Making Conventional Industries Unconventional using Industrial IOT Solutions

  As IOT begins to re-instrument the world with smart sensors and other types of internet enabled devices we are going to start seeing a dramatic change in the way that conventional companies start driving new revenue streams in unconventional ways. 

When Zip Car began their car sharing program it changed the way people rent cars in urban areas.  No rental car agent.  No lines to stand in.  No problem!  Now GM has announced that they are going to challenge Zipcar's car-sharing services in Boston this summer. 

GM is a perfect example of a conventional automobile manufacture using IOT to drive new revenues for the companies in a very unconventional way as compared to years past.  With this new service GM will rent their cars for $6 to $9 per hour with no annual commitment from their subscribers. 

This program has already had thousands of residents of Boston sign up for the short term rental services.  This is a starkly unconventional way for a very old and very conventional company to use IOT to drive a new and different type of revenue stream. With this IOT solution of course GM will be able to keep track of where the vehicle is, how it is performing and understand when the vehicle needs an oil change, tune up or is going to have a mechanical failure using predictive analytics. (Source BBJ).

Our team recently met with a global steel rope manufacturing company that makes ropes for elevators, bridges, ships,etc.

This company is looking to drive new revenues for their company by offering monitoring services for elevator companies.  This new system would monitor the motor, the car, the brakes, etc.  This very conventional company is now looking at using an Industrial IOT solution to drive new revenues in a very unconventional way leveraging their existing experience and relationships in the industry. 

Thyssen Krupp an elevator manufacturer began offering monitoring services using an Industrial IOT solution a couple of years back.  TEAMService is made up of 5,700 certified technicians in more than 200 locations across the country, all wired into an Industrial IOT system. They have access to the elevators and escalators leveraging the expertise of the engineering team.  They are tied into the spare parts inventory and other valuable resources so that ThyssenKrupp Elevator can deliver better service to their customers.  This Industrial IOT solution has proven to drive a new revenue stream for the company.

Another company our team met with recently is a global industrial construction company.  They traditionally build the structures and then they are onto the next job.  This company is now looking at providing remote monitoring for the structures they have built to predict and prevent failure. 

This could include monitoring the integrity of the structure itself (which is crucial in earthquake zones) as well as other vital services such as monitoring the HVAC systems and other types of automated applications.  This company is looking to leverage their long standing relationships to drive what would be a natural fit to a new division of the company to drive new revenue streams in a very unconventional way for them.

I have several other examples of how conventional companies our team has met with over the past months that are leveraging Industrial IOT solutions to drive new revenue streams or change the way they are doing business in very unconventional ways using Industrial IOT solutions.

Over the coming years the market will continue to see conventional companies to start implementing Industrial IOT solutions to change the way they do business in Unconventional Ways.  Can't wait to see what we come up with next!

Boston Business Journal linkhttp://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/techflash/2016/05/gm-to-challenge-zipcars-car-sharing-services-in.html

The Human Nature of the Internet of Things

Rick Harlow

EVP & Head of Americas l OEM l Engineering l Energy l Aviation l Recognized Industrial IOT Visionary

IIOT how to get started - a link for an article on how to get started on the IIOT journey.

“All of us want to be better. Human nature is always seeking advancement.” Quote by Elizabeth Kapu’uwailani Lindsey.

It occurred to me today when I was talking with my six and eight year old boys about my profession that some of us never lose our sense of excitement when learning something new. This is especially true of children as we all know. When the boys were younger and they asked me what I did for “my job” I told them I worked with truck drivers, ship captains and airplane pilots and taxi cab drivers! They thought my “job” was so cool! 

I would tell them I help the trucks, ships, planes and taxi cabs to get where they need to go. They would ask “how?” I would say well dad works with truck drivers to help monitor their trucks to make sure they are running right and to help make sure things get delivered on time around the world. I work with ship captains and airplane pilots to monitor their ships and planes to make sure they are sailing and flying at the right speed and in the right direction of the wind to make sure people and important things are delivered on time around the world. I work with taxi cab drivers to make sure people get picked up on time and get to their destinations safe and on time.

They would ask “do you work with any other people?” I would say yes I work with all kinds of people. I work with people that make gas for cars, I work with people that build tractors, I work with people that make cities work, like with buses that carry people around and work with people that make energy for people to have lighting and electricity. 

As the past couple of years have went by and we have continued to discuss what my “job” is our conversations have become much deeper. Now the boys know about different types of sensors that are used in the oilfield and in energy energy applications, they know about different kinds of software, they know what data networks are, what engine diagnostics are and even what predictive analytic's are.  In fact they even know there are different types of analytic's like Hadoop and Azure. They think both of those names are cool and funny sounding! They know what IOT is and even the difference between IOT and IIOT. 

What is so fun for me is that I have similar conversations with many people on a daily basis and like my boys they are always eager to learn about new technologies as well.  They too are very interested in learning about different types of sensors, different types of software platforms, different types of analytic's platforms and how they can use these technologies in various ways.

Some want to understand how these technologies can help them reach their business objectives like reducing expenses, increasing efficiencies and driving more profits. Others want to understand how these technologies can help them improve the image of their company, open up new revenue streams and even monetize their data they have been collecting over the past years.

It is true that human nature is always seeking advancement. For me this has always been the case and even what I have thrived on in my career, especially when it comes to the IOT and IIOT space.  This is what I also see in most all of the people I work with.  Everyone knows their business and it excites me when they start tying all the IOT and IIOT dots together and see how it will help them meet their business objectives.  I hope they also get to tell their kids stories about cool things they get to do at work with technologies as well!