In the fourth quarter, manufacturing contributed $2.38 trillion to the U.S. economy, employing over 12 million workers and accounting for 11.4% of the nation’s GDP that year. Despite concerns from the media about the decline of the manufacturing sector, the industry has thrived in recent years due to advancements in key technologies. Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) sensors are among the most promising technologies in manufacturing.
These sensors are revolutionizing how industrial manufacturing companies produce and transport products. As IoT technology continues to evolve and edge computing frameworks gain popularity, they will help industrial manufacturers become more competitive on the global stage.
Improving Operational Visibility
One of the biggest benefits of IoT sensors is their connectivity and ability to collect data. Modern manufacturing plants are filled with various advanced machines. Compared to the dirty and dangerous factories of the early 20th century, today’s manufacturing facilities have invested heavily in operational technologies to create clean, safe, and even comfortable workplaces while improving efficiency and productivity.
Industrial IoT sensors help make these environments possible by providing unprecedented visibility into all aspects of manufacturing operations. They can monitor environmental conditions, assess the status of production lines, detect issues and potential safety threats, and even allow technicians to remotely control critical operations. All of this data can then be transmitted to local micro data centers or nearby edge data centers, processed by powerful analytics programs, enabling manufacturing plants to identify trends and optimize operations for better performance.
Predictive Maintenance
Human error remains one of the leading causes of system downtime. In today’s complex industrial environments, even skilled workers often have to consider too many variables without sacrificing performance or safety. Automation is certainly not new to manufacturing, but specially designed industrial IoT sensors enable equipment to achieve a high degree of automation rather than blindly performing repetitive tasks.
Autonomous systems are characterized by their ability to make decisions based on various changing factors. Since industrial IoT sensors often have significant onboard processing capabilities, they can assess environmental conditions and adjust operations accordingly. These decisions are informed by vast amounts of data and far exceed what humans could quickly and accurately analyze. This not only eliminates many risks associated with human error but also promises to improve efficiency and productivity with minimal supervision.
Logistics Transparency
Knowing the location of critical assets in the supply chain is a key aspect of manufacturing. If manufactured products get lost between the factory floor and the target customer, even the most optimized industrial machinery loses its value. With the connectivity of IoT sensors (such as smart RFID tags), industrial manufacturing companies can gain unprecedented visibility into their supply chain and logistics operations. This visibility not only helps ensure everything runs smoothly but also assists industrial manufacturers in streamlining their supply chains to bring products to market more effectively.
Edge Capabilities
Smart IoT sensors can provide the processing power needed for machines to operate at the edge of traditional cloud computing networks. They can also allow machines to operate entirely independently, collecting data and performing critical processing tasks until they can reconnect to a centralized network. With IoT sensors, industrial equipment is never far from the company’s main servers.
Industrial IoT sensors improve manufacturing by providing greater visibility into factory operations, enhanced data collection, and analytics capabilities while minimizing disruptions. In the coming years, these smart IoT devices will become more prevalent, allowing them to operate almost anywhere. Additionally, coupled with increased supply chain transparency, these innovations will help industrial manufacturing companies grow their businesses while improving productivity and better serving customers.
(This article is reprinted from Youguan Network)
