Industrial Internet Ushering a New Wave of Mobile Apps

Since 2008, with the rise of smartphones, we have seen high speed mobile connectivity and apps that earned the maximum revenue in the mobility space. The revenue that was generated by the apps in 2015 was $ 69.7 billion and this is expected to reach a figure of $ 188.9 billion in the year of 2020. The first generation of mobile apps served consumer and retail markets, showcased in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. From 2010 onwards, we saw the next wave of apps when enterprise mobility and BYOD (Build Your Own Device) came into picture and brought about an enhanced employee productivity as well as streamlining processes through collaboration.

The era of industrial internet of things (IoT) arrived in 2016, when traditional industries of the likes of manufacturing, oil and gas and healthcare started connecting through IoT devices, so as to achieve an enhanced productivity and also driving profitability too. Industrial Internet is known as IoT, as it uses IoT in the manufacturing sector.

The smart machines perform better than the humans as they are capable of capturing and communicating data with consistency and accuracy. This is data is extremely useful in picking up on problems sooner, which saves time and money to a considerable extent. IoT holds a great promise for the future with sustainable and green initiatives in manufacturing, green practices and enhanced efficiency of the supply chain.

Important Factors for Building Successful Mobile Apps

The benefits of digital technologies are spreading fast and 87 % of the enterprise leaders happens to believe that the apps will bring out the benefits. The apps can really provide value additions to the industrial environments, to meet performance standards.

Here are some of the expectations from the app based on enterprise or industrial mobility:

Expertise In Industrials

The apps that provide real value are based on data supply chain variables and industrial operational workflow. The concept, design and the test phases of the apps will evolve based on the app developers working in tandem with the industrial process.

Real-time Performance

Large volumes of time-series data demand real-time processing, with the help of the connected devices. Scalability and flexibility of the apps are to be ensured so that analytics-based insights and large data sets are there to evoke faster response.

User-friendly Design

UX design for the industrials stands out different from the IoT based apps in the areas of consumer and retail. User-friendly interface and easy access to data are demanded by the UX design of the industrial apps.

Accurate and Reliable Data

The mobile apps are extremely beneficial in obtaining data from sources like SCADA/ICS, notifications, alerts and tracking with Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for industrial processes and the assets. But, it is not possible to accept the failure of nuclear plants. Apps development must be planned in such a way, with QA, conformance testing and training data sets.

Industrial Security

Cost reduction and performance improvement are brought about by using cloud computing for data storage. This is the reason for the cloud-based apps being used with improved cyber security. Security has to be laid out at every stage, whether that be intrusion detection tools, access control or password enforcements as well as conforming to the industrial standards.

Applications of Industrial Mobile Apps

The apps were so far limited only to the support functions, but IoT has spread its wings to the mainstream industrial operations. The most important aspect about IoT is that the Big Data Insights are now made accessible to the technicians, not only from the control rooms, but also anywhere and anytime. So, we are talking about right insights being provided, at the right time as faster response is provided in order to drive higher outcomes.

So, far we have only seen the application of IoT in the consumer space, in the form of smart thermostats. There are many instances in which we find the application of IoT in the heavy industries. Royal Dutch Shell is using visualization techniques and big data, as well as computing and imaging, for exploration of oil and gas. Connected sensors are useful for monitoring vast oil pipelines. Another good example is Caterpiller, the technology giant that used telematics in a range of its products with industrial gas turbines, diesel and natural gas engines etc. Using the data integration services, the equipments can be monitored on the basis of data on hours of usage, fuel consumption and fault codes.