IIoT in action: Transforming industrial operations

June 13, 2018 11:17 am

Shankar Karnik,
General Manager Industrial, ExxonMobil Lubricants Pvt Ltd
Higher use of automation and data exchange in any specific industry will enhance efficiency, improve profitability, foster innovation, and allow smart management of safety, performance and environmental impact.

IIoT and the future of manufacturing
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has become the buzzword for many industries, ranging from telecom, logistics, manufacturing et al. As these industries evolve, the need for accelerating the efficiency and productivity of various operational processes is rising, relatively.

Talking specifically about manufacturing, Shankar Karnik, General Manager Industrial, ExxonMobil Lubricants Pvt Ltd, says, “We see a lot of manufacturers adopting IIoT enabled technologies. A recent survey – Data’s Big Impact on Manufacturing, revealed that 70 per cent of the 200
manufacturing executives, plan to invest significant resources in data analytics technology in the near future.”

IIoT helps in catalysing and transforming various industrial operations. It is of paramount importance in bringing about the revolutionary benefits of predictive and proactive maintenance, real-time monitoring, resource optimisation, efficient diagnosis and much more. It enables a connected, smart manufacturing enterprise by enhancing decision making, increasing security and productivity, profitability as well as improving overall collaboration across the enterprise. It provides the right information at the right time, to help optimise operations.

Moreover, with the government laying impetus on domestic manufacturing during the 2018 budget announcement, entrepreneurs are being encouraged to lead more manufacturing ventures in the days to come.
Hence, given the promising offerings of IIoT, and the overall government agenda of boosting the manufacturing sector, Karnik foresee increased investments in IIoT related technologies. Further he adds, “It has become essential for the sector to invest in efficient technologies and automation solutions now, in order to be in sync with the dynamic needs of the new age customer.”

Sectors that will drive IIoT adoption
According to a latest research, the Internet of Things (IoT) market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 28.2 per cent during 2016-22. The Indian IoT market is largely dominated by IIoT followed by consumer IoT. Higher use of automation and data exchange in any specific industry will enhance efficiency, improve profitability, foster innovation, and allow smart management of safety, performance and environmental impact. As a result, companies across India and the globe are increasingly turning to IIoT to avail these benefits. The IIoT segment hence, is registering a remarkable growth.

Government’s Digital India campaign is also a driver in spreading awareness and adoption of IoT amongst end users.

With the mounting emphasis laid on factors such as operational efficiency, optimal outcomes and effective resource management, multitudes of industries are deploying IIoT aided automation technologies for their industrial units. These technologies bring together the physical and digital world to enable man and machine make informed, real time decisions delivering a safe, efficient and sustainable environment.

The sectors adopting IIoT technologies at a relatively faster rate include energy, manufacturing, plastics, steel, mining, and infrastructure as these sectors are the propellants of economic growth and development in the country.

ExxonMobil’s preparedness in the area of IIoT
ExxonMobil has always played part in the progress of the industrial revolutions, where industrial lubrication ensured optimum equipment performance. For over 150 years, innovation has been its core focus in providing the best lubricant solutions for manufacturers, where ExxonMobil continues to make breakthrough innovations that redefine the power of lubrication.

Karnik informs, “One major issue that has been pertinent for the manufacturing sector is the performance of heavy duty machinery. Lubricants play a crucial role in ensuring consistent protection and performance of equipment to minimise financial losses. That said, oil-health analysis becomes a quintessential program that ensures reduced downtime and increased reliability of equipment.”

However, the traditional oil analysis process is laborious and costly, and may cause unscheduled downtime, production delays and reduced operational efficiency. Furthermore, the diagnosis from the analysis could also impact their productivity, safety, and environmental goals.

Industrial lubricant and greases makers are therefore shifting towards digitised lubrication practices.

ExxonMobil, with a long history of working with equipment manufacturers, worked to develop a modern, app based platform. A model of ‘Mobil going Mobile’ was developed to reach every end-user through a regular and convenient operational interface.

Mobil Serv Lubricant Analysis (MSLA), a mobile-enabled used oil analysis program was launched in 2016. MSLA is designed to enhance efficiency and simplify the oil healthy analysis process by replacing a paperwork-heavy approach with a simple, intuitive mobile-enabled service platform that reduces the number of steps involved in the used oil analysis process. MSLA is a solution; manufacturers need to take to move towards Industry 4.0 and digitisation.
The platform streamlines the entire oil analysis process – from initial sample gathering to final reporting, with QR coded scan-and-go sampling bottles that deliver used oil samples to ExxonMobil’s oil analysis laboratory. Customers can also leverage application-specific analysis options which allow them to access results and perform customised equipment recommendations directly on their mobiles or tablet devices, saving them from unnecessary downtime that could affect production output and delivery deadlines.

With ExxonMobil’s MSLA program, operators can now look forward to increased productivity and performance from their equipment – the analysis helps identify issues that can be mitigated with minimal downtime, reduce the amount of lubricant needed to operate machinery, and improve and extend overall machine life.