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Industrial transformation will put impact of consumer digital in the shade, says GE

The digital transformation of industry will be more dramatic than transformation of the consumer retail and media markets, reckons General Electric. “We have seen how retail has been remade, how media has been remade, how telecoms has been remade. The winners and losers in...

Rockwell takes $1bn stake in PTC to deliver on “promise of industrial IoT”

Rockwell Automation is to take a $1 billion stake in Needham-based industrial software maker PTC as part of a part of a strategic partnership to drive growth for both firms, and enable customers to make good on the "promise of industrial IoT." Rockwell Automation...

The impact of OT/IT convergence on manufacturing

We live in a world of continuous digital transformation. One technology obsoletes another, and the pattern repeats itself. For example, the invention of email has displaced the fax technology. Today we see another digital transformation caused by the industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT) — the convergence...

What is OPC UA TSN, and how does it work? (The long read, with Cisco and SAP)

The emergence of the OPC UA TSN communications stack, backed by a loose-knit consortium of automation specialists, is a key part of the developing industrial IoT narrative, with halting technological innovation and industrial transformation set to be kick-started by its release and deployment in...

OPC group responds to Kaspersky claims, Rockwell intros OPC UA support

The OPC Foundation has said security vulnerabilities found by Kaspersky Labs in its OPC-UA framework, designed for secure data transfer between clients and servers in industrial systems, were in fact discovered in outdated versions of the OPC UA protocol. Reviewing the Kaspersky Labs findings, from...

The IIoT interview (pt2): “Three is the magic number for digital ROI,” says Hitachi

Manufacturers should treble their money on digital transformation, at least, reckons Greg Kinsey, vice president of Hitachi Vantara. If the digital ROI does not stack up, before starting out, then they should down tools, and start over. If the it does, they should expect to...

When does XaaS make sense for industrial operations? (Reader Forum)

  The use of software as a service (SaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is well established in the enterprise data center. Now, industrial organizations are beginning to make tentative steps to XaaS offerings for their operational computing. However, there is some trepidation preventing...

From Accenture to Software AG: the top 10 industrial IoT platforms

Analyst house Gartner has put the leading IIoT platforms through their paces, and named the best in the business. Here, Enterprise IoT Insights reviews the Gartner review, and orders the results, to summarise the best industrial IoT platforms available to enterprises in the energy...

The IIoT interview (pt1): “It’s a two-speed market; the US doesn’t get it,” says Hitachi

The industrial ‘internet of things’ (IoT) market is geographically skewed, reckons one of its leading protagonists. Greg Kinsey, vice president of Japan-based Hitachi's Vantara business, says the US is way behind, fixated on sensors in factories, while European countries rewrite the industrial rule-book with...

Three ways to make (new) money from enterprise IoT data

A great number of enterprise IoT projects remain stuck in pilots, put aside for another day. Before they even start, the challenge is how to make money from, at least to cover the initial investment and take a first giant leap into the unknown....

PTC, Hitachi, SAP top Gartner review of IIoT platforms, but major challenges remain

PTC, Hitachi and SAP have come top of Gartner’s inaugural ‘magic quadrant’ for IIoT platforms, ahead of IBM, Software AG and Accenture. But the analyst house warned also that major challenges remain for IoT providers in the industrial space, including with market fragmentation and...

From factory floor to shop floor – four ways to be a smart manufacturer

“There are three ways to be smart in manufacturing,” says Michael Yost, president of manufacturing association MESA International. Three, it seems, is the magic number when it comes to categorising smartness in manufacturing. “When we talk about the digital transformation of industry, we talk...

Samsung announces new customers for its IoT platform

Customers using Samsung’s ARTIK IoT platform for manufacturing, remote asset monitoring and smart buildings Smart factories, intelligent buildings and asset managers are currently using Samsung Electronics’ ARTIK IoT solutions to achieve return of investment through improved operational productivity, the South Korean company said. “Better asset management,...

Smart city providers exploring value-based pricing to make NB-IoT pay, says Cisco

The ‘internet of things’ (IoT) market is moving towards new value-based and event-based pricing, led by smart cities and industrial operatives, according to Cisco. Until now, device-as-a-service, and latterly anonymised data sharing with third-parties, have thrived as business models in the nascent IoT space. However,...

IoT management revenues to top $20bn as industrial devices get edgier

Revenues from internet-of-things (IoT) device management will top $20.5 billion within five years, with 70 per cent coming in the industrial, automotive, and telematics sectors, according to ABI Research. Revenues from device management services – including device provisioning, software and firmware updates, and device monitoring...

The IIoT interview: “It’s a huge breakthrough for factories,” says Cisco

Cisco appears to have found its rhythm in the enterprise IoT space by integrating communications technologies and data streams in its Kinetic platform for smart factories and smart cities. Enterprise IoT Insights caught up with Bryan Tantzen, in charge of its manufacturing IoT business,...

Dell and Microsoft intro integrated edge-computing stack for industrial IoT

Dell Technologies and Microsoft have launched an integrated ‘internet of things’ (IoT) offering to simplify management, enhance security and reduce the cost of edge devices in industrial settings. The solution is targeted at predictive maintenance and supply chain monitoring, among industrial IoT use cases. The...

Three reasons why three-quarters of IIoT projects fail, according to Cisco

Three quarters of enterprise-based ‘internet of things’ (IoT) projects are failing, reckons US networking specialist Cisco. This is an alarming statistic, especially when considered in the context of the head-spinning growth of new IoT deployments. Analyst house IDC calculates the total base of installed IoT...

Rolls-Royce taps German engineering school to bolster AI capabilities

Rolls-Royce has signed a deal with the Hasso Plattner Institute, a finishing school for digital engineering in Germany, to enhance the British engine maker’s capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI) and data security. The pair signed a memorandum of understanding at the ILA Berlin Air Show...

Manufacturers want 5G for factory automation, but there’s a gap in standards

Ultra reliability and low latency of 5G a major enabler of factory automation, robotics and other industrial use cases With the right technological stack in place, manufacturers could eventually operate what's called a "lights-out" facility wherein factory automation solutions--think smart, connected robots--could supplant the need...

How Nuevo León became the heartland for Industry 4.0 in Mexico

The state of Nuevo León in northern Mexico contributes eight per cent of the nation’s GDP with only four per cent of its population, according to the state government. It is also on the receiving end of the most foreign direct investment (FDI) of...

German Aerospace Centre shows off AI and robotics for Industry 4.0

Among the showier turns at Hannover Messe in Germany last week, the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) lifted the hood on its innovations, providing a glimpse of the application of Industry 4.0 artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. Germany spent almost €89 billion on research and development...

Car-makers struggling with smart factories, despite promise of 50% profit-boost

Leading automotive manufacturers can expect to realise a remarkable 50 per cent jump in operating profits within five years of implementing a full smart factory set-up, according to new research. But car makers are so far struggling with the concept and technologies, it found. Consultancy...

IIoT security is hopeful at best, reckons the Hannover consensus

Completely securing the industrial ‘internet of things’ (IIoT) is hopeful at best, according to companies and analysts at Hannover Messe last week. The Germany-based industrial fair was focused on connecting factories and supply chains; the process to secure new devices and networks was the principle...