Industrial IoT Use Cases and Applications
The Industrial Internet of Things, also known as Industrial IoT or IIoT, is typically the application of instrumentation, connected sensors and other technologies to machines and processes in industrial environments.
By 2021, 50 percent of IoT investment will be powered by separate development, transport and logistics, and services.
So what is behind the IoT adoption in manufacturing? Businesses do not, after all, have IoT issues-they have business problems.
This article will analyze eight unique market use cases and applications that accelerate the adoption of Industrial IoT in production in manufacturing processes, production asset management, and field services in different industries.
Production Visibility
To give process engineers and managers much-needed insight into the production, industrial IoT will connect devices, instruments, and sensors on the shop floor. For example, manufacturers will detect components automatically as they pass through assemblies using sensors such as RFID and split beams. Besides, the operators use the devices to do their roles and the computers involved to communicate with them. Similarly, Industrial IoT technologies can provide supervisors and plant managers with a real-time view of their teams’ yield by interacting with the equipment operators use to conduct their work and the machinery engaged in manufacturing. Manufacturers may use this degree of exposure to detect bottlenecks, locate the root cause of issues, and progress faster.
Higher operator productivity
The productivity of manufacturing workers can be improved in many ways by industrial IoT. Let’s get the operators underway. Operators can go through workflows quicker without losing efficiency using IIoT powered software. For example, pick-to-light systems may help operators locate the piece they need much faster and thereby decrease their cycle time. Similarly, by automatically changing the tool’s settings according to the procedure they should be performing, using IoT enabled devices such as torque drivers will speed up work.
Faster improvement cycles
Operators are not the only ones to take advantage of IIoT. Method engineers (industrial engineers, production engineers, and all frontline engineers on the shop floor in general) also benefit from this. Without IoT, data must be processed, aggregated, and analyzed manually by shop floor engineers. On the other hand, an IoT-enabled store floor allows them to simplify data processing so that they have more time to spend developing procedures.
Reduce the cost of quality management systems
It is difficult to incorporate and sustain the Quality Management System (QMS). By automating and streamlining the process management strategy, Industrial IoT will help reduce its costs. Using sensors, manufacturers may automatically verify variables crucial to consistency, thereby reducing the time and energy devoted to the QMS. They can use IoT sensors to streamline the operation, instead of manually conducting quality inspections.
Improve quality through continuous monitoring
When quality levels are crossed, environmental sensors will continuously track conditions essential to quality and warning management. For starters, the temperature may be crucial for quality in a pharmaceutical process. Managers will track those variables and be notified automatically if they go beyond the predicted parameters using IoT-connected temperature and humidity sensors.
Increase machine utilization
Industrial IoT helps farmers to connect to the internet through their computers. This capability allows manufacturers to track their devices and calculate essential KPIs in real-time, such as overall effectiveness of machinery (OEE) and overall process performance (OPE). Tracking these metrics helps manufacturers recognize and repair causes of unplanned downtime, provide their machinery with proactive maintenance, and maximize the use of machines on the shop floor.
Better facility management
Leveraging sensors in production facilities will boost their management and thus reduce the operating costs of a plant. Manufacturers may obtain information that helps them maximize room use, for instance, by using sensors such as RFID tags to track facilities. IoT-enabled sensors can help factories control their facilities better by ensuring that environmental variables remain within the specified range, such as temperature, humidity, or others. Finally, by using sensors to track equipment to ensure that they perform within their prescribed function, farmers can save electricity, minimize costs and improve operating performance.
Supply chain optimization
IoT has allowed sensors to control activities across the supply chain, providing access through monitoring inputs, devices, and goods to real-time data. It is possible to use RFID tags and other sensors to map inventory as it travels through the supply chain. This gives inventory visibility for suppliers and more reasonable deadlines for the supply of components, work in progress, and so on.
