For the most part, manufacturers are well aware of what the IoT can do for them. In terms of tangible business results, most business leaders are hoping the IoT can help them achieve two goals: improve the customer experience and gain deeper insights into their operations and supply chains.
For the latter, asset-intensive industries – like manufacturing – are expecting the IoT to dramatically improve their asset management practices. Another study from Forrester and SAP broke down what industries are expected to adopt and utilize IoT capabilities for their asset management and maintenance departments.
The emerging concept known as product as a service transforms service from a standalone function within a manufacturer to an integrated product and service offering that delivers value as the product is in use. Product as a service starts with sensor-based products that continuously feed information about product usage and condition to manufacturers, which help more efficient and quality usage of technology and machines.
Smart City
A smart city is an urban development vision to integrate multiple information and communication technology (ICT) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions in a secure fashion to manage a city's assets – the city's assets include, but are not limited to, local departments' information systems, schools, libraries, transportation systems, hospitals, power plants, water supply networks, waste management, law enforcement, and other community services. The goal of building a smart city is to improve quality of life by using urban informatics and technology to improve the efficiency of services and meet residents' needs. ICT allows city officials to interact directly with the community and the city infrastructure and to monitor what is happening in the city, how the city is evolving, and how to enable a better quality of life.
Smart Home
Several stellar smart home IoT devices have already hit the market and made their way into thousands of houses around the world.
First we have the Amazon Echo, arguably the first and most recognizable name in this space. The device functions as a central hub for your other smart home gadgets, and its voice-activated assistant, Alexa.
Nest, has created a Learning Thermostat that can automatically adjust temperature based on your location and uses a far-field sensor to determine the time and temperature from a distance.
The August Smart Lock provides enhanced security for the home, is easy to install, and works with Siri through the Apple HomeKit.
And for smart bulbs, there's the Lifx Color 1000, which can change color as necessary.
Smart Metering
Utility companies propose that from a consumer perspective, smart metering offers potential benefits to householders. These include, a) an end to estimated bills, which are a major source of complaints for many customers b) a tool to help consumers better manage their energy purchases - stating that smart meters with a display outside their homes could provide up-to-date information on gas and electricity consumption and in doing so help people to manage their energy use and reduce their energy bills.
Asset management
Smartenabled smart asset monitoring means that the traditional solutions, processes, workforce, and assets are made into more cognizant and integrated unit to work as a ‘single strategic system’ enabling organizations to transform their operations, digitally
IoT-enabled smart asset monitoring solution does everything that traditional solutions do like letting the organizations know where the asset is, what is the condition of the asset, manage asset lifecycle, control processes, etc. Also, it adds intelligence to automated workflows, real-time alerts, insights from data, dynamic edge control of assets, predictive maintenance, cross-domain analytics and real-time visibility.
Smart Agricalture
It's something that's already happening, as corporations and farm offices collect vast amounts of information from crop yields, soil-mapping, fertiliser applications, weather data, machinery, and animal health. In a subset of smart farming, Precision Livestock Farming (PLF), sensors are used for monitoring and early detection of reproduction events and health disorders in animals.
Typical monitored data are the body temperature, the animal activity, tissues resistivity, pulse and the GPS position. SMS alerts can be sent to the breeder based on predefined events, say, if a cow is ready for reproduction.
