The potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) is widely being
utilized in the industrial sector. IoT made it possible to automate the
industrial processes and it helped to boost the efficiency of these processes
along improving productivity and increasing the profit. Therefore, IoT has
become an inevitable part of every industry. If you are planning to automate
your business processes using IoT, we list some of the important internet of
things applications and benefits for helping you to decide whether it is for
you.
Benefits of IoT in industrial
automation
IoT provides a lot of benefits for businesses. Following are
some of the important benefits you will get by industrial automation with the
help of IoT.
Great accuracy
Enhanced efficiency and performance
Cost-effective
Less errors
Lower power needs
Quick completion of processes
Easy control and maintenance
If you want to keep up with the latest
technological innovations, then IoT can be a great asset for you, as it can
automate your industrial processes, thereby providing you better control over
your business.
Internet of things Applications
IoT has a wide range of applications in
the industrial field. A few of them are listed below:
Security
IoT can be helpful to improve the
security of your workplace. Fire sensors are a great example of applications of
IoT in enhancing the security of your working premises. You can design
different sophisticated and efficient security systems based on the specific
requirements of your businesses.
IoT devices can constantly monitor the
safety indicators so that they can identify the potential threats and save your
workplace and employees from all the accidents.
Process Automation
With the help of IoT products, it became
possible to automate the business processes, thereby reducing the need for the human
workforce along with improving the efficiency of processes. It can provide a
centralized system for controlling and coordinating all the tasks associated
with your business.
Easy Maintenance
When connected with machines, IoT systems
can monitor their working and can detect any anomalies in their working. Hence,
it can indicate the problems associated with a machine before it breaks down.
This will help you with the maintenance of different machines which are used
for your business.
Data Analysis
IoT systems are capable of fetching
real-time data associated with your business. Hence, you will be able to
analyze all the data related to the different processes of your business. This
will help you to optimize the processes and to solve the existing problems and
to find out the potential threats.
Internet of
things (IoT) is a system of interrelated objects, computing devices, mechanical
and digital machines that are provided with unique identifiers. In other words,
it is the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring
human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
For
instance, your apple watch is a part of IoT. The whole city of Barcelona is
composed of IoT enabled devices. Over the last years, IoT has lead to many
changes in the world and by 2020 there will be 31 billion devices associated
with the Internet of Things.
IoT Devices
Now you
might have got a general idea of what IoT products are — you’re right now using
one to peruse this article. PCs and phones just make up a small part of IoT.
IoT gadgets include whatever that can interface with the web to send and
receive information. There are IoT coffee machines that can send warnings when
you’re running out of coffee. IoT beds can control your sleep and balance the
temperature to optimize your sleeping pattern. More practical applications of
IoT include connected autos that can drive and renew themselves.
Stores like
Macy’s are utilizing iBeacons to send clients rewards and greetings on Black
Friday. Beacons are small Bluetooth transmitters that can interface with
applications associated with gadgets like iPhones or iPads. This technology
allows businesses to communicate with their clients and enable to contact them wherever
they are.
IoT Platform
The
associated devices themselves form only 50% of the IoT equation. To make an IoT
gadget work, you should need an IoT platform. IoT platforms enable designers to
deal with the applications they created, to store, share and analyze
information. Consider the iOS and Android stages. iOS and Android platforms
enable engineers to make applications quicker and for much less cost. Unlike
smartphone applications, engineers can browse many IoT platforms. Google,
Amazon, and IBM are a couple of the significant platform suppliers.
These IoT
gadgets and stages around us achieve a variety of tasks. As per Forbes, 84% of
the developing IoT applications will be ruled by few ventures: Industrial IoT
(24%), Smart Cities (26%), Smart Homes (14%), and Connected Health (20%).
From the
above discussion, it should be clear that the future will be filled with IoT
devices. It is a growing technology that can bring drastic changes to the way
we interact with each other and control day to day activities.
In the
modern world of automated innovations, life is becoming more simpler and less
demanding in all fields. Home automation is a recent technology that can modify
your home to do different tasks automatically. Nowadays automatic frameworks
are preferred over manual frameworks.
Home
automation is already a buzz word, as the second generation homeowners grow,
and now they need home automation more than water, shelter, and electricity.
The greatest advantage of smart homes is solace and comfort, as automated devices
can manage things like temperature and lighting which frees the homeowners.
Smart homes with associated products improve potential outcomes to make our
lives easier, progressively profitable, and agreeable.
As IoT home
security is the wave of the future, there is no doubt in the demand for IoT
devices. With the advantage of IoT, the demand for home and office automation
increases much. The smart home or office devices are secure, and accessible
from anywhere in the world. Home automation is a pleasant context for IoT, by
interfacing the IP passage straightforwardly to the Internet or through a
home/private entryway. This framework can be operated remotely by a Smart
telephone, PC, or different gadgets.
Home
Automation will empower the client to utilize a Home Automation Systems
dependent on (IoT). Now all the modern homes are mechanized through the web and
can control all the home machines. The client commands can be taken by the
Wi-Fi modems, which has an interface with this modem. The status of the system
can be viewed through LCD. This is how an ordinary IoT based Home Automation
works to control all your home apparatuses. As the cost of IoT devices in the
market reduces and by understanding the benefits of these products, the demand
for smart homes increases. The very next logical step is smart cities, which
will take IoT to a top level.
The IoT
gadgets in Home Automation have extreme applications in energy. We can control
the temperature of heating devices with gadgets like tablets, laptops,
smartphones and other devices containing sensors that are connected to the
network. With the assistance of IoT innovation, you can control gadgets as and
when you need them.
Home
Automation is creating big possibilities. The fast development of home-based
automation, along with machine-to-machine communications will lead to best IoT
projects over the next 5 years.
One thing is certain in each December:
experts of most industries make predictions on what is in store the year after.
IoT experts too have come up with their own predictions. They say that it is a
fascinating time ahead for cybersecurity. They did not hold back when making
their predictions for 2020. Here is a rundown of some of their predictions when
it comes to IoT device security.
Shorter validity times are likely for Transport Layer Security (TLS)
certificates. So, companies will have to start adopting automation to
facilitate certificate management.
Users will need to have more awareness about security because
malicious actors exploit free DV (domain validated) certificates to display the
padlock icon on their sites.
Hackers will keep finding vulnerabilities in devices because IoT
cybersecurity is not the greatest priority when these are made. Some
improvements have been seen, but the industry hopes for more.
The year 2019 saw the implementation of the California Consumer
Privacy Act (CCPA) as well as the failed New York Privacy Act (NYPC). There is
a drive for a nationwide privacy act, but in the Trump administration, that is
less likely to happen. Even so, users are concerned about privacy violations. American
states are implementing their own decrees to fill the holes, but this move is
going to make compliance extremely tricky for organizations. This is because of
the pieced together nature of implementation.
National Institute of Standards and Technology will standardize a
quantum-proof algorithm by the period 2022 to 2024, starting a universal attempt
to deploy the algorithm. Organizations that emphasize cryptographic agility and
inventory cryptographic systems will have an easy time implementing it.
However, other companies will not find as easy to do.
A quantum computation device is going to resolve an economically
significant issue in 2020. This will start a new age of financial investment in
speeding up quantum computing’s development, on the basis of the presentation
of practical advantages. The implementation of quantum-proof cryptography will
have to progress.
We are going to see more exploits on public IoT-enabled devices, which
will make regulators strengthen their stance the on the internet of things
security. More governments around the globe will bring in the internet of
things security regulation.
Industries will unite in a bid to make standards for protecting IoT
devices against threats they face.
With the wide popularity of the internet of things (IoT), a
lot of advancements and developments have happened in the field to use its
potential and possibilities in other fields. As a result, a lot of advanced IoT
products have born. One such advancement is the Industrial internet of things
(IIoT).
What is the Industrial Internet of
Things?
Industrial internet of things is referred to the use of
actuators and smart sensors to promote the manufacturing and industrial
processes. It is also known as industrial internet and Industry 4.0. This
technology leverages the potential of smart machines as well as real-time
analytics to utilize the data that the dumb machines have produced over the
years for improving the efficiency of business processes.
The driving principle behind IIoT is that the smart machines
are capable of performing better than humans at capturing, processing and analyzing
data in real-time. They are also good at communicating important information
for the betterment of business by helping to make decisions more swiftly and
accurately.
The sensors and actuators that will be interconnected can
pick up the problems and inefficiencies in the processes sooner, thereby
helping to solve them as soon as possible. It can be helpful in saving time and
money and also for supporting business intelligence (IB).
IIoT will be especially helpful in the manufacturing
industry, as it has great efficiency in controlling quality and for supporting
sustainable and green practices. It can also promote supply chain efficiency
and its traceability.
In an industrial setting, it can be utilized for a variety of
purposes including enhanced field service, predictive maintenance, asset
tracking and energy management.
How IIoT Work?
This technology is a network of intelligent
devices that are interconnected to form systems that are helpful in monitoring,
collecting, exchanging, and analyzing data. An industrial IoT system consists
of:
Intelligent assets that are capable of sensing, communicating and storing
data about themselves;
Private and/or public data communications infrastructure
Applications and analytics that produce business information from raw
data; and
People
Intelligent assets and Edge devices transfer
data directly to the data communication infrastructures, where it will be
converted into actionable information including the working of specific
machinery, and all other information regarding the business processes. This
information will be then utilized for predictive maintenance and for optimizing
business processes.
Benefits of IIoT
One of the main advantages of IIoT is the
predictive maintenance it provides for businesses. This helps organizations to
produce data that can be helpful in predicting the problems occurring in the
future and for taking preventive measures in advance. For example, the
real-time data about the working of a machine can be used to predict the
defects or failures associated with it before it happens. This will help an
organization to address those issues in advance.
Another important advantage is the improved
field service. The data collected by IIoT systems can assist the field service
technicians in identifying potential problems in customer equipment before they
become a major issue. This will help the technical experts to fix the issues
before they cause inconvenience to the customers.
Asset tracking is another benefit of IIoT. Manufacturers,
suppliers and customers can utilize asset management systems to find out the
location, status, condition of the products, etc. throughout the supply chain. This
system will send alerts to the stakeholders immediately if the goods are
damaged or are at the risk of being damaged. Hence, preventive measures can be
done to remedy the situation immediately.
IIoT can also provide enhanced customer
satisfaction. When the products are connected to IIoT services, the
manufacturers can see and analyze the data about how their products are
utilized by customers. This data will enable manufacturers to design products
based on the requirements of the customers, thereby providing better customer
satisfaction.
Facility management is one of the other perks provided
by IIoT. Manufacturing equipment is prone to wear and tear. But the IIoT system
can monitor the activities of equipment by sensing the vibrations, temperature
and other related factors. This will help to address the issues before the
equipment is down.
IIoT vs. IoT
Even though the industrial internet of things
and the internet of things use many similar technologies including sensors,
cloud platforms, connectivity, data analytics, machine-to-machine
communications, etc., they are used for different purposes.
IoT applications are used to connect devices
between multiple verticals, including healthcare, enterprise, agriculture,
consumer and utilities, and also government and cities. The main examples of IoT
products include fitness bands, smart appliances, etc. that generally do not
create emergency conditions if something goes wrong.
On the other hand, IIoT applications connect
devices and machines in many major industries such as oil and gas, utilities
and manufacturing, etc. Therefore, the downtime or failures in the IIoT system
can result in highly risky conditions or life-threatening situations.
Another difference between these two is that,
the IIoT system is more concerned with boosting efficiency and promoting health
and safety, whereas, the IoT applications are more user-centric.
An IoT platform remains to be the
heart of the IoT ecosystem, mostly regardless of the IoT solutions that you
plan to adopt for your business. Waiting around to find the perfect IoT
platform is a bad idea as you cannot really get to your work until you get an
appropriate IoT platform. You will need to make the decision of choosing an IoT
platform before you start the journey with IoT.
Creating a reliable and compatible
platform for IoT is often challenging, which is the same reason why the market
is so full of smart applications end solutions. These applications and
solutions are often offered by IoT platform companies who master this field for
many years.
Most of the IoT platform is built
with the same motive even when they vary so much when it comes to factors such
as authenticity, user experience, device management, and ease for use.
There are many deciding factors that
can help you in picking the right IoT platform for your business. Listed below
are a few among them.
Scalability
The complexity of handling the data
increases along with the growth of the total number of connected devices. This
makes the scalability factor important while picking a vendor for your IoT
platform. As the number of connected devices increases, the risks that is
associated with the hardware, as well as the data, also increases.
It is very important to make sure at
the beginning itself that the IoT platform would be able to perform the data
load while connecting more devices. Always look for a vendor that provides you
platforms with optimal performances and increased scalability for the devices
you connect.
The right platform for IoT can
support many devices, maybe millions, each of them having different
technological requirements, but providing continuous understanding from the
data that would be collected, and that too, without compromising on the
efficiency.
Intelligent
Edge Devices
Intelligent Edge Devices can often be
one of the unnoticed concerns of IoT platforms while evaluating its offerings.
As you move further in your journey of the internet of things, you would mostly
move towards distributed, offline, edge intelligence.
Always make sure to provide edge
intelligence capabilities for extending the power of the cloud to smartphones
and other IoT devices. These capabilities are helpful in facilitating
intelligent edges that have the ability to bring computer power, intelligence,
data and applications to all the places where your data exists.
Internet of things devices are great creations
that bring organization and simplicity in our lives. However, you have to
secure these in the right way. Fortunately, there are some easy steps to take to
ensure IoT device security.
Secure Your
Wireless Router
Firstly, confirm that the Wi-Fi equipment
unit is secure. Otherwise, it can be exposed to many security threats. So confirm
that you are not using the settings that came with your router. Rather than the
default settings, it requires a unique and strong password, which is not easily
guessable. You will also wish to enable WPA2 encryption, plus turn off remote
access software and hardware to make it virtually impossible for hackers to
access your devices.
Have Unique
Passwords for All Devices
Every single device needs both a unique
password and username. If they get access to a device, which you might consider
insignificant (such as a connected machine for making coffee) hackers can access
everything on your network.
Continue to
Update Your Devices
There is no better way to be sure that
firmware and software of your devices are not vulnerable than to keep them
updated. Software companies release updates to help fix issues or plug holes in
security. Therefore even if getting the notification is a tad annoying, you
should not ignore updates when these become available. You should install them
immediately (or confirm that your IoT products are configured to update in an
automatic way).
Disconnect
Unused Devices
If you feel that you have not been using a
connected device, like ‘smart fork’ for instance, that much, disconnect it. Turning
devices from online to offline when you are not using these, can help reduce the
‘attack surface’. The term ‘attack surface’ refers to the total of the various
points where the hacker can attempt to input or extract data.
Avoid
Dumping Your Old Devices
If you are not using a gadget and choose
to dump it, then do not just throw it into the recycle bin. You should not
chuck desktop computers, mobiles and laptops in it anyhow, and IoT gadgets are
also no exception. Hackers can discover smart things in rubbish containers and can
learn information regarding you. Old smart bulbs can also reveal plenty of
personal information when these are infiltrated.
So, check your device manufacturer
website for ways to remove your data from it. Be sure to follow any kind of procedure
they suggest before dumping your old IoT devices.
IoT has been a game-changing
technology across all industries. As per Statista data, the total number of internet of things devices
in the world will reach just above 30 billion by next year. Most adopters consider
IoT vital to their company’s success, so these devices are likely to exceed 75
billion in six years.
Whether connecting existing or new
devices, retail businesses are finding many reasons to adopt IoT. So in what
way are they using it to drive retail business results? Here, we will list the
best IoT usage scenarios for retail businesses.
Making Retail Supply Chain As Good As Possible
The capability to track goods in all
parts of the retail supply chain is a big differentiator in all segments. This accounts
for most use cases of IoT in retail in this list. Real-time and transparent
data concerning shipping status, shipping location, conditions, delays etc.,
helps businesses keep goods on the shelf and keep their customers satisfied.
Some of the advantages of IoT solutions are shipping
traceability and transparency, immediate insights, plus automated warehouse processes.
Managing Stock
It can be tricky, time-consuming and
costly to track levels of inventory and keep goods in stock. So retail
businesses turn to this technology to optimize their inventory. This accounts
for the second-most use cases here.
IoT
can identify the location of goods immediately as well as track and send
notifications on inventory that accumulate in fitting rooms. It can scan for
gaps in display shelves and for product locations, and send notifications on mislabeled
or misplaced goods.
Keep Staff and Shoppers Safe
Keeping
employees and customers safe is an additional priority for retail businesses. Security
and surveillance account for third-most used cases of IoT in this segment. IoT
security and surveillance solutions monitor for any suspicious behavior, potential
safety hazard and person of interest, sending notifications when any issue is
detected.
Preventing Loss of Products
Retail
businesses reportedly have an average stock reduction of 1.38% this year. Unsurprisingly,
loss prevention makes up the fourth-most uses cases. It is possible for IoT to prevent
loss of goods by keeping un-purchased items from going out and detecting missed
products at checkout.
Reducing Energy Consumption
As
retailers look to cut down energy usage expenses and reduce their total
emissions, they are turning to this technology. For 40% of retail businesses, a
top cause for embracing IoT is energy optimization.
Internet of
Things or IoT is an interrelated system of people, computing devices and
digital machines which are provided unique identifiers to transfer data across
networks.
IoT is used in asset management, supply chain and inventory management, data center management, fleet management, surveillance and security monitoring, mobile device management, retail, healthcare, and building management. Some of the salient features of IoT include:
Open and Independent
The Internet of things is considered to be open and independent. IoT helps its users to connect to various platforms. When you can connect to various platforms with unique identifiers, why get stuck with specific architecture, set of enterprise applications, development configurations, sensors, protocols or controllers. companies should make sure that their platforms are free from the problem of vendor lock-in.
Distributed Architecture
To understand the real value of the internet of things, you require an elastic distributed architecture that shrinks dynamically. Your platforms should have the intelligence to run in thin edge devices. They should also be able to run advanced analytics and key responses. In addition to all this, they should be able to modify and manage models, edge apps and analytics.
Market-Leading
The platform should have high recognition among top analysts and should have a lot of satisfied customers. These make them trustworthy and give confirmation that the platform has achieved real success.
Rebrandable
It is
important to have a platform, which will be able to develop an app from pre-packed
solutions for private instances and multi-tenants. By this, platforms will be
able to offer internet of things to their customers without any interruptions.
Modular and Future-Proof
IoT platforms should be able to connect to any sensor, network, machine or device over any network. They should offer development choices that are flexible with the platform as a service (PaaS), edge, hybrid or software as a service (SaaS). The platforms should be low-code and should have solutions for API management, machine learning, portfolio management, enterprise integration, predictive analytics, and business process. Flexibility allows you to quickly update IoT and improve the scale and growth of platforms.
Strategic Partnership
Make sure that your platform provider has partnerships across hardware providers, Sls, technology providers and VARs. These partners help us to customize and build various vertical requirements.
Design-Time Tooling and Free Methodology
Access to portfolio management tools like a resource library supports processes, work packages and practices which help you to plan, manage and model your information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) assets.
Because of the arrival
of more and more high-end connected devices, we are on the brink of a fresh period
of enterprise productivity. Experts forecast that over half of fresh businesses
will operate on IoT by next year, which will make these more automated than
before and will save these millions in enhanced productivity. However, with promises
such as these being talked about, several managers ask: in what can the
internet of things help my company work smarter?
There are many ways
in which it can help accomplish your goals, but a question to ask those
businesses that already use IoT is this: Are You Prepared?
What Is Going To Happen In the IoT Industry?
As per an estimate
by International Data Corporation, spending on IoT will reach up to about $1.2
trillion three years from now. With that in mind, it is predicted that $6
billion or so will go to the making the internet of things solutions, including
software development, system integration, device hardware, data storage,
connectivity and security. Those investments are also expected to produce $13
trillion six years from today.
Right through this
development phase, platforms that allow you to see incoming data, as well as to
exercise the ability to manage digital technologies, will keep being the glue
which holds IoT together. These platforms enable the internet of things to
achieve the transformation potential of it, allowing businesses to manage their
devices, analyze data and automate their workflows.
Concerns over Data Security Will Cause Regulation to Happen
There has been an
increase in the number of IoT devices, and this has meant that privacy and
security concerns are also increasing across the world. Last year, the EU
(European Union) put GDPR into practice. General Data Protection Regulation has
caused similar privacy and security initiatives in many countries. These procedures
will keep helping to protect the user data and regulate the way companies and
marketers can harness IoT devices as this market evolves. If you do not know,
IoT is an evolving market.
5G Will Increase the Extent of Internet of Things Possibilities
With fifth-generation
internet connection, the mix of responsiveness, reach and speed could just
unlock the complete capabilities of growing and developing technologies. This
will offer a significant boost to autonomous cars, virtual reality, drones and
IoT.
The Forbes magazine
predicts 5G to officially be an internet of things enabler in the years to
come, which will help innovators get the tools that they require to solve previous
issues and create conveniences.
Forbes noted that,
“Manufacturers will [also] expand and redevelop their factories and warehouses
to support 5G networking, infrastructure, and security to create new 5G
products and remake and reimagine old ones.”
Because of this
extent of development, you will have to make sure that your business has a solid
strategy for adoption to make an internet of things ecosystem, which will work
securely and efficiently.
Connected Business Intelligence Will Thrive
Of late, the process
of investing money in the connecting of artificial intelligence and IoT has
been considerable. Microsoft recently announced their vision for both Intelligent
Edge computing and Intelligence Cloud computing. Together, these provide a
comprehensive solution which will allow devices to do AI tasks locally, yet stay
internet-connected for management functions and to provide real-time insights. This
creates a beneficial framework for discovering solutions to daily business problems
and inefficiencies.
When IoT evolves,
we will likely start seeing the state of affairs for this technology develop
considerably beyond conventional use cases that we see nowadays. This could
mean intelligent buildings, smart cities, and intelligent task management, helping
the workforce to be more productive and society be much more efficient than
before. Therefore, we will keep seeing companies focus a lot more on storage
requirements and safeguarding as they make good use of every benefit of IoT.
Tips to Help Make Your Business Ready For an Internet of Things Future
The future looks
promising for IoT, but businesses should implement preparatory measures to make
the maximum use of this technology, and remain safe in doing that. Below are some
things you will have to think about when you implement IoT devices.
Appointing Specialists to Interpret Business-Related Data
IoT sensors offer a
limitless flow of information, which could give businesses insights into the
way to make efficiencies better. It is important to be able to convert this
data into normal language to get the maximum benefits through it.
However, it is a
huge task to organize large amounts of information derived out of IoT devices.
Companies should have data managers and analysts on staff who are tasked with
interpreting the data to respond to and take strategic calls based on that data.
Preparing for Data Storage Requirements
IoT devices often
gather lots of data, so you will have to find an appropriate storage location
for everything it collects. Investing in your local storage system is an
option. The other option is to rely on a cloud data storage provider. The
latter is likely to be a cost-effective option than the former.
