Unlocking Your IIoT Potential

Do you have an IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) strategy? If you are like most companies, the answer is probably no.

IIoT is the latest buzzword. IIoT represents taking data from your equipment, developing actionable information from the data and then using that information to drive better results. The intention of these improvements is to make you more competitive and more profitable. The real question for most companies is how to get from where you are today to that ideal state.

There are a few key ingredients to produce the kind of results that are the promise of IIoT.

1. Have a Continuous Improvement Process - You should have a working team that currently works to identify issues, perform root cause analysis and develops solutions. Ideally, this needs to be in place and functional prior to implementing a program to develop even more actionable data.
2. Identify Key Areas for Improvement - This is probably the most difficult to do. Most companies think they know where they are having issues, but have little data t back it up. The key here is to pick a place to start and to focus on one success at a time. Doing everything at once is a path to failure.
3. Collect the Data - Once the key areas are identified, select and collect the data critical to that process or department. This can be derived from existing manual processes, or developed from scratch using software and technology.
4. Generate Actionable Information - The technology and software tools that you implement should be developing information that you can use to drive the Continuous Improvement Process. This is where a well functioning CI team will really be able to drive results. The information you are collecting should allow you to attack the biggest contributors to downtime, scrap, etc. Then you need to go wide. Go get all the "low hanging fruit" that you can!
5. Refinement - Once you target and remove all of the "low hanging fruit", the granularity of the data will allow you to refine the process further and allow you to make intelligent decisions about how to best utilize you equipment or processes.

These are some high level steps that includes weeks and months of work, along with investments in technology. Take heart, these critical steps are what will keep you competitive for years to come.