The Internet of Things (IoT) connects devices to the Internet, allowing real-time data sharing to enhance decision-making and operational efficiency.

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What is the Internet of Things (IoT): How It Works and Some Examples Use Cases

Previously, the Internet of Things was a complex to understand term and rarely being implemented. Currently, it is becoming very popular in the industrial and consumer world, and literally implemented everywhere, from private homes with robot vacuums to large manufacturing enterprises with huge systems of sensors, actuators, and devices. Every year, the demand for IoT technologies continues to grow very strongly.

What is IoT?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of computers, sensors, and actuators that communicate through the Internet Protocol (IP). In other words, IoT is a network of physical objects communicating with each other over the Internet. PCs, tablets, and smartphones that are connected to the Internet are not considered IoT, although they may be part of an IoT solution.

Where, How, and Why is IoT Used?

The Internet of Things is used in various fields: from the well-known smart home, which controls “things” within the same network of a house, to the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), which automates production machines and streamline business processes. The Internet of Things (IoT) can be used to solve global problems in various industries for example:

IoT in Manufacturing

The Internet of Things (IoT) makes it possible to improve production processes and receive information about the state of production in real-time. Using data taken from the equipment, the overall efficiency is determined – average load, uptime, and production efficiency, which helps preventing downtime and equipment breakdowns.

IoT in Agriculture

IoT improves product quality and boosts production in agriculture. By using sensors on drones and agricultural machinery, you can monitor soil changes and composition. These sensors can signal when the soil needs watering or fertilizing.

Animal collars with built-in sensors can track the location of the animal and collect health data.

Using IoT in greenhouses allows to maintain the desired temperature, lighting, humidity, and air circulation.

IoT in an Urban Environment

The use of traffic lights and cameras with IoT sensors and traffic detectors make it possible to manage traffic more effectively on the roads, and increase safety.

IoT in Healthcare

Diagnostics, rehabilitation, and disease prediction are all facilitated by the Internet of Things. You can use IoT devices to monitor blood sugar levels, set reminders for taking medications, and share the results with doctors.

IoT in the Electric Power Industry

The Internet of Things allows for a more efficient allocation of resources and monitoring of complex equipments. Using IoT wire sag sensors, you can remotely monitor the condition of power lines, which helps prevent power outages.

Latest IoT Technologies

According to the leading provider of market insights for the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, cloud, and Industry 4.0 – IoT Analytics, there are several best IoT technologies, (IoT software, IoT hardware, and IoT connectivity) that people working on IoT projects should keep an eye on.

Source: IoT Analytics Research April 2022

If we compare the results of a similar IoT study for 2019, we notice three IoT technologies that have developed most rapidly over the past three years.

1.      Wi-Fi 6

The Wi-Fi 6 standard refers to the next generation of Wi-Fi technology. Wi-Fi 6 doubles the channel width and creates a faster connection between a router and the connected devices. There are several improvements in WI-FI 6 that are designed to increase efficiency speed and reduce congestion in scenarios where heavy bandwidth usage occurs.  Sometimes Wi-Fi 6 is also called AX Wi-Fi or 802.11ax Wi-Fi.

2.      Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)

The graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized processor used to accelerate graphics rendering. The latest GPUs are very powerful at processing and displaying computer graphics. This is because they have parallel processing capabilities, they are much more efficient at processing graphics information than a typical CPU. Moreover, GPUs can perform multiple computations simultaneously. It’s a very effective way to distribute training processes and speed up machine learning. That is why GPUs are actively used to train AI deep learning for IoT applications.

3.      Intelligent Sensors

The Internet of Things is a major driver of sensor technology development.

Sensors are designed to solve the problems associated with the monitoring and control of technological processes for various peripheral devices and applications, especially in conveyor production.

Modern sensors can process information closer to the device and interact with the user interface or actuators.

Intelligent sensors allow efficient control of continuous conveyor production.

Industry 4.0 and IoT Technologies Benefits

The IoT technologies listed above are part of the concept of Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 also named The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is a new phase of industrial development that focuses on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time data.

Automation and the Internet of Things technologies provide the highest mobility, data transparency, and energy efficiency, they have had a significant positive impact on the manufacturing industry. The benefits include:

1. data collection, accumulation, and analysis from sensors, production equipment, and enterprise information systems to increase business transparency and receive full reports at any time.

2. Capacity to anticipate possible failures in the operation of equipment and minimize the consequences of emergencies.

3. Automation of food production processes using IoT technologies significantly reduces the costs associated with food spoilage.

4. Receiving immediate signals in force majeure and emergency situations.

5. Direct exchange of data between equipment and management and accounting systems, which eliminates the “human factor” and related errors and inaccuracies.

6. Simplify the business processes of production and achieve greater efficiency.

IoT: How Does It Work?

A typical IoT system includes devices with sensors, actuators, controllers, and processors, and is connected to a cloud platform via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or LAN.

The collected data is sent to the cloud for further analysis or analyzed locally. IoT applications can control connected devices, visualize data, and monitor equipment performance.

Additionally, IoT devices can exchange sensor data with each other and take further actions based on the information received.

In most cases, a well-established IoT system runs without human intervention.

In IoT systems, automation is provided by sending data to the device. Sensors and actuators in the IoT represent two endpoints of the system.

Main Elements of IoT Systems

Like any other technology, the Internet of Things has some main and vital elements. At the same time, the Internet of Things integrates a wide range of modern and complex technologies.

IoT Analytics

Analytics – all received data must be analyzed and visualized. The volume of continuously incoming data (such as from conveyor equipment) requires special IoT analytics platforms since such a volume of data cannot be handled by standard analytics tools.

IoT Cloud services

Providing services related to data storage, servers, databases, networks, and software. Cloud managed services consist of outsourcing IT/IoT infrastructure along with its support to a Cloud Service Provider.

The cloud service provider monitor, secure, and maintain the company’s cloud environment.

IoT BigData

BigData refers to structured and unstructured data of enormous volumes, which are typically stored in the cloud. Moreover, there are different tools, approaches, and methods for processing them to use them for specific purposes.

IoT Connection

Connection. For the IoT infrastructure to work, it is necessary to establish a connection between IoT devices so that the devices communicate. This includes both exchanging information with each other and transferring it to the cloud. There are different types of connectivity in IoT infrastructure, it could be:
  • cellular connectivity with a regular SIM card.
  • IoT eSIM with a capacity to switch profiles from MNO (mobile network operator) to (OTA) over-the-air.
  •  Satellite. Provides communication with IoT devices and applications via satellite networks.
  • Wi-Fi.
  • LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) or its variation such LTE-M, NB-IoT, LoRa.
  • Bluetooth. With medium-to-low bandwidth, to exchange data across short distances.
  • RFID (radio frequency identification)
  • NFC. Near Field Communication allows the exchange of information between devices that are only a few centimeters apart.

IoT Sensors

Sensors – A sensor is a device that detects changes. Data can be gathered from various sources including temperature, motion, light, and pressure. Sensors play a major role in IoT technologies since they are the source of IoT data.

A huge number of sensors exist and for a specific task, for each IoT project, the right sensor must be chosen and configured.

The most used sensors in IoT technology are:
  • Temperature Sensors
  • Humidity Sensors
  • Pressure Sensors
  • Proximity Sensors
  • Level Sensors
  • Accelerometers
  • Gyroscope
  • Gas Sensors
  • Infrared Sensors
  • Optical Sensors

Conclusion: IoT – How it Works and Some Examples Use Cases

The Internet of Things is becoming more and more popular in various industries. It allows you to automate business processes as much as possible, increase the profitability of the enterprise, and reduce labor costs.

Interested in learning more about IoT technologies? Contact us for a free consultation with one of our experts.
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Industry 4.0: Do legacy Manufacturing Systems Stand a Chance?

Manufacturing companies around the world are in the process of digital transformation. Industry 4.0 is fundamentally changing the models of industrial markets and increasing the competitiveness of their members. Thus, the level of digitalization determines the growth prospects of any manufacturing company.

Understand the benefits of digital transformation

Now, more and more manufacturing enterprises are investing not only in the automation of existing processes, but also in the implementation of new, breakthrough business models and technologies based on Industry 4.0, to improve their capacity in integration and maximize the use of their digital platforms. This kind of aggressive approach will only help in improving their digital ecosystems and allow companies to get in-depth analytics of big data, and wider implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT).

According to the

McKinsey Global Institute

by 2025 the Internet of Things (IoT) applications could have a total economic impact of $11 trillion US dollars annually.

Implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies should be a priority for all manufacturers. By integrating production machines, business systems and their legacy systems, manufacturers can achieve much greater productivity and efficiency and become more agile and lean. The principle of Industry 4.0 is based on the massive introduction of information technology into industry, as well as large-scale automation of business processes.

The main goal of Industry 4.0 is to make manufacturing – and its related industries such as logistics – faster, more efficient, and more customer-centric. At the same time, moving beyond automation and optimization and discovering new business opportunities.

Manufacturing Digital Transformation and Prejudice

Many factories are lagging behind the rapid growth of new technologies. This can be explained by the cost of the equipment (which is very expensive to change to a new one), as well as by the fear of changing their production processes. Despite outdated technology and old machines, they still work and play a main role in the entire manufacturing business.

Often, manufacturing executives think they cannot do anything with their old equipment, which may have been made even before the Internet. Therefore, they continue to use these bulky and expensive to maintain production machines. Moreover, older technologies cannot provide complete real-time data.

The lack of real-time information makes it difficult to make decisions and prevents executives from successfully developing further and competing on an equal footing with more technologically advanced competitors in the market.

Meanwhile, the erroneous assumption about the need to replace all equipment drives them away from increasing productivity and taking full advantage of the integration of new technologies into production. We have a solution that can help any factory and any production!

Transformation of Legacy Systems with FactoryEye

All factories have different resources, strengths and weaknesses, and unique capabilities. However, there are proactive and proven solutions that can be applied across all industries, even with legacy systems and old equipments, to accelerate IT transformation.

FactoryEye is a unique solution capable of fully integrating all IT systems in your company (ERP, CRM, PLM, MES, WMS, SCM) with manufacturing production machines. It provides complete visibility and analysis of operational processes in real time.

With FactoryEye, all critical and disparate data is visible and accessible in real time. Most importantly, you do not need to change existing manufacturing machines, existing systems and infrastructure to do this.

Why transformation of legacy systems is useful in the Manufacturing?

Reduces operating costs. IoT sensors monitor hard-to-reach parts and signal hazards, record fuel consumption, monitor equipment temperatures, and automatically alerts when something goes wrong.

Reduces labor costs. Employees receive the necessary data using sensors and cameras. They don’t have to go anywhere anymore to take the readings off the equipment or request information from colleagues.

Reduces the risks of accidents and, accordingly, the costs of eliminating the consequences. Devices and sensors have learned to predict abnormal situations or accidents.

In other words, the optimization of processes and productivity is the first advantage that manufacturers enjoy. In addition to cost savings, increased profitability, reduced waste, automation to avoid errors and delays which results in a faster production.

Look for an IT service provider with hands-on experience.

To help in such concept implementation, a manufacturing company should team up and partner with service a provider who can share their own experience in implementing digital transformation projects for manufacturing world, based on Industry 4.0

An experienced IT provider with such an engineering expertise, will be able to define project path and actions, recommend the best procedures and services, and help you find the best way to transform your factory to gain new benefits. If the project is planned and executed correctly, it will lead to increased profits and quicker ROI.

To learn more about how our solutions can help your business overcome manufacturing challenges, contact us today
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Industry 4.0: How to Manage Digital Transformation in Manufacturing Enterprises?

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.


What is Industry 4.0?

Industry 4.0 is the leading trend of the fourth industrial revolution taking place before our eyes.

The main focus of Industry 4.0 is to fully automate production facilities where all processes are controlled in real-time while considering the ever-changing external conditions.

In Industry 4.0, Internet-based technologies play a crucial role in facilitating communication between personnel and machines.
Industry 4.0

The “Industry 4.0” program was discussed for the first time, in 2011 at an industrial exhibition in Hanover, where the German government set a goal to expand the use of information technology in manufacturing. A highly professional team made up of business and government representatives worked on the creation of a program to modernize the country’s industrial enterprises in this direction. The objective of the program is to preserve and increase the competitive advantages of the country’s enterprises.

Active interest over the past years in Industry 4.0 for both government and business in Germany is easily explained.

Back in 2015, Roland Berger, a global strategy consulting firm in its Digital Industry Transformation report, predicted that the EU economy could lose 605 billion euros in the coming years if it ignores the development of Industry 4.0. But if they are fulfilled, the potential profit can reach 1.25 trillion euros.

Not surprisingly, other countries follow the example of Germany, for example, in Japan, the “Japan Institute for Promotion of Digital Economy and Community (JIPDEC)” was created.

In 2014 the largest US companies – AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM, and Intel – created an open non-profit group – the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC). The main objective of the Consortium is the creation of an ecosystem of companies, research centers and government agencies favorable for the implementation of the industrial Internet.

Internet of Things (IoT) – The key Technology of Industry 4.0

A key technology in Industry 4.0 is the Internet of Things (IoT). The Internet of things is a network of physical objects that have built-in technologies that allow them to interact with the external environment, transmit information about their condition and receive data from the outside.

In other words, in this technology, the Internet is used to exchange information not only between people but also between all kinds of “things”, i.e. machines, devices, sensors, etc. On one hand, objects equipped with sensors can exchange data and process them without human intervention. On the other hand, a person can actively participate in this process.

What is the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)?

An integral part of the Internet of Things and its main driving force at this stage of technology development is the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

The IIoT opens the direct way to the creation of fully automated industries or as we call it now– the Smart Factory.

In the IIoT approach, the key components of an equipment are: sensors, actuators, and controllers; The collected data is processed and sent to the appropriate services of the company, which allows staff to quickly make informed and prudent decisions. But the goal of IIoT is to achieve a level of automation of the enterprise, in which machines dispersed in multiple sites, work without the participation of people. The role of personnel, in this case, comes down to monitoring the operation of the machines and responding only to emergencies.

Challenges Faced by Industrial Enterprises to Adopt Industry 4.0

As discussed above, Industry 4.0 is about connecting people with machines, devices, and data to allow humans to act upon data in a proactive manner, to improve decision making and optimize business processes.

Here are the main challenges that many manufacturers face when considering new Industry 4.0 business models:
  • Budget – expensive solutions that often involve investing in (expensive) new systems and processes.
  • Long implementations – management time burden and reduced efficiencies before an eventual improvement.
  • Finding the right people with the appropriate level of expertise
  • Not knowing where or how to start

Book a FREE one-on-one consultation session with our in-house experts.

Steps Towards Industry 4.0

Managing digital transformation in manufacturing enterprises, often referred to as Industry 4.0, involves integrating digital technologies into all aspects of the manufacturing process to create a more connected, efficient, and data-driven operation.

To efficiently adopt a new technology 4.0 and transform your production into a smart factory you should follow the following steps:

Connect and Integrate

To achieve operational excellence and ensure your competitive advantage, you need real-time connectivity of all company departments into a unique business system. Automate business processes and orchestrate workflows to synchronize and streamline data from multiple sources.

Implement Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors to gather real-time data from machines and processes.

Collect and Manage

You must be able to collect and manage all your company’s critical information about operations, order fulfillment, sales, marketing, accounting, etc. in one place with no data gaps.

Visualize and Analyze

Stay on top of errors and inefficiencies by receiving alerts before they affect your business. This can be done with FactoryEye, a smart solution designed specifically for manufacturers. FactoryEye visually displays your processes, demonstrates all the results, and helps you better understand data, trends, and forecasts in real-time, allowing you to act efficiently.

Identify and Optimize

Proactively identify process intervention points, enabling live, informed decision-making to optimize business results.

Cybersecurity Measures

Implement robust cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive data and intellectual property. Regularly update and audit security protocols to stay ahead of evolving cyber threats.

Collaboration and Partnerships

Collaborate with technology vendors, industry partners, and research institutions. Foster an ecosystem of innovation and knowledge-sharing to stay updated on emerging technologies.

Digital Transformation in Manufacturing with FactoryEye

FactoryEye is a highly productive, flexible, low-code and hybrid platform that seamlessly integrates between manufacturer’s legacy core IT systems, cloud systems, and factory machines, collecting and analyzing large data from multiple repositories.
Smart Factory and Industry 4.0

FactoryEye provides production managers and operators (using IoT technology) real-time data about “what’s goes on” on the shop floor. It does that by presenting the information on desktops, tablets or smartphones, enabling a fast reaction to irregularities. The effect is an increase in the OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), thus a reduction in production costs. FactoryEye is fully integrated into the customer’s ERP enabling the automatic transfer of work orders to the shop floor and delivering real-time data from the shop floor to the ERP system for further usage.
Smart Factory IIoT

This smart solution, made for manufacturers, lets you focus on improving your business. Real-time visualization of all production data and predictive alerts that prevent problems before they occur.

Industry 4.0 – Call on the Experts

We implement FactoryEye according to the priorities identified together with our client. Our holistic approach draws on best practices and a strategic alliance with Magic Software, a global company that empowers manufacturers with smarter technology to make the smooth transition to Industry 4.0 and maximize business opportunities.

If you want to learn more about how FactoryEye can help save on costs and improve your factory’s efficiency, contact us today
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