With the application of IIoT in the manufacturing industry, enterprise managers can have an eye on the manufacturing process and operations of the supply chain. They get complete information about the quality of the product, available inventory, equipment condition and its utilization. Thus, they have total access to critical production process parameters. Also, the health and physical activity of the employees can be monitored.
Reasons for opting IIoT
- Precise visibility
- Instant access to information
- Detailed analytics
Critical Challenges of Remote Industrial Operations
IIoT helps to solve the problems faced while dealing with remote operations, as they limit abilities to:
- Monitor remote facility performance.
- Ensure employee safety
- Maintain optimal inventory levels.
Now let us look in detail how the application of IIoT can help in addressing these challenges.
Monitoring remote facility performance –
Most of the industries are monitoring machine utilization using IIoT. The efficiency of remote manufacturing operations can be controlled with the help of IIoT-driven solutions. These solutions help in getting insights into performance metrics and equipment availability after every second.
The monitoring of machine utilization begins with retrieving important data about machine operating parameters via machines Ethernet port. Once examined and visualized, this data provides manufacturers with informative insights about the KPIs of machine utilization. A manager at headquarters can easily access the data and status of the machine of a remote shop or office in real time.
Ensuring the safety of employee –
Companies can leverage IoT solutions for observing the safety of employees. It helps in ensuring that the remote facility is prevented from any accident related to work. These solutions are mandatory in industries where employees work in a dangerous environment, such as the oil and mining industry.
IIoT helps in continually monitoring the location of employees and parameters related to health such as galvanic skin response, heartbeat, etc. Sensors worn by employees analyze the data, and IoT detects any unusual behavior in the functioning of the employee’s body.
As an example, if an IoT solution detects a fast heartbeat or no movement for some seconds, then it means that the employee needs a medical assessment.
Maintaining optimal inventory levels –
IoT-driven inventory supervision solutions help in managing the volume of inventory available with the remote facility. It helps in ensuring that enough inventory is available for smooth working and also controls the production schedules. This data related to inventory volume and location is hard to retrieve without the help of IoT. With RFID, IoT makes access to this data easy.
To make sure that inventory is traceable, items are labeled with RFID tags, and the RFID reader is available with the remote manufacturing facility. The reader scans the tag and determines the location and quantity of inventory. IIot-driven solutions have the ability to record the live location of the inventory and also track its movement on the floor.
These are the three critical challenges that IoT has solved for the manufacturing industries having shops at remote locations.
