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IoT in Plastic Processing

IoT in Plastic Processing

 IoT in Plastic Processing

Whether you call it  IoT (Internet of Things) or IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) or Industry 4.0, one thing which is clear is that IoT and its applications are revolutionizing every form of industry and production, and that includes plastics manufacturing and processing industry. IoT in Plastic Industry solutions allow for ‘smart manufacturing,’ making it easier to collect and analyze data, strengthen weaknesses and mitigate problems. It’s also been proven to cause gains in production efficiency, quality and time to market.

Here are some ways that IoT is being used in the plastics industry and transforming its current landscape:

Applications of IoT in Plastic Manufacturing & Processing

  1. Sensors & Connectivity: IoT sensors in plastic processing plants can be used for data collection and data transportation over networks. Increased connectivity between the machines reduces the amount of human intervention needed to monitor, collect, exchange and analyze data. Sensors also allow for remote monitoring of equipment and assembly lines, creating a fast and easy environment to communicate information both on the plant floor and between the floor and outside.
  2. Remote Monitoring: IoT sensors offer a remote monitoring technology that can allow engineers and facility managers to monitor machines from a centralized office many miles away, or even on their mobile devices. Technicians now have a pathway through which they can connect to a machine from anywhere via an IoT device and perform diagnostic services as if they were physically there. In this way, facility managers can reduce unplanned downtime and improve facility-wide operational efficiencies by monitoring key parameters over time.
  3. Smart Manufacturing: Plastics manufacturers can gain competitive advantages such as greater traceability and predictive maintenance, through integration with IoT.

Some areas where this has great potential for IoT in Plastic Industry includes –

  • Smart Machines – More intelligent IoT user interfaces, gesture control and multi-touch capabilities can make it easier for plastic manufacturers to analyze data from multiple machines and inform predictive maintenance, increase efficiency and reduce downtime.
  • Smart Production – IoT devices make it possible to store and recall all parameter settings for a job thus automating the entire work assembly that can perform moulding, drying, chilling, blending and other operations.
  • Smart Alerts – When a sensor detects a missing cap on a distributor, it can send alerts to a computer or mobile phone, leading to less material loss and overall process optimization.
  • Single Control – A work cell that performs multiple functions using a single processor control requires fewer parts, less maintenance and increased efficiency along with reducing the factory footprint.

All the gathered and analyzed data can present specific advantages in the IoT in Plastic industry. For injection moulding complex components, data can help create consistent quality and mitigate defects. Of course, it also provides general benefits of reduced downtime through machine upkeep and preventative maintenance.

  1. Predictive & Preventative Maintenance: IoT sensors can reveal the machines failure points and send the relevant data to the floor manager, helping to optimize the use of both predictive and preventative maintenance. Manufacturers can take a step further by placing predictive algorithms that are able to identify a problem and take action before a person sees the data. At this point, a facility’s equipment becomes proactive, adjusting controls like temperature and pressure as needed to prevent a problem from occurring. This proactive capability can be applied to equipment wear and tear, predicting equipment malfunction before it occurs and automatically ordering the necessary part. The collected data can be analyzed into trends and patterns which can even recommend the best course of action. This proactive maintenance will improve uptime by avoiding future disasters and time-consuming maintenance needs that could have been mitigated with the right data from the start. These abilities preempt failures on the line, greatly reducing downtime and waste, and in turn, increasing productivity and profitability in IoT in Plastic processing

Smart factories with IoT can provide benefits to customers too by sending them important and highly accurate timing information on their order, increasing communication and customer satisfaction. In conclusion, today’s plastics manufacturing industry will see a great amount of positive change as a result of IoT in Plastic Industry which continues to evolve along the way.

Read our blog on The Importance of Data-Driven Decision Making

In order to enjoy the full benefits of integrating IoT sensors and devices in a plastics facility, it will become essential to secure reliable, professional IoT services & platform providers! Thingstel’s next-generation sensors, visualization platforms, and customizable analytics modules come with increased intelligence, reliability, and improved accuracy specifications. Our technologies can empower and strengthen your business, providing you with a wide array of solutions ranging from predictive maintenance to remote monitoring to real-time analytics and data visualization. Reach out to us in case you have any questions or simply want to know more.

 

The Importance of Data-Driven Decision Making

The Importance of Data-Driven Decision Making

The drive to make information more accessible and mobile is evolving rapidly. Almost a watershed moment in technological history, IoT (Internet of Things) and cloud computing are slowly changing life on planet Earth, whether for business, personal convenience or to keep in touch with friends and family.

IoT is increasingly being included in many companies’ data-driven transformation decisions. Indeed, those that have managed to embrace IoT have already started to see benefits such as improved inventory management, better operational processes, and increased equipment maintenance to name a few.

But a successful IoT data-driven strategy is more than just connecting a bunch of sensors to the internet and gathering data from them. There must be a robust way to effectively analyze the vast amount of data that IoT creates and make sense of it to gain genuine business insights. That is why an analytics strategy and data-driven decision-making should be a top priority for any company looking to get the most out of connectivity.

What is Data Analytics (DA)?
Data analytics is defined as a process that is used to examine small and big data sets carrying different data properties to extract meaningful conclusions and actionable insights. These conclusions usually take the form of trends, statistics, and patterns that help business organizations engage with the data proactively for effective decision-making processes.

What are the Different Types of Data Analytics?

  • Spatial Analytics: This type analyzes geographic patterns that can determine spatial relationships between physical objects. Location-based applications such as smart parking can benefit from this method.
  • Streaming Analytics: Also known as event stream processing, this type analyzes huge data sets in motion. Real-time data streams are analyzed in this process to detect any urgent situations and take immediate actions. IoT-enabled applications such as traffic analysis, assembly line tracking, financial transactions, and air fleet tracking can benefit from this type.
  • Prescriptive Analytics: This type combines prescriptive and predictive analytics to understand the most efficient steps of action that can be implemented in a particular situation. Commercial IoT applications will benefit from this type of analysis to derive better conclusions.
  • Time-Series Analytics: This type analyzes time-based data to identify associated patterns and trends. Applications such as weather forecasting and health monitoring can benefit from this method.

How Will the Merging of Data Analytics and IoT Positively Affect One’s Business?
Data analytics plays a huge role in the success and growth of IoT investments and applications. Analytics tools can help businesses make good use of their data sets in the following ways:

  •  Structure – IoT applications involve data sets that may be unstructured, semi-structured, or structured. There may also be a significant variation in data types and formats. Data analytics helps an individual to analyze all these different data sets using automated tools and software.
  • Volume – IoT applications make use of large clusters of data sets. Organizations need to manage these large volumes of data and analyze the same for extracting relevant insights and patterns. Data analytics software can easily do the above along with efficient real-time data analysis.
  • Competitive Advantage – With numerous IoT providers and developers present in the market, the competition is high. Incorporating data analytics in your IoT investments will allow your business to offer better services, thereby gaining a competitive edge over the others.
  • Driving Sales – Using data analytics with IoT will enable businesses to get an insight into their customer choices and preferences. This will lead to developing the services according to the customer expectations and demands, which in turn will increase the profits and drive revenue for the organization.

Several scenarios have seen immense benefits from data-driven decision-making. For example, by applying data analytics to product usage, actionable marketing can be carried out by product companies. Data-driven decision making IoT can also enable increased surveillance and safety abilities through video sensors. Healthcare is another prime sector where increased diagnosis and treatment, telehealth services, remote health monitoring, and reduction of costs can be achieved using the same.

Data analytics coupled with IoT can therefore enhance customer engagement, improve revenues and gain that competitive edge. By collaborating with the right people, businesses can leverage their data for strategic and operational decision-making.

Start applying data analytics to your own business from today! Thingstel’s next-generation sensors, visualization platforms, and customizable analytics modules come with increased intelligence, reliability, and improved accuracy specifications. Our technologies can empower and strengthen your business, providing you with a wide array of solutions ranging from predictive maintenance to remote monitoring to real-time analytics and data visualization. Reach out to us in case you have any questions or simply want to know more.

IoT in Aquaponics

IoT in Aquaponics

Food is a basic need of every person. However, in today’s world, the space for agricultural production is decreasing due to narrower lands. Traditional farming has its drawbacks of being overly dependent on climate conditions, soil quality, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides – factors that are highly volatile and susceptible to constant fluctuations. Without adopting more sustainable practices, there could be almost a 10 percent drop in food production by 2070. 

To overcome these challenges, technologies like hydroponics (growing plants without soil) and aquaponics (a combination of hydroponics and aquaculture) which integrate IoT (Internet of Things) for optimum food production are becoming popular.

What is aquaponics? 

Aquaponics is a sustainable agriculture system that combines the growing of fish and other aquatic animals (aquaculture) with the growing of vegetables or plants (hydroponics) in a symbiotic environment. Plants are fed the aquatic animal’s discharge or waste and in return, they help clean the water that goes back to the fish. Microbes play a major role in the nutrition of these plants as they convert the fish waste and solids into substances that the plants can use to grow. This technology is emerging as a big hope for sustainable organic crop production and a highly efficient method that solves the problems of optimum water use and limited farmlands. 

What are the applications of IoT in aquaponics?

Modern aquaponics systems can be highly successful but they require intensive monitoring, control, and management. IoT-enabled aquaponics systems on the other hand can provide the opportunity to improve the quality of the produce grown with minimal effort and automation of processes. 

The latter can be highly useful to farmers in the following ways: 

  • The water temperature, surrounding temperature, humidity, pH factor,and  the total amount of dissolved oxygen in the aquaponics system can be remotely monitored and controlled using IoT smart sensors. The retrieved data can be transmitted to an IoT cloud server and accessed in real-time through the internet network via a message on a smartphone or a computer, allowing the user to make changes as and when required. Grow lights and water pumps can also be automatically turned on or off and even sensitive parameters such as the ammonia content, degree of acidity, water levels, and quantity of fish feed can be monitored. This decreases the need for manual labor and preserves quality and water circulation.

Unfavorable conditions for plants and fishes can be identified by monitoring various parameters of water like pH level, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, ammonium, and so on. All the data acquired by the sensors can be uploaded to an IoT analytics platform service that provides real-time visualization and analysis. IoT-enabled solutions not only identify KPIs (key performance indicators) like the above but also help to

  • forecast the water requirement for the aquaponics system, 
  • provide feedback and control of the biological components so that any serious problems can be detected, reported, and displayed on a user interface 
  • ensure predictive maintenance of the equipment and
  • analyze vegetable and fish productivity
  • IoT platforms can also provide an economic analysis service whereby data on fish size, water quality, feeding patterns, energy use, supply source, and weather conditions can be collected using feeders, mobile devices, and sensors. Combined with other data, algorithms can work together and provide recommendations such as remote maintenance, optimal harvest dates, and feeding management strategies.

What are the benefits of using IoT in aquaponics?

The benefits of using a combination of IoT and aquaponics include

  • Digitization of environmental parameters into an easily-readable output.
  • Maintenance of stable conditions in the system with the help of IoT devices and sensors for controlling temperature & humidity, pH, light intensity, ammonia, water temperature and dissolved oxygen.
  • Continuous monitoring of data and issuance of trigger alerts allowing farmers to make necessary adjustments from remote locations.
  • Automating repetitive tasks like regulating the flow of water when certain parameters are reached by using intelligent algorithms to control switches.
  • Analysis of the sensor’s feedback by data visualization and analytics platforms that measure KPIs and offer recommendations for higher yield and sustainability.
  • Predictive analysis of the data sets which can help generate insights into future events through machine learning modules and indicate specific actions to be taken to avoid event occurrence (part replacement, maintenance activities run etc.).

Automation of aquaponic systems with IoT facilitates the maintenance of a healthy ecosystem that is conducive to the growth of fish and plants while pushing the real-time parameters, notifications and insights to key stakeholders for swift actions. We can safely say that IoT in aquaponics has the potential to evolve as a game-changer in the future of sustainable food production. 

IoT-enabled solutions can be the difference between success and failure for a farmer, an academician, a commercial grower, or any individual who uses aquaponics or hydroponics systems.

We provide next-generation sensors, visualization platforms, and customizable analytics modules with increased intelligence, reliability, and improved accuracy specifications. Our technologies can empower and strengthen your business, providing you with a wide array of solutions ranging from predictive maintenance to remote monitoring to real-time analytics and data visualization. Reach out to us in case you have any questions or simply want to know more!