In our last IoT blog post, we discussed how to utilize advanced techniques to turn data into business value.  After capturing data from a specific business practice, the next step is to use this data to drive enterprise-wide change. The value of IoT data is magnified through strong business use cases and its adoption across an organization. Transforming IoT data into an action plan is the key to making improvements in your business and gaining a competitive edge.  

Transforming IoT data into insights can help with decision making.

Currently, we’re working with a client to improve their delivery performance across their entire network. To track delivery performance, we first need to build a baseline and understand how drivers are performing. With this client having over 100 divisions, it would not be feasible for us to complete manual time studies. This is where IoT data comes in and provides a key advantage over traditional performance tracking methods – scalability. Using IoT data from GPS trackers, the team has been able to track the time drivers are on-site or driving between sites. 

This data helped to build the scoreboard comparing expected route times to actual route times to find out what parts of the day are the most and least productive. We’ve then been able to aggregate data to identify the top opportunities for improvement across divisions and how to approach the change management needed to make process adjustments. Now, with this information both managers and executives are now able to identify training needs, and company-wide trends. 

Insights generated from IoT data can uncover opportunities for business improvements.

Next steps are to use this data to develop company standards, training plans, and driver accountability throughout the company. Additionally, this dataset has helped uncover opportunities for improvement with driver scheduling and resource allocation.  

Is there a process in your organization that is a black box? Even starting small by collecting data can help to drive business improvements.  

Give us a call!

AMEND has a proven track record of being an IoT leader and delivering a competitive advantage by creating a strategy and seeing it through to implementation. With a focus on speed and efficiency, we enable businesses to quickly implement and validate IoT solutions, ensuring rapid returns on investment. If you’re interested in learning more, please request more information below! 

In our last IoT blog post, we discussed the technology and infrastructure to start collecting data. We’ll now dive into how we utilize advanced analytics techniques to turn IoT data into business value. There are many use cases for IoT data including: real-time monitoring, preventative maintenance, machine configuration, and defect detection. These uses often drive resiliency in production, cost savings, increased machine utilization, and an overall improved production process. 

We helped a local client improve operational efficiency through analysis of IoT data.

We went through this process with a regional client in the metals industry operating a $2B+ revenue facility. It started with questions including: How can we best utilize the high-resolution data we’re collecting? How can we improve machine efficiencies and reduce part defects? Is there a manual process that can be done better utilizing this data?  

We focused on the thickness gauge between 2 critical machines in their process and sought to improve the machine configuration to best account for gauge differences among them. The machine data was pulled from a cloud data lake and included 3 data sets with records at a frequency of 100ms. This data included the gauges, temperatures, machine settings, and other metadata on the part being ran. After heavy pre-processing of the data to prep for analysis, we trained a machine learning model to determine a key setting to dynamically adjust while the machine was running.  

Predicted values from the machine learning model are able to better reflect reality than the manual machine configuration process.

Implementing this model led to a potential 30% accuracy improvement on the gauge adjustment compared to the manual machine configuration process. It led to decreased part holds due to incorrect calibration, leading to less defects and machine downtime. Additionally, it saves 3 hours of work per week spent adjusting and updating machine code. 

This was just one example of how to utilize analytics to drive business value. Other approaches include: 

• Artificial intelligence to anticipate maintenance needs and resource allocation 
• Optimization and simulation to prescribe the most efficient routes for delivery trucks 
• Anomaly detection to identify deviations from expected patterns such as part defects 

IoT data analytics can add value throughout your business, and we can help you identify these opportunities and see it through to tangible ROI. 

Give us a call!

AMEND has a proven track record of being an IoT leader and delivering a competitive advantage by creating a strategy and seeing it through to implementation. With a focus on speed and efficiency, we enable businesses to quickly implement and validate IoT solutions, ensuring rapid returns on investment. If you’re interested in learning more, please request more information below! 

As the need for actionable data has grown, the barrier into collecting, processing, and storing this data has lowered.  Sensors have gotten cheaper, smaller, and more interconnected while the boom in cloud infrastructure has enabled flexible and scalable backend tooling.  This acceleration in IoT technology and opportunities makes it the perfect time to invest in smart technologies for your business. 

There are many smart technological tools to choose from, making it easy to find one that fits your needs.

In our last IoT blog post, we discussed identifying opportunities for IoT solutions. Once a business problem is identified, a daunting hill to climb is finding the right tools and technology to answer your questions. Luckily, there are now many options to choose from for all your different needs.  Some common sensors include: 

• Environmental sensors such as temperature or humidity 
• Location sensors such as GPS 
• Vibration sensors 
• Other specialty sensors 

These sensors are low cost and easy to set up, which means exploring options has a minimal impact on overhead and operations. This will allow you to find the sensors that best fit the use case of your business. 

Device interconnectivity is another technological decision that has more options than most people realize. 

It is not always possible to run an ethernet cable out to the machines on the floor. The advancement in wireless protocols allows for many communication technologies that can best support your operation needs. Bedrock technologies such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth allow you to easily stand-up devices without added hardware costs. Distributed mesh networks allow for expansive device networks which were fault tolerant and long range. Finally, with the advent of new low-power, cellular chips, devices are no longer limited to a defined network. 

The final piece of getting to your data is the processing and storage infrastructure.

A diverse selection of software tools enables the smart handling of messages from your sensors. Pairing this with cloud capabilities that allow for effortless scaling (up and down!) and getting the infrastructure side stood up, developed, and validated is faster than in the past.  In addition, accessing your own data is no longer limited to being on site, which allows decisions to be distributed to where they make the most sense.  

In practice, we were able to provide a solution to a client who had temperature related quality issues.  Normally, operators were required to hand record temperature reading, which tended to always reflect the set point instead of the real point.  To solve this issue, we found off-the-shelf temperature hardware that was easy to set up and could be connected to the cloud for reporting.  The hardware set up took less than an hour and temperature readings were immediately being reported.  We were then able to pipe these results into Power BI for a live updating temperature reading, along with historical data for quality analysis.   

Give us a call!

AMEND has a proven track record of being an IoT leader and delivering a competitive advantage by creating a strategy and seeing it through to implementation. With a focus on speed and efficiency, we enable businesses to quickly implement and validate IoT solutions, ensuring rapid returns on investment. If you’re interested in learning more, please request more information below!