A Comprehensive Guide to Industrial IoT Platforms in 2023

With dynamically evolving consumer trends and ever-increasing inflation causing big waves in the business world, industries need futuristic technology to sustain in today's competitive marketplace.

Such technologies enable organisations to enhance the way they access data and connect with people.

Industrial IoT platforms are among such technologies that are helping industries to go through transformative digital transformation to convert into intelligent factories and capture substantial market shares.

The Global industrial internet of things market is predicted to reach 1.11 trillion U.S. dollars by 2028. The number of companies adopting industrial IoT platforms is accelerating daily to achieve cost-cutting and operational efficiencies.

IIoT platforms are used for industrial purposes and help in asset management, monitoring, manufacturing, operations and supply chain management.

But wait! What is industrial IoT? And is it similar to IoT?

Well, we will answer all your questions in this blog! Then, we will introduce you to this sophisticated technology and walk you through the difference between IIoT and IoT.

Without any further delay, let's get started!

What Is Industrial IoT?

Industrial IoT is a framework of intelligent devices enriched with inbuilt computing capabilities and connected to industry-level data monitoring & collection systems.

They are solely dedicated to streamlining the workflow and achieving efficiency across industries. In a nutshell, industrial IoT platforms are a subset of IoT that is more focused on industries.

The Industrial internet of things helps companies grow exponentially by making them understand the business processes better to make informed decisions.

Top Industrial IoT platforms

Here is a list of industrial IoT platforms that leading enterprises across industries leverage.

• PTC ThingWorx

• AWS IoT Core

• Braincube

• Software AG Cumulocity IoT

• IBM Watson IoT

• SAP Leonardo IoT

Technology Behind Industrial IoT Platforms

The industrial internet of things thrives on real-time data collection. Industries generate unbelievable amounts of data daily, but usually, this data needs to be more synchronized or unstructured.

Due to the poor management of data, it usually goes unnoticed by the decision-makers; therefore, it needs to be fully utilized to derive value for the business.

IIoT devices have sensors, softwares and other equipment that give an upper hand to the industrial leaders to leverage real-time data monitoring and total transparency of the manufacturing process.

This Avant-grade technology promotes continuous improvement and opens the doors for actionable insights and proactive strategies through accurate predictive insights.

Components Of IIoT

Its derivatives miss the limelight due to the massive spotlight on industrial IoT platforms. However, here is a list of components that make up industrial IoT solutions.

• Smart machines

• Radios & Controllers

• Software

• Sensors

• The Cloud

IIoT may be a subset of IoT, but it shouldn't be confused with it.

IoT is a wireless communication device used to connect and control services with a device within the home or office space. In comparison, industrial IoT is a collection of equipment and sensors used to perform analytics and monitoring within an industrial ecosystem.

Here are a few underlying differences between IoT and Industrial IoT:

1. The Ultimate Goal

The final goals of IoT and industrial IoT are different. IoT is deployed to improve the consumer experience, whereas IIoT platforms aim to accelerate efficiency and seamless workflow. Enhanced user experience is not the primary goal of an IIoT platform.

Laymen will only deploy industrial IoT solutions in their day-to-day life and therefore are an integral part of the industrial process.

2. Market Focus

IoT has a more considerable market potential than IIoT as it encompasses industrial professionals. In contrast, IoT has many customers running from different spheres.

3. Sensor Usage

IoTs use more simplified sensors for monitoring as they have to monitor relatively less complex things like motion, water level, temperature, etc. However, industrial IoT utilizes heavy sensors to measure the torque and velocity of measuring devices.

4. Security Protocols

Data privacy has always been a pressing concern in the technologically advanced world.

IoT security protocols require less stringent methodologies as they have to safeguard a user's private information.

On the other hand, SSL encryption, end-to-end data encryption, biometric authentication and in-transit data authentication are required to safeguard precious industrial data.

Advantages Of IIoT

In this fast-paced world, manufacturers must run at a breakneck speed to meet the ever-changing global trends and customer demands. Industrial IoT has various benefits to help businesses in fulfilling their requirements. Here are a few of them:

1. No Asset Downtime

Nothing is worse than unplanned downtime in production because of equipment breakdowns or disruption in the supply chain. Industrial IoT can give predictive insights into the infrastructure of manufacturing units.

2. Less Complexity

As the manufacturing industry shifts from mass production to personalized production, it has become challenging for decision-makers to understand and implement proper consumer behaviour. However, industrial IoT platforms track consumer behaviour accurately and exhibit meaningful insights.

3. Improved Inventory Management

Inventory management has always been a pain-stricken topic for industries because the rate of inflation and inventory holding is a critical part of the supply chain.

Industries that use industrial IoT platforms can make a data-backed decision to track finished goods and product availability.

IIoT platforms use data from the inventory software and perform advanced analysis to push it towards the finance software by giving users a precise overview of inventory control.

4. Better Product Designing

The traditional product designing process is iterative and time-consuming. IIoT platforms can augment the design and development process to create success-oriented products by identifying the problems in the existing design.

Industries That Use IIoT

Industrial IoT platforms are gripping various industries and driving operational effectiveness across business ecosystems. The surge in IIoT adoption has geared the momentum for industries to gather real-time data and analytics.

Now, let's have a look at IIoT's proliferation among these market verticals:

1. Automotive

The automotive industry thrives on proficiency to deliver efficiency and a never-ending struggle to stay in the cut-throat marketplace. So the decision-makers and the suppliers are working on the connected cars to analyze and strategize driver's behavioural data to ensure effective manufacturing.

Moreover, IIoT platforms are enabling the players in the automotive industry to generate accurate predictions and operational intelligence to save operational costs and experience no downtime.

2. Manufacturing

The manufacturing industry is already exploding with IoT, but now to empower businesses with efficiency and inventory management, IIoTs are also coming into the game.

The most significant benefit manufacturers can get from IIoT is the ability to escalate and automate the overall operational efficiency and impart better optimization for improved energy efficiency and work management.

3. Retail

Customer preferences and requirements are dynamically changing in the retail industry, and it has become more than necessary to keep up with the latest trends. Therefore to meet those requirements, retailers are leveraging the industrial internet of things to extract insightful data and make data-backed decisions.

However, industrial IoTs combined with AI are making a lethal combination for the Retail industry by creating edge-cutting innovations.

4. Finance

The finance sector is one of those industries that require accuracy and effective measures to create a strong foothold. Industrial IoT platforms are helping the finance industry to improve product offerings by allowing finance service providers to create intelligent devices and new modes for wireless payments.

Moreover, with the advancement in Industrial IoT solutions, the financial sector is all geared up with improved security and safety transactions.

5. Electronics & High-Tech

Electronics is another industry that is significantly dependent on consumer demands and trends. However, we all know there is a dominating trend of intelligent connected devices; therefore, the electronic industry is doing its best to deploy the procedures by utilizing IIoT platforms to facilitate real-time monitoring and diagnostic data.

There are additional industry verticals and end markets where industrial IoT platforms are making a profound impact and correlating with business methodologies to accelerate growth.

Industrial IoT is one platform popular among industry experts but is unknown to the masses. The insights gathered from industrial IoT platforms enable companies to weave proactive and business-oriented strategies by lowering the cost of development and accelerating revenue.

Toobler is a leading player in IoT application development and has carved its niche in Industrial IoT by delivering award-winning solutions that help industries to reduce their downtime and make inventory management hassle-free.

Contact Toobler to see its expert developers in action and take your manufacturing business to the next level.