7 reasons to say "YES" to IIoT Management in 2021
Industrial IoT Management: Overview 2021
PwC noticed that 81% of industrial manufacturers boast of efficient operating thanks to IoT. Since the IoT role is telling, we offer to consider it through the prism of corporate process management. Deep research about why your business needs IIoT management software is next in line. Are you ready to dive?
IoT and IIoT: What does the double "I" mean?
First of all, I want to warn you that "IIoT" is not the result of the "I" key malfunction on my laptop. There are two types of IoT: regular and industrial. Both of them allow creating scalable device ecosystems for any process optimization.
But when I talk about IoT in its purest form, I mean IoT for consumers, something like a B2C model.
On the other hand, the Industrial Internet of Things is used by enterprises to optimize various commercially principal operations. It is hard to imagine a successful business operation without this technology.
Retail, telecom, automotive industry, manufacturing have already benefited from it. By the way, global IoT in the manufacturing market size will grow from $33.2 bn in 2020 to $ 53.8 bn in 2025.
But don't think that only industrial IoT matters for business development. As practice shows, domains like analytics or telecom are also highly dependent on the consumer's one. But now let's focus on IIoT and its unconditional importance for effective corporate processes management.
IIoT Management Types
It is reasonable to believe that IIoT management types amount = the number of sophisticated demands. But most often in management circles, you can hear about:
IIoT assets management
IIoT device management
IIoT energy management
We offer to follow current topics and analyze each of them in detail.
IIoT assets management
Real-time asset management is crucial for companies. It allows tracking the volume, condition, and location of key resources instantly. For example, if the manufacturer knows the actual quantity of goods delivered to each distributor, it will protect itself from fraud issues. Recently, we have helped our partner design a delivery tracking solution with the XME.fast code platform.
The benefits of assets management group products do not end there. They can boost supply chains, minimize manufacturing defects, cut extra expenses, etc.
By the way, it concerns not just retailers or manufacturers. The same goes for the mining plants, for example. Following Cyient data, one of the largest mining operators saved $25 million due to IIoT assets management system implementation. For the most part, quick response to any issues saved it from additional spending.
As seen, accurate monitoring of all tangible and intangible resources doesn't hurt any enterprise. Anyway, it is hard to achieve such results without an advanced software ecosystem.
Understanding it, in 2017, Infosys, IBM, Bosch, Intel, and a few other industrial giants have released a testbed for real-time assets data receiving. Its mission was to provide companies with robust analytics, facilitating business decision-making.
Now this area continues its development, supported by AI and 5G technologies. However, the greatest popularity among industries has gained not intangible, monetary, or commodity assets management, but the IIoT device one, which we will discuss below.
IIoT device management
What can bring a manufacturer more damage than downtime of its equipment? It turns out that one hour of downtime costs a company $250K on average.
The IIoT device management system task is such cases prevention, warning management of possible issues long before they occur. The software analyzes each cog operation and compares it with normal operating conditions. It ensures seamless data exchange between ecosystem components in real-time, so employees always receive accurate information about equipment conditions.
Bosch is actively working to improve IoT device lifecycle management. Its representatives are convinced predictive maintenance can reduce downtime by 15%. The company has launched a platform for IoT solutions, which can manage over 10 million devices simultaneously. Its capacities allow the forecast analysis of systems functioning. So, employees can fix any serious device problem at the very beginning.
Large companies, such as DIGI or Softeq, strive to bring the manufacturing industry closer to the era of smart factories. Some of them, like Verizon and IBM, have even formed alliances to achieve it.
As seen, the IIoT device management systems implementation is and will be one of the main trends in IoT technology development.
IIoT energy management
Following the US Energy Information Administration, "in 2020, the industrial sector accounted for 36% of total US end-use energy consumption and 33% of total US energy consumption". Companies spend too much on energy because of non-optimized processes.
IIoT Energy Management systems are designed to plan, manage and control energy consumption. In addition to the manufacturing domain, smart-buildings are also active energy consumers. It is a big issue for property developers. To fix it, they implement intelligent Energy Management Systems, like Talkpool. Digital products can manage energy-saving resources, outlets, and lighting efficiently, providing real-time data on their usage. Consequently, it reduces energy costs by 15%.
Almost all companies require a single integrated approach to management. It's quite difficult to achieve it, using several separate systems. Here IIoT platforms come to the rescue. They unifies work with customers, employees and partners into one ecosystem. They manage products, run inventory and monitor equipment. They are gradually becoming central for large enterprises. In 2021, the most reliable IIoT platforms are Braincube, Hitachi Vantara Lumada, Oracle IoT Cloud and PTC ThingWorx. By the way, the last one distinguished itself by advanced cooperation with China International Marine Containers Group, which I will talk about later.
6 Benefits of IIoT Management Platform for Business?
It seems that IIoT management software affects the efficiency and profitability of almost any industry. The day will come when its implementation will become a vital necessity for businesses. Following Gartner's forecast, it will be in 2025, when 50% of industrial companies will use IIoT platforms for workflow optimization. Demand on such software is mushrooming, because it:
controls the resource usage and the degree of equipment mechanical wear
prioritizes maintenance tasks
reduces maintenance costs
increases the level of employees safety
promotes employee training
reduces environmental pollution.
One more proof that the IIoT platform is powerful is the above mentioned experience of China International Marine Containers Group (CIMC) - a major supplier of logistics and energy equipment.
The company faced some issues with productivity and energy consumption as production data was scattered across various data storages. To consolidate them, in 2018, the management decided to implement the Thing Worx Industrial IoT platform.
The platforms' implementation paid off in a few months, reducing unplanned downtime cases by 30% and energy consumption by 13.2% or by $15 million.
Here is what Jinjie Pan, CIO at CIMC, said about it:
"At CIMC we want to build a menu for the IIoT to accelerate digital transformation of our entire operation and make a digital factory a reality. We decided to implement a few pilot projects and started from the Thing Worx Industrial IoT platform. We saw benefits in real-time monitoring and even predictive maintenance."
Were you already convinced of the IIoT platform's vital necessity? I hope so. Thus, if you face a question "to implement the IIoT platform or not" - always say "yes". This win-win will help you build quality workflow, keep your customers happy, and make your business profitable.
Check how XME.digital implements Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.