Ivanti Wavelink announced the results
of a joint survey with VDC Research regarding the state of industrial
supply chain operations and the adoption of Industrial Internet of
Things (IIoT) solutions. The research revealed that there is an
overarching trend toward greater automation, connectivity, and
intelligence in industrial supply chain operations. For industrial
organizations, IIoT platforms offer significant promise to unlock new
business models, deliver improved customer experiences, address the
disruptive impact of downtime, and ultimately provide greater
operational resilience.
"Today's
warehouses are more complex than they were 10 years ago," says David
Krebs, EVP, VDC Research. "Products and channels have proliferated,
late-stage customization requirements have increased, the number of
temperature environments has grown, and warehouse employee turnover has
remained high with access to labor at an all-time low. The COVID-19
pandemic has intensified these challenges and as a result, manufacturers
and distributors are urgently seeking new ways to optimize services and
react to future market changes faster and more efficiently. IIoT can
help organizations automate processes, improve performance, and reduce
inefficiencies, leading to higher revenues and lower costs."
The
good news is that IIoT deployment is becoming easier. The leading
factors driving IIoT investments are improvements to production output
(27%), improvements to asset monitoring and maintenance (14%),
reductions to operational expenses (14%) and improvements to operational
intelligence (13%). These efforts can be summarized around key
productivity, sustainability, business agility and speed to market
efforts and initiatives. Organizations are also taking advantage of key
technology trends that have significantly lowered the adoption barrier
of IIoT solutions. These trends include improvements to IIoT platform
functionality and ease of use, simplified development of IIoT
applications through access to APIs and established communications
protocols, lowered costs of sensors and data storage and the development
of edge computing that shift computation from the cloud to the shop
floor.
However,
while many industrial organizations are underway with IIoT pilots,
challenges still exist with few organizations fully scaling up their
IIoT-enabled solutions. Various technical and organizational factors are
typically at the root of these issues. Technical headwinds range from
dealing with heterogeneous systems, determining which functions are
supported by which applications, how the systems should be deployed, and
how these solutions manage security requirements. Organizationally, IT
vs. OT governance is an oft-cited source of conflict as is the challenge
of failing to adjust business processes to encourage broader
application and failing to fully realize the solution's value.
"The
bottom line is that industrial supply chain operations overall are
moving forward on the IIoT technology maturity curve," said Brandon
Black, senior vice president and general manager, Ivanti Wavelink. "This
is great news as IIoT transforms business operations by delivering
optimal business outcomes, focused worker experiences, reduced costs and
increased revenue. Maximizing IIoT's value requires the commitment of
leadership to ensure that IIoT is not just an IT initiative, but an
organization-wide effort. At Ivanti Wavelink, we look forward to
continuing to support our customers as they accelerate digital
transformation initiatives and revolutionize supply chain operations
with IIoT."
Ivanti Neurons for IIoT connects
machines, devices, workers, and systems, maximizing productivity,
deepening insights, and improving visibility. It enables customers to
get a 360-degree view of their IIoT equipment, facilitating simpler,
faster decision-making with real-time data and deep analytics, as well
as driving operational efficiency. Additionally, Ivanti Neurons for IIoT
offers customers the ability to create low-code and no-code
applications to automate existing supply chain processes and maximize
the value of their existing supply chain assets. The solution's
simplified use of information collected provides greater efficiency in
operational decision-making and allows customers to cross-connect
applications with new systems - rapidly automating warehouse processes
and optimizing workflow operations.
Download a copy of the Ivanti and VDC Industrial Supply Chain Operations 2022 report.