3 Predictions for Industrial IoT for the Year Ahead

Predictions are hard but one thing is for certain: uncertainty will continue. Manufacturing has been a volatile place to work for the past few years as consumer demand spikes (or troughs), rapid inflation of raw material costs, and labour shortages has meant that manufacturers have had to quickly adapt their processes and operations to meet the new reality.

Much of this volatility has contributed to the rapid acceleration of Industry 4.0 trends. At the core of Industry 4.0 is the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT). Machines connected via sensors to internet technologies have enabled everything from improved maintenance routines through to better on site safety.

In the past two years IIOT has become a critical enabler at manufacturing operations as it has allowed for remote operations with fewer people onsite as Covid lockdowns forced social distancing and disrupted plant operations globally. Will this trend continue into 2022? Here’s a few of our predictions for IIOT this year.

Prediction #1: Manufacturers will focus on driving business value with IIoT

Many manufacturers have invested heavily in laying the foundation for connected, smart factories. Machines have sensors that can monitor so many different variables.

Yet, despite the hype surrounding IIIOT many manufacturers have found that the technology hasn’t yet lived up to its expectations.

According to research from consultancy McKinsey over 70% of companies have started to pilot Industry 4.0 solutions but fewer than 30% report that they are capturing value at scale.  The rest are stuck in what McKinsey calls “pilot purgatory.”

As manufacturers have put in place the technology framework for IIOT and started collecting data, IX Network predicts that this year manufacturers will focus on what to do with all that information so that it truly drives business value. The new year is a good time to move out of “pilot purgatory.”

Prediction #2: IIOT will be extended into manufacturing supply chains

GE’s CEO Larry Culp compared supply chain disruption in 2021 to a giant game of “whac-a-mole.”

“We may have lines of sight, we may have improvements in one commodity or one line of business,” he said on a recent call with analysts and investors, according to Industry Week. “But almost without fail, the next day, a commodity, a supplier, a logistics provider that we thought was good for the next six weeks or the next six months offers up a revision to that outlook […] It just seems like every day, there’s new news to balance.” 

While supply chain disruption is expected to ease throughout 2022 there’s no doubt that it has left an indelible mark on the psyche of manufacturing execs. That’s one reason why we predict that manufacturers will take a closer look at the visibility that IIOT can provide into its supplier network to help better manage their supply chain.

Prediction #3: The Internet of Things becomes more autonomous

Just when you got your head around the difference between IoT and IIOT there’s a new acronym in town: IoAT. For us mere mortals, IoAT stands for Internet of Autonomous Things. Instead of machines communicating data and information to human operators, machines can self monitor and regulate themselves without human intervention.

One example of this is “cobots” – robots that are autonomous but able to work alongside humans (robots and humans would normally be kept separate to avoid safety risks). Online retailer Amazon has deployed these autonomous robots within their warehouses to help safely move items from one location to another. 

In practice, we’re still a long way from autonomous manufacturing but we predict that at advanced manufacturers, we will see an increase in artificial intelligence based solutions to help address the ongoing labour shortages and to help create operations that are more agile, resilient and sustainable.

What do you think? What will be the focus of IIOT at your company this year?

Interested in learning more about this topic? Download our special report: 4 Critical Components to Harnessing the Power of IoT in Manufacturing | The Industrial Transformation Network