Enhancing efficiency is an ongoing goal for every business. For sectors where day-to-day work involves a lot of machinery and/or automation—such as manufacturing, utilities, transportation and logistics, healthcare, agriculture, and others—the Industrial Internet of Things can play a big role in streamlining operations and saving time and money.
By connecting machines and vehicles to the internet, organizations can easily collect and analyze essential data to optimize operations and maximize resources. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council detail some of the specific ways IIoT can yield big benefits not only for businesses, but also for the people they serve.
1. Optimizing Machine Operations
Implementing IIoT technology significantly boosts energy efficiency by optimizing machine operations. Smart sensors analyze real-time data to adjust energy use, minimize waste and cut costs. This precise control not only improves sustainability, but also enhances profitability, making IIoT an ideal investment for eco-conscious and cost-effective management. – Rohit Anabheri, Sakesh Solutions LLC
2. Enabling Real-Time Predictive Maintenance
A big practical benefit of IIoT is real-time predictive maintenance. With IIoT, networked sensors report back telemetry data in real time. This helps teams spot equipment failure patterns and model the warning signs and other indicators. That information can then be used to predict and prevent similar failures in the future, avoiding costly outages. – Adam Sandman, Inflectra Corporation
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3. Tracking Equipment Performance
IIoT technology offers a wide range of benefits for warehousing and intra-logistics operations. It not only tracks the function of conveyors, sorters and cranes and predicts potential issues, but it also uses smart edge technology to process data from material handling equipment to generate real-time insights. – Manoj Gujarathi, Dematic
4. Developing Business Intelligence
A key practical benefit for any organization leveraging IIoT is the ability to develop business intelligence and leading indicators that enhance business performance. Embracing IIoT in a digitally transformed business will deliver cost savings, automation opportunities and business efficiencies at a scale that would be impossible to achieve otherwise. However, it does require careful cybersecurity management. – Mark Brown, British Standards Institution (BSI)
5. Providing Visibility Into Remote Assets
The implementation of IIoT technology will provide improved visibility into remotely monitored and managed assets and production. Visibility is the foundation for realizing the higher-order benefits of IIoT. – Leonard Lee, neXt Curve
6. Optimizing Production Lines And Minimizing Downtime
IIoT sensors have demonstrated that continuous remote monitoring of manufacturing equipment is practical and can provide higher-resolution data. This data can be used to optimize previously unoptimized (or even previously optimized) production lines. Additionally, IIoT sensors help identify anomalous behavior that may indicate upcoming maintenance needs, allowing for more precise scheduling and minimizing downtime. – Kim Bozzella, Protiviti
7. Automating Data Flow (Even From Older Machines)
IIoT is especially valuable when implementing IT initiatives like manufacturing execution systems or traceability solutions, as it automates data flow from machines—even older models. This is a cost-effective approach, as IIoT devices can connect data to IT systems without interfering with a machine’s programmable logic controller. Thus, IIoT enhances efficiency without the need for costly machinery upgrades. – Adrian Stelmach, EXPLITIA
8. Supporting Remote Staff Members
Companies today can have a diversified staff, with team members located anywhere in the world. Leveraging IIoT means that employees no longer have to be on site—they can even sometimes be in extremely remote locations, as IIoT makes it possible to send real-time updates directly to a cloud-connected device. Workers can get updates from connected sensors, valves, switches and so on and manage complex industrial processes around the clock with just a phone. – Simon Bennett, AVEVA
9. Enhancing Employee Safety
A key benefit of IIoT is enhanced employee safety. In production facilities, cameras equipped with computer vision and artificial intelligence and integrated with IIoT can monitor worker behavior in real time. This enables the detection of unsafe practices or conditions, triggering instant alerts to ensure safety compliance. This technology reduces accidents and fosters a safer, more proactive workplace environment. – Greg Ombach, Airbus
10. Minimizing Energy Consumption
IIoT allows companies to monitor and optimize energy usage across factories and production lines by providing real-time data on consumption patterns. It’s a highly worthwhile investment, because it not only reduces operational costs, but also aligns with sustainability goals, enabling companies to minimize waste, lower energy bills and more effectively comply with environmental regulations. – Dr. Reji Thomas, TOL Biotech
11. Driving New Product Development
IIoT is not just about efficiency—it’s a powerful catalyst for innovation. By uncovering real-time data insights, companies can drive the development of new products, services and business models. Consider it as the fuel that powers your company’s innovation engine. Leveraging IIoT is not merely a cost-saving measure; it is a strategic investment in your future. – Brian Sathianathan, Iterate.ai
12. Augmenting Operator Intelligence
One specific benefit of IIoT is augmented operator intelligence. By providing real-time insights and contextualized data, IIoT enables operators to make informed decisions, optimize processes and improve product quality. This human-machine collaboration unlocks new levels of efficiency, productivity and innovation, transforming a company’s workforce into a strategic competitive advantage. – Sarah Choudhary, Ice Innovations
13. Enabling Faster Innovation Cycles
Leveraging IIoT can lead to faster innovation cycles. IIoT provides data-driven insights into product performance and user behavior, allowing companies to rapidly iterate and improve their offerings. This speeds up innovation cycles, giving companies a competitive edge in the market. – Manasi Sharma, Microsoft
14. Maximizing Operational Effectiveness
IIoT provides a crucial edge in terms of better asset utilization. Companies can keep track of performance, recognize inefficiencies and dynamically optimize operations with data gathered from industrial machines. This kind of timely insight increases productivity and reduces costs; hence, IIoT is the best investment to ensure maximum operational effectiveness. – Sandro Shubladze, Datamam
15. Boosting Product Quality And Customer Satisfaction
Across all industries and sectors, IIoT has the potential to significantly boost product quality and customer satisfaction by collecting data throughout the production process, offering superior quality control and minimizing defects. This proactive quality-management system fosters customer satisfaction and reduces costly warranty claims. – Neil Lampton, TIAG
16. Optimizing Supply Chains
Our logistics clients find IIoT valuable for optimizing supply chains. It enables real-time tracking of shipments, inventory and environmental conditions via connected sensors. This helps teams adjust routes, manage stock and reduce delays or losses, improving agility and lowering costs. With predictive analytics, IIoT can drive actionable insights for even greater efficiency. – Andrey Kalyuzhnyy, 8allocate
17. Driving AI-Powered Autonomous Decision Making
A key benefit of IIoT is its role in driving AI-powered autonomous decision making. By integrating IIoT with advanced analytics, companies can enable systems to self-optimize and respond to complex scenarios in real time, without human intervention. This leap toward autonomous operations positions IIoT as a foundational technology for future-proofing industries. – Deepak Gupta, Cars24 Financial Services
18. Proving Equipment Reliability
Imagine being able to prove that your equipment—including software, hardware and all associated services—is more reliable than anyone else’s. IIoT, if properly implemented, can provide that confidence. If that’s not attractive enough, the data from IIoT can provide unprecedented visibility into what customers want—and need—in new products and feature sets. – James Stanger, CompTIA
19. Enabling Real-Time Quality Control
One practical benefit of IIoT is improved product quality through real-time quality control during the manufacturing process. Sensors can detect defects or inconsistencies immediately, allowing for adjustments in production processes. This proactive approach minimizes waste and recalls, ensuring higher-quality output. IIoT excels in this area by providing continuous monitoring and actionable insights. – Andrii Kovalchuk, WeSoftYou Inc.
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