The dematerialization of exchanges has long been at the heart of the digital transformation of the industry. Thanks to technological progress linked to the IoT (Internet of Things), it is entering a new phase of its deployment: the deep change of information flows, directly into intelligent industrial tools.
Why is IoT revolutionizing industrial maintenance?
The advent of Industry 4.0 results in a fundamental economic and managerial evolution. Legal protection, Corporate Social Responsibility, new performance requirements… The demands on the industry have increased with the sophistication of the means at its disposal. The complexity of the missions and the volume of industrial data now exceed the processing capacities of the teams.
IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) doesn’t replace but completes human resources. It finds applications throughout the value chain of each industry, and particularly in maintenance. Thanks to CMMS (computerized maintenance management systems), markets are revolutionizing Industry 4.0.
IoT is vital for the 4.0 data-driven industry
While controversies are raging over the introduction of artificial intelligence in private space, the IoT is transforming the world of work in a relatively discreet way. The fourth industrial revolution, however, redefines standards of performance, environmental efficiency, and collaborative experience in all economic sectors.
From IoT to IIoT: the importance of Industry 4.0
Let’s start by demystifying the acronyms and jargon of high technology. IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) is nothing more than IoT applied to industrial activities. And its sophistication does not make it any less accessible. To convince you, let’s review some of its applications:
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optimizing the irrigation of a field, using satellite images, and tracking and tracing tools;
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the inspection of underwater installations by remotely controlled robots;
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or the smoothing of a plant’s energy consumption by smart meters.
These innovations couldn’t make more sense. A demonstration can convince any field operator of their interest. Neither superfluous gadgets nor marketing fads, industry 4.0 weaves cyber-physical networks that it operates to optimize industrial performance.
Make space for business tools
The current industrial revolution falls in with the decentralization and digitalization of industrial operations.
By segmenting the value chain, digital transformation eventually encountered problems of consistency and responsiveness. Industry 4.0 is addressing this by refining and channeling data production through:
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the deployment of next-gen electronic sensors, without a SIM card, which are three times cheaper and consume up to 30 times less energy;
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to the storage of information in the Cloud,
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and the use of intelligent and interconnected objects that capture and analyze live information flows.
These three innovations offer business users full real-time visibility into the status of operations. Industry 4.0 brings data-driven decision making within the reach of any industry.
How does IIoT revolutionize industrial maintenance?
Industrial maintenance challenges underpin the imperative of economic and operational performance. With the emergence of IIoT at the service of CMMS solutions, the maintenance professions are ramping up.
To learn more about this subject: read our article about the role of CMMS solutions within companies!
IIoT brings predictive maintenance further
This is the most obvious application of IIoT to the maintenance professions. CMMS software has introduced the use of artificial intelligence and automatic learning to analyze volumes of information too large to be processed by humans. The challenge now is to relocate this data into the tools and processes to which it is linked. They optimize their performance, anticipating their dysfunctions and finding solutions before production is impacted. From inventory management to minimizing technical downtime, IIoT has the potential to simplify each of the maintenance tasks.
IIoT paves the way to industrial ecology
The challenges of digital transformation and those of CSR (Corporate social responsibility) have this in common that they are transversal to the entire value chain. Thanks to IIoT, digital tools are finally being used to support the company’s environmental performance.
This new approach to Green IT policies addresses industrial maintenance from the perspective of optimizing resource management:
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saving of raw materials as soon as they are sourced,
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saving and smoothing of energy consumption,
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reduction of waste and errors.
CMMS based on IIoT facilitates the construction of industrial ecology, thanks to the data-driven optimization of the entire production chain.
IIoT lays the foundation for mixed reality
IIoT is one of the most recent technological developments of the fourth industrial revolution, but it will certainly not be the last. Industry 4.0 pioneers are already experimenting with mixed reality tools.
These seem to have come straight out of a science fiction movie. However, virtual reality headsets and other holographic laptops are already finding practical applications in work processes that combine digital tools and human know-how. The future jobs linked to CMMS will involve, for example, connected glasses, thanks to which a specialized technician can guide a repair remotely.
IIoT places the know-how at the heart of the CMMS
The digital transformation often has bad press among operational teams. Change management is perceived as time-consuming, management imposed, alienating, and without any real added value. In addition to this bad impression, there are sometimes justified fears that one’s position may be called into question.
Despite these prejudices, Industry 4.0’s mission is to put human know-how back at the heart of work processes. It is directly in line with Corporate Social Responsibility through its concern for well-being at work. It improves the collaborative experience, providing teams with tools that meet their field needs.
Mobility Work’s community-based maintenance management platform takes this last objective particularly seriously. The CMMS is based on community information sharing. First, by facilitating the training of teams in a new tool that increases their skills.
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