The Internet of Things (IoT) began as an emerging trend and has now become one of the key elements of Digital Transformation that is driving the world in many respects. we are evolving to a more connected, digitized world. Leveraging Industry 4.0 technologies is a necessity if you are going to meet consumer’s demands and maximize efficiencies. Now is the time to redefine how we look at gathering and analyzing data across machines and the supply chain to enable fast flexible, and more efficient processes.
General Electric coined the term Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in late 2012.
While many of us are familiar with the Internet of Things used by Nike FuelBand, FitBits, Nest, and Samsung as connected devices, there’s much more going on in connecting industrial devices in the world of IIoT.
The Industrial Internet is still at an early stage, similar to where the Internet was in the late 1990s. The IIoT, through the use of sensors, advanced analytics, and intelligent decision-making, will profoundly transform the way plants & factories connect and communicate with the enterprise.
Industries impacted by IIoT are Manufacturing, Aviation, Utility, Agriculture, Oil and gas, Transportation, Energy, Mining and healthcare.
One of the key opportunities that early adopters of the Industrial Internet are pursuing is the improvement of worker and equipment productivity, safety, and working conditions in the factories.
The IIoT will revolutionize manufacturing by enabling the acquisition and accessibility of tons of data, at lightning speeds, and far more efficiently than before.
There are several challenges factories are facing:
Manual data collected by floor person in a shift has human delays, errors
It is not continuous and also not real-time
Data is not comprehensive enough to do analysis and provide insights to senior management
One such framework available to factories is the Intelligent Plant Framework provided by Covacsis.
The benefits are tremendous:
It collects real-time data from all the factory machines
It is completely automatic so no human errors
The data collected is comprehensive to provide actionable insights to the factory in charge
With predefined algorithms, productivity and costs are calculated automatically and recommendations are made for improvement
While systems like MES can only synchronize the operations of the factory, IPF does the performance measurement and management.
Business benefits of implementing IPF:
Conversion costs are reduced by 20-30% from raw materials to finished goods
Production productivity is improved by up to 30%
Plug-n-play with minimal or no customization hence no impact on running factories
Implemented in 3-4 weeks compared to months and years of competitive products in the market
With solid experience of implementation in over 70+ factories and 15+ sectors across manufacturing such as Pharma, Chemical, Textile, FMCG, etc; IPF is a clear winner and the need of an hour for factories of the future.
The path to Industry 4.0 is via the Industrial Internet of Things IIoT and the implementation of automation via IPF.