Complete Guide to IoT Implementation
What is industrial IoT?
At the onset of remote services, OEMs were connecting expensive and mission critical equipment to get a better idea of how it was being used and what it was doing before and during an error condition or failure mode. This area had many names in the past: online systems, remote device monitoring, machine to machine, and more recently, the Internet of Things (IoT). The Industrial Internet of Things or Industrial IoT (IIoT) is a subset of IoT and refers to the use of internet-connected devices and sensors in industrial settings to gather and analyze data. IIoT integrates physical machinery and equipment with digital technology to improve efficiency, productivity, and safety in industries like manufacturing. Like IoT, IIoT allows for real-time monitoring, remote control, and predictive maintenance of machines, enabling companies to optimize operations, reduce downtime, and make more informed decisions.
What are the steps in the implementation of IoT?
In simple terms, technology is a tool not a solution. The proper implementation of technology requires People, Process, and Policy. People are required to envisage, deploy, and use the technology. Processes are necessary to ensure the technology is used at the right times and specified use cases. The last thing you want is to dispatch a technician to a site only to find out that the problem could have been resolved remotely. Policy is to ensure the technology has guidelines for use and application, so its misuse is discouraged or restricted.
Have a “why” and use case
In business, we spend money to either save or make more. In an IoT application, the intent is to reduce service operating costs or improve throughput (more service calls and customers) or efficiency (higher asset to technician ratio). Having a clear "why" and a well-defined use case helps identify problems to be solved or opportunities to be leveraged. It also aligns technologies and solutions accordingly, focusing efforts and resources on specific applications and outcomes. This ensures direction, alignment with business goals, and maximizes IoT’s potential benefits. Having a "why" and use case also helps to measure the success and impact of IoT implementations, enabling businesses to make data-driven decisions and improve strategies.
Ensure the project aligns with the business objectives
Clear business objectives, analyzing existing infrastructure, considering impact on operations and business models, and involving key stakeholders are essential to IoT implementation to ensure strategic alignment and better chances for success. Thorough market research and understanding of customer needs and preferences are also crucial so that the technology meets customer demands and drives business growth.
Establish new processes for IoT project control
Key points to consider when establishing new processes for IoT project control are defining clear objectives, establishing a robust communication framework, implementing agile methodologies, incorporating risk management processes, leveraging analytics for data-driven decision-making, and continuous monitoring and evaluation of progress.
Identify the ideal final result
Handing a technician a new tool, like IoT, is not guaranteed to produce results. In the most successful implementations, service teams revise their operating procedures to insert IoT into the day-to-day operations. In some cases, processes are completely replaced. How do you know what to do? Spend time with your field technicians and call center personnel, do their jobs with them, and map their processes. You can use tools like value stream process mapping to highlight waste, or create your “ideal final result” (IFR)—basically with all cost and technology limitations aside, what would your ideal process be? Why would you define an ideal process that you probably can’t implement? Simply put, it reframes your goals. When we look at an existing process, we’re inclined to make incremental improvements (often referred to as process or product evolution). However, when we’re presented with a higher standard to meet (the IFR), our thinking process leans more towards new or dramatically updated procedures and products (often considered revolutionary or “breakthrough”).
Have the capacity to manage the data and understand how it’s to be used
Data acquisition from remote assets is rewarding and a bit challenging. In both Service and Manufacturing applications, data is being acquired to increase the efficiency of a process, not to control the process. In non-control applications, data only needs to be acquired when values change, or over a period of minutes not milliseconds. In addition, you only need to acquire the data that can help solve the problems outlined in the business use case. This will help keep the cost, performance, and scalability of the system in line. Even when you manage these factors, the volume of data generated by IoT devices can become overwhelming without proper organization, storage, and trained personnel. Understanding and analyzing this data can provide valuable insights, optimize operations, and enable proactive maintenance. With proper data management, businesses can realize the full potential of IoT and gain a competitive edge.
Implement multiple security layers
Security is by far the number one concern of OEMs and end users. OEMs need to reduce risks associated with IoT deployments and create a strong defense against security threats. Implementing multiple security layers is critical to this step. Layering includes user and asset authentication and access control, securing communication channels with encryption, securing IoT devices with keys and tokens, monitoring and detecting connection and activity anomalies, and having a detailed incident response plan. In addition, regular updates and third-party assessments are necessary to adapt to evolving threats.
Invest in the necessary people and be open to feedback
IoT is a technology investment that also requires a change management program. Having access to personnel with the appropriate engineering and interpersonal skill sets is critical to the success of the program. If you do not have people with these skills, consider hiring them, training some existing staff, or at least leveraging a consultant to get your staff started in the right direction.
Holding regular program retrospectives and garnering feedback from customers and staff helps improve the program in areas like data analytics, process optimization, security enhancements, and even potential vulnerabilities. It also fosters innovation and helps businesses stay ahead as IoT capabilities and performance evolve.
How IoT is transforming the service and manufacturing industries
IoT and IIoT are revolutionizing the service and manufacturing industries by connecting machines, devices, and sensors to collect and analyze vast amounts of data, enabling organization to optimize operations, improve efficiency, and reduce operating costs. IoT facilitates near real-time monitoring, condition-based and predictive maintenance so that OEM’s can identify and address issues before they result in downtime. It also enables the automation of service processes, reducing human error, increasing productivity, and improving customer satisfaction.
What are the benefits of IoT implementation?
Increased visibility into machine utilization
IoT lets manufacturers connect machines to the internet for near real-time insight into machine health and important KPIs, including overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and overall process effectiveness (OPE). This is important information, even in non-manufacturing applications. This data helps identify usage trends and detractors. Knowing when and why equipment is not in use is critical to resolving and reducing unplanned downtime. It can also lead to increased machine utilization by highlighting the need for preventive equipment maintenance or the need to procure additional equipment if utilization is at its maximum and production is still not meeting needs.
Expansion to predictive maintenance
Access to operating data from IoT-connected systems can help predict wear issues or defects in machinery, which allows for preventive measures to be enacted before issues occur. This results in less unplanned downtime, higher uptime and overall machine productivity. Even in cases where failures cannot be predicted, access to actual usage patterns enables condition-based maintenance, which is far more effective than time-based, preventative maintenance techniques. Predictive and condition-based programs significantly reduce equipment failures, lost production time, rework, scrap, unplanned downtime and all associated costs.
Asset location and site inventories
While some industries, like automobile and medical, mandate owner traceability, many others do not. Complex distribution chains often create a visibility problem for many OEMs. So the initial challenge for the OEM is very often, “Where is my stuff?” If they don’t know where it was installed, they can’t service it. IoT applications can start to help in that process, offering simplified QR code or barcode scanning features to enable distributors, contractors, and even end users, to quickly identify and electronically tag their assets in the IoT database. It’s the electronic equivalent of filling out your “warranty card.”
From an end user’s perspective, it’s often difficult to know the inventory of all the equipment you own and need to have serviced. Take for example a company with multiple locations and several pieces of equipment at each site distributed amongst two or three different groups at each site. Aggregating that asset data into an IoT platform gives the service organization the ability to organize it by customer and provide a detailed list to their end users. If they combine this list with the asset utilization numbers, OEMs can have a powerful service and product selling tool.
Facility management
Facility managers oversee and maintain the infrastructure necessary for IoT devices to operate effectively, such as network connectivity, electrical, power, gas supply, or compressed air, for seamless integration into existing systems and processes for optimal efficiency and productivity. Having access to performance and utilization details, and/or changes, can help them make informed decisions.
Voice of the product
IoT-enabled remote assets provide near real-time visibility and possible control over a field-based piece of equipment. Valuable data can be gathered on machine performance, usage patterns, feature popularity, maintenance needs, and energy consumption. While the primary goal is to optimize operations and reduce downtime, it also provides insights into customer usage patterns, equipment use and abuse, and an overall assessment of the engineering design—is it performing better or worse than anticipated? It is quite literally the voice of the product.
Process and behavior monitoring
Data collected from IoT-enabled devices and software can give managers insight into employees’ activities performance. Bottlenecks and areas for improvement can be identified as a benchmark to measure improvement so that process engineers and remote service technicians can perform root cause analysis (RCA). These benefits can result in significant business impact based on cost savings, quality improvement, and increased efficiency.
Top IoT implementations in service
Asset monitoring
The baseline for service is monitoring key properties for connected equipment—everything else stems from this capability. Choosing the properties to monitor and how often to update them is a step unto itself. Once the key parameters are identified, we start capturing them and sending them up to the IoT server. Monitoring often involves validating the data against a set point, operating range, or anticipated trend. A deviation from this expected state may be classified in the IoT platform as a warning or alarm. This flips service from waiting for a call from the customer, to reacting to an indicator from the machine, and calling the customer to inform them. Over time this can lead to more advanced service procedures, but the bottom line is service teams look at the assets that need attention, not look for them.
Predictive maintenance
As previously noted, monitoring can accumulate a significant amount of data. This data, along with historical failure and service details, can be fed into machine learning models, which compare new data and trends with older data to predict if and when failure is likely to occur. Combining IoT with cloud computing facilitates information being leveraged from multiple machines to make statistically relevant and reliable predictions, which means fewer instances of mechanical error, less unplanned downtime, increased machine lifetimes, and capital and operating cost savings.
Optimizing legacy machines
IoT upgrades are not prohibitively expensive. Smaller IoT-enabled sensors that detect factors like vibration or temperature can be added to legacy machinery at a fraction of the cost of replacement. These simple sensors can identify normal operating parameters and send out warnings when data indicates a machine is beginning to malfunction. This is a key consideration for older equipment, which typically has higher maintenance costs and greater risk of failure. In long-term equipment applications (10+ years of anticipated use), legacy, or brownfield equipment will make up a significant portion of the overall asset population and their connectivity can significantly influence the impact of IoT in a service business.
Top 5 IoT implementation challenges
Lacking a specific purpose and scope
Without a clear purpose and understanding of intended goals and objectives, businesses may struggle to identify the right IoT technologies and devices to deploy it on. Additionally, without a defined scope, it becomes difficult to measure an IoT project’s success or failure, which can also hinder adoption, collaboration, and communication among stakeholders.
Programmatic ownership
There is an old saying that part-time jobs produce part-time results. Any organization looking to implement an IoT program needs to strongly consider creating a new role that focuses on the program. This is not a project management role, it is an operations and administrative role that focuses on the current-day success of the program, as well as its long-term vision. Think of this person as the “passionate advocate” for IoT in your business.
Internal adoption
Implementing IoT is a technical effort that is reliant on internal adoption. Very often, the single largest hurdle in an organization is the organization itself. Change is uncomfortable, so responses like “that’s not invented here,” “that’s not how we do it here,” or “you want to eliminate my job” are guaranteed to arise. Programmatically, you need to be prepared to respond to these and other responses and present the overall program as a win-win for the employees and organization overall. For example, IoT brings efficiencies, but those efficiencies might enable growth or reduce the need to rehire when employees retire as opposed to eliminating current jobs.
Security of the connected infrastructure
The interconnectedness of IoT can potentially create a vulnerability for an entire network if one device is compromised, leading to unauthorized access, data breaches, and even control of critical systems. Insecure connected infrastructure can result from various factors such as weak authentication and authorization protocols, outdated firmware, lack of encryption, and poor device management practices. Showing how your system addresses these issues helps reduce some of the associated anxiety.
Scalability issues
Many IoT systems are not designed with scalability in mind, leading to network congestion, data bottlenecks, and system failures. This can hinder the seamless integration of new devices, limit the ability to manage large-scale deployments, and impede the overall performance and reliability of an IoT system. Businesses need to invest in robust and flexible infrastructure, utilize proven cloud-based solutions, implement efficient data acquisition and management strategies, and continuously monitor and optimize IoT systems to ensure they can scale effectively as devices become more connected.
What is the future of IoT implementation?
IoT devices are becoming more prevalent in our daily lives and revolutionizing the way we interact at work and at home. The future of IoT implementation holds immense potential and opportunities for various industries. As technology continues to advance, we can expect to see more seamless integration of IoT devices, creating an ecosystem where everything is interconnected, leading to increased visibility, efficiency, productivity, and convenience. However, as IoT expands, there will also be challenges in terms of privacy, security, and data sovereignty that need to be addressed to ensure a successful and sustainable future for IoT implementation.