By Cory Vanderpool, Business Development Director, Magnum Energy

The Internet of Things (IoT) is no longer just a buzzword or emerging trend but is helping progress technology, resulting in innovative solutions to solve challenges; today it readily incorporates new sensors and other embedded platforms.

Data collection has changed. It used to require guidance from individual users whereas now sensors are programmed to record data without requiring any expertise and minimal interaction. Through the rise of automation and IoT, the number of connected devices has been growing along with the amount of data derived.

Sensors and the IoT
Data collected through sensors helps users measure and monitor valuable information. During product development, connected sensors on product componentry that can gather and deliver real-time information about the performance of the product or the individual components and materials is almost always considered and is being adopted tenfold. In fact, IHS forecasts that the IoT market will grow to an installed base of 30.7 billion devices in 2020 and increase to 75.4 billion in 2025.

And, more recently, Markets and Markets analysts reported that the IoT technology market is expected to be valued at $639.74 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 25.1% from 2017 to 2022.

IoT and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things, Industry 4.0) forecasts reflect a growing focus on driving results using sensor-based data and creating analytically rich data sets. IoT sensors and devices are expected to exceed mobile phones as the largest category of connected devices in 2018. From sensitive medical equipment to aircrafts and automotive engines, placing sensors on parts as they go through their design and development evolution delivers critical data related to performance, safety, durability, and more.

Remote condition monitoring
Based on the information received and analyzed, manufacturers can help customers and clients avoid breakdowns and performance problems. These companies could then use the data collected for their design-in engineering processes by revising the design of products and components to achieve more durable and higher performing technology. Furthermore, no longer would teams of people have to travel to visit production sites to record their findings manually. Data from the IoT could draw immediate attention, followed by corrective action, such as repair, maintenance, or replacement.

Manufacturers of really any type of equipment can leverage the IoT in nearly all stages of the manufacturing process. Data on how resources are used within the facility can help to optimize manufacturing production schedules and allow companies to better capitalize on opportunities for savings or plant improvements. Using sensors to collect data can also help companies to benchmark their equipment once it leaves their facility. They can log and compare data from equipment in different locations or where equipment is placed in different operating environments and see how they perform comparatively. This process could unearth hidden operational inefficiencies that would otherwise go undetected until a fatal failure occurs. Lastly, manufacturers could use and analyze the data they receive to offer more appropriate preventative maintenance and warranty programs. Instead of only getting calls when things go wrong, sensor data could help manufacturers to get alerts for service when something is needed, based on the performance of the equipment going out of the prescribed parameters for optimal performance.

This aspect of IoT and manufacturing is often referred to as remote condition monitoring (RCM). RCM is one of a number of basic services that can have a fundamentally positive impact on customer service quality. The ability to access product status information in real time is invaluable for support services, especially because it makes for much more efficient root cause analysis and solution development. The obvious next step becomes predictive maintenance where the use of sensors for things like thermal imaging, vibration analysis, sonic and ultrasonic analysis, and emissions allow for the detection of problems before they even occur.

Security, privacy issues
Although the promise of IoT is strong, there are still challenges that exist. One of the primary concerns is related to security and privacy. When left unsecure, connected devices that are more continuously transmitting can open doors to attacks, endangering not only the consumer but also the companies utilizing the IoT on their assembly lines.

Another topic of discussion, which is prevalent across many sensor technologies, is standardization. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) looking to deploy innovative, IoT solutions need to navigate an ever-growing list of connected technology to determine which solutions are compliant and which are best for integration into their ecosystem. This is no easy feat. One of the other concerns, which is a bit more nebulous, is determine how to effectively use the data provided. Collecting copious amounts of data is not challenging, the magic lies in what that data means to not only the user, but even more importantly, to the manufacturer.

Conclusion: Sensors in the IoT are affective
We can see there are tremendous possibilities for manufacturers to take advantage of sensors to extract information from the field. And with the growth of the IoT – now and in the long-term – it’s ever more vital for these interconnected devices and equipment to share performance data. While there are a few albeit addressable concerns, by taking a smart approach, manufacturers can successfully track performance – leading to better product performance. And in the long run, this benefits everyone.

Cleveland, Ohio -- In a tradition dating to the 1600s, businesses in the United States are giving families time to reflect on the things for which we are thankful. Read more about the history of the Thanksgiving holiday here. 

Crozet, Virginia – The latest medical 3D printing industry report from SmarTech Publishing projects a disruptive impact for a number of key 3D printing technologies and applications within the multi-billion dollar orthotics and prosthetics (O&P) market over the coming decade. Early research and applications have demonstrated a unique ability for 3D printing to completely revolutionize business models and access to custom and functional prosthetic and orthotic medical devices. Further adoption of 3DP in O&P markets from today’s early innovators is projected to eventually impact an estimated 35 percent of all devices produced, while generating hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact and revenue opportunities for 3D printing solutions.

Early experiments with 3D printing of orthotic and prosthetic devices have proven 3D printing, as a digitally enabled process, can expand access to medical devices through disruptive cost-to-value ratio and flexible on-demand manufacturing.

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The report focuses much of its 120 pages of content and market analysis on applications and industry adoption of 3D printing in orthotic and prosthetic devices, including upper and lower extremity prosthetic applications, to the manufacture of orthotic insoles and ankle-foot orthotic style braces.

Report features include:

• Ten year revenue opportunity forecasts for sale of printers by technology, print material by form factor and polymer/alloy family, print services by device type, and software by tool functionality
• Penetration and economic impact analysis of adoption of 3D printing in the existing markets for prosthetic and orthotic devices, including total market valuation of printed medical devices or device components where relevant, and the penetration of 3D printing as a production process compared to incumbent methods of manufacturing
• Production volume forecasts for printed prosthetics, orthotics, and related components by device type through 2027, split by print material where relevant

From the report

• The manufacture of custom orthotic insoles using polymer powder bed fusion and material extrusion 3D printing technologies are expected to disrupt the business model and care structure for custom orthotics worldwide, and may significantly shift the role of the podiatrist in the dispensing of orthotic insoles in the future. This could spark adoption of low cost printing technologies directly in-office by foot care specialists.
• In prosthetics, 3D printing holds promise as a production process to upend the traditional market where prosthetic devices often cost between $10,000 and $50,000 or more, and only have an expected useful product lifecycle of five years or less. Digital manufacturing allows not only for the potential for the creation of much more accessible devices from a cost perspective, but also for a much more sustainable approach to life-long amputee care through a digitally powered process using scanning and imaging technology.

3D printing technology is often heralded as a digital manufacturing technology. And for some reason, this really gets a lot of people excited. What’s the big deal? 3D printing takes a digitally designed part in the form of a converted CAD file, and then makes the part in an automated and computer controlled process. So what? The world has been using computer controlled manufacturing technologies for a long time.

What if I now told you that 3D printing technology is not only a digital manufacturing technology, but it is the digital manufacturing technology. Well, obviously this wouldn’t really be true, for a couple reasons. First off, we just established that digital manufacturing has been in existence and widely utilized for some time. Secondly, a lot of what is 3D printed today doesn’t really qualify under “manufacturing” in the context of fabrication of production parts going into products and systems as a final component.

And yet, I would still stand by that statement -3D printing is indeed the digital manufacturing technology. At least for the future. How? This is where 3D printing software comes in to really expand the idea.

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Making a model or a prototype or a final use part using a computer controlled technology isn’t the revolution. The revolution is in applying vastly available digital resources to empower manufacturing. Things like near-infinite cloud computing power. 3D printing is the digital manufacturing technology because physics-based limitations are alleviated, and the ability to actually digitally control the manufacturing process is increased by orders of magnitude, all through the concept of layer-by-layer manufacturing. In fact, don’t think about 3D printing processes like metal powder bed fusion or photopolymerization as building parts, think about them as distributing mass in a volume of physical space.

Software is often referred to as the glue which holds together the hardware and materials in 3D printing. But for the future, not only is it the glue connecting these two other elements, but it will also become the catalyst by which the potential of advanced digital manufacturing can be realized. In our latest report for software for 3D printing, SmarTech explores the current efforts to actualize through 3D printing digital manufacturing software concepts which have existed for nearly a decade or more, but which haven’t yet been able to be fully exploited. Thanks to additive manufacturing, all of that will change.

We aren’t simply talking about designing digitally and then using computers to control a machine to fabricate the design. We’re talking about totally rethinking how parts and products are designed, function, optimized, made, qualified, and certified.