Tag Archive for "Industrial Internet"

“Industrial Internet: Pushing the Boundaries of Minds and Machines” is an insightful and unique report by Peter C. Evans, Director of Global Strategy and Analytics and Marco Annunziata, Chief Economist and Executive Director of Global Market Insight at General Electric.

It describes the three modern waves of innovation that have led to the rise of the industrial Internet (Internet of Things) starting with the Industrial Revolution, moving through the Computer and Internet Revolution, to the start of the Industrial Internet. This third wave of innovation is driven by advances in three principle elements: Intelligent Machines, Advanced Analytics and People at Work and they consider the ‘Power of 1%’ – the value to industry of making things just 1% more efficient. –The Business Leaders Network

GE industrial internet from The BLN

Wireless Sensor Networks For Industrial Automation via SourceTech411

Wireless Sensor Network (Credit – iShare)

SourceTech411 published a great post on wireless sensor networks for industrial automation. Digi has created many end-to-end solutions for the industries SourceTech mentions below. These solutions have saved time and money by creating operational efficiencies and, in many cases, the solutions create new revenue streams all together. SourceTech’s post is a great overview or introduction to the industrial internet.

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) for industrial automation and applications are becoming more prevalent in most industrial industry segments.

Mature industries such as Refineries (Oil and Gas), Water (Waste Treatment and Delivery) and Energy (Electrical Generation, Natural Gas Distribution) have migrated from wired to wireless sensor networks over the past decades to take advantage of the cost benefits and infrastructure advancements. New industries in Healthcare, Hospitals and Green Energy are implementing wireless sensor networks and arrays in novel applications.

Digi International is unique in the list above in that they provide a complete end-to-end solution which includes the nodes, wireless transceivers, routers and gateways, and a cloud service to monitor the wireless sensor network. They can also incorporate sensors and nodes from other vendors to create a completely inter-operable system.

Read the Full Article on SourceTech411

Looking Closely at the Machine to Machine Space: How Far its Come and Where its Going via TMCnet

First making its way into the spotlight back in 1995, the machine to machine (M2M) vertical has changed quite a bit in almost 18 years. While referred to as the key technology that enables wireless and wired systems to work together seamlessly on various devices, M2M was once touted a direct connection while today, it is more like a system of combined networks that send and receive data.

Recently, TMCnet had the chance to speak with Matt Jennings, vice president of Solutions, Digi International, about the role his company is playing in the transitioning space, how he defines M2M and what affect the cloud as well as mobile devices could potentially have within the next year.

According to Jennings, “While our evolution and growth has been deliberate and positive, we believe we are just now beginning to realize the inflection point for M2M technology adoption. The change in discussion from technology to business impacts will be a catalyst for widespread M2M technology deployment.”

When deciding whether or not to get started on implementing a M2M suite into your business operations, you must first make several important selections that range from how the machine is physically connected and what type of communication is used, to ultimately in what ways the data will be leveraged.

“Even though it can be complex, once a company knows what it wants to do with the data, the options for setting up the application are usually straightforward,” M2M Communications reveals on its website.

Did you know that people in different verticals have varying opinions in regard to the definition of M2M? Digi International for example firmly believes “the term M2M doesn’t capture the technology’s value adequately. We prefer to use the term M2B or machine to business. M2B is about much more than connecting machines to machines. It is about business transformation and driving amazing efficiency into an organization’s process. The focus should not be on the technology. Rather, it should be on driving profits and return on investment (ROI). By animating the business value proposition, M2B becomes a more meaningful way to convey the technologies’ value across multiple verticals,” Jennings added.

Matt Jennings, Vice President of Solutions, Digi International

One thing that everyone agrees on though in unison is that the next-generation platform significantly brings business intelligence to a whole other level as well as provides assorted analytics that help companies meet current needs as well as those in the not so distant future. As the cloud continues to gain relevance, what role will M2M play in organizations’ overall migration?

He commented, “We believe it is part of the overall migration to the cloud. Getting more ‘things’ off-premises and related to other data streams within the organization can create huge efficiencies. The complex computations and analytical models necessary to achieve those efficiencies can happen within a cloud much simpler and much more economically.”

When looking closer at devices such as smartphones and tablets, it seems as if these products truly go hand-in-hand with M2M. After all, this technology heavily depends upon these intuitive gadgets to work successfully. So as mobility is growing at a record pace, it only makes sense that mobility within M2M would be touted as a natural migration.

“Organizations are increasingly becoming dependent on mobility to run their operations and service organizations – and to gain a competitive edge. The goal of M2M is to get the right data, to the right person, at the right time, no matter where they are located. Mobility will only enhance that value,” Jennings noted.

Read the Full Post on TMCNet

This Week in the Internet of Things: Friday Favorites

The Internet of Things is developing and buzzing all around us. Throughout the week we come across innovative projects, brilliant articles and posts that support and feature the innovators and companies that make our business possible. Here’s our list of favorites from this week’s journey on the Web.

CES 2013: The ‘internet of things’ opens up huge possibilities for retailers on The Drum

CISOs Move “Internet Of Things” From Incidental To Important on BizTech2.com

28 Internet of Things (IoT) Trends and Prediction Articles for 2013 on HorizonWatching

Maximizing the value of M2M for industrial applications on Industrial Embedded Systems

2013 M2M and Internet of Things Conferences and Events

Do you have a link to share? Please tell us in the comments below or Tweet us, @XBeeWireless — we would love to share your findings too. You can also follow all of the commentary and discussion with the hashtag #FridayFavorites.

Internet of Things Expert: Joshua Broder, President of Tilson

One of the best aspects of playing a role in the technology industry is getting to meet the innovative leaders who are making things happen. That’s why we bring you this monthly series: Internet of Things Experts. These are the people that inspire and motivate us everyday, and we hope they’ll do the same for you. Today, we bring you Joshua Broder, President of Tilson.

Josh Broder is the President of Tilson where he is responsible for strategy, leadership and business development. Prior to joining Tilson, Josh served as an Army communications officer, managing the network operations center that controlled the government communications network in Central Asia in 2005/6. He also serves on the Boards of Directors of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and HealthInfoNet. Under his leadership, Tilson was awarded the 2010 Governor’s Award as Technology Company of the Year and selected as #901 of America’s fastest growing companies in 2012 by Inc. Magazine.

We were excited to explore Josh’s thoughts on the current and future state of the Internet of Things and how he’s become a key player in the industry.

The Internet of Things, specifically the industrial internet of things, is starting to get more attention from the media, businesses and the public. As awareness increases, the question about how connected objects can improve industries does too. We asked Josh about his thoughts on what is being called the next revolution in so called “machine to machine” communications. Josh describes the valuable impact as world-changing, “Allowing machines to talk to each other without human involvement will make things more efficient. In fact, it will define the rise of productivity in the postindustrial era. It’s the next big value we’ll get from the Internet.”

This value is vast and will touch many industries, but Josh pointed out three areas that he is most excited about. He sees these as the “fast movers.” These fast moving sectors are: smart grid, intelligent transportation and consumer facing mobile applications.

Why these sectors?

Smart Grid
Because, the safe and reliable delivery of power touches every consumer. “Power is a huge expense and has a large environmental impact, but is a critical enabler of virtually everything we do. Since we manage well what we measure well, getting better data about how consumers and grids behave is critical to getting the most from our grid. What makes grids smart is a telecom network that allows utilities and consumers to both have knowledge of how the grid is behaving, and take actions to control it.” Josh explains that Smart grid technologies provide an opportunity to increase the efficiency of grid operations, reduce costs to rate payers and have a positive carbon impact. “Smart grid technologies are stretching what utilities and consumers can do with our current investment in generation, transmission, distribution, and mechanical control infrastructure. The rapid commoditization in machine to machine network technology enables us to deploy more sophisticated grid control systems at a cost with a near term return in investment for consumers.”

This week @tilsontech our #wireless team is installing @digidotcom #cellular #modems for #smartgrid automation

— Joshua Broder (@joshuabroder) December 7, 2012

Intelligent Transportation
Josh points out that transportation is another sector that affects each one of us. Increasingly, traditional transportation is being transformed by networked information systems, improving safety, decreasing operating costs, and boosting efficiency. “We all utilize roads, trains and air travel, and our economic and environmental fortunes are closely tied to transportation efficiency. Our clients are increasingly calling for remote weather data collection, configurable signage, real time video and tolling automation. This requires significant network infrastructure, which, as prices fall and commercial networks grow, is increasing available to implement good public infrastructure policy.”

Consumer Facing Mobile Applications
Consumer facing mobile applications are not new, but Josh and his team are seeing an increasing demand from smart phone users for wireless coverage and capacity in all of the nooks and crannies that we spend our days in– stadiums, shopping malls, hospitals and campuses so that they can use the increasingly rich world of mobile applications. “We are seeing an increase in cellular build outs of distributed antenna and small cell systems that provide coverage and data capacity down in those nooks and crannies where people gather and travel through.”

In addition to overseeing these deployments and running Tilson, Josh is the youngest ever recipient of the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce’s President’s Award. He was recognized on MaineToday Media’s inaugural Forty Under 40 list, which recognizes forty up and coming leaders, and was named to MaineBiz 2011 Next List.

With such incredible accolades, we had to ask Josh how he got to where he is today. His answer? “I was a liberal arts guy that encountered technology through a stint in Army during a time of unprecedented network deployment. After coming home from several years overseas, an entrepreneur took me under his wing during Tilson’s formative years.”

Having a knack for turning the complex into the simple, Josh gives incredible, tangible advice to those looking to get involved in the field of the Internet of Things, and in business in general. “Find problems that need solved. Solving problems for consumers can be incredibly rewarding if you get it right, but it’s also extremely competitive. Business have problems that individuals can and should solve.”

Would you like to connect with Josh? You can watch his TedX talk below and follow him on Twitter here. You also follow Tilson on Twitter to learn more about their work in the Internet of Things.

Digi sees a future in linking machines via StarTribune Business

Digi International has made money for 39 straight quarters — so, of course, it’s reinventing itself.

The Minnetonka-based company sells electronic hardware used to connect machines. While that sounds a lot like the “DigiBoard” serial port products of the distant past, Digi today bills itself as “Your M2M Solutions Expert.”

Unpack that tag line — and Digi’s use of “Solutions” tells you what has changed.

For years, Digi was a product company, in the business of selling products primarily through distributors and mostly to engineering managers at its customers. That’s who made Digi products into a solution.

Now Digi is ramping up efforts to sell an end-to-end solution, working closely with end users to make the data coming from machines something they can actually use.

“M2M,” the other part of that tag line, is shorthand for “machine to machine,” and that is one big opportunity. It’s the technology that takes data from something as commonplace as a convenience store air pump and then routes it through a network and into the hands of a business decision maker.

Last week General Electric Co. made a splash by releasing a white paper predicting massive productivity gains in the coming “Industrial Internet” of connecting to spinning jet engines or a GE freezer. GE’s was just one of a number of recent papers to point to a booming potential market for M2M products and services to create this “Internet of things.”

It’s still early to know how this turns out for Digi shareholders, but it’s how well-managed companies continually reinvent themselves even if they are making money.

“Yes, it’s a company in the middle of a transition, but a transition that began about a decade ago,” said Tavis McCourt, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates. “It is a very slow and deliberate transition. They have not gotten rid of good cash flow businesses or overinvested in growth businesses.”

Joe Dunsmore came to the company as CEO in October 1999, and the story he told was one of first stabilizing the company and then looking for growth within Digi’s traditional distribution channels.

In the middle of the last decade, Digi began its move to wireless with a product approach called “drop in networking,” devices used to connect where wires were impractical. This initiative was a bit of a test, Dunsmore said, as “we fundamentally did not know where the adoption [of this technology] would take.”

But the emerging market of M2M was becoming clearer, and McCourt said this whole time Digi was generating cash flow from its core business to pay for the “very broad-based set of technology assets” needed for a broader M2M strategy, like buying a wireless technology design shop in 2008 with more than 30 engineers.

It also introduced iDigi cloud services to make it easy to bring data from machines to one accessible spot and to build applications to use the data.

To really get going in solutions, Digi needed the capability to sit down with end users and work through the business process changes enabled by connected machines. That’s the solution, and it meant adding people to do that.

That led to Digi recently acquiring Etherios Inc., a small Chicago reseller and consulting firm working with Salesforce.com. Buying a reseller may seem like a curious move even for a hardware producer in transition to solutions, but Salesforce.com has turned itself into a very large provider of cloud-based applications, including for customer service.

The Salesforce vision is of customers’ employees all connected to a social network that includes suppliers and customers. And, apparently, machines like coin-operated convenience store air pumps.

That’s the part that interests Dunsmore. Now preventive maintenance, adjustments to the pump’s performance, firmware updates, coin pickups and a host of other things can be easily executed.

Dunsmore said “machines have feelings, too,” meaning they will tell you how they are doing if you are set up to listen. So here is the future: A district store manager gets a Facebook-like status update from the compressor on one of his food freezers, something like “I am tired, I think I may fail in the next 48 hours.”

Read the Full Article on StarTribune