Application and Introduction Guide of Industrial Internet of Things

According to the data of Boston Consulting Group, by 2020, 50% of IOT expenditure will be driven by discrete manufacturing, transportation and logistics and utilities.

But what drives the adoption of the Internet of things in manufacturing? After all, companies don't have Internet of things problems - they have business problems.

In this paper, we will introduce eight specific business use cases and applications in manufacturing operation, production asset management and field service, which will promote the adoption of industrial Internet of things in manufacturing.

The industrial Internet of things can connect machines, tools and sensors in the workshop, so as to provide much-needed production visibility for process engineers and managers. For example, manufacturers can automatically track part flow using sensors such as RFID. In addition, by connecting the tools used by operators to perform work with the machines involved in production, industrial Internet of things applications can provide supervisors and plant managers with a real-time view of their team output. Manufacturers can use this visibility to identify bottlenecks, find the root cause of problems, and improve faster.

The industrial Internet of things can improve the production efficiency of manufacturing labor force in a variety of ways. Let's start with operators. By using tools that support the industrial Internet of things, operators can complete their work faster without affecting the quality. For example, the electronic tag sorter can help operators find the parts they need faster, so as to shorten the cycle time. Similarly, with IOT tools, such as torque drivers, tool settings can be automatically adjusted according to the operation they should perform, so as to speed up the work progress.

Not only operators can benefit from the industrial Internet of things, but also process engineers (as well as manufacturing engineers, quality engineers, and all front-line engineers in the workshop). Without the Internet of things, workshop engineers must manually collect, summarize and analyze data. On the other hand, the Internet of things enables workshops to automatically collect data, so they have more time to improve processes.

4 Reduce the cost of quality management system

The quality management system (QMS) is difficult to implement and maintain. The industrial Internet of things can help reduce the costs associated with it by automating and simplifying process control plans. Using sensors, manufacturers can automatically check variables that are critical to quality, thereby reducing the time and resources dedicated to the quality management system. Instead of manually performing quality checks, they can use IOT sensors to simplify the process.

5 Improve quality through continuous monitoring

Environmental sensors can continuously monitor conditions critical to quality and alert when quality thresholds are exceeded, for example, in pharmaceutical operations, temperature is critical to quality. By using the temperature and humidity sensors connected to the Internet of things, managers can monitor these variables and be reminded immediately when the variables exceed the expected parameters.

The industrial Internet of things enables manufacturers to connect their machines to the Internet. This capability enables manufacturers not only to monitor their machines, but also to measure important key performance indicators in real time, such as overall equipment efficiency (OEE) and overall process efficiency (OPE). By tracking these indicators, manufacturers can determine and repair the causes of unplanned downtime and carry out predictive maintenance on their equipment, so as to improve the machine utilization of the whole workshop. In fact, according to a recent McKinsey article, sensor data used to predict equipment failures in a manufacturing environment can reduce maintenance costs by up to 40% and unplanned downtime by half.

The use of sensors in manufacturing facilities can improve their management and reduce the operating costs of factories. For example, using sensors such as RFID tags to monitor facilities, manufacturers can gain insights to help them optimize space use. Another way that IOT sensors can help manufacturers better manage their facilities is to ensure that environmental variables such as temperature and humidity are kept within the specified range. (source iothome) finally, manufacturers can use sensors to monitor machinery and ensure that they operate in the specified working environment, so as to save energy, reduce costs and improve operation efficiency.

The Internet of things enables sensors to monitor events throughout the supply chain and provide real-time information by tracking inputs, devices and products. RFID tags and other sensors can be used to track the movement of inventory in the supply chain, which provides manufacturers with visibility of inventory and a more realistic schedule for material availability, WIP, etc. Using this data, manufacturers can identify interdependencies, draw material flow diagrams, and track manufacturing cycles. These data help manufacturers predict problems. At the same time, it can also reduce inventory and possibly reduce capital demand.

Getting Started Guide

There are many industrial IOT use cases and applications in the manufacturing industry. However, a Cisco study shows that 60% of IOT projects fail in the proof of concept stage.

There are usually two reasons for this failure.

First, manufacturers often lack the Internet of things skills needed to build these systems from scratch. In order to meet this challenge, manufacturers can turn to the third-party Internet of things platform or application platform, or cooperate with professional third-party industrial Internet of things companies.

The second reason why Internet of things projects often fail is that they cannot achieve a return on investment. One way for manufacturers to solve this problem is to start small.

Rather than trying to completely cover all your operations with sensors, choose a specific area to solve. Once the return on investment can be shown, the scale can be expanded. Off the shelf IOT sensors or quick start kits can help you achieve this goal.