What are all these “things” that make up the internet of things (IoT)? What are they doing?
Quite a bit, it turns out. Industries across the global economy are turning to IoT systems and applications to increase productivity and efficiency, reduce costs, improve working conditions, and delight their customers. For many businesses, IoT is a major focus area for their digital transformations.
In this article we’ll discuss some recent examples of IoT applications in various industries, the value they bring to the organizations implementing them, and why you should consider IoT applications for your unique business problems.
By now, you or someone you know has invested in a wearable fitness monitor that can track walking or running distance, heart rate, blood oxygen, and more. The typical architecture of these systems includes the monitor itself plus various sensors, and a short-range wireless connection to a smartphone app to collect the data and provide feedback.
These wearables are among the most visible and well-known examples of IoT in healthcare and wellness. But they’re far from being the only ones or even the most interesting.
Consider:
It wasn’t so long ago that tractors and other mechanized farming devices replaced mules, oxen, and horses on farms. Still, farms, ranches, and orchards have arrived late to the internet age, largely because few electronic devices could tolerate the sometimes-harsh environments common in agriculture. Now we are starting to see widespread use of connected devices and the data they provide. Some examples:
It’s four o’clock—do you know where your shipment is? Perhaps more important: Do you know what condition it’s in?
With wireless IoT sensors, you can monitor, from dock to dock, the location and condition of incoming and outgoing goods as well as assets such as pallets, shipping containers, truck trailers, and railroad cars. This detailed tracking capability can be crucial when dealing with goods sensitive to extremes in temperature, humidity, vibration, or other environmental factors.
Closer to home, wireless inventory monitoring reduces the labor associated with counting, managing, and protecting warehouse and retail-floor inventory.
The examples cited are but a small sample of the overall IoT application landscape. You may not have seen one directly applicable to any of your particular business problems. And that’s okay because every business problem is different; no two IoT implementations are the same.
When contemplating an IoT application, it’s best to think of IoT as a framework, rather than as a specific solution. The value of IoT lies in its infinite flexibility: With the right components and the right software, an IoT application can be designed to address the problems not encountered by anyone else in your industry.
Depending on your business problem, a specific IoT device meeting all your requirements might not exist as an off-the-shelf product. However, chances are good the components needed to create such a device are readily available. You will have to do your own due diligence to analyze the costs and benefits of developing a custom device like this.
When paired with a well-designed IoT application, an IoT device can serve as the foundation of a system that realizes numerous benefits:
At AndPlus, we are experts in developing IoT applications and integrating them with a wide variety of IoT devices and platforms. We’ve helped organizations in many different industries realize their digital transformations by partnering with them on their IoT projects. We know the best ways to approach IoT development projects and what pitfalls to avoid.
To share some of our knowledge in this area, we created The AndPlus Guide to the Internet of Things. Download it today to learn more about how IoT technology can be harnessed to address your business needs.