The Internet of Things (IoT) has long had consumers excited as they consider how their refrigerator might send messages to the grocery store or explore the wide variety of wearable devices available to them. The real promise of IoT, though, can be seen in the industrial realm—and those are the applications that are coming to the fore right now.
It’s been slowly growing in the background for a long while. In fact, the seeds were planted as much as five decades ago. (Take a look at the IIoT timeline below from Kepware to get some details.) At the same time, we haven’t come near to reaching the promise.
In fact, Markets&Markets predicts that the Industrial IoT market will grow from $113.71 billion in 2015 to reach $195.47 billion by 2022, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.89% between 2016 and 2022. Technology and manufacturing are both driving the demand and creating the supporting technology. The Markets&Market’s report said:
A key influencing factor for the growth of the IIoT market is the need to implement predictive maintenance techniques in industrial equipment to monitor their health and avoid unscheduled downtimes in the production cycle. Factors driving the IIoT market include technological advancements in semiconductor and electronics industry and evolution of cloud computing technologies.
Government initiatives in Europe (such as Industrie 4.0 in Germany and Plan Industriel in France) are aiding growth. “Moreover, leading countries in the manufacturing vertical such as U.S., China, and India are expected to further expand their manufacturing industries and deploy smart manufacturing technologies to increase this the contribution of this vertical to their national gross domestic products (GDPs),” the Markets&Markets report said.
The promise of IIoT for electronics OEMs is huge including the opportunity to: improve innovation, increase competitiveness, and reduce costs. By collecting data and informational assets, organizations can make better decisions earlier. In fact, 36% of manufacturers report that lower machine/asset downtime, 33% say that IIoT has enhanced asset utilization, and 49% improve process performance, according to OEM Dell.
Is your company taking advantage of IIoT? What could the industry or government do to help? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
— Hailey Lynne McKeefry, Editor in Chief, EBN 
