Industrial IOT and Worker Safety & Productivity – Making it real
#IOT #BigData #InternetOfThings #IIOT #ArtificialIntelligence #Cloud #DigitalTransformation #MachineLearning #BlockChain #IOTWorld
Gartner predicts that by 2020 (just 2 years from now), 20 billion appliances, engines, motors, cars, trucks, machinery etc. will be internet connected [Reference: https://www.gartner.com/imagesrv/books/iot/iotEbook_digital.pdf]. In very simplistic terms, we will have 20 billion sensors embedded in everything we touch, interact with and engage with in our day to day lives. The usage of Internet of Things (IOT) in industrial space (IIOT) will be the start of next industrial revolution.
Benefits of super connectivity via IIOT:
So let’s start discussing tangible and measurable benefits of IIOT. Automation and usage of robots are already in place and widely implemented. Manufacturing Plants are benefiting with IIOT by implementing Smart Manufacturing and Connected Supply Chain. IIOT also gives a unique opportunity to address Worker Safety.
For any manufacturing organization, Worker Safety is of utmost importance. According to US Department of Labour Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the top 10 most frequently cited violations for 2017 were as follows:
- Fall protection
- Hazard communication
- Scaffolding
- Respiratory protection
- Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout)
- Ladders
- Powered industrial trucks
- Machinery and Machine Guarding
- Fall Protection
- Electrical, wiring methods, components and equipment
A Worker’s safety and productivity inside a plant can be influenced by internal & external factors as shown below:
This plant with the help of IIOT can provide worker safety & productivity via 4 avenues:
1. Connected Worker – Worker Safety can be addressed by wearables. For example, a sensor enabled hard hat is a worker safety enabler. Similarly, for worker productivity; wearing head mounted industrial grade rugged glasses enables a worker to lookup work orders, execute a digital workflow and seek expert help as required.
2. Connected Plant – Within the plant, all the assets that are bolted on the floor can be enabled via sensors. By setting up Wi-Fi gateways; we can collect the machine level data via the sensors to a cloud. This in turn will monitor for exceptions (for example, a boiler is reaching an unacceptable temperature and may cause injury or harm to nearby workers). Workers can be alerted for such exceptions.
3. Connected Assets – There are lots of movable equipment in and outside the plant. By enabling sensors, a worker can be alerted if an equipment (like crane, fork lift, truck etc.) is moving too close.
4. Connected Supply Chain – Connected Supply Chain allows visibility and hence any alerts on malfunctioning parts or materials that may cause harm to worker.
IIOT is here and real. The Art of Possible is what we can imagine. Worker Safety and Productivity make IIOT a very strong candidate for immediate implementation and deployment across plants.