Industrial Internet of Things: Why Organizations Choose IIoT to Streamline Operations and Improve Safety and Security

Industrial Internet of Things: Why Organizations Choose IIoT to Streamline Operations and Improve Safety and Security

As the world becomes more interconnected, organizations are looking to streamline operations and improve safety and security. The implications of the pandemic are driving many industrial companies to search for an integrated technology solution that is resilient, automated, and scalable. One that leverages the traditional communication protocols while providing the flexibility and interconnectivity which in turn would help those organizations to focus on the bigger challenges.

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a such solution.

It has defined a future for industrial processes by connecting critical assets, advanced analytics, and modern workforce.

What is Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)?

So, what is exactly IIoT? According to General Electric, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is “the network of a multitude of industrial devices connected by communications technologies that results in systems that can monitor, collect, exchange, analyze, and deliver valuable new insights like never before”. As a result, industrial companies can use those insights to make smarter and faster decisions that are data-backed.

Each IIoT ecosystem consists of:

connected devices that can collect, communicate, and store information;
public and/or private data infrastructure;
analytics that generate business information from raw data;
storage for information that is generated by the IIoT devices; and
people.

IIoT transmits raw data directly to the communications infrastructure, where it is converted into useable and in most cases actionable information. The driving philosophy behind IIoT is that smart machines are not only able to capture and analyze data in real time, but they can also help drive important business decisions more accurately based on big data insights. Connected devices allow companies to highlight inefficiencies and problems sooner and save time and money, while supporting business intelligence efforts.

Which industries are using Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)?

IIoT is changing the way companies operate on a day-to-day basis. Organizations in power generation, oil & gas, manufacturing, aviation, healthcare, and many other industries are experiencing transformative benefits.

Let’s have closer look at these verticals.

Oil & gas

Implementation of smart IIoT strategies in oil and gas sector helps to conquer an increasing market stress coming from not only geopolitical and climate changes but also operational challenges. Particularly, it drives managed outages, identify heavy demands on resources, carry out predictive and timely maintenance, capture and analyze historical data and improve safety.

Predictive and timely maintenance

Given the fact that oil and gas infrastructure require regular maintenance, IIoT sensors on the machines accumulate data that can alert maintenance personnel of impending equipment failure in order to avoid interruptions. With predictive maintenance data, medium and longer term trends can be predicted allowing predicable costs and consistent availability of services.

Safety

Hazardous working environments on oil rigs and at gas plants can lead to safety incidents. In many cases these incidents can be prevented through the use of IIoT systems that enable automated remote monitoring avoiding the need to physically inspect where there are the potential for hazardous conditions. IIoT can provide a superior level of safety to workers and people in the community with data driven automated protection systems.

Manufacturing

Whether it is leveraging Industrial AI to detect corrosion inside a refinery pipe, providing real-time production data to uncover additional capacity in a plant, or accelerating new product development by feeding operations and service data back into the product design cycle, IIoT is driving powerful business outcomes.

Optimization

Operations managers cannot manually track all the data necessary to keep their plants running optimally. IIoT devices allow for the aggregation of data across sites to identify trends and opportunities for efficiency giving organizations an opportunity to automate way to monitor the data that matters to their operations.

Reduce Costs

Sensors that monitor performance on a constant basis provide manufacturers with better insights into the operational performance of individual pieces of equipment as well as entire fleets. Accurately collected data allows to detect outdated processes/technologies in a manufacturing chain and therefore reduce costs and generate more revenue. Data-driven insights into operations and production can steer businesses in a profitable direction.

Security

On the plant floor, as connectivity increases, so does complexity, and so do security concerns. Connected cutting edge devices enable end-to-end visibility into IT and OT environments. It allows for a real-time view of entire manufacturing network topology, with alerting, segmentation, and more. This helps for both IT and OT teams to stay informed of what they need to know to ensure continuous operation.

Utilities

Introduction of IIoT in the utilities sector is driven by evolution and optimization of current processes and systems via improving efficiency, generating revenue, and preserving enterprise resources. IIoT sensors can optimize energy generation and distribution to help providers keep up with the increasing demand of utilities, such as water, gas, and electricity by consumers.

Operational efficiency, control, and regulation

IIoT solutions help utilities to integrate various business processes that push the utility industry toward its growth. Implementation of IIoT can be done across the entire utility value, such as energy generation, transmission, distribution, asset management, workforce management, security, energy management, consumer side analysis, infrastructure management, and remote surveillance. Real-time monitoring and helps to reduce the downtime, provide seamless experience to consumers, and increase overall operational efficiency of the organization.

Connected and mobile workforce

Connecting workers is a core aspect of digitalization initiatives which makes complex and time-consuming tasks easier. Implementation of IIoT enables seamless communication and integration of key resources which connects entire field workforce, executive and back office to achieve higher operational excellence and efficiency, resulting in maximized customer satisfaction & revenue.

Predictive maintenance

Errors in maintenance and obsolete equipment can lead to unexpected downtime and hence high costs associated with it. Frequent inspections to find defects in the equipment is key to ensuring timely operation of critical systems. Installation of IIoT sensors in the equipment to monitor vibration, temperature, and moisture in real-time can help to optimize regular maintenance process as such sensors can detect abnormal behavior in the equipment with high accuracy.

Afterword

IIoT solutions are in high demand for a reason: asset optimization, smart monitoring, predictive maintenance, and intelligent decision-making are rapidly making IIoT an irreplaceable technology.

Industrial Internet of Things is no longer the “future.” We are well into the IIoT age.

About Genieall

Incorporated in 2012, Genieall Corporation is a privately-owned Canadian IT/OT Service and Consulting company.  Being an ISO 27001 certified organization, Genieall provides managed and IT consulting services to companies in the Energy, Manufacturing, Construction, Health Care, and Finance verticals.

Genieall understands that IT/OT infrastructure is fundamental to your business. For that reason, Genieall typically establishes trust with our clients by demonstrating our capabilities.

This is usually accomplished through a small engagement, urgent support requirement or consultation.

From there, our customers look to expand the support service to include both project and operational support using our Rightsourcing Model. (using the right balance of internal and external resources)

Throughout the process, Genieall’s culture of transparency, Customer-First approach along with our service model help us to establish and maintain trust.