What Is IoT and How Is It Helpful in Asset Management?

Everyone might have heard the term Internet of Things (IoT). But how many actually understand or know exactly what  IoT is? In fact, there are many people who do not know.

In this blog, we shall explore what IoT is and how it works!

At the outset, let us look at some data that would help in understanding how robust this technology really is.

According to Forbes, the global Internet of Things (IoT) market is projected to grow from $2.99T in 2014 to $8.9T in 2020, attaining a 19.92% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR).

What is IoT?

The Internet of Things (IoT) portrays the network of physical objects, which we term as  “things”. These objects are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies.

The objective of connecting the objects is to exchange information with different gadgets and systems over the internet protocol. These devices can range from ordinary household objects to sophisticated industrial tools.

IoT technology is proving to be beneficial for several sectors such as transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, etc.

What are the benefits of IoT?

There are several general benefits of IoT such as:

Connectivity - We have bid goodbye to the times when different devices had to be operated for different tasks. We are now saying hello to IoT. Here you can control and operate multiple items from one device. For example, the mobile phone can be connected with TV and channels can be changed from the mobile.

Health monitoring - IoT comes greatly practical in health devices to deliver the advantage of real-time network connectivity. It provides real-time information about weight, body composition and most importantly offers advice to attain objectives such as weight loss, desired parameters.

Personalized - The IoT device gathers data and shows stories as trended by your likes. It tailors service according to the user's choices and tastes.  Personalization is a very engaging feature making the information relevant and likable for the user.

Also Read: How Effective Are Mobile Audits to a Business?

What are the drawbacks of IoT?

There are some drawbacks that are given below:

Compatibility - As of now there is no international standard of compatibility. However, this problem should be easy to overcome. The manufacturing sector can agree to a standard such as Bluetooth, which is already available in the market. This really needs no innovation.

Privacy - When all data is transmitted to the IoT device, it increases the probability of privacy breach. Data encryption is not particularly a strong point of IoT. However, this too can be managed with software tools and protection protocol.

How IoT is helpful in terms of Asset Management?

IoT is very helpful in terms of asset management:

1. Real Time Information

IoT is capable of getting real-time information which can play a crucial role in future events and planning. For instance, let us take an agriculture-based organization. As the human population grows continuously, so does the demand for and supply of food. Smart farming with IoT is one of the rapidly growing sectors.

Farmers can utilize actionable information to improve yields and for increased return on investment. Detecting for soil moisture and nutrients, controlling water utilization for plant growth, and deciding which fertilizers are best for a growing plantation are some simple and effective usages of IoT technology.

Similarly, IoT can provide analytics on fast-selling stocks and thus help in managing assets and growing the business.

Also Read: How Is the Tracking of Hospital Equipment Beneficial?

2. Decrease Human Involvement

IoT enabled asset management uses sensors. This empowers organizations to know their assets' information, eliminating the need for human effort. It actively keeps track of all assets through  IoT sensors attached to each asset.

However, selecting the IoT sensor is also crucial. There is a variety of them to gauge measures such as acceleration, temperature, humidity, pressure, proximity, etc. Therefore, the right IoT sensor has to be selected as per the business need.

The sensors attached to the asset are used to generate data and the same is relayed to the Cloud platform. It sends data every 5 or 10 minutes (as programmed by the organization).

3. Asset Optimization

When an asset is purchased, it is obviously intended to generate revenue from the asset. Asset managers know the importance of keeping an asset in the running condition. When an asset tracking plan is executed, it is important to keep a clear picture of assets so that compatible plans can be made.

With IoT-enabled asset management, the organization has the capability to see if the asset performance is in line with the expectations or not. In case it is not working efficiently, preventive and predictive maintenance needs to be implemented for the purpose of asset optimization.

IoT sensors keep track of asset performance. With such information, the organization can make the appropriate decision in order to save expenses and extend the life of an asset.

4. Asset & Cost Tracking

Asset tracking is very important to keep up the productivity and growth of the organization. IoT enables to get real-time information of assets, thereby ensuring security and safety of the asset.

Without correcting the source from where costs originate, it is difficult for ay business to reduce the upkeep expenses. For example, if the Maintenance Manager is not aware of the main problem of an asset, they cannot make the right and timely move to keep the asset in operation.

IoT-empowered assets furnish information arising from the root cause of any problem. It ensures that the issues are resolved, breakdown costs are saved and smart financial decisions can be taken in time.

5. Enhanced Monitoring Maintenance

With IoT technology, an enterprise can monitor its assets, machines, equipment, etc. in real-time. For instance, when a manufacturing unit monitors the health of its asset health, the related operational costs can be reduced.

An IoT sensor can alert plant managers when the operating parameters of assets such as temperature or environment are not in the permissible range.

6. Security

In spite of some concerns expressed for IoT devices, these asset trackers now come with better security. The IoT tracker uses bank-level AES-256 data authentication and data encryption to ensure that the data is kept private and secure.

Conclusion

The demand for asset tracking IoT gadgets will grow three times by 2022, as per asset management experts. Sectors such as transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, hotels can benefit from this technology.

Internet of Things (IoT) is the next-generation method for asset management software. Though relatively new, it still has the potential to change the game. The opportunities spun off by IoT are indeed humongous and it promises to be the new technology edge that enterprises can utilize. This is particularly true for those organizations who are ready to embrace change - for the better.