IIoT has become a popular concept across the world and has been billed as the fourth industrial revolution. In Asia, mass adoption has yet to happen as certain concerns and challenges need to be addressed. Yet given IIoT’s ability to help save cost and increase productivity, its future in Asia is still not to be ignore
IIoT has become a popular concept across the world and has been billed as the fourth industrial revolution. In Asia, mass adoption has yet to happen as certain concerns and challenges need to be addressed. Yet given IIoT's ability to help save cost and increase productivity, its future in Asia is still not to be ignored.
That was the point raised by Willson Deng, Chairman and Founder of Singapore Manufacturing Consortium (SIMCO).
According to him, while IIoT has many benefits, many manufacturers, especially the smaller ones, are still hesitant to deploy due to various concerns. “The costs of just the hardware itself for IIoT becomes cost prohibitive. The speed at which different types of sensors at cost effective rates can be deployed has put a bit of a hindrance on smaller enterprises that have to weigh the cost and system needed to deploy IIoT versus their traditional methods,” Deng said.
The biggest demands come from large manufacturers with legacy equipment, Deng said. “The key drivers that have seen great IIoT success are ones base on large facilities with significant amount of traditional equipment that is not sensorized, as they realize the value of not needing a human to collect and monitor for efficiency and quality. Examples of this are large complexes in the oil and gas industry where the significant volume and space of pipes and valves require real-time monitoring for safety and quality control,” he said.
He mentions that the positive impact of IIoT will ultimately outweigh initial concerns facing Asian manufacturers, who instead of looking throughout the region for cheap labor can turn to IIoT to achieve greater automation and efficiency.
“As costs have risen in China, a significant number of industries have started to look or have already moved to countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. However, low cost doesn't mean that it will stay this way forever, and forward-thinking companies have a few potential options. The first is to identify the next target country of low-cost labor and always be prepared to pick-up shop and move. The other is to see how to digitize, automate and optimize their existing facilities to become more competitive without the constant need to move to locations of cheap labor,” Deng said. “This is where for the latter, many companies are looking at IIoT as a way to control production costs by having a means of reliable and high fidelity data to monitor production, quality and productivity.”
Deng also cited Asian markets where IIoT deployment is on the increase. “We see the use of IIoT and sensorization for manufacturing becoming more commonly accepted and utilized in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and China. As the costs of labor increases, IIoT adoption increases to mitigate the need for human intervention for data collection and monitoring. However as more companies continue to move their core manufacturing operations from North Asia down south, we see large potential and uptake of IIoT solutions in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia,” he said.