Article
Jun 25, 2020

How has Internet of Things Impacted Business?

Businesses are embracing IoT technology because they want to increase revenue and reduce operating expenses.

Trends & Insights

Manufacturing is often considered to be the backbone of an economy. And for good reason. It supports jobs, it improves productivity and it creates products at mass scale.

And while many people fret about the future of manufacturing, the truth is, from a technology standpoint, there’s never been a better time to be a manufacturer.

Plants that once operated with equipment that traditionally stood silent inside factories can now come to life, communicating their status, usage patterns and failures, among other things, to the workers who are using the equipment.

In turn, businesses can use these data streams to improve product quality, reduce waste and continuously optimize the manufacturing process.

What makes all of this possible? It’s Internet of Things technology and it’s truly enabling us invent the future.

Wait … what is IoT?

Let’s step back a bit in case you’ve never heard that term “Internet of Things” or IoT for short. Even if you’ve never heard it, you’ve probably already interacted with it in some way, shape or form.

Seen a thermostat that you can control from your smart phone while you’re away from home?

How about a refrigerator that’s connected to the Internet and can tell you when you’re running low on eggs?

Heard about ‘connected cars’ that can provide real-time data to your insurance company?

All of this is due to IoT technology.

Connecting things to the Internet

Everywhere you look, we’re seeing more and more ‘things’ being connected to the Internet and few emerging technologies offer more transformative potential for forward-thinking companies than the Internet of Things.

The reason: IoT technology combines sensors and sophisticated software analytics (including artificial intelligence or machine learning) to process huge volumes of data.

Businesses are embracing IoT technology not just because they want to connect things: they’re embracing IoT technology because they want to increase revenue and reduce operating expenses.

Decreasing costs

On the expense side, IoT can reduce how frequently a business needs to replace equipment.

The owner of a fleet of trucks, for example, can avoid purchasing more of them if IoT connectivity increases the performance of their existing ones.

Looking back at our manufacturing example, the lifespan of manufacturing equipment can be expanded if IoT technology can detect the conditions under which it is likely to fail. That knowledge helps the manufacturer save money.

Improving revenues

On the revenue side, certain manufacturers can use connectivity to track the use of their products out in the field and use those data streams to improve product quality, modify existing products, design new products and even enhance the customer experience.

Also on the revenue side, some retailers are beginning to deploy IoT technology to track customer movements in their stores in order to offer targeted promotions and suggest other products the customer might need.

Boosting profits together

Here’s the bottom line: there’s a lot of money to be made from this promising technology for the companies that know where to look.

If you think your company can benefit, by all means, please contact us today and let’s invent the future together.