The Internet of Things or IoT as of now is as much of a reality as humans and other organic life forms. Devices are becoming much more intelligent as they used to be some few decades ago. Embedded with chips and sensors, these devices can make autonomous decisions and that is where IoT is proving to the future of our work culture.
The manufacturing industry or sector is facing increasing competition resulting in the necessity of introducing cost reduction measures and maintenance free assets on the shop floor.
In addition, the product to be delivered need to be add value to its high quality and performance with prompt service. That is where, IoT in manufacturing also called Industry 4.0 is extremely important for manufacturing industry for a multitude of reasons. Failing to adopt IoT will cause organizations to fall behind as their operations will not be digitized enough to match competitors.
At the heart of Industry 4.0 are data specifically big data and advanced analytics. By collecting data from numerous sources and technologies across the production floor, machine learning algorithms and advanced analytics can offer real-time decision-making for production, maintenance, planning, procurement, inventory management, and a host of other areas.
Machines are integrated with sensors like temperature;pressure etc and these sensors are connected to a machine controller.This controller collects complete data from the sensors and controls the machine with a logic of operation. IoT helps to retrieve this data collected from the controller with a GPRS enabled gateway and store the data on a server.
There are different architectures, which can use to collect data on the single server platforms. Once the data is collected on to the server the next step involves data analytics that plays a key role in helping set the thresholds and parameters to the machines.
All these capabilities combine in cloud computing to create real-time shop floor visibility to improve production efficiency, improve OEE and empower staff through customizable dashboards that allow them to act as the need arises.
Another key element of IoT is the Industrial Internet of Things. By fitting manufacturing equipment across generations, standardized data can be obtained that was not accessible before. Many of these devices will set the equipment up for connection to the cloud for production and conditions monitoring, allowing visualization of the production floor in real-time.
- For management-
With the help of IoT, CEOs and CFOs of any manufacturing industry get clear visibility on a single dash board of the production line, operations, energy consumption that help in recommending adjustments and to better manage operational cost.
- For Research and Development
IoT enables the R & D team in implementing the changes to improve product quality and in increasing product lifecycle with the help of analytics.
The technologies that makeup Industry 4.0 will continue to deliver value to manufacturers across the world. Moreover, long-term planning is critical for manufacturers as IoT continues to gain steam through increased adoption.
Proper use of real-time analytics and condition monitoring will grow organizations by optimizing production requirements and channelizing right feedback mechanism.
As these technologies mature, it will become clear that planning implementation as an integral part of an overall business growth strategy should be done alongside traditional business planning and not conducted separately.
