Too often, manufacturing and Industry 4.0 are described only in terms of greenfield deployments. Unrealistic and expensive descriptions of shiny new factories outfitted with the latest industrial-internet-of-things (IIoT) technologies to deliver transformational insights are not the reality for most businesses. We conducted a study where we talked to industry leaders on the challenges they’re facing today.
Forty percent of the leaders in our study say recruiting people with the necessary technical skills is a top challenge. Additionally, firms struggle to replace a retiring workforce with skilled staff. As manufacturers drive toward becoming data-driven decision makers, they struggle to get their existing staff to believe data over instinct (35%). Even more concerning: 39% of decision makers’ organizations struggle to find and hire staff with the right skills to gather actionable insights from data. Nearly 40% of decision makers say their firms struggle to integrate IIoT sensors with legacy equipment, further exasperating the need for a staff with the proper technical skill set.
Half of the decision makers in our study report their firms are using at least seven types of sensors to maintain production equipment. Firms apply these sensors to a range of use cases depending on their industry. Decision-makers need to think about the production cycle as a whole to gain the most actionable insights from their sensor data. The top objective cited by leaders for investing in IIoT technology is visibility into their asset equipment. Yet over half (55%) admit they are intimidated by the volume of data they are collecting, and they struggle to know where to start getting actionable insights. Additionally, 55% of decision makers agree that data volumes are a bigger challenge than they anticipated when implementing remote/IIoT technologies. This is where an IoT Sim Management platform can come in handy, as it can help make the data easily trackable and allow businesses to manage their data usage based on accurate readings.
With a shocking 79% of respondents saying that the use of emerging technologies and data insights puts them ahead of the competition, is it time for your business to innovate and get ahead of the game?
