Businesses want to differentiate themselves from current and future competitors. If you only think about the product, standard components, open source software, and Google Search make that problematic. However, when you add your service business into the equation, you have an excellent opportunity to create unique services that can be hard to copy and add considerable value to your customers. And the Internet of Things (IoT) will make the most significant opportunity we have ever seen to create and implement these unique, value-added services.
What is the Internet of Things?
Forecasters project that by 2020 there will be 20 billion smart devices connected to the Internet of Things. They will have unique IP addresses, sensors, actuators, and either local or wide-area communications capabilities worldwide. While billions of these devices will be smartphones, tablets, and computers, many will be industrial or consumer devices. They will be transmitting data streams directly to another device (machine-to-machine communications) or servers where the data will be stored and easily accessible. Cognizant computers like IBM’s Watson or servers running Big Data software like Hadoop or R will analyze the data to obtain meaningful and unique insights. Often, the data streams will be combined with other device data or data from totally unrelated sources to help you answer the tough questions that customers cannot answer now.
A real-world example
John Deere got into the Internet of Things game early. They provide GPS receivers for many farm implements and can add exciting sensors to equipment like combines and plows. Communications can be to a central computer in the farm office that directs unmanned tools on optimum paths that maximize the number of seeds planted between needing to refuel. They can adjust the seed spacing based on manufacturers’ recommendations and soil conditions. Later, the central computer accesses remote moisture sensors and controls individual spray heads based on soil conditions within feet or yards of the sprayer. And when it is time for the harvest, unmanned combines harvest the grains and report the load in their onboard hopper so an unmanned hopper can connect with the combines and transfer the right amount of grain so that the combines can work continuously and the number of hoppers is minimized.
They compare grain yields to all the other parameters in the set-up and, using data from the National Weather Service, adjust crops for climatic conditions. All this data is used to modify the algorithms for the next planting season. While all this happens in multiple fields across the country, all the data also streams into a server that Deere can access. That is Value Added!
A transportation example
In a previous blog post, I described how Daimler Trucks North America remotely connects its large diesel engines to a central monitoring center. When an engine sensor identifies a fault, the center technicians diagnose the issue and recommend a plan to remediate the problem.
Sounds reasonable for a large piece of transportation equipment like an 18-wheeler. But let’s look at the Tesla. The car has been described as an intelligent device configured to have four wheels and some seats! The car has so many sensors, all connected via Wi-Fi or wireless communications to Tesla’s central control center. A recent study says that most cars contain about 50 separate electronic control units (ECUs) connected through a controller area network (CAN) or another network (such as Local Interconnect Networks or Flexray).
One of the features of Tesla is that, as appropriate, Tesla downloads a new software update to fix bugs and add new features. For example, some users wanted an additional setting on their ride control software to make it something between luxury (soft) and sport (stiff) modes. Since the car also has electronically controlled actuators, it was possible to satisfy the customers’ request – all in software and enabled by the Internet of Things.
Moving forward
While these examples are about large businesses making expensive equipment, enterprises of all sizes are starting to do their homework about the IoT. This chart is from an Oxford Economics report, produced in partnership with PTC, based on a survey of 300 manufacturing companies currently running IoT projects – note the top five reasons for their actions:
If your company has not already started exploring the IoT, it should be starting now. And Services Management should play a key role so that you can influence the product planners in your company to make sure the capabilities (sensors, communications, onboard processors, etc.) will be available in the products. You have to figure out how to commercialize these capabilities, what new skills you will need, how this whole thing will impact your world and the rest of the company, and how these value-added services will be sold.
Related article: The Internet of Things is Here, Getting Huge and Has Too Much Hype
About Middlesex Consulting
Middlesex Consulting is an experienced team of professionals with the primary goal of helping capital equipment companies create more value for their clients and stakeholders. Middlesex Consulting continues to provide superior solutions to meet the needs of its clients by focusing on our strengths in Services, Manufacturing, Customer Experience, and Engineering. If you want to learn more about how we can help you create an IoT strategy, please contact us or check out some of our free articles and white papers here.