How often do you check your phone at work? Maybe you’re reading this article on it right now.
(Don’t worry, we won’t tell.)
Smartphones were a revolution for workplace distractions, but they can also be tools for productivity.
I recently attended the IBM Watson IoT Exchange event in Orlando, the AI giant’s annual conference for its Watson solutions, bringing together users and developers of multiple IBM IoT products including Maximo enterprise asset management (EAM).
As I attended the keynotes and workshops of the Maximo stream, I noticed a trend: several of the featured monitoring, analytics and asset management solutions required or recommended the use of a consumer electronic device, such as a smartphone, consumer tablet or augmented reality headset.
A few of the users I spoke to at the event had reservations about utilizing consumer electronics in the industrial environment. For example, over lunch, one engineer working for a large firm on a military base explained to me that no matter what security features are implemented, there’s just no way he’d ever be able to bring smartphones onto the base to give to maintenance technicians. In a demo of an acoustic monitoring solution, several participants asked about hardware options—such as industrial microphones and ruggedized industrial PCs—citing concerns about the durability of consumer smartphones in the factory environment.
Given the risks and the manufacturers’ tendency to be wary of new tech, why are ideas like bring-your-own-device (BYOD) strategies seemingly gaining traction in industrial enterprises? And why are industrial software solutions providers like IBM, PTC and others recommending the use of these devices?
IBM Watson IoT on the Factory Floor
Stephan Biller, VP and Chief Innovation Officer at IBM Watson IoT
“Many of our customers want iOS devices or Android devices because they have them already,” said Biller. “These devices are getting better by the day [because] the consumer technology train goes much faster than the industrial technology train. So, you're getting much better capabilities from a consumer device.”
One of the main concerns with using consumer devices in a factory comes from their fragility. However, Biller calls this a basic cost-benefit decision: “Maybe five years ago people would say, ‘no way I'm going to have an iPad in my factory, it's going to break.’ Okay. So, you're going to buy an industrial device that's ten times as expensive so that it won’t break? How many iPads are breaking? One out of a hundred?”
Counterpoint: Industrial Sensors Should Be Used for Industrial Sensing
Douglas Andrea is CEO of Andrea Electronics, which specializes in digital array microphones and other industrial sensors. These represent the alternatives to strapping an iPhone to a piece of equipment. Andrea also attended the IoT Exchange conference, and was quick to hand a business card to any engineer with doubts about the utility of consumer tech in the factory.
“The IoT market is emerging quickly now, and it’s becoming a reality for large manufacturers or utility plants to start considering monitoring their equipment with IoT sensor devices,” Andrea said. “But there are not a lot of custom sensors out there for industrial IoT. So, that’s why [companies like IBM] are using these devices for proof of concept. They're using smartphones and tablets as makeshift sensors. However, this is obviously very expensive, and companies don't want workers to walk away with these phones because the workers think that they can just take them home and use them for their personal use.”
According to Andrea, consumer devices are useful for these short-lived proof-of-concept tests or trials, but they aren’t the ideal long-term monitoring solution.
“Industrial customers want a low cost solution that gets the data from the machine to the cloud and the dashboard to monitor these things,” he said. “They need quite a few sensors; hundreds, maybe, depending on the size of the operation, or thousands. And if you want to put numerous sensors on one machine, it's just cost prohibitive to making them go out and buy consumer cell phones and strap them on. And it's also the form factor—it’s clumsy. It's not designed for that. So, new forms of low-cost sensors that have the proper form factor for attaching to machinery need to be developed now as the segment emerges.”
Of course, you can do more with a smartphone than collect data. Besides sensor or equipment monitoring solutions, smartphones and tablets also have communication and information access applications that could aid maintenance workers in the field. “That's different,” said Andrea. “I think these field applications make a lot of sense. They can have a tablet device for larger screen. They can also use tools such as augmented reality headsets. So, I think that's going to also develop into more specialized equipment.
“I think right now the smartphone and tablet make sense and work pretty well for a maintenance person using tools such as AI feedback, virtual manuals and instructions to service equipment, getting the most updated information in real-time. However, I think you'll see these devices being sold in the future in high-end and ruggedized versions.”
Smartphones in Factories
Consumer smartphones are communication devices that include several built-in sensors. When an application requires a communication device, they’re great. When the application requires a sensor device, the smartphone is being used for something other than what it was originally designed for, which may not be optimal.
Stephan Biller’s cost-benefit argument is a good one: consumer devices are simple and easy to use, and they may be the best option for some customers. For those users looking for a more specialized sensor device, industrial microphones are an option.
“It's exciting for Andrea as a microphone company and an OEM supplier to see acoustic monitoring as part of the sensors for IoT applications,” said Andrea. “Acoustic analytics is becoming a potential dominant feedback source for AI tools and for speech applications. So, I'm very excited about the growth of applications for microphones in industry.”
For more information on the tools described in this article, check out IBM Maximo Asset Performance Management (APM) Equipment Maintenance Assistant and Acoustic Insights, part of the Maximo Production Quality Insights (PQI) SaaS solution.
For more on industrial IoT, check out The Connected Factory and More: 5 Examples of How IIoT is Changing Manufacturing.