Nowadays, almost every piece of equipment is connected to the web. Whether it be your smart watch or your fridge, these items are collecting data about you and your environment 24/7. As one would imagine, business owners are taking notice of it and implementing these IoT devices for the purposes of automation, gathering data, tweaking the workflow, upping the customer experience, etc. What we’re about to discuss are just 4 ways you, too, can take advantage of this modern technology for propelling your business to new heights:
1. Reducing downtime
A single hour, no, a minute of downtime can often be enough to bring your operations to a complete standstill, during which you’re not producing anything. Worse yet, you may lose a customer who has just come through the door in the most unfortunate moment or lose face in the public eye. Since a day only has 24 hours (some of which are spent resting), using industry-grade tools for production monitoring like Evocon – OEE will help you track downtime and monitor the production workflow. It may even help you optimize it for better efficiency. Speaking of which…
2. Boosting efficiency
Getting the most of your production time is called workflow efficiency. The more you produce in a given hour, the nicer your bottom line will end up looking. Whether it’s tracking your workers’ movements or the performance of your machinery, IoT always finds itself a place in the industrial environment. No matter how small any given bottleneck maybe, tweaking it or eliminating it altogether will speed things up. And it’s thanks to analyzing the data the IoT devices collect that you can make it happen.
3. Improved insights
Whether it be the healthcare industry (monitoring the patient’s vital signs), agriculture (checking whether the cattle are sick), or manufacturing (assessing the state of the machinery), IoT offers valuable insights into what is going on. Instant alerting when something is not as it should go without saying and it’s one of the main reasons for success that left its mark on the digital transformation of businesses. But it’s also about knowing what your customers like or dislike without having to second guess yourself. For instance, augmented reality mirrors placed in clothing stores are a good example of this.
4. Emerging new business models
The phenomenon of self-driving cars and trucks is paving the way for new business models that have never existed before, and it’s by no means the end of the list. Don’t forget Amazon’s package delivery drones that are threatening to drive the traditional package delivery services out of business (or at least they will at some point). It’s not only about emerging new business models, but upgrading the already-existing ones. If you’re wearing Apple watch, it’s collecting data about your hobbies, preferences, location, etc. Apple can use that knowledge to custom-tailor and personalize your experience, which also applies to ads and third-party offers you’re served.
Conclusion
All in all, IoT technology is a wonderful addition to our personal as well as business lives. It opens up many new possibilities that can digitally transform the world for the better. Are we smart enough to use it to our best advantage?