What are the benefits of IIoT for manufacturers?

Needless to say, the Industrial Internet of Things has gained more acceptance among manufacturers, who can enjoy various benefits IIoT brings, for example product quality improvement and preventive maintenance.
 
Across the globe, IIoT has become a major force that can’t be ignored. Indeed, IIoT effectively addresses certain pain points and difficulties facing manufacturers.

“Manufacturing has always been about efficiency. Manufacturers in today’s environment are striving to achieve greater efficiency in the face of a volatile manufacturing environment that pressures industrial companies to stay steps ahead of ever-changing consumer demands like mass personalization and increased quality,” said Christophe Avrain with the Industrial Automation Business at Schneider Electric. “In an environment with uncontrollable external variables, the collection and use of data presents a way to ensure process optimization and continuous operation under such constraints.”
   

“There's better transparency and better visibility into the production of goods and the flow of goods, as well as delivery and after-service support,” said Ryan Martin, Principal Analyst at ABI Research. “Industrial IoT technologies are helping companies close the feedback loop between products, sales and customer experience.”
 

Benefits for manufacturers

 
So what are the benefits of IIoT for manufacturers? There are several, and they are summarized as follows.
 

Product improvement

 
IIoT enables manufacturers to make significant improvements in quality of the products. “The sensors embedded in the factory equipment monitor their functioning in real time and allow the machine to automatically make the required adjustments to meet the quality standards and reduce defect rate. Analytics and machine learning capabilities can also evaluate the discrepancies and instruct line equipment to automatically adjust without human intervention,” said Keshab Panda, CEO and MD of L&T Technology Services.
 

Preventive maintenance

 

A major advantage of IIoT is it helps with preventive maintenance, informing operators of impending machine failure. “With IIoT, plant reliability and maintenance technicians are alerted to evolving asset failure in the early stages. This provides plants the ability to isolate the underlying cause of failure and to remediate before equipment shut down,” said Ophir Glazer, VP of Sales at Presenso.
 
“Reports estimate that IoT powered predictive maintenance can deliver 10 to 20 percent of savings by reducing maintenance costs of factory equipment. IIoT and data analytics can help manufacturers avoid ineffective maintenance routine and prevent the downtime cost that accompanies it,” Panda said.
 

Reduced downtime

 
Inevitably, early detection and response to problems can help reduce downtime in factories. “Using real-time data to predict and prevent breakdowns can reduce downtime by 50 percent. IIoT allows manufacturers to compare the performance of one equipment against another while compiling an extensive database to identify the fault patterns. The sensors monitor the condition of the machine uninterruptedly, schedule their maintenance proactively and reduce the risk of unplanned breakdown and stoppage of work,” Panda said.
 

Industries that can benefit

 
The benefits of IIoT make it suitable for manufacturers in a variety of industries, from semiconductor to healthcare equipment. One industry that can especially benefit fro IIoT is automotive.
 
“IIoT will play a crucial role in improving the manufacturing of vehicles as well as drive product innovation. For manufacturing, IIoT will improve the efficiency of the assembly lines and reduce downtime as well increase the quality of the vehicles. With the rise of connected cars, the manufacturers will also have access to user experience data that will help in designing better and safer products,” Panda said.
 
According to Glazer, process industries that have traditionally collected historical sensor data are best positioned to be the early adopters. “We are seeing traction with a number of sectors including oil and gas, renewable energy, metals and mining, chemicals, paper and cement,” he said.