IoT in the midmarket

The Internet of Things was once again the focus of exhibitors at both CeBIT and Hannover Messe this year. Cities, companies and manufacturers presented numerous use cases and solutions for Industry 4.0, Smart City, ConnectedCar and SmartHome.

In addition to privacy and security concerns (especially for consumer IoT devices and in the healthcare sector), the biggest hurdles for SMEs often include clear IoT goals and as well as uncertainty in choosing suitable technology providers.

A widespread misconception, especially among startups and SMEs, is that IoT applications are only for large and established companies. Yet the Internet of Things offers a range of opportunities and possibilities for them in particular.

In fact, SMEs and startups can be at least as competitive as their larger competitors by staying small and focusing on applications and technology rather than high headcount.

Possible applications

The possibilities for the deployment and use of IoT functions are almost inexhaustible. They range from every single phase of the product lifecycle to use cases in specific vertical industries.

These ten examples illustrate the areas in which small and medium-sized enterprises can use the Internet of Things to expand and maintain their competitive advantage:

Product Marketing

Sensors can track exactly when and how a product is used. They thus provide important input for the product design and marketing process. Collecting real-time data is often cheaper, faster and more accurate than customer surveys and market research.

Product maintenance

Information on component wear can help reduce maintenance and operating costs and identify potential equipment failure before it actually occurs.

For example, if a press breaks down during a print run, there is a large financial loss, including the cost of sending technicians for emergency repairs, a loss of customer confidence, and possible penalties for late delivery.

By measuring and reporting unusual vibrations or heat sensors that indicate potential equipment problems, technicians can be proactively dispatched and prevent equipment failure.

Product sales

By monitoring the condition and usage of connected components, SMEs can predict when customers will need spare parts and ensure that the appropriate products are in stock. Proactively selling spare parts can also prevent lost sales to third-party suppliers.

Product development

By monitoring a machine's utilization, settings, and condition, appropriate adjustments can be made and product material and product design choices can be optimized.

Logistics

Sensors in large freight containers can receive real-time data on packages and report, for example, where a package is located, how often it is carried and its condition.

When companies link this information to their warehouse management system, they can increase efficiency and profitability, shorten delivery times and improve customer service.

Manufacturing processes

Detailed information on the condition, set points and consumption of manufacturing equipment can be used to identify problems affecting production levels and trigger appropriate countermeasures to increase equipment uptime and efficiency.

Fleet Management

Sensors can be used to monitor the speed, fuel consumption, mileage, number of stops and engine health of field service vehicles.

By monitoring vehicle condition and usage, repairs and maintenance can be planned to avoid unexpected vehicle breakdowns. In addition, fuel-wasting driving behavior can be identified and drivers can be given individual driving tips.

In addition to lower fuel costs and efficiency gains in maintenance and driving behavior, CO2 emissions can be reduced and the life expectancy of vehicles increased.

Transportation

SMEs can offer services based on IoT applications to support the smart city trend. Barcelona, for example, offers smart parking ticket machines that are operated via the citywide WLAN. They provide residents with information about available parking spaces and enable payment via smartphone.

Smart bus stops display up-to-the-minute arrival times and also provide passengers with real-time updates via touchscreens.

Agriculture

With the help of sensors, air and soil temperature, wind speed, humidity, solar radiation, rainfall, leaf moisture and fruit color can be determined.

Farms can optimize yields by using this data to adjust certain factors, such as irrigation times and amounts, and harvest schedules.

Medical care

IoT technologies enable physicians and hospitals to collect and organize data from connected medical devices as well as wearable devices and those used for home health monitoring.

With real-time data captured, physicians have a more comprehensive set of patient data and can examine interrelationships and optimize patient care through better diagnosis and treatment.

The right time for SMEs

Given the wide range of promising tools, now is exactly the right time for small and medium-sized businesses to get started.

Whether IoT applications are used to optimize supply chains, enhance customer information or manage energy consumption, all IoT applications have one thing in common: they need connectivity.

Data from remote sensors and devices must be combined with one or more enterprise backend systems. This includes integrating CRM, ERP, warehouse management, payroll systems, customer support or other applications to automatically trigger notifications or entire business processes or provide a comprehensive overview of all important information.

Choosing the right platform

A key success factor from a technical perspective is choosing the right system integration platform. It can provide the necessary data exchange and automation across all systems.

But not all integration platforms are created equal. When making their decision, companies should make sure to choose a user-friendly integration platform with the appropriate range of functions and pre-installed adapters for their main IT systems and in-memory computing capacities that enable fail-safe, real-time processing of the huge volumes of data generated by Internet-of-Things systems.