We are living in fast times with design and production going through disruptive changes. The biggest change is the amount of connectivity to people, places and things. This is what the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is all about. Here are 5 ways Big Data will help your business stay competitive.
Intelligent Machines
Due to the fast migration of traditional manufacturing to the IIoT, the tools of production are gaining new capabilities. The cost of sensors and network connectivity has decreased dramatically, enabling manufacturers to set up production systems that are more dynamic than ever before. Data, and the ability to use that data to drive improved processes, is fundamental to utilizing these smart machines to their highest functionality.
In the Smart Factory, these machines are connected to the production process and collect data about their operations. This gives these machines a sufficient level of intelligence that enables them to make logical decisions about their operation. This has huge potential for achieving not just a higher level of productivity and efficiency, but allows the machine to be involved in self-maintenance as well.
SEE ALSO: Why Creating a Smart Factory Makes Dollars and Sense
Deep Learning
Given the massive, and still growing, amounts of data that are extracted from these operations, this information can create ever greater levels of process improvement. Today’s engineering software can help drive greater understanding of the manufacturing process and continue to improve upon that process based on the data it receives from The Smart Factory. This allows the manufacturing process to continue to grow smarter over time, offering continuous process improvement.
Unified Communication
With traditional systems, the data is held within each group utilizing it and then passed to the next group. Changes made are traded within each of the engineering disciplines that are tasked with the design and each makes changes to their specific task based on the data received. In utilizing best in class software that works on a distributed model, the data is there for all to see in real time, with changes and error corrections immediately transmitted to all parties. Whether across departments, or geographical boundaries, all involved in the design see the same data. Engineering disciplines are able to not just view the same data, but come to better understand what others bring to the design and this allows for a higher degree of collaboration between them.
Transparency
This transparency of the design and manufacturing process has enormous implications not just for the development of products, but can also be extended to the delivery process and to the end user as well.
Because all information is digitized and resides within the DNA of the product, better on-site maintenance and problem solving can be conducted right on the factory floor. Additionally, the customer can provide feedback to the manufacturer, based on their experience with the product, on possible failures, improvements, or other issues improving future product design and creating a highly prized connection between the customer and the manufacturer.
Made-to-Order Production
Taking this to the next level, the combination of intelligent machines and deep learning provides fertile ground for customized production when faced with a batch size of one. Courtesy of cloud computing and high speed data analytics, manufacturing will be able to produce made-to-order products based on customer specifications.
Big Data will have a deep impact on what we manufacture and how we engineer it. The rise of IIoT and The Smart Factory it creates will also give manufacturing the tools to provide ever growing services to customers from preventive maintenance to customized production. All with greater efficiencies, cost savings, and revenue enhancement potential.
SEE ALSO: What is Industry 4.0 and Why Does it Matter in Automation Design?
