The Internet of Things (IoT) has been a topic of discussion since its inception. It is all about how it might affect our daily lives. IoT devices have gradually become a part of our lives in the past few years, ranging from drones to monitor and deliver food to controlling the temperature with a smartphone. Manufacturing is one of the most interesting applications of IoT. Every year, companies invest a lot in IoT in manufacturing and new IoT trends appear. Terms such as Industry 4.0 or Industrial IoT are becoming more common.
According to Market Research, the global IoT manufacturing market will reach $994 billion in 2023. This would represent a 13.1% increase in CAGR from 2017 to 2023. This is due to the increasing demand for customization and the complexity of the supply chain as well as the increased use of IoT. In an effort to increase productivity and improve the quality of their products, manufacturers have begun to look at IoT systems.
IoT Trends That Can Transform Manufacturing
Manufacturing downtime is the main cause of productivity losses. IoT in manufacturing can help reduce downtime. IoT devices can transmit real-time data and allow remote monitoring of each machine. To make machines more efficient, it is possible to set up guiding protocols. By limiting energy consumption, manufacturers can prevent possible breakdowns.
Predictive maintenance is one of the IoT trends that is becoming more popular. Smart sensors attached to machines analyze many parameters like sound frequency, environmental aspects, and vibrations. Supervisors can be alerted if there are abnormalities and can take preventative measures to mitigate them. This increases the machine’s life expectancy and reduces downtime.
Manual maintenance is often more costly and time-consuming than regular checkups. IoT in manufacturing could break this cycle. Engineers can use smart sensors to monitor industrial machines and fix any issue as needed.
Workers can also use wearable devices for maintenance tasks, and augmented reality technology for specialist maintenance tasks.
Worker’s Safety and Occupational Injury Prevention
The safety of workers is significantly improved by using IoT in manufacturing. IoT’s ability to avoid dangerous workplace conditions is one of its greatest strengths. IoT systems offer the best way to perform procedures by using predictive analysis. They can detect collisions and provide guidelines about worker movements.
IoT systems also remove workers’ immediate physical contact with machines. This improves worker safety. Robots now perform most procedures that could pose a risk to life.
Occupational injuries can have serious financial and human costs for a manufacturing company. IoT systems can save both, as they could alert workers to dangerous working conditions, hazardous substances, excessive noise, or temperature levels, before it causes injury.
IoT trends cover the full gamut from manufacturing to supply. Supply chain management will become more data-driven with the adoption of IoT. RFID tags and GPS allow one to track the shipment of products at any time. Manufacturers could also use sensors to track granular data such as temperature and storage conditions to estimate the time it would take for the product to reach its destination.
This would vastly improve vendor relations, as vendors and suppliers would be more transparent. IoT devices can easily improve management and optimize inventories better than humans.
Understanding the Future of IoT Trends in Manufacturing
The next trend in IoT manufacturing is Software-as-a-Services. SaaS is a cloud-based service that allows data access from any device connected to the Internet. SaaS solutions can be installed easily and are less expensive than traditional services. Without security reinforcements, SaaS adoption is not worthwhile.
In addition, cloud computing is also being used in manufacturing to share real-time data. Cloud computing and big-data analytics can help to anticipate maintenance needs. As IoT devices become more connected, so do the data requirements.
Edge computing is key because it reduces response time and bandwidth. The key to Industry 4.0 is the combination of edge computing and cloud computing.
