The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a core technology of Industry 4.0 that connect people, products, and strategies to power digital transformation by using connected smart sensors, actuators, and more. Companies connect, monitor, analyze, and act on industrial data in new ways using IIoT platforms to enhance productivity, maximize revenue growth, reduce expenses, and more.
Leaders are increasingly relying on industrial IoT across the value chain — from product design, manufacturing, and service to value creation and consumer engagement — to boost revenues. You may accelerate your digital transformation by deploying IoT for strategic pilots and readily scalable solutions to restructure your organization.
Here are 5 emerging trends that are set to make IIoT a near-necessary addition across varied industries in the upcoming years:
1. Digital Twins Technology
A digital twin is a virtual model that represents a physical device digitally. This technology enables organizations to benefit from data obtained through digital replications of real-world items and scenarios.
- The technology can replicate the operation of an object and track its status by using data gathered from sensors on the given object. As a result, organizations can easily maintain and monitor the operation of the systems and assets that allow their staff to thrive, resulting in increased overall efficiency.
- Digital twin technology also supports businesses in their product development. With the help of collected data, firms can more efficiently predict the result of their product’s performance and generate data-driven insights on potential areas requiring improvement. This can save businesses the effort and resources required to test these scenarios on existing investments.
- Many industries have been leveraging digital twins to ensure the success of their working operations. The best example of this is Kaeser Kompressoren, a German manufacturer of air pumps, compressed air dryers, and filters, which is a pioneer in incorporating digital communications into its equipment. For its products, the company provides digital twins and facilitates predictive maintenance. The firm has used IIoT in “air as a service”, and gained surprising success.
- Likewise, digital twin technology also supports various sectors, such as automotive and healthcare, by enabling digital modes to test the behavior of products and components.
2. Developments in Networking Connectivity
Connectivity is essential for IoT technologies. Recent networking developments in the IIoT are offering faster communication between devices.
- Low-power wide-area network connectivity provides communication between IoT devices separated by far distances. It is an economical and energy-efficient option for organizations employing multiple assets that work through machine-to-machine communication.
- Satellites can allow IoT communications between geographically separated networks for connections across long distances. Satellite-powered devices can be especially beneficial in rescue scenarios and emergency reporting, as these situations can occur where maintaining connections would otherwise be challenging.
- These devices are employed in the construction industry to monitor the location of tools and construction progress by using radio signals. To leverage this principle, DeWalt is launching a Construction Internet of Things program, which will use a Wi-Fi mesh network and an IoT platform to monitor people and equipment on the job site.
3. Automated Quality Assurance and Predictive Supervision
The important task for all industries is assuring quality within an organization’s operations.
- Fortunately, IoT technology helps organizations to monitor and predict the performance of their equipment. By performing predictive analysis with the help of sensors and advanced connectivity, organizations can anticipate and address potential issues with their machinery even before these problems negatively impact their business operations.
- Data insights gathered from IoT devices also assist organizations in better understanding their equipment and determining the core cause of problems. Furthermore, with data insights and performance metrics, businesses may adopt a proactive approach to equipment maintenance.
- Equipment failure leads to downtime and lost production. However, it can also affect the efficiency and quality of an organization’s production, particularly in the manufacturing industry. Organizations can operate and track their systems remotely using IoT and automated quality assurance monitoring.
- IoT AI also supports businesses by embracing innovative technologies, including automated visual inspection capabilities. Businesses can ensure top quality in their operations and output by detecting and eliminating abnormalities from assembly lines, and utilizing the features of IoT sensors, cameras, and AI to detect them.
4. Optimization, Sustainability, and Consumption of Energy
Using IoT to optimize industrial energy consumption can provide more benefits than just saving costs. In addition, sustainable methods of operations can lead to a safer and more efficient society while also reducing our environmental footprint.
- The recent environmental trend is focused on the development of optimized solutions that leverage IoT technology to revolutionize the industrial landscape. These are also supported by the deployment of transformative environmental efforts, which have called for a change in how organizations use resources and energy.
- IoT-powered technology with smart systems for the energy usage of their equipment can enable organizations to control their power consumption. Furthermore, it helps monitor and manage the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems to help businesses save energy and reduce carbon emissions.
- RTI, along with some collaborators, has developed a novel technology that separates the energy grid into networks of microgrids that can be administered independently. This method can assist utilities in managing the complex energy network that includes anything from solar panels to windmills to traditional natural gas, coal, and nuclear reactors.
- The use of green IoT technology to refine multiple components within a society, ideally resulting in a smart city, is a prominent theme. This concept focuses on lowering CO2 emissions within cities by enforcing energy-efficient and carbon-neutral systems. The adoption of IoT-driven energy management and smart technologies can revolutionize practices in various industries.
5. Manufacturing and agriculture with IIoT
IoT technology is increasingly being deployed across the manufacturing and agriculture industries. With IIoT, businesses in these sectors can get better yields and efficiency.
- As a result of digital transformation and the deployment of IoT resources, manufacturing, and agricultural firms may find it easier to develop improved resources and processes to deliver their products and services. This is made possible by their newly discovered ability to make data-driven decisions that will increase production and aid in risk reduction.
- These IoT technologies may include previously stated trends and principles but are designed for specific industry applications. Systems developed for the manufacturing sector, for example, use IoT sensors to monitor factory floors. Moreover, IIoT keeps those processes in check that might put workers in potentially hazardous circumstances.
- IoT sensors and connected devices also assist agricultural organizations in ensuring process efficiency by monitoring weather trends and other factors affecting production.
- Wearable IoT devices are now being used to ensure the safety of employees. Airbus has presented one such innovation — smart glasses, which are integrated with sensors into tools and machines to reduce errors and bolster safety in the workplace. Organizations may monitor workers’ health and safety by tracking their temperatures, close contacts, and even their location on the factory floor using these smart gadgets.
Connecting to The Future of IIoT
All of this goes to show that the future of IIoT is very promising. According to recent studies, the number of IIoT-connected devices is expected to double in the coming decade. Notably, the combination of cloud and edge computing is one of the most exciting prospects as it could potentially support more advanced autonomous operations with greater efficiency, accuracy, and safety. Predictive maintenance, enhanced device communication, and accessibility, particularly in terms of cost, are some other key areas that will see more emphasis in the future. IIoT is already proving its strengths in varied aspects of our lives and it’s no surprise that companies are flocking to it to reap the benefits of everything that is yet to come in this booming space.