Manufacturing processes and the technologies that support them are constantly evolving to drive efficiency and innovation in an increasingly competitive landscape. The industrial IoT is playing a pivotal role in this transformation—providing leaders from the shop floor to the top floor with the operational intelligence they need to improve productivity and reduce costs. These are four of the ways IIoT solutions are already influencing manufacturing this year.
1. Real-time performance monitoring
Manufacturers need to monitor their equipment, lines, processes, and facilities to understand how each is performing and where to make improvements. IIoT solutions with real-time monitoring capabilities are providing greater transparency onto the factory floor and helping operations managers identify, prioritize, and respond to developing issues as they happen. As more enterprises look to proven IIoT solutions for a single source of truth, factories will produce less waste while becoming safer and more compliant.
2. Predictive maintenance
Scheduling regular maintenance for production assets can be disruptive and costly to operations, and it isn’t always necessary. Manufacturers can get longer lifespans with more utilization out of their assets by performing maintenance based on measurable need, rather than arbitrary schedules.
Predictive and prescriptive maintenance enable manufacturers to anticipate and resolve potential issues before they happen. IIoT solutions with these capabilities give manufacturers better control of their production environments while saving them from unnecessary repair costs and downtime.
3. AR-based training and work instructions
The manufacturing workforce is losing expertise at an alarming rate. With onboarding and training processes getting lengthier due to the complexity of custom products, businesses must find innovative ways to solve the skills crisis before it’s too late.
AR makes it easier for manufacturers to scale expertise to existing workers of all skill levels.The ability to overlay digital information like step-by-step work instructions onto physical assets can help manufacturers improve yields, reduce scrap and rework, and create a safer work environment, while also improving training curriculum and knowledge transfer. Additionally, enhancing AR with real-time and historical IoT performance data can provide service technicians with better visibility into the status and health of production equipment.
4. Edge-to-enterprise analytics integration
The need to deliver products that meet quality and compliance standards under increasingly tight production deadlines puts additional pressure on manufacturers to be as efficient and agile as possible. Integrating real-time IIoT data with MES systems and machine learning capabilities enables across-the-floor production performance monitoring that can help manufacturers reduce the cost of inventory, improve quality, and accelerate time to market.