Time to embrace the Internet of ( manufacturing) Things!

25th February 2015
Time to embrace the Internet of ( manufacturing) Things!

The evolving Internet of Thing, touches many areas of  enterprise.  Anil Jain, Industry Leader for  the Manufacturing and Consumer Goods Industry Verticals, at  Happiest Minds Technologies suggests how   the manufacturing industry can look to benefit from IoT 

The Internet of Things  has been extensively discussed and debated, and interest in this topic is only expected to go up in the years to come. The reason is simple enough: the knowledge of the power that it will place in the hands of businesses and consumers alike almost brings the feeling of science fiction coming to life. The automation of processes and the sharing of an inconceivable amount of information have caught the imagination of the public.
While its benefits are many and every industry could gain from adopting one form of IoT or the other, one industry that can take immediate advantage of these developments is manufacturing. Unlike other industries that may take time adjusting to the automation of processes, manufacturing, which has been a mechanized automated industry for a long time, should find it easy to adapt.
Let’s  look at some examples to show how the manufacturing industry can benefit from IoT:

Machines: An IoT device set to measure various components performance – whether directly like measuring speed, precision and alignment, or indirectly like measuring vibrations, noise and temperature levels, will be able to identify when there is an anomaly and based on certain pre-set parameters, will inform the maintenance team and if necessary simultaneously halt production to prevent mishaps.
Employees: Real-time information is crucial in today’s fast-paced world and it is important that employees receive information that is relevant to them and to customers, as soon as possible. In a non-IoT setting it may take a couple of days for a production delay to be communicated to the customer. With IoT, a customer-facing employee could be informed of a delay and pass the information on immediately. Based on the strength of the customer relationship, organizations could have their IoT devices directly inform customers as well.
Inventory and Logistics: Inventory and Logistics are two interconnected elements of manufacturing that could see great improvement with the aid of IoT devices. IoT will make managing the inventory much simpler. Automated ordering when stocks are low will ensure there is no delay in production due to insufficient supplies. In logistics, by using unique tags on products or cases of products, the organization will be able to track it form the second it leaves the factory storeroom to the second it arrives at the warehouse or even the store. IoT will also make handling the logistics between the suppliers and the manufacturers much simpler.
The greatest boon of IoT is the resulting capability to make decisions, modifications and corrections based on real-time, reliable and relevant information. It helps reduce downtime during production, and optimize stock movement within and without the organization. It enables co-operation and co-ordination through better communication. With the aid of IoT devices, a manufacturing organization could bring about greater efficiency in production and delivery. It could improve customer experience through improved accuracy and reliability of communication.
Manufacturing organizations needn’t hesitate when it comes to implementing IoT enabled devices in their processes, as the return on this investment will be well worth it. It is very likely that the manufacturing industry will have the fastest adoption of IoT in the coming years; the only question is whether it will be as fast as it is expected to be.
Headquartered in Bangalore,   with  operations in the US, UK, Singapore and Australia, Happiest Minds has a sharp focus on enabling Digital Transformation for customers by delivering a Smart, Secure and Connected experience through disruptive technologies: mobility, big data analytics, security, cloud computing, social computing, M2M/IoT, unified communications, etc. 
February 25 2015