David Immerman is as a Consulting Analyst for the TMT Consulting team based in Boston, MA. Prior to S&P Market Intelligence, David ran competitive intelligence for a supply chain risk management software startup and provided thought leadership and market research for an industrial software provider. Previously, David was an industry analyst in 451 Research’s Internet of Things channel primarily covering the smart transportation and automotive technology markets.
The percentages in the above graphic were derived from a survey issued to PTC's ThingWorx customers. It is a sampling rather than a full representation of PTC's IoT customer base.
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies are becoming pervasive across organizations and industry sectors, driving operational effectiveness in an array of industrial environments. In PTC’s latest State of Industrial Internet of Things report, we analyzed primary use cases, beneficiaries, IIoT data sourcing venues, and other commonalities driving industrial innovation across verticals and their value chains.
For this post, let’s take a deeper look at IIoT’s proliferation within these vertical markets:
Industrial Products
Manufacturers are rethinking their product’s lifecycles across internal and external value chains and where their role begins and ends. IIoT is both extending intelligence into the real-world through smart, connected products transmitting real-world usage data and within internal supply chains with embedded IIoT spanning the shop floor.
We anticipate exponential growth as digital twins and other digital transformation initiatives continue – and we’re not alone. The IDC forecasts discrete manufacturers will spend $119 billion on IoT solutions in 2019.
Automotive
The automotive industry is categorized by tight margins and a never-ending strive for higher efficiencies in an extremely competitive marketplace. Automotive OEMs and suppliers are undergoing connected car strategies to analyze vehicle and driver behavioral data as well as streamlining their own manufacturing operations.
On the smart connected operations side, IIoT platforms are driving operational intelligence enabling auto players to gain a comprehensive view of multiple work sites, with IIoT analytics generating powerful predictive maintenance applications to keep machines online and potentially save thousands in operating costs from reduced downtime. HIROTEC is a major automotive supplier using IIoT for operational intelligence and predictive maintenance in its manufacturing machines and assets.
Electronics & High-Tech
Electronics is another industry that requires greater flexibility and agility to keep up with shifting consumer demands and is becoming a major beneficiary of smart connected products. Products with digital HMIs are using IoT to unlock novel consumer data insights from interactions with the now connected device. iQor is improving its servicing procedures by using IIoT to access diagnostic data and monitor real-time repairs of deployed electronics.
Utilities
Bringing connected endpoints to the utilities grid can drive significant cost savings and operational effectiveness. IIoT brings connectivity to electric, water, and gas metering generating demand management and response applications for a truly ‘smart’ grid. Also, IIoT can electrify remote monitoring and servicing use cases for industrial utilities equipment such as transformers where maintaining asset uptime is crucial.
Aerospace & Defense
Aerospace and defense companies are subject to rigorous performance standards given the necessary safety components and FAA regulations the industry must abide by. IIoT’s asset health monitoring capabilities can preemptively alert personnel of a system potentially malfunctioning.
Additionally, the amount of sensor data in certain aviation applications is exponential – a single Boeing 747 can generate half a terabyte from a flight; capitalizing on this real-world IoT data is a major opportunity for airlines to optimize their fleets and aviation OEMs to improve future iterations of their planes.
Medical Devices
Equipment in the healthcare industry continues to become more sophisticated and improve patient care. Maintaining uptime of these devices is of vital importance and IIoT provides a bi-directional link to keep them online. IoT is also being leveraged in patient care; for example, patients with chronic conditions can opt-in to remote monitoring and send vital data to physicians and their healthcare team. This can help inform diagnosis and personalize treatment.
Retail
Understanding the customer’s buying preferences is the cornerstone of commerce and essential for brick-and-mortar retailers. Innovative sensors like Bluetooth beacons are finding their way into stores and customers’ shopping experiences with personalized advertisements sent to smartphones based on location proximity. IoT alongside artificial intelligence is also enabling other cutting-edge innovations in retail such as automated checkouts and smart shelves, tying into supply chain applications including ERP systems.
Final Thoughts
There are additional verticals and end markets where IoT is having a profound impact such as process manufacturing in food and beverage and pharmaceuticals. There are few and far between applications that IoT hasn’t touched and the use cases will only increase in correlation with the growth of connected endpoints.
