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TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTS

Ekkasit919/iStock/Getty Images Plus

INDUSTRIAL IOT
CRASHES MANUFACTURING
ORGANIZATIONAL CHARTS
By Ken Cormier, Managing Editor

IIoT, the industrial sector of the IoT,
integrates sensing and actuation systems in manufacturing, and allows for data
collection, exchange and analysis, improved productivity, predictive maintenance, energy management, and cost reduction. This higher degree of automation
is enabled using cloud and edge computing
to optimize and refine process controls.
With so many connected but fragmented
hardware elements, security is a prime
concern, often addressed with software or
device-agnostic designs.
Here are some recent news items dealing related to the IIoT:

IoT in Manufacturing Market:
$136.83B by 2026
According to a report, "Internet of Things
(IoT) in Manufacturing Market," by
Fortune Business Insights, IoT in manufacturing, which stood at $27.76 billion in
2018, is anticipated to balloon to $136.83
billion by 2026, a CAGR of 22.1% during
the forecast period. The report attributes
the IIoT's meteoric growth to its ability to
"provide the organizations with comprehensive visions to examine complexities
that often arise at the intermediate points
of manufacturing processes," and enabling
the ability for manufacturers to enact realtime adjustments.1

Will Smart Factories Revive
U.S. Manufacturing?
A recent article in Forbes raises the question of whether the U.S. can win upmanship over China in manufacturing, postcoronavirus. It notes that some jobs have
already returned to U.S. soil from China,

EVALUATION ENGINEERING AUGUST 2020

as some pharmaceutical makers have
moved their operations into the Carolinas.
The article further states that China is
currently ahead of the U.S. in the smartfactory arena, but in the midst of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. is beginning
to wake up to the risks of dependence on
manufacturing in China. Noting that U.S.
productivity is 8 times China's productivity, the added impetus of smart factories,
just-in-time manufacturing, and a good
supplier network, U.S. firms could be
ready to break the grip that China has
on the market. Alexander Stiehler, analyst
for UBS said, "After Covid-19, we believe
companies will start to localize some of
their production." "Factories will need to
be more digitized and automated to produce smaller quantities efficiently with
localized manufacturing. The Industrial
Internet of Things, 5G, and industrial software are all key enablers of the transformation to smart manufacturing."2

Power Source Maker Claims
to Create Power from Air
According to a recent press release from
SmartCone Technologies Inc. of Ottawa,
Canada, the firm will partner with Conflow
Power Canada Energy to bring a self-charging power source to market that they claim
creates power from air. According to the
press release, the patent-pending solution
draws electrons from the air, and as they
pass through a nanotech-based film, the
electrons are charged. They then come in
contact with a conductive surface which
powers the device, and then are recycled
back into the air." SmartCone will begin
by integrating across the current suite

products, further differentiating themselves from their competition. While it
will benefit many solutions, the company
plans to push its SIMS by SmartCone's
wearable to the forefront, and will likely
serve as the first product integrated with
this novel power source.3

Russian Mine Using 5G with
Autonomous Dump Trucks
The SUEK coal company open-pit mine
in Khakassia, Russia, is testing the potential of 5G in a pilot project with 130-ton
BELAZ-7513R autonomous mining dump
trucks. The autonomous haulage system,
based on robotics, IIoT, AI, and IoT, was developed by Zyfra, a Finnish-Russian industrial digitalization firm. A portion of the 5G
network, with a route length of almost a
mile, has been deployed on Huawei equipment with a view to performing the tests
at the Chernogorsky open-pit mine. The
cover is provided by two 5G-distributed
two-section base transceiver stations
(gNodeB), operating in non-standalone
mode. The width of the operating channel is 100 MHz.4
REFERENCES

1. Fortune Business Insights, "Internet of Things
(IOT) in Manufacturing Market to Reach USD
136.83 Billion by 2026; Ability to Develop
Real-time Adjustments will Favor Growth,"
June 16, 2020
2. Forbes, "How To Bring Manufacturing Home
To The U.S. From China," June 30, 2020
3. SmartCone Technologies Inc. "Press Release:
Power From Air Will Revolutionize the
Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) market,"
July 9, 2020
4. iVT, "Russia starts using 5G network on autonomous mining dump trucks," June 29, 2020

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