Massive amounts of data are now being processed both by humans and machines. Big data, powerful sensors and robotics are combining in ways that are felt from the shop floor to the control room. Often described as the Internet of things (IoT), this technological shift is helping companies create efficiencies and intelligent automation by capturing information from any machine that can be networked. It's also impacting key areas of business like headcount, productivity and innovation.
An Industrial Internet
The ramifications for business are big--so big that one of the world's largest companies, General Electric, earmarked $1 billion last year to work on its version of the IoT, the Industrial Internet. GE figures $15 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2030 if all those smart machines are managed properly. The chart below shows some of the savings that could be gained by eliminating waste and improving efficiencies.
A GE report, Industrial Internet: Pushing the Boundaries of Minds and Machines, looked at the industrial internet's potential impact on certain industries.
In its report, "Industrial Internet: Pushing the Boundaries of Minds and Machines," GE describes a number of industries that could see wholesale changes as processes and machines work better together. In healthcare, it describes a hospital's digital nervous system as a set of applications that become its "care traffic control system."
The challenge, as highlighted in the GE report, is that most critical equipment in hospitals is always being moved around, and it's very difficult to track those movements. By having a system that notifies doctors and staff of status changes, better metrics can be developed, which improve equipment use and patient outcomes. The report estimates this technology can reduce equipment costs by up to 30 percent and allow hospital staff to gain an additional hour on each shift.
Sparking Innovation in Energy
The building environment is one area in which better data is helping companies cut costs and drive efficiencies. Mechanical contractor McKenney's, Inc. developed its system "Business Intelligence for Buildings" to help customers reduce energy usage by monitoring trends and performance over long periods. By aggregating the energy, water and air quality data from hundreds of buildings, it develops a baseline for companies to benchmark against.
Booz & Company’s recent study on R&D spending highlighted some of the world's most innovative companies. Among the leaders was Philips Lighting, whose commercial products are quickly becoming more adaptive by gathering real-time data.
Philips can equip light fixtures in a system with technology that captures all the usage data--from hours used and dimming levels, to motion detectors and other sensors. A central hub then processes the data and adjusts the system.
Bob Esmeijer, head of Philips Professional Lighting Solutions, said in the report that those lighting systems eventually will function on their own by sensing the amount of light coming in from the outside, and configuring its settings based on the activity in a room.
Sensors Moving Autos Forward
Similar moves are being made in the automotive industry. While automakers have used robotics for years, powerful software and sensors are now helping them expand applications of the technology. For example, driverless cars are now moving forward, albeit slowly, as MIT's Tech Review pointed out in a recent piece.
Manufacturers are using software algorithms to assess road conditions based on a car’s speed and the behavior of nearby vehicles. Values are then assigned for the characteristics of each lane, which provide the data needed to make adjustments.
Output from the sensors is then aided by software that helps decide whether to switch lanes, pass, or get out of the way.
The Technology Lens May Be Too Narrow
With GE and other large companies pushing the smarter cities message so hard, it's easy to get excited about the Internet of things.
However, some, like NYU's Anthony Townsend, author of the forthcoming book “Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia,” say the approach has its shortcomings.
"The technology giants building smart cities are mostly paying attention to technology, not people … ignoring the creative process of harnessing technology at the grass roots,” said Townsend.
If Townsend is right, there's a huge opportunity for solution providers and tech companies to help customers in new ways.
