ERP Resources: What is Industrial Internet of Things(IIOT)?

This is the fifth of a series of articles that I am writing in my blog. I intend to cover 21 technologies / ideas. Here is my publishing history.

What is Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT)?

Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) is a subset of 'Internet of Things', a term coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999. While the term IoT refers to connected devises that make the individual life fun and exciting, the term IIOT refers to the way

industrial machines and products and networks communicate with each other.

IIOT refers to a large number of industrial devices like manufacturing equipments, air craft engines, trucks on the road etc that are fitted with sensors and other devices that collect data and push it to cloud storage devices through different networks. The sensors and other connected instruments send large amount of data that enables the company to take quick decisions regarding the data.

IIOT also helps industrial devices to communicate with each other. For example a sensor can sense an increasing temperature in the engine and request the coolant supplying machine for additional coolant. This communication is automatic. Based on the non-availability of coolant, the coolant machine can request shut down of the engine and send notification to all concerned.

IIOT Architecture

The conceptual architecture of IIOT is shown in the diagram below

The sensors and devices will continuously send data to the edge gateway.

The edge gateway preprocesses this data and filters it. It may either initiate a response based on a predetermined threshold or send the filtered data to a database over the cloud.

Internet (Cloud) acts as a connectivity layer between edge gateway and the databases residing in the remote server. Availability of cloud enables device mobility. No matter which part of the world the device at any point in time, it can continue to send data to the database. This has far reaching implications as it helps integrate with Blockchain technologies like Distributed Ledger.

Once the data is received in the database, it further processed and necessary actions are initiated based on business logic, workflow, AI and analytics

IIOT: Why now?

Three different factors have contributed to the explosion of IIOT.

Cheap technology, software and hardware: All the components of technology has become cheaper and more manageable. Processors have become smaller, more powerful and more accessible.
Internet speeds have become highly scalable and cloud computing has become readily available.
Adoption of IPv6: Existing IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) can accommodate only around 4 billion computers (2^32). When it was designed in 1978, it was assumed that the number of computers in the world will not exceed that number. However with population of the world being 7 billion and with huge number of 'things' connecting to the internet, the IPv4 was inadequate and acted as a bottleneck to the adoption of IOT. However, IPv6 with 128 bites explodes the potential number of IP Addresses and has accelerated the adoption of IOT.

IIOT Market

Tech analyst company IDC predicts that in total there will be 41.6 billion connected IoT devices by 2025, or "things." It also suggests industrial and automotive equipment represent the largest opportunity of connected "things,", but it also sees strong adoption of smart home and wearable devices in the near term.

Industrial IoT is growing rapidly. Estimates suggest that the industrial IoT market will be worth over $992 billion by 2025. Accenture has predicted that IIoT will add over $14 trillion to the global economy by 2030.

Gartner predicts that the enterprise and automotive sectors will account for 5.8 billion devices in 2020, up almost a quarter on 2019. Utilities will be the highest user of IoT, thanks to the continuing rollout of smart meters. Security devices, in the form of intruder detection and web cameras will be the second biggest use of IoT devices. Building automation – like connected lighting – will be the fastest growing sector, followed by automotive (connected cars) and healthcare (monitoring of chronic conditions).

Features of an IIOT Platform

Since each sensor or tracking devise acting as a single endpoint, IIOT increases both technical and management complexity in an Organization. A full scale IIOT platform will be a part of the overall digital footprint of the organization and will help integrate machines with people, and systems.

The best IIoT platforms provides capabilities including:

Management of devices and sensors including provisioning, data capture and business logic
Integrating data with existing systems and applications
Managing machine to machine and machine to systems messaging based on workflow, threshold configuration and business logic.
Managing the interactions between various 'players' in the ecosystem including men, machines and systems
Real-time data analytics to generate actionable intelligence.
Management and security of the network and cloud applications that store and use data

Benefits

Better asset utilization since IIOT provides ability to track asset performance and identify trends in real-time
Increased productivity due to better streamlining of activities of various resources
Cost reduction due to saving in energy bills, reduction in breakdown maintenance etc.
Continuous improvement in product quality since companies can capture user feedback in real-time
Waste reduction through better inventory management and tracking over the entire supply chain process including shop floor, warehouses and vehicles.
IIOT can help generate new revenue sources. Manufacturers can to offer new business models like remote support, predictive maintenance etc to their customers

Challenges

Security is the biggest challenge for wider rollout of IIOT. With many endpoints including mobile endpoints it becomes easy for hackers to enter Organization's network and steal sensitive data. Security is the key concern why pharma industry is slow to adopt IIOT
Concern for data privacy goes hand in hand with security. With many devices collecting personal data, IIOT should be designed to maintain data privacy.
Lack of IIOT standards is another concern. There are many standards being used which prevent portability.
IIOT sensors deliver a large amount of data. Handling large volume of data and generating actionable intelligence out of this is another challenge.
Deciding between cloud and on-premise deployment models is yet another challenge. On-premise models provide better control over data. Recently cloud vendors have started offering best in class security that should allay some of the concerns.
Interoperability between devices that follow different protocols are another challenge. The root cause is that there is no single universal standard for IIOT (Point 2 above)

Use cases

Predictive maintenance: Sensors attached to devices and products will track the usage and the trend and identify the need for changing, replacing or repairing a component of the device or product. This helps in eliminating costly breakdowns and helps increase customer satisfaction.
Facilities management: Facilities mangers can use IOT to reduce energy consumption, space utilization and even to improve the health of the tenants by monitoring the quality of air inside the building.
Proactive replenishment: Sensors installed in warehouses provide real-time alerts about the requirement for replenishment. This leads to inventory optimization and reduction in carrying costs.
Operations and production: IIOT adoption started from the shop floors. IIOT helps in every aspect of operations and production including predictive analytics, just in time inventory, real-time replenishment and inventory optimization at shop floor to name a few use cases.
Pervasive visibility: This refers to the visibility of your entire network so as to prevent any network breaches. This is more relevant in IIOT scenario with its large number of end points connecting to the network.
Fleet management: By attaching sensors to your fleet you can track and optimally manage your fleet leading to improved fleet utilization.
Improved field service: Sensors can predict potential product issue. This information is automatically sent to the field executives who can proactively resolve the issues before any breakdown happens. The executives can even use smart glasses that will help them interact with the experts in the factory to resolve issues.