Top 3 Industries Harnessing the Potential of IoT for Digital
In an era where people are shifting to digital mindsets, companies are left with no choice but to keep pace with this change to thrive in the global market.
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Key takeaways
- In an era where people are shifting to digital mindsets, companies are left with no choice but to keep pace with this change to thrive in the global market.
- At the same time, smart manufacturing is largely fuelled by machinery having internet capability to monitor production processes constantly.
- The ideal combination of IoT and digital transformation makes for a better business model, systems, data analysis, and ultimately better customer experience.
In an era where people are shifting to digital mindsets, companies are left with no choice but to keep pace with this change to thrive in the global market. Leveraging cutting-edge technologies can be a practical option for companies ready to plunge into the wave of digitalization. Digital transformation has become a buzzword among companies. But do we really know what it means? Digital transformation entails using advanced technologies across business processes to challenge the status quo and achieve profitability by converting every resource and asset into a digital format.
The World Economic Forum predicts the value of digital transformation is expected to be more than $100 trillion by 2025 for industry and society. But why are companies so eager to achieve digital transformation, and how can IoT be instrumental in realizing this? Read on to learn the answers.
Digital transformation can revive companies that are losing steam in the competitive market, giving them the resources and assets required to improve the experience of employees, customers, and shareholders. IoT can be a major catalyst for digital transformation, enabling companies to make sense of the massive amount of data available in the growing number of connected devices. Today, IoT effectively changes how businesses are carried out across various industries, allowing them to capitalize on emerging and existing market opportunities.
In this blog, we will learn about three major industries that are adopting IoT to unlock the full potential of digital transformation.
Healthcare- Making Strides with IoT #
The need to step up efforts toward digital transformation in the healthcare industry is higher than ever. Challenges like shockingly low doctor-patient ratios, obsolete systems, and a growing number of chronic diseases overwhelm every entity in the healthcare system, creating a need for digital transformation backed with IoT, which can be a workable solution to navigate these challenges.
IoT takes the name of the Internet-of-Medical-Things (IoMT) in the healthcare industry, a network of medical systems that work together to obtain, share and analyze crucial healthcare data. IoMT has been strengthening healthcare infrastructure by improving telemedicine, remote surgeries, chronic disease management, drug delivery and management, patient-focused approach, and much more. Additionally, IoT helps enable telemedicine, an effective method adopted by doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stringent COVID-19 guidelines further supported the concept of telemedicine, allowing patients and physicians to remain safe during communication and treatment in a virtual world.
IoT empowers physicians by allowing them to check patients’ conditions remotely, using wearable devices and monitoring systems integrated with IoT sensors. With the nature of diseases getting more uncertain, IoT establishes a streamlined connection between patients and physicians in seconds. IoT integration in this industry can improve patient satisfaction, provide better treatment plans, and decrease healthcare costs and the complexity of disease management. Healthcare institutions are expected to increase their budget for IoT systems in the upcoming years.
Manufacturing and IoT - Offering Hope for Accuracy and Speed #
Unlike many sectors, manufacturing has rather been slow to the technological revolution. However, the manufacturing industry is undergoing digital transformation allowing the sector to fully realize the potential of new concepts, technologies, and systems. Smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 are some of the digital transformation outcomes in this sector.
Industry 4.0, or the fourth industrial revolution, is a concept that revolves around leveraging digital technologies for large-scale automation and data analytic. Industrial IoT (IIoT) is a subset of Industry 4.0, driven by smart machines’ use to analyze and communicate data to make informed decisions. At the same time, smart manufacturing is largely fuelled by machinery having internet capability to monitor production processes constantly. Both Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing must be paired with IoT to maximize manufacturing performance.
Untimely errors in manufacturing equipment and machinery have compelled manufacturers to harness the power of IIoT for predictive maintenance. IoT-enabled machines can help manufacturers constantly monitor the environment and carry out analytic to get an accurate estimate of machine failures and defects. Faster analysis and repair would mean a more effective maintenance process, which ultimately reduces downtime and enables manufacturers to save costs.
Redesigning the Transportation & Logistics Sector with IoT #
While IoT is making smart cities a reality, it is now making inroads in the transportation & logistics sector to support smart cities, infrastructure, fulfill shifting demands, and prepare them for digital transformation. In this digital age, companies in the transportation & logistics sector pursue on-time delivery, service, warehouse management, and smart fleet management, not to mention improved customer experience, which is key to unlocking more revenue. The rising implementation of IoT-enabled devices is likely to ensure the sector achieves the digital transformation it deserves.
Monitoring and managing vehicle activity, route, driver’s behavior, and fuel consumption could be daunting without advanced technologies like IoT. Integrating IoT in vehicle tracking and management systems can help shareholders expertly manage the abovementioned factors. For manufacturers, warehouse security is the highest priority as it is a storehouse of products (eventually money). Locating missing products and discouraging intruders in a warehouse can be roadblocks for manufacturers’ journey towards frictionless operations. But thankfully, IoT-powered devices can help manufacturers navigate these challenges by offering them real-time insights into any person entering and leaving the entity. Using IoT systems, authorities can lock/unlock warehouse doors from any remote location - making it easier to monitor activities happening on the floor and reducing the chances of theft.
Moreover, automating the toll collection process can help both passengers and authorities, enabling hassle-free journeys for passengers and freeing up human resources for other essential tasks. Automated toll systems are integrated with IoT sensors and RFID tags that will allow quick online payment, helping authorities to manage better traffic flow and garner information like vehicle count, fare collection, and others.
Summing Up #
Digital transformation is crucial because it would be difficult to navigate modern challenges and serve digital-savvy customers if companies continue to operate with traditional models and systems. IoT, an integral component of digital transformation, can completely change how activities are done, creating new values for business owners and customers. Using IoT devices, companies analyze customer, employees, and their systems & process to make sense of the enormous amount of unstructured data related to these entities. Based on this data analysis, they become empowered to anticipate better and proactively deal with emerging problems.
IoT can be easily paired with other emerging technologies to continue to drive digital transformation for companies, helping them to gain early advantages in the competitive market. The ideal combination of IoT and digital transformation makes for a better business model, systems, data analysis, and ultimately better customer experience.
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