Internet-connected devices can unlock the full potential of businesses, opening new markets and delivering more efficient ways of working.
In the broadest possible sense, the Internet of Things (IoT) refers to any device that’s connected to the internet, from a smartphone to a driverless car. The key aspects of IoT devices are their ability to communicate information and to be controlled remotely. As broad as that definition is, what IoT really means for businesses is much simpler: opportunity.
The impact of IoT and the benefits it brings can be seen in the sheer scale of its growth. According to a forecast from IDC, there will be 41.6 billion connected IoT devices by the year 2025, generating a staggering 79.4 zettabytes (ZB) of data.
Far from this being the domain of big businesses, IoT technology is increasingly accessible to companies of all sizes. This accessibility gives businesses across Wales an opportunity to have global reach and better serve their domestic markets with smarter, expanded features.
There are two main ways that businesses can use IoT devices. First, by building internet connectivity into products, Welsh businesses can deliver more features to customers and expand their reach. Internet-connected devices are a growing market, with everything from environmental sensors to smart home devices already communicating over the internet.
The reason that so many devices have an internet connection is that it extends what a product is capable of. Typical benefits of IoT devices include remote control, such as being able to turn on the heating from anywhere in the world; automation, such as turning lights on and off automatically; and communication, warning a user that their alarm is going off.
Cardiff-based Tendertec is a good example of what IoT can deliver. The company is due to launch its home-monitoring system for elderly people soon, which will be able to monitor for falls, unhealthy indoor conditions, unusual indoor conditions and loneliness, communicating to carers via a mobile app. Here, IoT connectivity will let elderly people live their lives while providing peace of mind to carers, no matter where they’re located.
IoT isn’t just about products that consumers will buy, as the technology applies to industrial challenges as much as it does to the home. Internet-connected devices provide sense and meaning automatically to businesses, giving them access to real-time data and enabling them to make smarter decisions, even to save money. Take a production line, where sensors can automatically feed back issues to a central console. In the event that the production line stops, diagnostics can be accelerated, as the central console tells you where the issue is and what it is. The future points to predictive, rather than reactive maintenance, where sensors monitor the status of factory equipment and artificial intelligence tracks the data to predict faults before they become critical.
Tracking is another big aspect of industrial IoT, using integrated sensors to track the real-time location of assets. Whether it’s tools, components for an assembly line, products in a warehouse, or even sheep on a farm, IoT reduces the time people spend searching for things, and even opens the possibility of automated retrieval.
Simply put, IoT takes the pain out of many processes, delivering useful information faster, and making it easier to automate processes. It’s a journey that Port Talbot-based Rototherm undertook, when the company, which has been making sensors for more than 170 years, decided to embrace IoT and provide connected devices to its customers. With its new tank-level monitoring system, customers can manage fuel tank inventory in minutes, rather than days, with centralised reporting giving a complete status of widely-distributed tanks.
Rototherm is another example that shows the power of IoT from both sides. As a product manufacturer, embracing IoT allowed the company to deliver new and smarter products. For customers, they gained access to a product that made a difficult job easier.
This is how IoT should be approached by all companies, looking to see if processes can be simplified with internet-connected technology, or whether products that they make can be enhanced by it.
As Oliver Conger, owner and MD of Rototherm Group explained: “If you really want to reap the benefits of new technologies and the IoT in your Welsh manufacturing business, then think outside the box, try something new, and learn. Challenging your business to evolve with updated technology can only strengthen its position in a rapidly changing and evolving sector.” Components to build IoT products are comparatively cheap, and there’s a growth in the number of IoT-enabled products for industry, putting this exciting technology within the bounds of companies big and small. The key thing is to take the time to understand the technology and to build on what it can deliver. Conger said that his company’s project was a two-year challenge and companies “need to invest the time to understand what new technologies and the IoT can do for their businesses.” So, start thinking. How can internet-connected devices revolutionise what you do?