Local manufacturing businesses are embracing new technologies such as requiring factory staff to use wearable devices to monitor fatigue, helping to prevent workplace accidents.
It's a sign that leading businesses are embracing the disruption trends like the Internet of Things provide, to move away from a reactive to a proactive manufacturing model. This will help position Australian manufacturers as leaders on the global industrial stage.
More Business Videos
- Video duration
- 02:33
Staying alert with the SmartCap
- Video duration
- 02:32
Q3 CPI to provide key clues for RBA
- Video duration
- 01:33
BHP sees signs of commodity recovery
- Video duration
- 02:05
Don't cry for Packer's Barangaroo
- Video duration
- 01:19
The bank of mum and dad
- Video duration
- 02:00
The end of interest rate cuts
- Video duration
- 02:51
Universities, business seek better collaboration
- Video duration
- 01:55
The impact of China's raids on Crown Resorts
Staying alert with the SmartCap
While it's mostly used to monitor fatigue in the mining sector, Fairfax reporter Peter Ker tests out how the SmartCap performs through a day in the newsroom.
The Internet of Things is a push to connect inanimate objects (such as machinery and equipment) to the internet, so these devices can deliver information about their operations to the companies that run them. It gives enterprises better information about when a machine needs to be serviced, for instance. The upshot is insights that can be used to make more informed commercial decisions.
According to IT research house Juniper Research, there will be 38.5 billion devices connected to the Internet of Things by 2020, up from 13.4 billion devices, an increase of more than 285 per cent.
"It's always easier to look at what's happened in the past than to think through what is happening in the business right now and what could be done to make it more productive and efficient," said Bill Wass, vice-president Sage X3 ANZ with Sage Business Solutions.
"I'm seeing businesses prepare for this shift by digitally connecting devices. Businesses are starting to put in place tools like shop floor monitors and radio frequency identification to track items. We're even seeing some companies explore telemetry tools. For example, manufacturing organisations are exploring how workers could use wearable technology devices that monitor vital signs like blood pressure, to alert them if staff are fatigued. This could help to reduce the potential for workplace accidents."
This underscores a more pre-emptive approach to data analysis that is an emerging business tool. "There is so much data available to businesses about stock levels and shop floors," Wass said. The challenge now is to ensure this is all connected to get a helicopter view of operations."
The big question organisations are facing is which areas of the business to focus on as they transition to a more proactive approach. "Right now, companies should be looking at prioritising what's important, which alerts and dashboards are key and how to get this information to the right people at the right time," Wass said.
The ultimate aim is being able to access data from any device or equipment, anywhere in the business, at any time, and Wass said that better customer satisfaction needs to drive this. "The ultimate aim is to monitor systems and products to be able to identify and solve a problem that's going to happen."
While it's early days when it comes to the evolution of the Internet of Things, all businesses must be thinking now about how they will prepare. A good way to start is to focus on easy wins, for instance by developing a small, agile manufacturing facility that uses emerging technologies such as RFID, to produce smaller production runs, with fewer but more skilled staff to run them.
It's this trend that's seeing some manufacturers shift production from low-cost countries such as China to more advanced economies such as Europe, where leading robotics businesses are based. If we focus on developing our high-tech businesses, Australia could benefit from this as well.
As the Internet of Things evolves, it's likely to become extremely disruptive to the manufacturing sector, helping to reduce costs and improve efficiencies. The idea is to start planning for this switch now. Having a focus on automation supported by a business solutions platform that ties it all together is going to be critical.