Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

Automation‌ ‌and‌ ‌IoT‌‌: ‌Transforming‌ ‌How‌ ‌Industries‌ ‌Function‌

The key role of technologies is to facilitate our life. But the modern use cases of tech solutions are not limited to everyday tasks.

Actually, we should admit that the most important functions that technologies, and especially the Internet of Things (IoT), have today are related to their implementation by different industries.

As a result, the main beneficiaries are enterprises that have the possibility to fully transform their approach to organizing various processes.

In 2020, the total volume of the global IoT market was around $389 billion and it is projected that in 2030, this figure will hit the mark of $1 trillion.

If we turn to precisely the market for IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), we will see that it takes a major share of the total market volume. In 2020, its volume was $216.13 billion and in 2021, this figure managed to increase to $263 billion.

In this article, we offer you to have a look at the ways how IoT solutions help to automate various industrial processes and how the work of enterprises is changing thanks to IoT development.

Possibility to exclude human participation

Of course, it is too early to talk about fully human-free enterprise functioning. However, thanks to various IoT devices powered by smart sensors it is possible to minimize human involvement.

It means that while machines are able to work 24 hours per day practically without pauses, human involvement won’t be required during all this time. Automation helps not only to reduce operational costs and increase productivity but also to organize all processes for people in a safer and more rational way.

Thanks to the reduction of human-machine and human-human interaction, you can also eliminate the risks of mistakes caused by human factors.

Reduced downtime

This point is quite closely tied with the one that we’ve mentioned above. When you fully rely on your employees in performing all the tasks and functions that are required for ensuring the work of your enterprise, it is quite challenging to avoid downtime.

Even if you try to organize your employees’ shifts in such a way that they will overlap, you won’t reach perfection.

First of all, it will be inconvenient for your employees. Secondly, there will be such a period of the day when you will pay people who work two different shifts. And thirdly, short downtimes will be still possible.

With automation, there won’t be any time restrictions and your enterprise can work as many hours as you wish. And your staff won’t focus on manual repetitive assignments that can be easily automated. Your employees will perform higher-level tasks. At the same time, you will be able to reduce the number of workers which will lead to good savings.

Enhanced access control

IoT and automation tools can be efficiently used to increase the quality and reliability of security systems. These solutions are designed in such a way that they can recognize authorized staff and lock and unlock doors depending on certain conditions.

Especially, this function can be of the greatest importance in the cases of high-risk facilities like, for example, bank vaults.

Moreover, the application of such technologies shouldn’t be limited to locking and unlocking doors. They can be used to provide or restrict rights for working with specific equipment. As a result,  IoT solutions can ensure safety and compliance at enterprises of different kinds.

Increased efficiency of building functionality

The smart home is a well-known and even not very new concept. But we are accustomed to thinking about such systems as a solution for our houses and apartments.

However, similar systems can be installed in various manufacturing facilities, warehouses, and office buildings. Thanks to IoT devices, the functionality of these buildings can be automated in terms of humidity control, lightning, and other environmental requirements.

It is possible to set some particular parameters and smart devices will control temperature, lighting, and humidity according to them. But there is also a possibility to avoid the necessity to program smart devices. Such systems are able to analyze and learn the preferences of workers in different rooms.

Moreover, smart sensors can also regularly measure temperature and monitor the lighting, so that lights and air conditioners will be turned on/off when it is required given the ongoing conditions. Thanks to this functionality, companies can significantly reduce utility costs.

Instead of a final word

We’ve mentioned just the most crucial and the most general benefits that companies can enjoy if they decide to implement IoT or other innovative solutions in their processes.

In reality, there are much more pluses that may be quite specific for different industries. Though modernization, digitalization, and automation at enterprises require serious investments, these investments pay off quite quickly.

But what is even more important, they provide a completely new vision of how the processes can be organized and improved so that businesses can enjoy better scalability and faster revenue growth.

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