At its simplest form, the purpose of the Internet of Things (IoT) is to make things smart. Through connecting devices and collecting data, IoT is advancing the capabilities and intelligence that technology can offer, and it is gaining momentum. It has never been easier to access and implement than it is today.
From incorporating sensors in homes to warehouses to storefronts, more and more applications are using IoT monitoring to be more effective, more efficient, and make more informed decisions. These outputs are transforming industries and reducing hard costs by creating real-time analytics for decision makers so that appropriate actions can be taken.
Let’s take a look at five application areas and how IoT and cloud-based analytics are making them smarter.
1. Housing Facilities/Commercial Properties
The application of IoT devices and monitoring in both residential and commercial building operations is changing the way facilities are managed. For instance, by monitoring IoT-enabled temperature sensors, you can ensure infrastructure conditions are within normal range and avoid frozen water pipes and overheated power transformers.
What’s more, smarter buildings can use building information modeling (BIM), IoT monitoring and cloud-based data analysis to help staff better manage energy consumption, space utilization, preventive maintenance, security and safety.
2. Asset Management in Medical Facilities
Hospitals and clinics have expensive portable medical equipment that aids tests and treatment protocols close to the patient’s location. The use of location sensors can help healthcare organizations geofence equipment, and avoid loss and theft, thereby avoiding impact on patient care and department budgets.
3. Food Safety Compliances
Food safety compliance is a mandatory regulatory requirement for restaurants. At quick-serve restaurants (QSRs), where operations are often replicated across franchises in widely varying weather conditions, it can present a unique challenge.
With the help of remote smart thermostats and gas sensors, QSRs are now beginning to automatically track and manage food safety compliance requirements as well as control energy costs. Getting data on refrigeration units, exhaust, kitchen and “prep-table” temperatures, and integrating it with information on inventory as well as equipment maintenance schedules, allows QSR chains to increase both safety and efficiency.
4. Warehouse and Inventory Managements
Some of your potential customers may store products that are sensitive to heat or humidity. Perhaps they are part of a QSR franchise’s supply chain or canned goods warehouses for a grocery store.
Enabling your customers to track the goods and collect and process real-time data about their location, and the conditions in which they are stored will allow them not only to better manage inventory but get alerts on extreme weather conditions that may affect the delivery and handling of goods. By anticipating extreme weather conditions, such as a heat wave, they can delay deliveries or re-stack pallets to avoid spoilage. What’s more, data that is gathered and analyzed can provide valuable insights to both the warehouse as well as insurance agencies.
5. Goods in Transit
Connecting manufacturers and farms with warehouses, and warehouses with retail outlets and restaurants, is a part of the supply chain that is already used to being tracked; however, it is also a link that is most exposed to widely varying conditions.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates that about a third of the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted throughout the supply chain, from initial agricultural production down to final household consumption. That is nearly 1.3 billion tons of food not reaching our tables every year.
IoT can provide real-time visibility into the condition of goods in transit, alerting your customers about temperature excursions, for instance, and allowing them to re-route shipments to avoid spoilage as well as optimize handling and packaging in future.
Take Your IoT Idea to Market
Entrepreneurs targeting these and other application areas may find it difficult knowing where to start on the path towards realizing their IoT idea. That is where IBM’s IoT Monitoring Solution comes in to help entrepreneurs quickly get started on their project. While this IBM solution currently supports temperature, humidity and location sensors, it can be extended to support almost any type of sensor.
The solution is unique because it is pre-integrated from the sensors to the gateway, as well as from the application to the end-user dashboard. This helps designers focus on delivering differentiated value to their clients, while eliminating complexities associated with IoT projects.
Learn more about IBM's latest intelligent edge solution in the video below:
VIDEO: Differentiate Your Solution with IoT Remote Monitoring From IBM
With the aim of making it easier for engineers to deliver smart applications, Arrow Electronics and Indiegogo have partnered with IBM through the Arrow Certification Program to provide easy access to the IBM Watson IoT platform as well as IBM cloud services, including IoT Monitoring. For all qualified applicants to the program, IBM is offering no-charge use of the Watson IoT platform delivered in the IBM Cloud, over 50 hours of free IoT Watson Platform training, and complimentary technical mentoring services.
To gain access to these offerings as well as additional benefits to support taking your idea to prototype, launch and production, simply join the Arrow Certification Program.