Changing the Game w/ Smart Connected Products - 1 of 3

I have love, hate relationship with the term Internet of Things (IoT). I love it because it is a popularized catchy phrase with the broadest meaning covering everything and I hate it because it doesn’t really say anything specific.

The more you know about the companies in the IoT space, the range of these companies is absolutely mind boggling from a simple sensor manufacturer to complex devices, instruments, connectivity, processors, mother boards, data, software platforms, analytics, actuators, integrators while some are enhancing the IoT capabilities with Augmented Reality (AR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and much more is involved with the IoT.

So, I prefer the term “Smart, Connected Products” as I feel it’s a lot closer to the reality, a little bit more tangible, and with this people really understand that products are getting smarter and they are connected with other things and much of the excitement here isn’t just about the smart products but also about the networked effect of all these connections that makes them exponentially effective for the customer.

I would like to focus on manufacturing Smart, Connected Products and its impact on the manufacturing company.Our daily lives in the modern lifestyle starting to revolve more & more around “Smart, Connected Products”. 

Ever wonder what makes a product smart?

All smart, connected products, from personal devices to home appliances to industrial equipment, share three core elements:

• physical components (such as mechanical and electrical parts)
• smart components (sensors, microprocessors, data storage, controls, software, an embedded operating system, and a digital user interface), and
• connectivity components (ports, antennae, protocols, and networks that enable communication between the product and the product cloud, which runs on remote servers and contains the product’s external operating system).

Smart, connected products are game changers. In a connected economy, Manufacturing goes beyond Production of a Physical Object. 

Image Courtesy: DFKI 2011

Industrial Revolution 4.0

The Second Industrial Revolution as we know it is about 150 years old and the third one started about 40 years old. Now, it is time to revisit the concepts of manufacturing but this time around powered by the Internet of Things (IoT), Fourth Industrial Revolution is here. The evolution of products into intelligent, connected devices—which are increasingly embedded in broader systems—is radically reshaping companies and competition. This is forcing companies to redefine their industries and rethink nearly everything they do, beginning with their strategy.

Over time, enterprises will need to form new types of relationships with their customers. They will design new product capabilities, infrastructure, and processes; entirely new structures, functions, and forms of cross-functional collaboration.

In the universe of IoT, there are three different IoT market segments:

• Consumer IoT is focused on the individual and lifestyle related devices & systems
• Industrial IoT is focused on making factories and plants more efficient in their production, quality, yield, utilization etc.
• Commercial IoT is focused on delivering dynamic value streams to large & mid-market enterprises in the form of revenues, efficiencies, pro-active compliance & safety. This segment accounts for 40% of the IoT market.

Whether you are manufacturing a product for an enterprise consumption or for end consumer, converting your product into a smart connected product will have game changing effect on your company.

So, why change it, if nothing is broken? The answer to this questions starts with an understanding of the purpose of Smart Connected Products. There are at least three immediate killer applications.

Proactive Maintenance (Business Model Innovation)

Devices that possess the ability to communicate enable proactive preventative maintenance. Real time monitoring can now provide up to the minute feedback loops to avoid outages. This real-time monitoring capability can be monetized and even new disruptive business models can be introduced.

You can be proactive, efficient and maintain higher degrees of uptime. Better output with lesser input.

Higher Operational Efficiency

IoT enables better operational efficiency. For instance, imagine a world where every device can be remote controlled. That reduces the need for the need for direct human intervention and instead replaced by remote operability.

Operate remotely for reasons of safety, efficiency, accessibility.

Product Engineering Feedback & Pricing

Using IoT, one can now get instantaneous feedback from users of product. This feedback can be impact engineering and design processes to improve a product’s features and functionality. Pricing of the product can now be treated as a key strategic asset as there is tremendous flexibility to charge customer recurring fee based on utilitization instead of a one-time charge.

Instantaneous and automated feedback loops between consumers and manufacturing can spur rapid product innovation and improvements

IoT has the potential for a tremendous transformative effect on the way products are created, operated, and serviced creating efficiency and differentiation. Please look out for the second and third installment of this article.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this article.

Srini Pagidyala is a Serial Entrepreneur, Growth Advisor with Disruptive Business Models, Digital Transformation Executive, Board Advisor & Strategist focused on delivering preferred business outcomes leveraging digital technologies (Social, Mobile, Cloud, Analytics, VR/AR, AI/ Machine Learning & IoT) With over 10 years of experience as the CEO in building and scaling Big Data Analytics Solutions & Services company combined with 20+ years of experience in Strategizing, Selling & Implementing game changing Enterprise Solutions, I am now focused on advising companies looking to realize exponential growth in the connected economy. Growth Frameworks, Pricing Strategies, Innovation, Monetization, Digital Transformation, Disruptive Models, Blue Ocean Strategies, Ecosystem Orchestration are some of my specialty areas. You can reach me at: [email protected] or follow me on twitter: @SPagidyala

If you found this article insightful, below are the links to some of my other articles.

1. Is there a better way to conquer the Big Bad Disruptive Wolfpack?
2. What no one tells you about Innovation & Growth?
3. Going Digital? What does that even mean?
4. Fail Faster, Fail Cheaper – Innovate or Be Disrupted
5. Fail Faster, Fail Cheaper – The Framework
6. Fail Faster, Fail Cheaper – Barriers & Benefits
7. 5 Critical Success Factors – IoT Platform Adoption
8. Top 5 Barriers to Digital Transformation
9. Top 5 Benefits of Digital Transformation
10. Re-imagine your Customer Experience
11. To Re-imagine, Need to Rethink
12. 3 Practical Ways to Separate Data Signals from Noise
13. 10 Things For a Killer Board in the Digital Era
14. What is the Job Of Your Product?