IIoT ecosystems for more value added through services

In Industry 4.0, an IIoT platform is an essential tool for networking plants, machines and systems, for example, and for optimizing processes. It also paves the way for new, data-based business models. If IIoT platforms function as ecosystems by simply connecting third-party systems such as production planning and merchandise management systems or analysis tools, new digital services can be developed for more value added.

In the manufacturing industry, increasing networking is taking place at the horizontal level in the respective value chains. In the course of this, electronic data interchange (EDI) is steadily gaining in importance. However, the implementation of an EDI solution is subject to a certain complexity. But once it has been implemented, there are usually significant efficiency gains. These can be achieved through automations in business processes, for example to avoid incorrect entries when creating invoices and delivery bills.  

In certain stages of the value chain, vertical networking is also increasingly coming into play - especially in digital shop floor solutions in Industry 4.0. IIoT ecosystems play a decisive role here. Rigid, defined manufacturing and value chains are increasingly being transformed into flexible and highly dynamic production and service ecosystems. By making production data fully usable, for example, development times can be shortened, predictive service operations can be planned, logistics costs can be reduced, and products can be tailored to customer requirements. Smart services, i.e. services connected to smart products, can also be developed. Smart products are objects equipped with sensors and other technology that can independently collect, aggregate, store and transmit data to a network. Value added through data is therefore the future and opens up completely new potential that must be exploited. This is how factories are transformed from producers to service providers. 

Networking requires openness and interfaces 

An open IIoT platform is able to bring together data from different areas and process it intelligently. In doing so, it must be an all-rounder to enable the networking that is so important in modern manufacturing today. On the one hand, the IIoT platform must be open for ERP, MES and CAQ systems as well as production machines, and on the other hand, it must allow the docking of other software solutions. For the exchange of data between an IIoT solution and third-party systems, networking via interfaces and protocols is elementary and therefore an absolute requirement.  

This way, digital communication can take place in real time between machines, aggregates, measuring instruments, employees in production, and production IT. The platform forms the technical basis for collecting data, making it processable and analyzing it. Weak points in the overall production system can thus be uncovered and eliminated in the best possible way through early detection. This forms the basis for process optimization and increased efficiency. 

Expressing new business models with IIoT platform 

An IIoT platform like "toii" from thyssenkrupp Materials IoT GmbH enables data exchange in any direction. Data from third-party systems can be integrated via the "toii Integrator" module. The platform has a wide range of protocols with which machines, software systems and subsystems can be networked. In this way, it ensures the meaningful and efficient interaction of all important components. 

toii also takes on numerous other tasks in the digital factory, such as collecting production data in real time, visualizing it, and controlling the machines. The IIoT platform thus forms the basis for analyses, special applications and automated processes. The resulting effects are, for example, higher productivity, greater efficiency and transparency, as well as leaner processes and lower costs. toii can be compared to a modular system that can be adapted step by step to the respective requirements. 

Thus, on the basis of an IIoT platform, productivity can be increased through digitization, and production can be made more flexible and successively automated. On the other hand, more value can be created for the various parties involved in a production process by making the data usable for different purposes. For example, the data treasures can be used to implement automatic maintenance services for manufactured products. At the same time, the insights from the data support product manufacturers in making products even more intelligent and offering accompanying smart services in the field.