IIoT expertise for industry: 5 challenges
08/25/2021 by Oliver Habisch, CEO & Founder | IIoT
More and more industrial companies are increasing their investments in technology building blocks such as IIoT platforms, edge computing and AI. Digitization and networking have advanced significantly in recent years, especially for continuous and discrete manufacturing applications (1). Pilot projects as well as mature IIoT projects demonstrate high potential through comprehensive tracking and monitoring, optimization of availability, and improved use of all pieces of equipment in inhomogeneous production lines.
More investment in IIoT in 2021?
Not even the economic challenges posed by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021 will diminish the willingness and urgency of many companies to drive forward the digitization of their manufacturing chains. According to a current IDC study, almost 40% of industrial companies in Germany alone want to increase their investments in IIoT solutions in 2021 precisely because of COVID-19. At the same time, this study also evaluated the top five hurdles that stand in the way of IIoT solution implementation among users (2). These are:
- Security issues
- Securing budget
- Ensuring high data quality
- High development effort and complexity
- Lack of internal know-how
Turnkey IIoT solution graphicx.io
Answers must be found for these justified needs and obstacles. Ultimately, all companies are caught between the risks and opportunities of largely digitized industrial production. This must be delicately balanced. For example, machine and factory monitoring brings greater reliability and availability to production environments, but also goes hand in hand with an increased need for protection for data connections, flows and storage.
Our mission is to address these issues with innovative approaches and ways to make it as easy as possible to get started and use IIoT for industrial applications. With our IIoT solution graphicx.io, we provide the following answers to the five hurdles above, for example:
- Hardware and software protection of the machines is provided by a suitable bundle from our partner DataOS.
- Flat rate packages for graphicx.io offer 100% cost control incl. all infrastructure costs on MS Azure
- Our approach is to integrate all available data streams across the board, no matter from which machine module or sensor manufacturer - each data stream is precisely defined one time
- A turn key SaaS solution designed specifically for industry; no programming skills or data science knowledge required
- We provide support for quick creation of your virtual machines and plants as well as the establishment of the data connections - this can be done simply and efficiently with Excel
On the road throughout Europe with a new Strategic Advisory Board
In order to provide industrial companies with this fast and uncomplicated access to the digitization of their plants, we are active as a young technology company throughout Europe. For the next major milestones, the management of NEXOCRAFT is now supported by a Strategic Advisory Board. We are pleased that we have earned the support of two highly recognized technology and strategy experts with much experience in SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) and IoT (Internet of Things): Dr. Ingo Hofacker and Kay-Ingo Greve.
NEXOCRAFT enables industrial companies to implement AIoT solutions quickly and cost-effectively without IT expertise - from the first machine that goes online to the fully digitized production line. In this way, NEXOCRAFT raises potentials for production processes also for medium-sized companies, which were previously reserved for large manufacturers. I am very pleased to be part of the Advisory Board of NEXOCRAFT and to contribute my expertise on the growth path.
Kay-Ingo Greve works as a consultant and advisory board member for a wide variety of software companies and investors. As an independent consultant and advisory board member, he brings his many years of international sales and management experience from management positions at Microsoft and as the former CEO of Jedox to high-growth companies.
The biggest leap that industrial companies will take in the next few years is the full integration of artificial intelligence away from isolated stand-alone solutions. And that means automated work, highly available - simple and usable across all areas for all employees. Integrating and optimizing production processes and supply chains with the help of AI is essential. NEXOCRAFT offers an innovative and at the same time effective solution for this. Therefore, I am very pleased to be a member of the Advisory Board of NEXOCRAFT and to be able to contribute my many years of experience in the fields of AI and IoT there.
Ingo Hofacker brings many years of experience in the technology environment to the table. During his time at Bain & Company, he was a member of the Tech & Telco Practice, supporting over 30 companies in strategy, development, financial transactions, G2M and operational improvement. During his time with senior management at Deutsche Telekom, Ingo Hofacker's responsibilities included group-wide product and innovation management for the consumer segment and, most recently, building Deutsche Telekom's IoT business. Since 2020, he has headed the European market leader for enterprise video platforms as CEO of movingimage in Berlin. In addition, he has been active for years as an investor and advisory board member in various SaaS companies with a focus on IoT and artificial intelligence.
(1) Cf. IDC Study: Industrial IoT in Germany 2021, p. 2
(2) Cf. IDC Study: Industrial IoT in Germany 2021, p. 7
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Author: Oliver Habisch | CEO & Founder
Oliver Habisch is CEO and founder of NEXOCRAFT and co-founder of the Recogizer Group. His vision is to make AI a cornerstone of industrial processes and thus take the OEE of technical assets to the next level.
