Manufacturing processes are under-going vivid transformation the world over. We are today living in the era of Industry 4.0. Smart technologies and automation solutions are the new order in a connected industrial milieu marked by the cyber-physical interfaces, IIoT, AI/ML and cloud computing. A connected enterprise enhances decision-making, strengthens security, and improves productivity – along with providing the complementary benefits of overall collaboration and access to the right information at the right time.
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is becoming a thriving reality across the manufacturing value chain. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns has further propelled this shift towards adopting digitalisation in everyday workflow operations. IIoT offers a chance to redefine sectors and accelerate economic growth. As the Indian economy restarts progress towards becoming a preferred manufacturing destination, current practices must make way for large-scale IIoT adoption mechanisms. Leveraging IIoT in manufacturing would help solve problems such as insufficient equipment effectiveness and downtime.
Advantage India
India too poses an incredible opportunity for the digitization of manufacturing industries and the rate of technology adoption has been enthusiastic across sectors. As per Deloitte’s recent survey, the Indian IoT market was expected to grow ~7x to USD 9 billion by 2020 which is drawing attention from leading players of the IIoT world.
With the government’s ambitious Smart Cities Mission coming into the picture, IoT adoption could be seen happening across industries such as utilities, manufacturing, automotive and transportation & logistics.
Currently, there are five key segments contributing to the overall IoT market demand in India – global capability centres (GCCs), large enterprises (LEs), small and medium businesses (SMBs), consumers, and the government. There are over 1,200 public-listed LEs in India, with a current IoT adoption rate of around 35%. This is a likely great start to an automated and more reliable ecosystem that will help Indian enterprises to stay globally competitive and realize the government’s vision of becoming ‘Aatmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) and a global manufacturing hub.
Leadership in innovation
Today, AI/ML is encouraging innovation in techniques and logistics of integral processes like lubrication servicing to drive the change towards a more efficient tomorrow. With 150 years of experience in lubrication innovation, Mobi Lubricants has been pioneering excellence by forerunning innovation by integrating cutting-edge lubrication technologies and services into mainstream manufacturing, formulating solutions that guarantee superior performance and continuous output.
Serving in the era of rapid digital transformation, Mobil has been assisting customers with its Mobil Serv Lubricant Analysis (MSLA) programme. A mobile-enabled used-oil analysis platform, it is designed to enhance efficiency and simplify processes, thereby, augmenting performance. The platform streamlines the entire oil analysis process – from initial sample gathering to final reporting – with QR-coded scan-and-go sampling bottles that deliver used-oil samples to Mobil’s oil analysis laboratory. Customers can also leverage application-specific analysis options to access results and perform customized equipment recommendations directly on their hand-held devices – saving unnecessary downtime that could affect production output and delivery deadlines.
MSLA aligns itself strongly with manufacturing sector’s journey towards Industry 4.0. With it, operators can enhance productivity and performance of equipment. The analysis also helps identify issues that can be mitigated with minimal downtime – thereby, reducing the amount of lubricant needed and extending overall machine life. Key technological advances like MSLA are assisting companies in their progress towards maximum productivity and profitability.
Bolstering manufacturing efficiency
Mobil also provides a wide array of technical services under its Mobil Serv Program such as, hydraulic inspection, energy efficiency study and IIoT insights, catering to industries such as plastic, auto-components, cement, steel, wind & turbines, coal and gas turbines, among others.
Among these services, Mobil Serv IIoT Insights, is a next-gen condition monitoring program that transforms oil maintenance with live information and actionable insights through IIoT technology. It is a vital tool that monitors the lubricant health in real-time and sends instant real-time alerts. Therefore, Mobil Serv IIoT Insights is a much-needed asset to help manufacturers make swift decisions while safeguarding their business efficiency. Additionally, it helps them save on oil consumption and the total cost of operation, enables early detection, immediate reporting, and much more.
The latest offering from Mobil can boost manufacturing efficiency, help manufacturers gain data-driven insights into their machines and make profitable decisions for their business. Guided by AI-enabled trend analysis, manufacturers also get to implement a swift course of action and get real-time access to data and analytics, among other additional benefits.
The ability of Mobil Serv’s IIoT Insights to convert raw production data into actionable insights and its AI/ML-powered functionality helps the manufacturing team receive customized alerts, optimize energy consumption, measure equipment effectiveness, and enable trend monitoring, among others. IIoT Insights makes minor hardware integrations and configurations seamless to enable machines for automatic data capturing. Control panel data is interfaced into the Mobil Serv IIoT solution through a gateway installed at the site.
With the Mobil Serv IIoT solution, site managers can receive an aggregated data view for their management reporting, e.g., daily production details, machine run time, downtime details, etc. Additionally, the solution helps top business executives get direct access to high-level business metrics like machine overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), energy consumption, and other production details. It also helps them gain insights into drivers of underperformance through high-level metrics while also identifying the opportunities for increasing efficiencies.
Mobil Serv IIoT Insights is thus the much-needed cloud-based solution for the manufacturing industry to turn insights into action and achieve improved efficiency and overall productivity. With IIoT Insights, manufacturers can improve overall OEE with improvement in average cycle time, increase in hydraulic efficiency and reduction in average power consumption, thereby being an industry enabler.
“The ability of MOBIL SERV IIOT INSIGHTS to convert raw production data into actionable insights and its AI/ML-powered functionality helps the manufacturing team receive customized alerts, optimize energy consumption, measure equipment effectiveness, and enable trend monitoring, among others, “- Ankush Khanna.
Ankush Khanna is the Director- Commercial Brand Marketing (South Asia Pacific), ExxonMobil.