Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and others are driving the modern day industries. Adopting these new age technologies has now become important for industries to stay in the competition. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is one such technology that is currently driving the industrial automation. It has injected agility and enhanced efficiency to the workflow and data accumulation. Manufacturers who are fully embracing the technology are evident to take a technological and competitive leap in their business.
With the advent of industry 4.0, automation has penetrated deep into manufacturing. IIoT devices have made it easier for manufacturers to collect data for monitoring and maintenance. These devices share data in real-time and can trigger the required processes even without human intervention. With the help of automation plant maintenance and worker safety has reached new heights, as the machines and their parts can be fixed even before the damage, avoiding unscheduled downtime. Robots are even capable of reaching areas where it is nearly impossible for humans to reach and carry out the maintenance job; these bots can also be remotely operated. In long run, these devices save time and money spent on maintenance. Smart manufacturing concept also has come into existence and is the evident future of manufacturing industry.
Digitization is taking over the industry rapidly and has bound manufacturers to evolve accordingly. It’s not easy automating the complete factory as most of them were not designed to adapt for the same. IIoT devices are revolutionary but have security drawbacks as well. Cybersecurity has become one of the major concerns as interconnected devices communicate over the centralized storage which makes it highly vulnerable to cyber attacks. Developers are striving to find a permanent solution to it but till then there measures to mitigate the risk.
To remain competitive manufacturers will have veer towards automation as it has become the need of the hour. Adopting and adapting the Industrial Internet of Things(IIoT) will result in higher productivity and greater efficiency, for which a tandem between humans and machines will be required. Keeping their infrastructure, hardware and software updated will leverage them to optimize automation.