What Is The Internet of Things?

Discover the Internet of Things and How To Enter the Smart Factory Revolution

Connect an everyday object that has an on/off switch—a watch, a coffeepot, a thermostat—to the Internet, and you have the Internet of Things. These things can be many. Small and large items are game, from individual tools to large helicopter engine parts.

Sensors and integration code (APIs) allow objects to share data about the way they are used and the environment around them. Objects that are tagged, marked, or labeled relate to connections with surrounding objects and database information. Sensor and wireless technologies, including RFID, IUID, and QR codes are examples of tech that blossomed with the birth of IoT.

Think of a world where almost any physical object is connected via the internet to create one expansive information network, and you have the definition of IoT in a nutshell.

Shows a woman using an Internet of Things enabled refrigerator featuring weather, calendar, and other smart home features.

There are numerous devices available today that connect devices, appliances, and more for consumer use using modern Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

How Can the Internet of Things Benefit Business?

The IoT provides endless data management opportunities to enable you to surpass your competition by improving efficiency.

Track and locate parts, equipment, tools, assets, work orders, vehicles, and more simply by viewing them on a software map of your facility. Find items for audits quickly, avoiding wasting valuable hours in search for them.

Determine when tracked items leave your building, car lot, or shipyard. Monitor temperature and movement thresholds for environmentally sensitive chemicals in storage.

Follow a work order throughout your factory floor from initial creation through completion. Monitor where it gets hung-up to improve processes at each step.

Foresee when potential problems will happen. Step in to perform preventative maintenance instead of expensive and time-consuming after-the-fact repairs.

Learn from the information generated from IoT systems to improve productivity. With compatible IoT software, disparate data collected from different sources is readily analyzed.

Wherever you can take the internet, you can oversee your operations. Receive alarms for unauthorized movement and environmental thresholds, and chart historical data, to make critical decisions from your smartphone, tablet, and laptop.

This IoT technology is young, and businesses are coming up with innovative ways to solve workflow headaches to fit their specific needs:

Update your business model to create new revenue
Add on new services, without overhauling your present operations, according to real-time sensor data findings.

Automate processes to conserve resources while optimizing supply chains
Put your business and manufacturing operations on “remote control.”

Develop a more productive workforce using the latest technology
Increase job satisfaction by automating the most routine tasks. Place communications on the fast track. Improve decision-making capabilities with better analytical tools.

Improve customer satisfaction with state-of-the-art automation
Create a better experience for your valued customers with on-time delivery of personalized, enhanced products.

The Internet of Things is the spark that ignited the development of Industry 4.0 and the advent of the Smart Factory.

Join the Smart Factory Revolution

Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution, takes manufacturing automation to an amazing new level of elevated production efficiency. Affix objects with sensors, such as RFID tags. Computers and networks closely monitor specific data from these tags to give you the freedom to make better decisions, improve processes, boost productivity, and elevate profits.

The blend of computational and physical systems is at the heart of Smart Factory processes, With the advent of Industry 4.0, adapt processes for customized optimization, effectively running the way you envision your business for optimum performance.

Here at ID Integration, our IoT experts remain at the forefront of smart factory development. Our key components of cloud computing get you started

The Brady® CenSys RFID Reader is the first IoT RFID reader introduced for business use. Mount it on a wall, plug it into a standard outlet, and you’re connected with easy-to-use cloud-based software. Configure alerts and messaging to sound the alarm and send along a text message whenever a tagged asset is moved. You set the thresholds, add asset characteristics and photos, and even review past asset locations. The CenSys RFID Reader is our most cost-effective way to realize the benefits of IoT efficiency, priced under $1000. Tag assets with paper RFID tags, at the low cost $.10 – $.15 each for paper and $.50 to $2.00 for metal and liquid parts, and efficiently track items and equipment for manufacturing operations, hospital equipment/devices, construction operations, museum operations, and more.

Xemelgo X-Track Location Tracking Software App works seamlessly with the Brady® CenSys Reader to display on a software map on your mobile device when and where assets last appeared. Monitor work orders, parts, and production equipment parts as they move throughout your factory floor. Built-in analytic tools allow you the freedom of assigning user access to specific personnel to monitor the organization of tagged items between departments and plants. Xemelgo software links cloud computing with the Internet of Things to help you manage order backlogs, expedited orders, delayed orders, and completed orders.

Transform your business into a Smart Factory. Improve your bottom line by overseeing your physical systems of operation using the Internet of Things. Collect critical data for optimal decision-making. Create a cyber-physical system to create communication between you and your “things” in real-time via the wireless web.

The limits of IoT technology are endless. Check out our V-Tag™ Active RFID tags that actually “talk” to each other to give you a fix on asset locations. Discover V-Tag™ GPS RFID tags, perfect for tracking assets outdoors. Download our guide to “Leveraging IoT and Cloud Manufacturing to Revolutionize Asset Tracking & Audit Prep” to dig deep into the world of IoT. Visit our catalog of RFID Starter Kits to run a successful concept test of your unique asset tracking vision for your business.

ID Integration provides tracking and location tech to fit your needs. Contact our IoT team for customized guidance at 425-438-2533.