The Ultimate Guide to

Industrial IoT for

Manufacturers
 Table of Contents

What is IIoT? 3

Benefits of IIoT for Manufacturers 5

IIoT Components 8

Examples of IIoT for Manufacturers 12

Success Factors for IIoT Implementations 13

How to Implement an IIoT Project 14

2 The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers

 What is IIoT?
What is IoT?
IoT stands for the Internet of Things. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the Internet of Things
as “a proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity,
allowing them to send and receive data.” Simply put, IoT is the network of internet-connected
physical objects which can communicate with each other and with other systems. IoT is common
in our everyday lives, from wifi-controlled light bulbs and temperature controls (like Nest) to
smart home systems (like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home).

What is IIoT?
The Industrial Internet of Things, or IIoT, refers to IoT used in an industrial context. These
concepts revolve around connecting machines and data management in “smart factories” to
achieve improvements in productivity and quality.

Connected assets and edge devices send information to data communications infrastructures,
which turn it into actionable information. Over time, engineers can use this data to find patterns
which can help identify larger issues and their root causes. The information can also help drive
business decisions and process improvements.

IoT vs. IIoT: What’s the difference?

While IoT applications tend to be consumer-centric, IIoT applications focus on improving
efficiency in manufacturing, supply chain, and management contexts.

To handle critical machines in high stakes industries, IIoT devices must be sophisticated. Sensors
must be sensitive in order to provide the precision of data needed to enable the automation,
visibility, and analysis they offer to manufacturers.

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT, or Industrial IoT) connects machines and data management in “smart
factories” to achieve improvements in productivity and quality

On the other hand, IoT products are used in lower-risk situations, often as consumer products. Their
benefits usually result in convenience, and the consequences of a piece of equipment failing are less
severe.

In industrial environments, production continuity, safety, and security are critical, and “extreme
vigilance must be employed to ensure that the omnipresent connectivity and openness implied by
the IIoT does not compromise any of the above or overwhelm users and/or applications with too
much raw data.” These unique challenges requires IIoT to have additional features over regular IoT.

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 Benefits of IIoT for Manufacturers
IIoT is changing the game for manufacturers. IIoT-connected machines capture and communicate
real-time data more accurately and consistently than previously possible. IIoT allows
organizations to break open data silos and gain access to information at every level.

The benefits of this actionable data are far-reaching. Operators, supervisors, and engineers can
gain visibility into production. Engineers can take cues from process, operator, and machine data
to achieve continuous improvement and improve efficiency on the plant floor. Also, management
can make informed business decisions backed by data. Overall, personnel at all levels can detect
problems and inefficiencies sooner and optimize their operations. This data-driven decision
making takes the guesswork out of solving problems.

The data gained from IIoT is particularly beneficial to efforts surrounding:

● Increased machine utilization: Industrial IoT enables manufacturers to connect their

machines to the internet. Connected machines give manufacturers insight into machine
health, and important KPIs in real-time. These can include overall equipment effectiveness
(OEE) and overall process effectiveness (OPE). This data helps manufacturers identify and
fix causes of unplanned downtime. They can also increase machine utilization by
highlighting needs for preventive equipment maintenance.

● Predictive maintenance: real-time data from IIoT-connected systems can help predict
defects in machinery. This allows manufacturers to take preventative measures against
the issues before they occur, ultimately resulting in higher machine uptime and greater
overall productivity. Preventing equipment failures reduce process time, rework, scrap, and
unplanned downtime. These improvements help manufacturers save on associated costs.

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 ● Asset tracking: manufacturers can track products throughout the supply chain and alert
stakeholders of damage or possible damage to goods.

● Facility management: IoT-connected environmental sensors can monitor conditions such

as vibrations, temperature, humidity, and more. They can detect conditions that negatively
impact operations or cause excessive wear and tear to equipment.

● Just in Time Manufacturing: made possible by real-time data reporting. Real-time data
helps manufacturers be proactive. This helps bring planned production closer to actual
production. Processes can be adjusted in real time to eliminate waste and allow for
production to finish on time and in sync with materials in process and raw materials.

● Connecting remote assets: connecting devices means that data from remote assets are
now accessible from a central location. These assets can be monitored and controlled
remotely, allowing for a greater degree of control.

● Easier-to-use interfaces: Connected software allows operators, engineers, and managers

to monitor data through HMIs (human machine interfaces). HMIs are much more intuitive,
especially for personnel without a high level of IT proficiency. These interfaces also
centralize data from different sources. As a result, personnel can master tools without
extensive training or needing to rely on IT staff.

● Sharing knowledge across plants: Institutionalizing knowledge keeps critical knowledge

within the workforce over time. Centralized knowledge can also help standardize
processes. This is critical to continuous improvement efforts within an organization. Finally,
having standardized, centralized knowledge allows experts to respond to issues no matter
where they are.

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 ● Process and behavior monitoring: the data collected from IoT enabled devices and
software allows managers to gain insight into employees’ performance. With this data they
can identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement. For example, they could learn that
employees consistently make mistakes or produce defects during a given step. Using this
information, process engineers can perform root cause analysis to determine what
improvements can be made (and use this data as a benchmark to measure improvement).

These benefits translate to significant business impacts based on cost savings, quality
improvement, and increased efficiency.

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 IIoT Components

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT, or Industrial IoT) connects intelligent assets, a data communications infrastructure,
software and analytics, and people in order to gain actionable data from manufacturing operations.

ARC Advisory Group identifies four key parts of the IIoT:

● Intelligent assets
● A data communications infrastructure
● Analytics and applications to generate information from raw data
● People

Intelligent assets
Intelligent assets comprise connected “things”--sensors, controllers, and edge devices--as well as
application software and security components. This category includes modern assets designed
with local intelligence and communications capabilities. These capabilities can also be added to
legacy assets.

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 Each of these assets is capable of connectivity, built-in intelligence, and support for analytics.
They generate data and share information across the value chain.

Examples of intelligent assets in IIoT include:

● Plant instrumentation
● Equipment
● Machines
● Systems or other assets enabled with sensors, processors, memory, and communications
capability

The following are some common types of equipment and devices:

Sensors provide new data from existing assets or incorporated into new or existing
machines that is externally accessible using common protocols and communications
technologies.

Edge devices are pieces of hardware that control data flow at the boundary between two
networks. They essentially serve as network entry or exit points. Edge devices fulfill
functions such as transmitting, routing, processing, monitoring, filtering, translating, and
storing data passing between networks.

Edge devices collect, process, and store data closer to endpoints to make more efficient
use of network resources.

IoT gateways are a common type of edge device in manufacturing settings. Sensors and
other devices are also types of edge devices.
.

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 Embedded systems refers to computing that is dedicated to a single purpose (as opposed
to general-purpose computing). Embedded devices have their own computing capabilities,
including processor, memory, OS, and communications capability. In IIoT, there are many
embedded computing devices that work in concert with other devices within the system.

An example of embedded computing in a manufacturing context is using a machine vision

system for inspections in order to improve production quality and throughput. Embedded
computer systems run on their own without human interaction through the use of sensors
and other modes of communication.

A data communications infrastructure

Assets in an IIoT system need the Internet and other network technologies in order to
communicate.

IIoT systems are often deployed on cloud infrastructures (such as Amazon Web Services). Cloud
computing entails storing, managing, and processing data using a network of remote servers
rather than a local server.

Software
IoT software analyzes the data collected by your equipment and devices. It also provides an
interface for users to interact with the IIoT system. The software is what allows people to make
better decisions and improve their performance.

Cloud-based software provides a number of benefits for manufacturers over on-premise

systems. These include a lower total cost of ownership, greater reliability, greater speed , and
flexibility.

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 People
An important but often overlooked part of any IIoT system is the people. People interact with the
system by making decisions based on the data and analysis generated by the rest of the IIoT
components. Better data and more powerful analytics tools allow people to become better
connected to plant equipment, machines, systems, and other personnel. As a result, quantified
decision making will follow.

People--operators, engineers, management, and more--are an important but often overlooked part of any
IIoT system.

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 Examples of IIoT for Manufacturers
Use cases for IIoT are myriad and ever-expanding. Here are a few examples:

Machine monitoring to track OEE/OPE

IIoT allows manufacturers to gain granular visibility into machine data by bringing their analog
processes online. Manufacturers can monitor state data from their legacy machines by using
sensors connected to an IoT gateway. Collecting data on machine uptime and unplanned
downtime allows manufacturers to track overall equipment efficiency (OEE) and overall process
efficiency (OPE). These metrics are especially helpful as benchmarks to gauge process
improvements.

Inline quality assurance

Manufacturers can use connected sensors and devices such as machine vision cameras, scales,
calipers, and temperature and humidity sensors at quality check stations. Intelligent sensors allow
significantly more precision in the inspection process than manual inspections. Quality
checkpoints can be integrated throughout the production process to catch defects early and
resolve them before they travel down the line.

Poka Yoke
“Poka yoke” is a lean manufacturing technique that translates to “mistake-proofing” from
Japanese. Manufacturers can also use IIoT devices to prevent errors from occurring in the first
place. For example, manufacturers can deploy pick-to-light systems to guide operators to specific
bins for assembly processes. They can use scales to detect when a product’s weight is out of spec,
signalling a mistake.

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 Success Factors for IIoT Implementations
Implementing IIoT at your plant is a worthwhile but complex undertaking. Companies should
consider IIoT implementations company-wide digital transformation rather than a one-off project.
Successfully pulling off an IIoT implementation requires tight alignment among your management,
engineering, IT, and OT teams and company-wide buy-in.

Before you dive in, it’s important to understand what it will entail and be aware of common
pitfalls. It’s not uncommon for manufacturers to find that an IIoT implementation was far more
complex than they expected. According to a 2017 Cisco report, about 60% of IoT initiatives don’t
make it past the proof of concept (PoC) stage.

ARC Advisory recommends the following success factors for an IIoT implementation:

● Appropriate domain knowledge in both OT and IT

● Clear understanding of operational requirements, including need for flexibility and
expandability
● Close integration between OT and IT
● Close cooperation between OT and IT suppliers; between suppliers and end users; and
between plant engineers, process engineers, and data scientists when developing and
implementing solutions
● Careful consideration of how the solution will be maintained and finetuned over time
● Ability to adapt to new business models
● “Bulletproof” cybersecurity
● Secure and robust networks (wired and wireless)
● Close internal cooperation between internal IT and OT groups as well as between plant
engineers, process engineers, and data scientists

Having these factors in place can set your organization up for long-term success and get you on
your way to reaping the benefits of a digital transformation.

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 How to Implement an IIoT Project
Define goals for your IIoT project

The most important part of your IIoT project is defining clear, measurable goals. What is the
business case for your IIoT project?

IIoT projects should address specific business problems, which can include (but are not limited to)
improving quality, increasing machine utilization, and driving faster improvement cycles.

You should know what questions you want your data to answer before you set out to collect it.
Determining the answer to this question should involve a conversation with your production staff
and engineers. Analyze, categorize, and summarize information on areas that can be improved.
Chances are you already have an idea of areas for improvement--now you can use data to
pinpoint it and make informed decisions.

Identify the measures of success

Your goals should be measurable by KPIs and pre-defined measures of success. Without a
foundation in key business metrics, the new technologies a company implements will fail to live
up to their promise.

Define a plan

Ask yourself, how can I collect the data I need to meet my goals? What technologies will help me
collect this data?

In order to answer these questions, you must should evaluate the state of your equipment’s
connectivity. Most modern machines are designed to give you a suite of information and come

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 equipped with connectivity features such as OPC or Ethernet connectivity. Legacy machines
require a more complex process, and can usually be brought online using sensors (such as current
sensors or GPIO sensing) and an IoT gateway.

You’ll also need to consider any changes you need to make to your facility or network
infrastructure, such as installing Ethernet drops and running cables. Keep in mind that any
changes that need to be made will take extra time to implement. It’s also crucial to gain the
cooperation of those in your company with IT expertise, as you’ll likely need their approval to make
any changes.

Prove ROI with a proof of concept (POC)

A proof of concept, also known as a proof of value (PoV), is an experiment that should answer the
following questions:

● What value does the technology create for your company?

● What is your return on investment?

You should be strategic when planning a proof of value. Find an area where you can demonstrate
a quick return on investment (ROI) on a small scale. Start small and have a concrete time frame,
and manage expectations with defined success metrics and a specific data set to measure.

The more complex your initial setup is, the longer it will take to deploy and the lower the likelihood
it will be successful. People have a tendency to add complexity to solve problems. Resist!

Get organizational buy-in

Use the data gained from your IIoT connections to demonstrate the ROI of your POC. Once you
have the ROI of a successful proof of concept in hand, it’s time to pitch the project to
management.
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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers
 Scale the implementation

As you prepare to scale into a full implementation, be sure to incorporate feedback from
stakeholders about the PoC.

As you move from the PoC to the full implementation, it’s helpful to have a high-level roadmap.
This provides clarity for the project, links actions to vision, and provides a reference for timeline
and cost.

Tulip’s platform is designed to make IIoT plug-and-play and easy to integrate

with the rest of your factory’s ecosystem. The no-code platform makes IIoT
initiatives accessible for manufacturers, even if they don’t have IT expertise.
For a low-risk way to experiment with industrial IoT, try Tulip’s Factory Kit.

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The Ultimate Guide to Industrial IoT for Manufacturers