Amid more than 90,000 layoffs in the technology sector, workers at companies focused on the Internet of Things (IoT) have largely been spared. The IoT industry grew 21.5% in 2022 and is expected to grow 19% annually to reach $483 billion in value worldwide by 2027. Experts expect 23 billion IoT devices to be connected by the same year.
IoT’s broad array of applications has ensured its rapid adoption by the public, businesses and industry alike. The construction, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors have put IoT to use to do everything from monitoring livestock’s reproductive cycles to identifying potential problems with heavy machines. Some of the use cases these industries have employed follow.
Construction
IoT offers solutions to a raft of challenges in the construction industry, including low profit margins, schedule overruns, and worker safety.
Schedule overruns, poor resource management, and low profit margins are often tied together. IoT can prevent them.
Sensors placed where materials are collected on the job site can measure quantities and order as needed. That can prevent workers from becoming idle because they’re waiting for materials to arrive by ensuring on-time delivery. It can also help avoid budget overages in labor.
IoT can reduce costs by monitoring vehicles and fuel usage, too. Real-time data can help determine when to schedule maintenance or refueling and when to turn off equipment, all of which lowers warranty claims and prevents waste.
Wearable tech can help prevent workplace injuries by looking for signs of fatigue. Tired workers make more mistakes. Their reaction times are slower, they’re not thinking as clearly, and their concentration is impaired. Being able to observe these signs and respond can stop accidents from happening.
Additionally, IoT can be deployed to monitor the job site. One purpose of doing so is to monitor site conditions and identify potential hazards before they cause incidents. Being proactive about safety keeps workers healthy, reduces workers’ compensation claims, and maintains high productivity.
Manufacturing
IoT’s capacity to optimize operations from the factory floor to the supply room is its most significant benefit to manufacturers. By connecting human workers to machines through a human-machine interface (HMI) and connecting machines to one another, factories can get real-time data and respond immediately.
The HMI enables workers to monitor, control, and troubleshoot problems with machinery remotely. It can also be used to collect data and create reports. As is the case with building an interconnected network of devices on the factory floor, the HMI can lead to greater efficiencies, quality, and safety.
IoT can provide real-time data on machine performance, energy use and inventory levels. That data can be used to detect problems with equipment before it breaks down or automatically order items when the stock is low. These efficiencies could not otherwise be accomplished.
Besides efficiencies, IoT setups contribute to quality control. Devices can collect data on the assembly line to identify potential problems and raise the alarm, creating an opportunity to fix the issue before shipping to customers.
Monitoring machines on the floor also protects worker safety. Identifying a potential problem with a machine could mean the difference between shutting down without incident or someone suffering an injury. Additionally, IoT devices can be deployed to look for potential hazards on the factory floor and flag them if they find them. That way, workers know to stay out of the area until the danger has been removed.
Agriculture
By 2050, experts estimate the world will need as much as 56% more food than is produced today. IoT is a significant development toward achieving that goal, both on the farm and the range.
On the farm, interconnected instruments, such as radios, antennas, and sensors, scattered throughout the field can collect information about things like soil moisture and temperature. That data can then be used to make decisions about where and what crops to plant and what adjustments may need to be made to help them thrive.
The same information can also be used to tell farm equipment what to do. Two examples of how this could be used are to control irrigation systems to conserve water and to tell seed planters when to start planting.
Agricultural drones are another IoT device farmers are employing. They can do several tasks that previously required human labor, including spraying for pests, planting crops, and monitoring crop conditions.
There are IoT applications for livestock, as well. Wearable tech for animals can track their locations, reproductive cycles, body temperatures, how much they eat, and more. That provides deep insight into the health and well-being of the animals, enabling faster response times when there’s a problem.
The construction, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors are deploying IoT across their operations. That’s because it saves them a lot of time and guesswork, and the data it returns is crucial to making smart decisions.