Manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to increase their bottom line and prolong the life of critical assets. Smart assets management and the Internet of Things (IoT) enable manufacturers and service industries to:
- Increase operational efficiency
- Reduce downtime
- Improve safety
- Lower overall costs
IoT makes it possible for them to use today’s technology and boost their position in the market.
What is Smart Assets management exactly?
Smart assets management is one of the differentiating factors that promote a manufacturing entity to improve their production and get a better position within other companies and customers.
Assets are any machine, tool, or equipment that is used in production. Smart Assets on the other side use the power of IoT and gather real-time information about these assets, such as:
- Availability
- Performance
- Quality
- Condition
These data provide factory workers with the information that they need to make informed and accurate business decisions. Besides, these are the four critical drivers for overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) for the manufacturing industry. IoT smart assets solutions help to monitor and detect specific obstacles, such as:
- Missing parts
- Faulty areas
- Scope of improvement
So, innovating IoT-based solutions empower smart assets management, which drives quality business operations. With these improvements, any company can achieve at least 80% OEE.
As a result, smart assets enable manufacturers today to go beyond the reactive approach to asset management and adopt a proactive approach that allows for higher ROI (Return on investment).
Let’s take a look at the 5 ways that smart assets management can be a benefit for businesses:
1. Reduce Asset Downtime
Unscheduled or unplanned downtime can have serious consequences for businesses and customers, but, this problem can be avoided with smart assets, which allow IT operators to access real-time data and provide greater insight into the equipment’s health and status.
The ability to anticipate equipment failure can reduce asset downtime by using the right monitoring tools and analytical tools.
2.Equipment life extension
Heavy machinery is expensive, especially industrial, mining, and/or farm equipment. Besides, these assets need constant maintenance to keep them in good condition. Business’ bottom line can be negatively affected by costly breakdowns.
Smart assets can increase the equipment’s lifespan by allowing IT managers to gain real-time insight on usage and predict when maintenance or repairs will be required.
3. Assuring safety and health for workers
On-site inspections are a major risk area for worker safety in the manufacturing sector. Subsequently, factory workers often have to inspect assets in dangerous or difficult-to-access environments. Above all, this situation can pose a risk to their safety and health and could lead to injuries or even fatalities. IIoT systems can now trigger maintenance alerts by using sensors and data analytics.
This allows IT operators to quickly respond to any existing issues and forecast the need for repairs, so, it is possible to avoid unnecessary inspections on-site. This reduces downtime and provides additional safety and assurance for operators.
4. Improving equipment efficiency with smart assets
Smart assets provide valuable data that can give insight into equipment usage, performance, and production. As a result, businesses can identify and streamline their processes, improve efficiency, and reduce bottlenecks with the right monitoring software.
IT managers can remotely monitor any asset and take proactive steps to identify assets that need maintenance or repairs, so, they can use this results in a reduction of production time and increase equipment efficiency.
5. Customers are happier
Asset reliability and customer satisfaction go hand in hand. In other words, organizations must work to avoid unexpected downtime and manage asset risks to retain customer loyalty.
Automated asset monitoring and tracking, in conjunction with smart devices and sensors, allow organizations to access real-time data and have real-time visibility into their operational status. This allows them to respond quickly to different conditions and to identify potential problems before they happen.
Smart assets can lead to greater productivity, better decision-making, and better customer relations. Independently from the above, enterprises today need the right connectivity protocol. It’s not surprising that Bluetooth is the preferred wireless technology.
To meet today’s large-scale deployments and enterprises, a Bluetooth connectivity protocol must transcend the limitations of one-to-one and short-range connectivity.
