registered. The alarm promotes better driving habits: As
operators learn what sets the alarm off, they begin to drive
more cautiously. Using this technology on eight of its forklifts, customer Spokane Industries achieved a 90 percent
reduction in impact-related damages to leased vehicles. 10
Manufacturing flow management. Manufacturers have
long used programmable logic controller (PLC) sensors
and automation techniques to optimize product flow
through their facilities. But ensuring optimal product flows
through a manufacturing plant requires coordinating a multitude of processes and activities,
and these aging systems often function
independently of one another. With
the emergence of the Io T, however, a
more sophisticated, connected network is emerging. These smarter,
highly integrated networks are creating efficiencies for manufacturers
by making it possible for various
types of equipment to communicate autonomously, and (perhaps
more significantly) by directing the
equipment’s actions.
Before it integrated a new sensor into
its production line, Bic, the shaving razor
manufacturer, found the quality-inspection
process to be inefficient and time-consuming.
Because of the shiny blade surface, it was difficult to successfully automate the detection of product inconsistencies,
a problem that resulted in line-slowing manual inspections
and hand sorting. The adoption of a more sophisticated
sensor that can adapt to variations in real time and is connected to a network enabled the company to increase its
detection reliability, eliminate costly manual sorting, and
optimize the flow of product through the production line.
Product development and commercialization.
Enterprising businesses are leveraging the IoT’s greater
connectedness to develop and commercialize new products, creating both increased opportunity and competition.
These companies are cultivating relationships with partners
outside their industries and drawing on one another’s
expertise to enhance existing products and bring entirely
new ones to market.
One example is Volvo’s “Drive Me” project, which the
company says aims to develop the world’s first “self-driv-
ing car for sustainable mobility.” Volvo has identified
new, unconventional uses in its older-model vehicles for
the technology, which connects and transmits operational
and mechanical data for maintenance and travel guidance.
Relying on the technical expertise of partner companies,
Volvo is using output data from a combination of inter-
connected devices, such as global positioning system (GPS)
units, inertial navigation software, laser rangefinders, and
video to enable autonomous system control.
Risk management. The significant operational benefits
associated with the Io T also come with a great deal of risk
that companies must manage. The growth in the number
of increasingly complex systems and networks of con-
nected devices means there is a greater need for enhanced
information technology (IT) security. Further,
ensuring the quality of connected systems and
devices requires the thoughtful creation of
new quality-assurance measures. Strict
adherence to strategy objectives must
outweigh the lure of inexpensive
memory and powerful processing;
otherwise it creates unnecessarily
complex networks that will prove
difficult to maintain and will expose
the company to avoidable risk.
An instructive example is that of
the automaker Toyota. In 2013 an
Oklahoma (USA) court found Toyota
negligent in regard to its design of accel-
eration-control software. The court ruling
highlighted the Toyota Camry’s electronic
throttle-system source code; the defective source
code ultimately led to unintended engine acceleration that
caused the death of at least one person. The implication
drawn from Toyota’s lack of sufficient quality measures for
its firmware emphasizes the necessity for all businesses to
develop and implement quality-assurance strategies for all
connected networks, systems, and automation processes.
Operational efficiency. Leveraged correctly, the IoT
improves communication, productivity, and management.
New systems and devices are creating more connected net-
works with exponentially higher data output and process-
ing power. The resulting wealth of data can be analyzed and
used to connect systems and inform decisions about oper-
ational functionality, such as loading-dock management
and machine-to-machine communication. Connecting sys-
tems and equipment helps businesses realize previously
untapped operational efficiencies.
A system such as that developed by Zebra Technologies,
a provider of bar-code and RFID technology, shows what
can be accomplished in this regard. Zebra has developed
a software platform that connects networked devices to
a cloud-based infrastructure. The software gives users a
global, real-time snapshot of asset locations, the average
wait time for customer service, and production-line speeds,
