WHAT IS THE INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS?
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is the application of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in manufacturing. The Internet of Things is the concept of automatically acquiring and utilizing data from ‘things’ using Internet technologies and sensors. The driving philosophy behind IIoT is that smart machines are better than humans at accurately, consistently capturing and communicating data. This data can enable manufactures to identify inefficiencies and problems sooner, saving time and money. In manufacturing specifically, IIoT holds enormous potential for quality control, machine maintenance and overall operational efficiency.
IIoT is one of the primary trends affecting manufacturing today and in the future to come. Manufacturing companies are pushing to modernize systems and equipment to keep up with increasing market speed and volatility, and to stay competitive. IIoT helps provide the information to make the right decisions for improving profitability, while at the same time mitigating risk as much as possible.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF IIoT?
The next level of continuous improvement requires increased visibility and better insights into the performance of equipment and assets. This information is transforming the methods of how people and machines interact by using data and analytics to accelerate productivity and drive efficiency gains. Software, such as Scytec DataXchange, can present the data in an actionable format providing insight on when equipment should be maintained and how unexpected failures can be avoided.
Older approaches to equipment maintenance was based on a reactionary approach to equipment failures. After something broke the process began to fix it. With today’s technology, putting sensors in manufacturing equipment and pairing those sensors with the right software allows companies to have insight on machine health and predict when equipment needs maintenance and when it may fail, providing the opportunity to fix small issues before they become real problems.
While predictive maintenance is a great way to use sensors and the Industrial Internet of Things, other benefits include using the sensor data for real-time data tracking of the utilization of the equipment. As an example, MTConnect is capable of providing equipment status and sensor data which can be used to determine if equipment is running as defined in the CNC program as well as communicating the mode of the machine when it’s not running.
The implementation and use of IIoT in some shape, form or fashion is quickly moving from a competitive advantage to being something that is required to compete. Scytec, along with our DataXchange machine monitoring and IIoT application, can help make the benefits of IIoT a reality. Contact us for additional information.