By Jim Fitch
Machinery Lubrication Magazine
The industrial internet of things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0 are already unleashing enormous value in plants around the world. It seems that today’s younger, digital workforce is the energy that propels this change. Past efforts had been sluggish to say the least.
Modern consumer products have put connected devices in our pocket, on our wrist, in our ears, in our car and throughout our home. IoT is projected to deliver between $1.9 and $4.7 trillion of economic value by 2025. The IIoT for asset monitoring is expected to produce $200-$500 billion in economic value by 2025. Condition-based maintenance (CBM), involving real-time sensing and predictive maintenance, is viewed as the “easy win” among all IIoT applications. Many new online sensors are being introduced each year (see Figure 1).