AI & AUTOMATION
“ People need a better idea of what IoT is . When they do , people don ’ t stay sceptical for long ”
JUAN NISBET MARKETING EXECUTIVE , HARK
IoT at Hark The Internet of Things is still a very new term to many in the manufacturing sector , although it has been in use since 1990 , when engineer John Romkey used it to control his toaster via the internet . IoT essentially describes a network of physical things , such as sensors , that have software embedded in them to exchange data via the internet . There are an estimated 18bn IoT devices being used today , such as smart factory equipment , ultra-high speed wireless internet and shipping container tracking .
“ We use IoT for connecting assets to the cloud ,” explains Hurst . “ We make data visible and , crucially , understandable . This gives businesses the opportunity to cut their energy usage and enjoy significant savings . They can also proactively deal with production issues before they take hold .”
“ With ‘ sustainability ’ moving from buzzword to a real world KPI , manufacturers need to find a way of becoming more energy efficient without affecting profitability . IoT can help enable both of these goals .
“ For example , it can help businesses save valuable time . Energy managers who aren ’ t empowered by IoT insights often spend upwards of 20 % of their time looking through data – by utilising IoT they can enable intelligent insights and become proactive to energy challenges .
“ IoT can help join the dots between ‘ legacy assets ’ – there is often so much untapped information within an organisation – we strive to unlock that data to provide better operational insight and visibility to address specific challenges ,” Hurst said .
20 %
Hark estimates that managers only have time to look at 20 % of their weekly data
The three pillars of Hark are :
• improve efficiency
• maximise yield and • reduce waste
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