Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

Connect your machines, employees, and processes—while unlocking new data-driven capabilities. Explore how industrial connectivity and real-time data analytics can transform your industrial data into faster business decisions, improved efficiency, and maximized revenue growth for your business.

Learn how to master industrial IoT success in manufacturing and service with IoT programs that hit the right milestones.

What is IIoT?

The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a foundational technology for Industry 4.0 initiatives that uses connected smart sensors, actuators, and more to connect your people, products, and processes to power digital transformation. Using industrial IoT platforms, companies connect, monitor, analyze, and act on industrial data in new ways to improve efficiency, maximize revenue growth, reduce costs, and more.

You can start fast with digital transformation, using IoT for strategic pilots while easily scaling solutions to reshape your organization. Leaders depend on the industrial IoT across the value chain to make enterprise-wide impact—from how they design, manufacture, and service products, to how they create value and engage with customers.

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Benefits of Industrial IoT

Industrial IoT systems are made powerful by connected devices and machines that can speak the same language, monitor and analyze industrial performance data, and allow real-time visibility into what’s going right, what’s going wrong, and even predictions on when something will go wrong. A connected IIoT ecosystem gives you and your team the power to enhance efficiencies, remotely monitor, benchmark across sites, maximize uptime, optimize operations in factory and field—the potential is limitless.

The best way to accelerate digital transformation is by using a proven industrial IoT platform that’s purpose-built for you. An established platform offers several advantages, including:

Industrial IoT systems are made powerful by connected devices and machines that can speak the same language, monitor and analyze industrial performance data, and allow real-time visibility into what&rsquo;s going right, what&rsquo;s going wrong, and even predictions on when something will go wrong. A connected IIoT ecosystem gives you and your team the power to enhance efficiencies, remotely monitor, benchmark across sites, maximize uptime, optimize operations in factory and field&mdash;the potential is limitless.<br /> <br /> The best way to accelerate digital transformation is by using a proven industrial IoT platform that&rsquo;s purpose-built for you. An established platform offers several advantages, including:

Maximize revenue

Eliminate unplanned downtime and operational roadblocks to keep revenue growing. Scale to new markets, improve throughput, and unlock new business models such as products as a service with IIoT.

Eliminate unplanned downtime and operational roadblocks to keep revenue growing. Scale to new markets, improve throughput, and unlock new business models such as products as a service with IIoT.

Reduce time to market

Get to market faster with rapid application development. An industrial IoT platform allows you to wrap and extend legacy assets for new functionality.

Get to market faster with rapid application development. An industrial IoT platform allows you to wrap and extend legacy assets for new functionality.

Lower operational costs

Unlock industrial data from connected products and systems to boost productivity and efficiency while keeping costs low. Remove bottlenecks and increase efficiency.

Unlock industrial data from connected products and systems to boost productivity and efficiency while keeping costs low. Remove bottlenecks and increase efficiency.

Improve quality

Secure and scale your product, service, and factory operations. Improve service quality, reliability, and customer satisfaction.

Secure and scale your product, service, and factory operations. Improve service quality, reliability, and customer satisfaction.

Are you ready for your digital transformation journey?

Go from the first steps of digitization to digital maturity—learn the key concepts and strategies for a successful digital transformation journey in Frost and Sullivan’s white paper.

Read the White Paper
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IIoT for manufacturing and service

Industrial IoT for manufacturing

See how IIoT creates smart manufacturing solutions that can transform your plant operations. Reduce changeover times, eliminate unplanned downtime, and more with IIoT manufacturing improvements.

Digital Manufacturing Solutions

Industrial IoT for service

Learn how IIoT solutions can help field service technicians improve first-time fix rates, diagnose problems remotely, and reduce truck rolls and blind dispatches.

Service Optimization Solutions
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The connected device industry is expected to grow 40%—grow with it

Uncertainty around equipment performance, customer satisfaction, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness is widespread. Amid worker shortages, risk, and digital disruption, this uncertainty jeopardizes competitive advantage. Smart service leaders counter this by embracing a connected service strategy, harnessing key value drivers to transform their business.

Improve Service
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Powerful connection with industrial IoT

Industrial connectivity: Your IIoT foundation

Breaking the silos of niche protocols in your factory starts with getting your OT systems—and all your machines—speaking the same language. See how protocol translation and universal connectivity set you up for digital transformation initiatives in your plants while giving you maximum data visibility and allowing for faster time to value.

Explore Industrial Connectivity

Industry 4.0

The fourth industrial revolution, or industry 4.0, has brought about a new era of automation and efficiency in manufacturing. Smart factories are adopting artificial intelligence, automation equipment, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software, and IIoT devices to streamline production processes.

Explore Industrial Automation

IT/OT convergence

The IIoT has transformed industrial operations with standardized connectivity, powerful applications, and rich analytics. IT/OT convergence breaks down barriers between OT and IT systems, allowing OT to communicate directly with IT platforms for access to advanced IT systems.

Explore IT/OT Convergence

How the IIoT powers digital transformation

Accelerating your digital transformation takes more than just the right industrial Internet of Things platform. You also need pragmatic applications of technology that will make an impact on your business. PTC customers use our IIoT products to address proven use cases—building a repeatable roadmap for success.

Digital workforce productivity

PTC's integrated IIoT and AR technology empowers frontline workers to enhance overall manufacturing efficiency. Manufacturers improve efficiency by adding digital capabilities to physical equipment, but potential gains are limited without involving the workforce. Improve Productivity

Digital performance management

The volume and velocity of change in modern manufacturing can throttle efficiency, leading to operating efficiencies as low as 40-60%. But with PTC's ThingWorx Digital Performance Management (DPM), manufacturing companies can achieve productivity levels exceeding 85%. Improve Revenue and Reduce Costs

Remote condition monitoring

What if you could eliminate blind dispatches and reduce truck rolls while improving customer success and satisfaction? Empower your teams with access to monitor asset data remotely to help prevent downtime for your customers—and even prevent issues before they occur. Start Remote Service

Real-time data

Know what’s happening with your machines in real time in an actionable view—so you can reduce unplanned downtime, maximize asset efficiency and utilization, and improve output quality. Get Data Visibility

Digital work instructions

Give your frontline workers the digital tools and data they need to be safer and more productive. Connect humans with real-time, actionable machine data in one unified view to help scale knowledge, improve safety, and boost efficiency. Empower Employees

Product-as-a-service

OEMs can drive service revenue by innovating new offerings with IIoT and selling the outcomes their products provide their customers. See how a product-as-a-service revenue model can boost your margins while increasing value for your customers. Redefine Product Value

Predictive maintenance

Intelligent asset optimization starts with predictive maintenance. Detect problems before they happen and reduce unplanned downtime by up to 30% for faster service resolutions—all with less time on site. Start Proactive Service

Industrial Internet of Things case studies

Experience IIoT’s real-world impact through our customers’ success stories. PTC has worked with leading industrial companies in manufacturing and service to transform their business through IoT. Explore the potential of this foundational digital transformation technology.

caterpillar3
Bell-And-Howell
CIMC logo
HIROTEC logo

Caterpillar

Caterpillar is helping De Beers ensure safe mining conditions above the arctic circle using monitoring and predictive service solutions from PTC.

Watch Their Story

Bell and Howell

Bell and Howell achieved a 92% first-time fix rate using PTC’s ThingWorx platform to enable and service.

Follow Their Journey

CIMC

CIMC launched a smart manufacturing initiative leveraging the ThingWorx Industrial IoT platform to integrate IoT with their Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and break down data siloes.

Follow Their Journey

HIROTEC

HIROTEC improves productivity for its manufacturing customers by using PTC solutions to connect, monitor, and optimize their shop floor products.

Follow Hirotec’s Journey

Industry applications

Industrial IoT applications span across several key industries. Learn more about specific industry solutions for IoT technology and start transforming your operations today.

Industrial Machinery and Components Solutions

Industrial machinery and components

Drive stronger throughput, improved efficiency, and increased capacity utilization in manufacturing while empowering your teams with the data and insights they need to succeed. Industrial Machinery and Components Solutions
Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) Solutions

Life sciences and IoMT

Knowing how your products are performing is no longer and option when it comes to patient safety and the cost of regulatory compliance. Explore Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) solutions. Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) Solutions
Automotive Industry Solutions

Automotive

Define the future of mobility with IIoT solutions that help you drive lean manufacturing principles. See the benefits of real-time insights and visibility across people, products, assets, and performance. Automotive Industry Solutions

PTC’s IIoT products

Built for end-to-end solutions with a complete set of must-have capabilities, ThingWorx is recommended by industry analysts, trusted by customers, proven in the field, and preferred by partners.

Digital Performance Management breaks down data silos so you can monitor performance, prioritize areas for improvement, analyze production losses for root-cause analysis, help find prescriptive and targeted actions for improvement, and compare performance across the enterprise.

PTC Recognized as a Leader in IIoT Platforms

IDC MarketScape

IDC MarketScape names PTC an IIoT leader in the latest report on worldwide IIoT platforms and applications.

SPARK Matrix™

PTC has been ranked as a top vendor for IIoT solutions in the SPARK Matrix™ ranking of IIoT vendors. Review the ranking!

The future of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

Driven by technologies capable of communicating more information than ever before, the future of IIoT will be characterized by continued change to the way manufacturers develop and produce products. IIoT is becoming an integral part of the digital thread, enabling continuity and accessibility from engineering to manufacturing.

With a host of enterprise software solutions producing an incredible amount of data, IIoT weaves this data together across organizations and through business processes and functions. Harnessing that data to analyze, manage, and communicate across departments will unlock faster and more accurate decisions, and the growing role of AI-enhanced infrastructures will only amplify this effect.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between IoT and IIoT?

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a connected network of physical objects that collect and exchange data using electronics, sensors, software, and networking. IoT uses smart devices to make life more convenient for consumers. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a similar concept but is used by more sophisticated devices for production and supply chain monitoring, to provide accurate data for machine-to-machine automation.

What are the risks and challenges of IIoT?

Interception of endpoint devices through eavesdropping attacks is a risk of IIoT, which allows hackers to access protected information. Device hijacking is a common security risk that can lead to serious data breaches. Distributed denial-of-service attacks can overwhelm an organization's endpoint devices with excessive traffic. Device spoofing attacks occur when attackers disguise themselves as trusted devices to send information. Physical device theft can pose a security risk if sensitive information is stored on the stolen device.

Data collection is a major challenge for IIoT due to its vast connectivity. Knowing the most relevant data to gather and ensuring the highest possible data quality is essential. Scalability is a challenge for IIoT implementations. Resource shortages are common in IIoT projects and must be addressed to avoid issues.

There may be difficulty in estimating the ROI accurately to justify a business case. Many IIoT providers offer proof of value programs, as well as proof of concepts so prospective customers can quickly see value and justify the technology integration.

Is IIoT secure?

IIoT security concerns can be eliminated by creating strong passwords and using two-factor authentication can increase protection. Encrypted communication helps protect digital data confidentiality. Closing ports on time can protect IIoT infrastructure from buffer overrun. Voice recognition systems, biometrics, and the principle of least privilege—a security concept in which a user is given the minimum levels of access or permissions needed to perform their job—can prevent potential hazards. Timely firmware upgrades are necessary for stable and reliable system functioning. Also, adhere to strict software development principles, create rigorous security standards and protocols, and conduct regular security audits.

Why should organizations consider adopting IIoT?

IIoT offers automated data collection that can reduce the need for manual data entry. Enhanced visibility can help businesses identify potential problems and inefficiencies. Monitoring production line data helps companies to identify underperforming equipment and areas causing delays, to reduce downtime and increase productivity.

Process compliance and optimization allow factories to gain unprecedented visibility into their operations and identify inefficiencies before they cause problems with downtime and waste.

IIoT can also help reduce operational costs by automating tasks, processes, and workflows, and improving efficiency, saving money, and freeing up employees to focus on more value-added tasks.

Connecting industrial equipment and sensors to the internet can play a significant role in making workplaces safer, allowing employers to gain real-time insights into potential safety hazards and respond quickly in an emergency.

What is the role of IT in industrial IoT?

Malfunctions in IIoT can cause significant problems such as production downtime or safety hazards. To ensure success, IT processes, tools, and best practices should be applied to IIoT installations. IT can scale and secure IIoT deployments to make sure they are reliable. Reliable networks with sufficient bandwidth capacity are necessary to transmit time-sensitive data without delay to applications in data centers or the cloud. Network controllers that have worked well for IT can also work for IIoT. Security practices must converge as IT and IIoT networks merge. A comprehensive, integrated security solution is better than multiple point products for protecting IIoT. The same security tools that IT has used for years can also be useful for IIoT.

What is industrial IoT architecture?

IIoT architecture is the arrangement of digital systems that provide network and data connectivity between sensors, IoT devices, data storage, and other layers. It must have IoT-enabled devices at the edge of the network. Edge computing provides quick answers to data processing, while cloud computing can perform extensive processing and provide advanced insights. Internet gateways gather and turn sensor data into digital channels for further processing. Protocols are required for data transfer across the IIoT system, and IIoT platforms control device data and manage analytics, data visualization, and AI duties. The industrial internet reference architecture (IIRA) may serve as a reference for developing sophisticated IIoT systems.

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