOs in 11 countries, found that 59% say that acting with agility is the new currency of business, and that if they are too slow they will go bankrupt.

IoT applications permit the monitoring of events across the whole supply chain and increase its flexibility and agility. Using these systems, the inventory is tracked and traced globally on a line-item level and the users are notified of any significant deviations from the plans. This provides cross-channel visibility into inventories and managers are provided with realistic estimates of the available material, work in progress and estimated the arrival time of new materials. Ultimately this optimizes supply and reduces shared costs in the value chain.

Industrial machines and robots need to be easily reprogrammed and updated to keep track with these shifting and increasingly customized customer requirements. By connecting plants to suppliers, all the parties connected to the supply chain can follow material flow and manufacturing cycle times. These data will help manufacturers predict issues, reduces inventory and reduces capital requirements.

How Your Manufacturing Operations Could Benefit from IIoT

Streamlining these manufacturing processes with IIoT drives operational efficiencies and benefits supply chain optimization further downstream. Seemingly minute percentage changes of operational improvement through IIoT can generate thousands in cost savings and productivity, with a cascading effect throughout the supply chain.

WWT recently delivered a 550-site plant modernisation initiative for a major manufacturer, providing our deep expertise in IIoT to connect people, machines and information for smarter production. I believe the factory of the future should aim to be even more efficient, operate with greater profitability and achieve higher customer satisfaction. All the above benefits make IIoT a critical and powerful tool for manufacturing organizations that want to grow and thrive in the digital future.