We have heard so many things about new concepts such as the Cloud, Big Data and Analytics, IoT and now the Industrial Internet of things or (IIoT). Their introduction has been so acutely engaging over the past few years or so they tend to make us forget about how and why they materialized. We lose sight of the fact that they all spring from the same source – data – without which the concepts wouldn’t even exist.

Where is the Data Found in IIoT?

It must be realized that without the volume of data we now have, it would appear impossible to figure out how to use such voluminous data for the benefit of industry. But figure it out we did, as we always have done, and the amazing thing is that all the data that now exists in IIoT can be streamlined for attaining higher levels of productive efficiency.

It is the engine that is, and will be, the driving force behind every IIoT that makes the products within which the IoT work! Get it? There will be sensors in your milk container that alerts the fridge to add the amount of milk customers need to their list of groceries stored on their smartphones.

You therefore have data travelling from the physical to cyberspace and back to physical space again for the message to reach its end destination. You may have a sensor in your tea maker that can inform the toaster it can start churning out toasts, but if you don’t have the toaster itself, how can your cyberspace /physical space data make the hops and connections? Yes, we have cloud to thank for that.

How Data Travels Through the IIoT Infrastructure

The amount of data that exists within the IIoT infrastructure is very difficult to imagine. The amount of data is so huge that it needs an equally mind boggling data processor that’s sophisticated, efficient, scalable and reliable. There is a real need to streamline the existing data so that it can enable industry to utilize it to enhance its productive efficiency.

Data in industry is found where buttons, switches and sensor devices and actuators are found including drivers and viewing systems. Industries plus the internet (IIoT) use these commands and devices for controlling and programming and automation functions within its infrastructure. From here the data is communicated to HMIs, historians and analytics.

But How Does the Cloud Boost IIoT Productivity Efficiency?

The launching of GE’s Predix provides the best example of how a cloud service based monitoring plus analytics platform can enter the IIoT infrastructure, streamline its data and use it to effectively enhance its efficiency in producing its products.

IoT sensing devices are embedded in equipment used for production in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). These devices enhance the health of the equipment by introducing custom repair and maintenance type activities needed for equipment. GE’s first time application of cloud directly to customers within IIoT is a landmark in the use of cloud for this purpose and its success heralds a new era in the use of cloud IIoT infrastructures.

The introduction of cloud to IIoT directly results in much more efficient outcomes and more rapid production results for the manufacturing plant. An oil company will experience increased productivity from more efficient asset management. The cloud’s ability to analyze IIoT data will uncover hidden issues and reveal new opportunities for companies to explore and profit from them.

Many companies are now beginning to realize the value that the cloud can deliver to the IIoT and it’s only a matter of time before the cloud, IoT and IIoT come together and forge an impeccable triad combination for the efficient and synchronized production of goods and services.

Do you believe that what has been discussed is actually taking place right now? Tell us of the instances where you know this is happening in the comment column below.