The Internet has become an essential part of our lives and it is quickly becoming integral for competitive manufacturing.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has grown from a consumer desire to connect all our smart devices together – in manufacturing, this means connecting machines and automation across a facility to a single digital platform or infrastructure. We call this the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

The historical approach to manufacturing has been a “run-to-fail” model, as mechanical failures have been impossible to accurately predict until something is already beginning to break down. Modern sensor hardware and computing software can allow manufacturers to analyse captured data from machines to detect approaching mechanical failures. This data can be stored online in digital data banks, like the Cloud.

Machines, automation and other assets throughout a factory can be connected to an IIoT platform to maximize scale and digital intelligence.

“We can now monitor more things than we ever could in the past because of the infrastructure that’s come from the Internet and Wi-Fi, but the biggest change has been cost,” said Wade Wessels, sensing and IoT business leader, systems and applications, at Honeywell.

Read the full article: The IIoT in a Nutshell by Kagan Pittman for engineering.com