Industrial IoT or, as it's more popularly known, IIoT, is one of the key impact areas of IoT. With the power of industrial sensors, as well as a world of smart devices, we can achieve and automate a lot more.
The following diagram is from an article by Greg Cline on Industry 4.0 and Industrial IoT in Manufacturing: A Sneak Peek, at http://www.aberdeenessentials.com/opspro-essentials/industry-4-0-industrial-iot-manufacturing-sneak-peek/:
As we can see from the diagram, we are currently in the era of industry 4.0, where, with the power of smart devices, we could change the way a manufacturing process runs.
Take a look the following videos to get a better idea as to what industry 4.0 is all about:
- Industrie 4.0 - The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Siemens): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPRURtORnis
- Industry 4.0 in the Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTl8w6yAjds
- Genius of Things: Advancing Industry 4.0 with AI and IoT (IBM Watson): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hjgoC1heiI
IIoT has two ways of being realized:
- Through the manufacturing process of a product
- Through the product itself
Imagine a car's manufacturing process, #1, defined how IIoT can contribute to optimizing and maximizing the throughput of the manufacturing process of the cars. The second method monitors sensors inside cars, which can help improve the life of a car as well as maximize the experience for the driver.
For instance, establishing that a certain type of windshield has a higher failure rate than others, via the user's feedback received from #2, can be directly be fed back into #1 to increase the overall quality of the final product.
Now, let's take a look how IIoT is being realized.