The Internet of Things (IoT) is having a great effect on the industrial and manufacturing sectors. This effect is leading to IoT predictive maintenance, increased automation, effective and productive operations, and the creation of different but still valuable new business models. The application of IoT digital technologies can generate new advantages to the value chain.
Smart Manufacturing: predictive maintenance tools
Smart manufacturing is all about using data to make your factory run more efficiently. The Internet of Things can help you communicate exactly what you need to do at the right time. To better understand the machine’s operation, companies must install sensors on their manufacturing equipment.
Let’s take, for example, the maintenance of a valuable and expensive piece of equipment. The process used to be simple and included the following:
- You can measure how often the machinery fails and use a IoT preventive maintenance plan that is slightly shorter than the typical period of failure.
- Waiting for equipment failure.
- Repairing the equipment.
Companies must change their historical data for real-time data, so they can get more information about equipment health by strategically placing IoT sensors on machines.
This data also provides valuable insights, so managers can see when equipment requires maintenance or replacement before any urgent situation takes place.
Higher Energy Efficiency
Manufacturing firms have one of their largest expenses: energy. The bills arrive several weeks before the end of the billing cycle. They highlight the total energy consumed by the entire factory.
These bills show total energy consumption and it is impossible to understand specific inefficiencies by breaking down the bill. Nearly 77 percent of companies said they were able to obtain energy consumption data via their monthly utility bills or from energy monitoring tools.
Both of these tools have limited data. IoT helps close that gap by collecting and analyzing data to the device level. Is your device underperforming? The technology can pinpoint the device and help you improve efficiency with these predictive maintenance tools.
The technology can track every piece of machinery in the room and give managers a detailed view of energy consumption. You can get actionable insights about how to reduce waste and improve equipment efficiency, as well as potential failures and regulatory compliance issues.
These real-time data can provide valuable insights such as off-hour consumption and recommendations for optimizing production schedules. It can also benchmark equipment and identify which ones are performing well, and help to solve underperforming machines. Managers can also evaluate the locations to find hidden inefficiencies or waste.
IoT Predictive Maintenance
The ability to preventively complete maintenance is one of the biggest benefits of IoT for the manufacturing industry. Instead of planning maintenance plans based on historical data, you can receive real-time data that allows you to identify maintenance needs right now.
Data has all the information about the machine and the plant floor. This technology dramatically reduces waste in the manufacturing process. These resources can be saved if parts are not needed or don’t require repair.
IoT sensors can monitor temperature on key pieces of equipment, so, the staff can be alerted if the temperature begins to rise and can take preventative measures to avoid any future problems.
Many companies use this technology, including the French rail company SNCF to anticipate maintenance needs proactively.
They are using IoT predictive maintenance and machine learning to gain insight from the growing volumes of data they are collecting about their rail network, enabling them to more efficiently detect early warning signs of potential failure and resolve issues before they affect service.
Higher Product Quality
According to an IDC report, manufacturers have a primary goal of improving the quality of their products. An improved product quality leads to other benefits such as lower waste, lower costs, and higher sales. This goal is not always possible. IoT can help with this.
Faulty equipment is one of the main causes of product quality issues. Even worse, manufacturers may not always be aware that their equipment is defective, which can lead to product quality problems. They may not realize it until too late.
These types of expensive problems can be avoided by using IoT predictive maintenance. This technology would have enabled the station to incorporate IoT sensors into its equipment.
Staff members would be notified as soon as the sensors detect something different. The alert would notify staff to stop production immediately and resolve the problem. This would prevent customers from becoming angry, causing recalls, and damaging client relationships.
This technology can also be used in product design and testing. Sensors can be used to monitor important components and determine safety, performance, and durability in the production of airplanes, trains, and other transport equipment.
Get a Lower Downtime
Profits are built on accurate, timely, and high-quality production. Companies can lose a lot of money if they don’t have reliable production. Companies are at risk of serious loss if a machine fails to work in the middle or end of a run. This is in addition to the traditional downtime costs.
Let’s take, for example, the oven suddenly stops working during a baking session. You will not only have downtime but also the loss of production time and all ingredients.
IoT can prevent these types of losses. When performance drops, sensors immediately alert staff. The problem is immediately detected by staff and can be fixed to reduce downtime.
Make Faster and Better Choices with IoT Predictive Maintenance
Managers will never be kept in the dark about problems or the performance of equipment when they use IoT technology. They might have believed everything was working fine in the past until it broke. The Internet of Things allows for the free flow of critical information about performance to be available to all who require it.
Managers can now transform their reactive approach that focuses on replacing parts according to set dates using historical data into a proactive approach. With IoT predictive maintenance it is possible to reduce stress, decrease waste, and increase visibility in the market. Managers can now make quicker and more informed decisions at the moment they are relevant.
The Future: A Real-Time Competitive Edge
Manufacturing is highly competitive. Companies are always looking for ways to gain an edge and stay ahead. They strive to be more efficient, increase profitability, and better serve their customers.
These are some of the many benefits that IoT technology offers. It uses data that is already available but not accessible and makes it available to those who most need it.
Managers can turn a “putting out fires” state into one that’s more efficient and allows companies to develop new strategies for growth and innovation.
The equipment works optimally and the product quality is high. Clients are happier and the company has greater resilience and strength. These are the benefits that make IoT predictive maintenance an important tool for manufacturing companies that want to thrive and grow in the future.
Contact us if you want to learn more about IoT applications!
