Recent research by Vodafone showed that 84 percent of businesses that had begun to adopt Internet of Things (IoT) technologies found they had a positive impact on their ability to function during the pandemic. The research, based on a survey of more than 1,600 businesses, was carried out for the Vodafone IoT Spotlight in May
As manufacturers reopen their plants and bring furloughed employees back to work, they face two major challenges. Safety and public health now require extra distance between workers, which can mean fewer workers per shift. And the economic climate means manufacturers need to optimize productivity to compete and survive. These challenges might seem to put companies
The Swift Sensors standard bridge is engineered for food and beverage manufacturing plant areas where water, cleaning solutions, and other chemicals come into contact with monitoring equipment. A ruggedized IoT networking solution, the water-resistant Power over Ethernet (PoE) standard bridge 1011 features an IP54-rated enclosure, a single cable for power and Ethernet, 256-bit AES enterprise
Protecting workers’ health and safety is key to getting manufacturing back online. As supply chains restart and stay-at-home rules ease, factories are starting to reopen. But production lines and factory floors look quite different from before the pandemic. Now, plants must give workers enough space to prevent the spread of viral particles. They should also
Every manufacturer wants to get the most value from their equipment investment because replacing machinery is expensive and disruptive. However, downtime and production errors caused by aging equipment failures are costly, too. Unplanned downtime costs industrial manufacturers an estimated $50 billion per year. To avoid replacement expenses and unplanned downtime costs, a growing number of
Solving customer problems and earning repeat business are central challenges for any business, but in manufacturing, the stakes tend to be higher than average. When a manufacturing customer has a problem with a product, it may cause costly downtime. The longer it takes to fix the issue, the more expensive the customer’s problem becomes. This
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of life, including the economy. As industries work to adapt to a “new normal” of shifting consumer and B2B demand, new ways of working, and profound financial impacts, many businesses are seeking ways to stay afloat with fewer resources. That search may lead businesses to adopt some
Manufacturing executives, recruiters and hiring managers know firsthand what we see in the headlines: there’s a shortage of workers to fill open manufacturing jobs, and that shortage is expected to grow in the next few years. This skills gap is caused by factors like low unemployment, a wave of worker retirements and what the National
Manufacturers need to continuously improve efficiency and productivity to stay competitive. This has always been true. Now, though, the IIoT and machine learning are helping manufacturers identify areas for improvement faster than ever before, creating a competitiveness gap between industrial manufacturing businesses that have already adopted IIoT tools and those that haven’t. Because of the