Information Technology

<p style="text-align: justify;">Organizations in the core sectors like manufacturing, mining, construction, and infrastructure management have realized that to thrive in a connected cloud-first world, they need to invest in developing and executing industry 4.0 strategies based on digital technologies like IoT, AI-powered solutions, and other emerging technologies.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">By using these technologies, organizations aim to provide a completely digital experience in both internal operations and the clients, bringing unprecedented transparency into the monitoring of business operations and real-time insights based on live data with respect to performance and other operational parameters.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Manufacturing &ndash; Industry 4.0</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Manufacturing industries are early adopters of digital technologies. Large manufacturers have already invested in implementing digital solutions to connect aspects of the production process &ndash; material procurement, planning and design, worker safety and productivity, equipment efficiency and condition monitoring, product quality, and more.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Deployment of AI base image/video analytic solutions has enabled better worker safety on the factory floor. Data from the connected equipment enables managers to monitor OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), which is a factor of availability, performance, and quality.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">IIoT enables accurate runtime calculation to give real-time OEE and allows floor managers efficiently use machine times.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Connected Mining</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">IIoT solutions have enabled real-time monitoring of the equipment fleet &ndash; both equipment and production parameters. This has enabled the mine operators to effectively plan and utilize the equipment fleet and maintenance managers to ensure drastically improved equipment availability by moving from preventive maintenance to condition-based maintenance based on analytics on real-time data received from the fleet.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In addition, planners are looking to use AI-based tools to better plan production to achieve targeted quantity and quality by deploying solutions based on technologies like IIOT and data analytics.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Building/Facilities Management</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Smart building management enables complete control of the building environment by enabling data acquisition from existing building management systems and connecting other traditionally standalone systems like video surveillance, access control, parking management, etc.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">A complete digital transformation of building/facility management operations results in improved operational efficiency, cost reduction, energy efficiency, reduced environmental impact, building parameters, ESG reporting, increased valuation of buildings, and better occupancy by improving general occupant wellness.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em>This article was contributed by our expert <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anton-jayanth-74160b159/">Anton Jayanth</a></em></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Frequently Asked Questions Answered by Anton Jayanth</span></h3><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">1. What is a smart manufacturing example?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A smart manufacturing example is where data from and for various operations that constitute the manufacturing process is available to the stakeholders in real-time, enabling faster and better decision-making and helping achieve production and revenue targets. Smart manufacturing strives to minimize manual inputs and automate all the hitherto manual operations.</span></p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">2. How can Industry 4.0 influence the supply chain?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On the supply side, Industry 4.0 has enabled just-in-time procurement. This has been achieved by better planning due to real-time data on the availability and utilization of equipment on the manufacturing line.<br />In addition, digital order processing has given the managers - decision makers a real-time view into order inflow and fulfillment status resulting in optimized procurement and lower inventory levels to be maintained in stock.</span></p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">3. Why is cloud computing critical in the construction industry?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">For many reasons, the construction industry has been a laggard in adopting digital transformation. One of them is the huge investment in IT infrastructure at various construction sites. The construction industry has this inherent problem of distributed work sites resulting in investment in IT systems upgradation at multiple sites to achieve true digital transformation.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The advent of cloud computing has short-circuited the need for deploying heavy IT infra at the site by moving all this to one cloud instance to be accessed from sites using mobile and other interfaces. In short, Cloud computing is the key to enabling digital transformation in the construction industry. </span></p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">4. What are examples of IIoT applications?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Fleet monitoring in logistics, Equipment monitoring in manufacturing, construction, mining, and Energy and water management solutions in facility management would be some of the IIOT applications commonly seen in core sectors.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>