A study by Accenture reports that by the year 2030, the adoption of the industrial internet of things, IoT, will add the value of $7.1 trillion to the US GDP, the number for Germany is $700 billion, and $1.8 trillion for China.
These figures are enormous, but what’s even more impressive is that the rise of IoT is being touted as the harbinger of the arrival of Industry 4.0.
IoT empowers the revolution of industry 4.0. The spread of technology has contributed to the development of a variety of cyber-physical systems, making smarter factories a reality.
As the use of sensor technology has become more accessible, available, and affordable by an increasing number of factories, you see more manufacturers designing and developing smart products and assets backed by IoT.
More advancements in technology and the adoption of IoT within the industry have led companies from the conceptualization phase toward more real-world implementation.
The world has not always been so accepting of disruptive technologies. The possibility of malfunction, security issues, and concerns about accessing controls are just a few aspects that made companies shy away from digitalization.
However, the route towards industry 4.0 has been through a remarkable journey to make the world open its eyes to the tremendous potential in transforming systems and powering the modern manufacturing industry forward.
As we step further into the digital era, tech leaders are enabling such concerns to take a backseat, as manufacturers realize the efficiency, unprecedented control and visibility, and improved opportunities that this technology provides.
According to research, at least 50% of the enterprise applications used within the production department will be empowered by IoT by 2024.
The implementation of IoT in factories is picking up pace fast, as things become more mainstream. Companies in the environment are increasingly turning to IoT, thereby adding a level of sophistication to the production process that enables them to improve efficiency, provide better client experience, and meet growing global demand
This shift to high-tech and digital manufacturing plants has led to high-volume production, higher profitability, and rising automation. This means enterprises now have more time to focus on other essential things, as the production department continues to require less and less human intervention.
More than anything, IoT has provided an extensive, real-time view into the entire production process backed by data streams that smart devices generate. For example, a more accurate database allows manufacturing departments a more proactive role in working to reduce downtime.
Things like these will deliver early warnings of possible breakdown, and wastage and help determine the best time for maintenance jobs, which will, in turn, help reduce unplanned machine downtime.
Companies can now use these data streams in several ways depending on the nature of their operations, including predicting the implications of any proposed changes in the manufacturing process.
The right use of technology can help make necessary adjustments to avoid any possible loss of value or efficiency.
It is often too late for manufacturers to make any adjustments in the production process in case they encounter an out-of-the-ordinary problem. However, the ability to compute data is more useful than just identifying opportunities.
As smart machines collect a massive volume of data, they can form and identify patterns and insights based on performance, maintenance, and other essential metrics.
The efficiency of smart devices in reading data is impossible for a human to imitate in a reasonable timeframe.
This difference helps manufacturers in optimizing their production by quickly acting on what needs attention. Once, an African gold mine used data provided by sensor technology to recognize an issue with the oxygen level during the leaching process.
After fixing the problem, the company was able to increase its profits by 3.7%, saving them about $20 million a year.
And in this age, it’s not just manufacturers of tangible goods that are reaping the rewards of IoT-based advancements that lead to such revolutionary process changes. Unconventional firms like ios app development companies, financial data crunching houses, design agencies, etc.
are all benefitting from these advancements too. These service-based firms or those who deal with non-tangible goods are also becoming adept at customizing such technologies to meet their process packs to reap the same set of advantages from them as more conventional firms.
E.g., in an iOS app development company, the task is primarily to build and market iOS apps. This doesn’t seem like a place where IoT might have full-ended applicability.
Still, many firms in this sector are utilizing IoT in their core processes, like when DevOps is facilitated with smart decision-making to reduce market delivery time for apps.
So this technology is not segregated into just one sector. Yes, its advantages are more apparent in manufacturing firms, but apart from that, even others are gaining and feeding off it.
Moreover, the integration of edge computing brings the data, business processes, and applications closer to being operated from a common, integrated source. It enables companies with factories and machinery to serve in fully automated modes and run required functions independently.
Despite limitations like low bandwidth and specific control and security checks, edge allows organizations to process data locally instead of using the cloud.
The use of edge computing within industry 4.0 is catching on just like IoT. According to a report by IDC, by the year 2023, about 70% of IoT-enabled products will incorporate edge computing to provide decision-making support to companies’ strategic and operational goals.
The report also states that organizations will be spending around $16 billion to build the infrastructure for IoT edge technology.
As a result of these advancements, more companies with factories are making necessary adjustments, and changes in their business model to at least adopt one critical aspect of industry 4.0, which is to use data to drive valuable insights in smart ways and modify business results.
As we mentioned earlier, organizations are starting to adopt predictive maintenance, where they use a combination of the machine learning system and augmented analytics to analyze the need for external support and prevent downtime.
However, this is just the beginning. There are an enormous scope and business opportunities for customizing the production process to improve the client experience drastically.
A massive volume of data will give companies more control over operating costs, asset performance, and customer experience. It enables them to adopt a new model where they focus on providing a product-as-a-service business system.
Industry 4.0 is continuously evolving, stretching its potential, and providing new, unprecedented opportunities. By just looking back 20 years, we can see the ground-breaking transformation technologies have brought within the manufacturing sector.
Still, we will probably need less time to witness what more these advancements have in store for the full business world in the upcoming future.
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