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Industrial IoT:
A reality check
Reply explores two key areas that are pushing the growth of IoT within industry: smart factories and smart transport & logistics.
The growth of Industrial IoT
Along with the ubiquitous role of cloud computing as the new standard for software and services, IoT is today’s other leading technology, completing cloud with new hardware flocking onto both consumer and industrial markets. Looking at the platforms that are pushing the growth of the IoT market, the use of IoT in manufacturing is the most relevant segment.
Investments in smart factories and transport & logistics will grow significantly in the next 5 years
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, many industries have increased their investment in IoT technologies as they discovered how it could help them overcome challenges. During the Covid-19 pandemic peaks in 2020, investment in IoT technologies suffered less than other market segments. As we move into recovery, IoT looks set to play a crucial role, helping both businesses and governments achieve their aims, with a significant further growth in investment predicted by 2025.
China and the USA will be the two leaders for smart factory in the Big-5 cluster, with the platforms area growing fastest and high investment in predictive solutions and remote monitoring. Within smart transport & logistics, Brazil has lost most ground during the pandemic but is now recovering and the highest growth is expected in India.
EVOLUTION OF INVESTMENTS
)
SMART FACTORIES
2025 VS 2020
)
SMART TRANSPORT
& LOGISTICS
2025 VS 2020
Focusing on the Europe-5 cluster, the smart factory market will grow almost 3x in all nations, despite a skills shortage. Platforms will grow more than anything else, with companies investing to improve quality management and reduce costs. Looking at smart transport & logistics in the Europe-5 cluster, Germany will remain the leader but the other nations will still see significant growth.
EVOLUTION OF INVESTMENTS
)
SMART FACTORIES
2025 VS 2020
)
SMART TRANSPORT
& LOGISTICS
2025 VS 2020
Industrial players can get several benefits from adopting IoT as innovation driver
Increasing the productivity of factories and the quality of delivery
Real-time visibility of production data is enabling companies operating in different manufacturing fields to get the more effective use of resources, improving line efficiency.
An area of improvement enabled by Industrial IoT and edge computing is additive manufacturing: products can be created by adding materials layer-by-layer, on-demand, and customized based on the real-time needs of the line.
Improving the predictive and conditioned maintenance of equipment
Actions like monitoring environmental/process control parameters (e.g., temperature, pressure) or controlling the efficiency of single devices (e.g., valves, conveyer belts, pumps) are now made significantly easier by Industrial IoT, 24x7.
Predictive maintenance could reduce machine downtimes by up to one third, at the same time extending the equipment’s lifetime.
Automating and improving supply chains and logistics
Industrial IoT-enabled solutions provide reliable solutions to manage asset tracking, inventory management/control, scheduling and ordering of supplies.
Smart shelves, robots, drones, and cobots are becoming the protagonists of inventories: warehouse management systems now dialogue with them automating the process of stock checking without the need to stop production.
Launching new business models based on connected products
The general evolution of the IoT market indicates that one of the most promising areas of innovation to show the value of Industrial IoT is that of connected products.
In fact, in the mid-term, the majority of products (both B2B and B2C) will be natively open to connection, giving to companies that are usually intermediated by retailers the opportunity to invest in ‘direct to consumer’ business models.
Connected products and services will support both our personal and professional lives
An astonishing growth of connected devices will be achieved thanks to new use cases enabled by 5G networks and edge/cloud-powered architectures, creating a global total spend on IoT that could grow up to 1,200 billion Euros in the next five years.
IoT based approach for supply chains
Adopting an IoT-based approach throughout supply chains is significantly changing business models, enabling new products and services and boosting investment in Industrial IoT.
Analysis of data
through IoT
Besides benefits for end-users, real-time monitoring and analysis of data through IoT will deliver several benefits to organisations, leading to potential cost cuts and increased profits.
A world of connected products
Traditional barriers among IT managers, OT managers and business experts will be broken to allow the company to figure how to position itself in a world of connected products.