Top 10 benefits of IIOT

Medical manufacturing is demanding: those who design and manufacture devices, implants, and other medical equipment face the challenges of supply chain, process optimization, shop floor efficiency, and other concerns of any manufacturer. Additionally, the bar for compliance and quality is especially high because medical devices are subject to rigorous regulatory and safety standards.

These factors make the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) more attractive and necessary as medical manufacturers increasingly look to IIoT solutions to enhance operations. Here are 10 key benefits of IIoT transformation medical manufacturing decision makers should consider as they pursue modernization.

#1. Production system monitoring
Medical manufacturing facilities need comprehensive monitoring to ensure quality, cost efficiency, and optimal throughput. IIoT solutions enable advanced monitoring through machine communications that allow multiple systems and machines to self-coordinate and sequence production. These solutions can be configured to automatically trigger repair tickets, service calls, and other steps when throughput needs to be maximized.

#2. Process optimization
Whether the domain is machine performance, assembly line management, supply chain optimization, or another production element, IIoT systems can monitor conditions, equipment, and workflows to optimize processes. One example: electronic work instructions to help operators optimize process elements. These increased efficiencies from IIoT improve overall productivity, minimize downtime, can reduce costs, and ensure regulatory compliance.

#3. Predictive maintenance
Medical manufacturers already pressed by supply chain hurdles and other production impediments don’t need to contend with avoidable equipment breakdowns. IIoT can go beyond simple preventive efforts of regularly scheduled maintenance toward proactive predictive maintenance through analytics that can detect and forecast equipment failures before they happen.

#4. Optimizing quality
Nowhere is quality more important than in a medical product rolling out of the factory destined for an operating room or within a patient’s body. Equipment in an IIoT-enabled smart factory is programmed to monitor material quality, search for defects, and measure and test the finished product. A problem occurring at any point on the production line can be addressed immediately, and new IIoT systems that enable visual work instructions make it easier for workers to collaborate during in-process quality analysis.

Supply chain disruption and inventory fluctuations are affecting many industries, but medical manufacturing is especially hard hit, given that medical devices often require specialized parts and – as was the case with ventilators during the height of the pandemic – may need to ship quickly to meet client demand. IIoT sensors and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can deliver real-time information and insights about where items are located, their status, movement, and more. Additionally, real-time asset tracking, monitoring, and alerts let warehouse and supply chain managers monitor events across a complete supply chain.

#6. Customer service satisfaction
Medical manufacturers must often meet high expectations for responsiveness and customer service. IIoT can help, with sensor-equipped production systems that enable customers to stay apprised of their order progress in near real time. Post-delivery, sensors can offer valuable insights about customer usage, allowing manufacturers to maintain high-quality service in the field and build better products in the future. These capabilities improve a manufacturer’s overall ability to serve and satisfy customers and competitively differentiate the business.

#7. Worker safety, health
Workplace safety and health have always been critical in manufacturing, and especially now with pandemic-induced occupancy restrictions forcing factories to re-strategize shop floor operations to maintain a safe environment. IIoT sensors can monitor a worker’s proximity to machinery and alert the worker in real time to reduce on-the-job injuries. Plus, connected systems can flag employee safety patterns tied to illness, absences, or near-misses with machinery.

#8. Energy management, sustainability
With utility prices and environmental impacts of industrial production on the rise, factories have more reason to conserve energy and resources. IIoT can significantly increase energy efficiency in several ways, including advanced, algorithmically driven operating profiles that tell machines when to power up or power down to conserve energy. IIoT connectivity can also immediately highlight production abnormalities that may be draining electricity or other resources.

#9. Service provisioning, orchestration
Visibility from IIoT systems allows more coordinated orchestration of services, particularly in complex environments that require presenting actionable alerts across a broad network of front-line maintenance personnel, third-party service providers, and/or field technicians from an equipment supplier. IIoT services orchestration enable a value-based approach that factors in the timing, type, and technical personnel needed for a service activity.

#10. Service contract compliance, performance
Meeting and exceeding response times, issue resolution, asset availability, and other service contract terms are critical for manufacturers. IIoT systems and solutions can help manufacturers comply with an equipment supplier and third-party services support contracts. IIoT enables data visibility in real-time so the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and the user are aware of risks and issues as they arise before performance degradation cuts into revenue.

Conclusion

IIoT can help medical manufacturers create a connected factory bending the traditional value chain into a feedback loop – where equipment and production system health is continually monitored to preemptively identify potential machine failures. These IIoT advances create a more optimized manufacturing operation – enhancing efficiency, safety, and cost savings in the process.

Rockwell Automation: https://www.rockwellautomation.com/en-us.html

About the author: Gagan Naeger is vice president, enterprise accounts, life sciences at Rockwell Automation. Inquiries can be directed to 888.382.1583.