For OEMs and machine builders, adding functionality to a product has to be carefully considered on a cost versus return basis. Keeping costs low is critical to an OEMs competitive position, but likewise, being able to differentiate from competition and add value to the end user can be a significant advantage. Among the technologies that OEMs are embracing for the ability to add important capability at an affordable price are IIoT hardware and software. In this article in Technical Review Middle East, Emerson’s Silvia Gonzalez and Rich Carpenter argue that IIoT technology is so important to both the present and future of industrial machines that it should come as standard, built-in to new machines even if it’s not required for immediate use.
The article states an increasingly well-known fact. End users are looking for more than just raw data; they need actionable information, available locally or remotely, that helps to increase operational performance. With the right information in the hands of those that need it most, users can then maximize the benefits from equipment functionality, reduce consumables usage and improve operator efficiency, helping to increase profitability while reducing risk. For OEMs, the cost of building-in IIoT capability to machines, be that using wired Ethernet protocols such as Profinet, EtherNet/IP or Modbus TCP/IP, or cellular, satellite or industrial wireless solutions such as WirelessHart, is now so low and can deliver so much value for both end users and OEMs in the future, that its inclusion should be considered mandatory.
To better understand the value that built-in IIoT can bring, read the article here.
Do you have IIoT hardware and software built-in to your machines?