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162 IoT Applications — Value Creation for Industry
An important aspect why IoT applications are not as wide-spread as desired
is related to human and business aspects. Besides technical challenges there
is a lack of business models usable in industrial environment, the business
models behind the IoT applications. New types of industrial and business
processes for operation and for servicing machineries have to be put in place,
considering IoT technologies supported approaches which otherwise would
not have been possible. It is also challenging to integrate new IoT applications
into existing running and producing plant systems with minor drawbacks – to
handle brown field applications.
Human resources and skills remain essential and are also a major factor
in the new IT and IoT rich industrial environment. The challenges are related
to scarce resources, to the complex blend of skills needed by persons on site
in a future plant, and by the aspects related to the increasing complexity and
knowledge needed for industrial installations.
From an industry point of view value creation form IoT applications and
sustainability are essential. How these problems will be addressed and solved
will influence the use of IoT technologies in the industry, on a larger scale, in
the coming years. There is a continuously evolving process both in technology
and applications and new future plant, future service and supervision solutions
will emerge.
3.3 Future Factory Concepts
3.3.1 Lever Mechanisms for the IoT in Future Factories
The term “Internet of Things” describes a wide variety of concepts and applications
in the context of equipping everyday items with computing and networking
resources. Even if a common definition of the IoT might not exist, IoT
implementations mainly focus three aspects (Figure 3.3): First, the network
and addressability aspect. Real world objects are equipped with a computing
and communication core and connected to each other. The focus is on high resolution
data acquisition. Second, the ambient intelligence aspect. The network
of intelligent objects realizing control loops. The focus is on control. Third,
the ambient assistance aspect. High resolution data acquisition and ubiquitous
computing are used to offer context sensitive services to the human [6]. This
clearly focusses the human.