While many readers of this newsletter are perfectly well versed in all things IoT, I’m guessing plenty of others are still looking for clarification. Fortunately, a primer of sorts is readily available from Hilscher, the Germany-based developer of networking and connectivity solutions to the automation industries. Actually it’s a white paper written by Hilscher Business Development Manager Armin Puhringer. It’s titled “How ‘Industrial Cloud Communications’ delivers the benefits of Internet-Connected Manufacturing.”
Highlights include the following:
- A useful definition is always a good starting point, though Puhringer is quick to observe that IoT “can mean anything to anybody.” Still, the definition provided here is a good one: “IoT is a phrase of convenience describing how everything in the world could be connected via the Internet, with a view to each and every ‘thing’ interacting somehow with the rest.”
- IoT represents the fourth industrial revolution, one that requires end-to-end communication from the lowliest sensor at the lowest-level devices up to the cloud.
- Legacy PLCs will not have to worry their pretty little heads where IoT is concerned. IoT functionality will by-pass control systems and PLCs, which is terribly important because it means that legacy equipment and systems will not be obsoleted. IoT capitalizes on the data available from existing networks. In essence, IoT systems become extensions of existing Industrial Ethernet and fieldbus systems.
- It isn’t just manufacturing that stands to be affected by IoT. Things like healthcare will change, too, as each of us becomes a “thing” on the network. This will make it possible to have our health records monitored centrally.
- Collaboration will be the key that unlocks the real usefulness of IoT. No supplier company can answer all the questions by itself. End users, Systems Integrators, and OEMs know the specifics of their production machines and systems, and they alone can optimize the effectiveness of IoT.
- It’s already clear that using IoT in automation may require new skills and disciplines beyond those of controls engineering.
- Until recently, many manufacturers have preferred to stay on the sidelines where IoT implementations are concerned because they weren’t comfortable with the element of risk that came with the territory. But as they begin to see the practical business benefits that can be realized, and as the element of risk is minimized, manufacturers are leaving the sidelines and jumping into the game.
To receive the complete Hilscher White Paper, click here. And if IoT is a topic you want to explore, be sure to attend The Automation Conference & Expo May 24-25 in Chicago. A number of technology workshops, including one from Hilscher, will be focused on IoT.
