One of the least favorite things in a manufacturing organization is to go look for a stock that you can't find anywhere.

Now, imagine a manufacturing environment set up with sensors, drones, and other automation tools that would allow you not only to find and monitor stuff, but also help you get your processes running smoother, easier, faster, and better.

Welcome to the Internet of Things! 

What is the industrial IoT?

The industrial Internet of Things is connecting everything within a manufacturing environment to the internet so it can be analyzed, create some analytics, and connect to artificial intelligence and technology applications. 

Trends in Utilizing the Industrial IoT:

1. Sensors 

• It allows you to track valuable equipment or tools you need that moves around the manufacturing floor or site to keep operations moving more efficiently.

• It allows you to monitor those assets for security (ex. theft prevention) or even just the correct usage of them.

• It allows you to be able to access equipment right away and know exactly where it is, how long it's being used, and if it's being used correctly. 

2. Drones

These are unmanned aerial vehicles used for manning the site through the use of artificial intelligence and computer vision because the drones can actually see what's going on. 

3. Augmented reality

It refers to overlaying imagery over real life, usually through glasses, or in a manufacturing context, it could be the different helmets they have. Manufacturing employees and operators of equipment can basically see a second reality over the reality in front of them.

The Role of 5G

All of the different ways you can use industrial IoT are only as good as the network they're on. In order for these applications to reach their full potential, they need incredibly low latency. This is the amount of time it takes the data to transfer from the device to somewhere it can be processed. With 5G, the latency that's promised in terms of this new network speed is incredibly fast compared to LTE.