A new Industry Week survey shows that most manufacturers are, at best, just testing the IoT waters, and few have made the management changes necessary that show they understand the IoT’s revolutionary potential to change every aspect of their products, manufacturing, and even their management.
The survey, “The Internet of Things: Finding the Path to Value,” (underwritten by SAS) was conducted late last year. 478 companies completed it. The survey’s major finding was that:
“Despite the fact that they’re already collecting such (i.e., IoT) data, and two- thirds believe the Internet of Things technology will be critical to their future success, only one third of manufacturers report that they have a specific IoT technology strategy.” (my emphasis)
One finding was particularly damning, because it shows senior management really doesn’t get the full value of IoT data and how it must radically alter their decision making:
“… two out of three say they rely more on management experience [than the IoT] when addressing key business issues.”
On the other hand, 28% said they think they’re outpacing their competitors in use of the IoT. Pardon my skepticism..
Here’s the finding that clearly indicated to me that these executives don’t get it that the vast amounts of data yielded by the IoT requires new analytical tools (HANA and its ilk) and new skill sets (i.e., data scientists): ”
“It should come as no surprise … that well over half (57%) of manufacturers report that they are using spreadsheets to analyze sensor data.” (my emphasis)
Really?? Those guys gotta download the Managing the Internet of Things Revolution e-guide I wrote for SAP, which explained that the way to ease your way into the IoT is to begin by acquiring data mining and visualization tools and beefing up your cloud storage, which will benefit you with your current operations, as well as building the data analysis skills such as predictive analytics — and attitudes — necessary to capitalize on the IoT. If you’re analyzing sensor data with spreadsheets, your priorities are totally out of wack…
On the positive side, 45% are integrating and supplementing IoT data regarding product quality, and 43% integrating production data.
I see little indication from the findings that most companies (a few, such as GE and Siemens, excepted) are fully integrating the IoT into day-to-day operations, resulting in what I’ve called “precision manufacturing.”
Long way to go, folks, long way to go…
