What is IIoT and its Link to Manufacturing?
The IIoT is part of a broader framework called the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT is a network of smart computers, devices, and objects that gather and share vast amounts of data. The data collected is sent to a central cloud-based service. Here, compiled with other data, end-users find it useful. IoT can improve the automation of homes, classrooms, stores, and many industries.
Implementing the IoT to the manufacturing industry refers to the IIoT (or Industrial Internet or Industry 4.0). It revolutionizes the production process, allowing much more data collection and storage at far higher speeds and far more effectively than before. A host of innovative companies began using smart connected devices in their factories to introduce the IIoT.
What are the Benefits of IIoT?
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For industrial organizations, the IIoT may significantly improve communication, performance, scalability, time savings, and cost savings. Because of predictive maintenance, improved safety, and other operational efficiencies, companies are already benefiting from it through cost savings. IIoT networks of intelligent devices enable manufacturing companies to break open data silos and connect their people, data, and processes from the factory floor to the executive offices. Business leaders can use IIoT data to provide a comprehensive and detailed insight into how their company is doing, which will help them make informed decisions.
Protocols
One of the issues encountered during the IIoT transition is that various edge-of-network devices have historically used different protocols to send and receive data. Many different communication protocols are currently in use, such as OPC-UA. The transfer protocol Message Queueing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) is rapidly emerging as the standard for IIoT, due to its lightweight overhead, publish/subscribe model, and bidirectional capabilities. Read more on MQTT here.
Challenges
The two biggest challenges surrounding IIoT implementation are probably interoperability and security. As technology writer Margaret Rouse observes: “Industrial IoT is a major concern about interoperability between devices and machines that use different protocols and have different architectures.” For this, Ignition is an excellent solution because it is cross-platform and based on open-source, IT-standard technologies.
Companies need to know how secure their data is. The proliferation of sensors and other intelligent, connected devices led to a parallel explosion of security vulnerabilities; this is another factor in MQTT’s growth. It’s a very stable protocol.
The Future of the IIoT
The IIoT remains one of the fundamental phenomena that today and in the future impact industrial enterprises. Industries push for the modernization of systems and equipment to comply with new regulations, maintain increasing speed and volatility, and deal with disruptive technologies. Companies that have embraced the IIoT have seen significant improvements in safety, efficiency, and profitability. This trend will continue as the technologies grow widely.
The Ignition IIoT system significantly increases industrial organizations’ communication, performance, scalability, time savings, and cost savings. It can unite people and processes on the plant’s floor to those on the enterprise’s level. It also enables companies to get the most value out of their system without being limited by technological and economic constraints. For these and more reasons, Ignition offers the ideal forum for bringing IIoT’s power into your company.
