Easing Business Operations with IoT

Originally published: December 10, 2019 09:49:19 AM, updated: November 19, 2022 12:00:00 AM

Whether you are an IT entrepreneur or an individual sitting at home, it is quite unlikely that you haven’t heard of IoT yet. According to a report by Gartner, over 6.4 billion gadgets have already been connected to the internet for common use. So, it is likely that even if you have no idea about IoT, you have in some way used it.

What probes now is why IoT has become a buzzword in today’s world and whether it will continue to be on our list in the future, or become a chimerical concept.

But for now, the Internet of Things (IoT) seems worthwhile, and to quote tech-gurus, we could be very close to realizing IoT on a full scale.

When people are this sceptic about IoT, it becomes essential to spread out news on how lethal it could be for day-to-day life and businesses.

Here, you will read how IoT will help ease business operations in the future.

IoT Benefits for Companies

Automation

The workforce that constitutes a company is often limited. While decreasing the workforce would increase burdens on the staff, hiring extra staff increases operational expenditure. It thus becomes essential to look for alternatives that are not only cost-effective but also efficient enough to handle operations that would otherwise engage a big workforce.

Many looks upon IoT as a transient solution to this problem.

With the interlinking of devices with one another and to the internet, many operations will become automatic.

So far, the tech to fully automatize the industry had not existed. So, the scope of automation was contained to basic menial tasks that did not demand much decision-making. With the advanced intellect that IoT has, it is soon expected to replace humans in jobs that require impulsive decision-making.

More skilled

We are only as skilled and intellectual as our brains. Though with practice and learning, it is possible to whet our intelligence, we cannot outgun computers.

It would not be an understatement to say that machines are more skilled than humans. Not only are machines consistent, but function faster and more accurately than most intelligent humans.

When it comes to partially replacing the workforce, IoT can be deployed to take care of the industry’s most mind-boggling jobs such as R&D. This would not only save a huge expenditure for the company, but also expedite operations that would have otherwise taken months to complete.

Facilitate remote working

Unlike humans, machines do not go for vacations, and neither catch flu. Give or take, your employee works for no more than 300 days in a year, and is still paid for 365 days.

Another benefit that you can reap by unleashing IoT for business operations is facilitating remote working. You can use your computer network to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, without spending a penny on anything except maintenance.

You will also have the privilege to remotely guide the system with an interactive application on your smartphone, and there would be little chance that the computer will misinterpret your directives. And since the required Dedicated and VPS hosting technology to connect devices already exists, setting up remote working environment won’t be an issue either.

Enhanced security

There’s nothing worse than business-critical information disseminating through your employees.

With IoT, you can have the computer network to handle and work on the confidential information that you fear losing when worked upon by humans. To top the security a bit more, you can configure the IoT network with several security tools and eradicate the possibility of losing your data.

Inventory Management

There are countless possibilities with IoT, especially for businesses that are into supply chain management.

The entire chain can be streamlined into a well-defined process with the use of IoT. Inventories can be better managed and dispatched from warehouses to the stores. For stores, the system will be intelligent enough to work out the probable ‘stock-out’ time and date, and will automatically generate requests to the warehouse.

This will avoid any possible disruptions in activities and result in a smooth operation. Smooth operations will then translate to a better clientele and a flourishing business.

Inter-business linkage

It is a common practice among giant firms to bifurcate operations, and then inaugurate separate establishments to take care of each of these operations.

Rather than rationalizing operations, this bifurcation works negatively and hampers the liaison and coordination among these miniature firms. However, companies cannot completely scrape off assimilating into smaller entities because it helps the parent company to reap privileges granted to small-scale firms by federal laws.

IoT can help quell this chaos while coordinating by interlinking the network between the two firms. While each of these firm’s IoTs can continue to work independently, a common linkage can secure and alleviate the liaison.

Implement Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)

What nourishes organizational growth is the readiness with which it implements changes and strives towards perfection.

Striving towards betterment is not as easy as it sounds, and the first step of ‘identifying the problem’ is often the biggest roadblock on the path to perfection.

The most immediate and observable change that the IoT had on the industry was the implementation of chatbots. Not only were these bots 10 times more intelligent than humans, but also dumped more data in a week than humans had collected in years. The data thus obtained helped elucidate customer problems. Being aware of the problems gave companies a head-start towards implementing their TPM programs, and eventually, in last 5 years, the industry is said to have undergone 5 times more change than it has undergone in last 2 decades.

Takeaway

The recent developments in IoT have manifested how useful this technology can be in the spectrum of enhancing customer experience and reducing exorbitant costs. With what exists now, it will be worth watching if this technology will continue to be as useful as it has been since its inception.

Author Bio

Nishant is a writer by hobby and fortunately also by his profession. A state-level tennis player, Nishant has written short stories, poems, and snippets for a number of blogs (including his own). He has an active appearance on Go4hosting belvedere, always ready for the enthusiast technical approach.