7 Industries That Benefit the Most from IoT

Adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) has grown significantly in the last couple of years. Many industry sectors are now realizing just how advantageous it can be to have devices that are connected to the Internet at all times. Connected technology is also changing the way many companies do business and giving them a competitive edge in the process. Here are seven industries that are currently making the most from IoT.

1. Smart Homes

While home automation technology has been around since before the Internet, new connected devices has made it more popular and accessible to a greater number of people. IoT devices can bring immense benefits to both residential and commercial buildings.

Some automation devices, such as digital assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home, can be deployed both at home and in the office. They can interface with a variety of automation systems and devices to make life simpler for users. For example, one can issue a voice command to dim the lights in the room or to turn on a fan.

In addition to being convenient, IoT devices can help optimize the use of resources and boost a building’s energy efficiency. Automated systems can monitor the status of lighting systems, appliances like refrigerators and a building’s entire HVAC installation. These systems can make automatic adjustments that make all of a building’s systems function in the most energy-efficient way possible.

Smart electrical meters are also being deployed in many areas. This new generation of meters can be read remotely by the power company, eliminating the need for manual readings. As these meters give a real-time information on power use to the utility company, it becomes easier to predict future demand, spot conditions that could lead to outages and schedule repair work.

2. Transportation

Smart sensors are becoming a lot more common in commercial vehicles like trucks and buses. They make part of an entire system that helps plan routes to optimize fuel consumption, schedule maintenance work while minimizing service disruption and train new drivers. These systems can also help make sure vehicles are being operated safely, which can reduce a company’s insurance premiums.

Connected road infrastructure is being developed and tested. Similar to systems already in use on railroads, it will interface with devices on commercial vehicles to reduce road hazards and road congestion.

3. Manufacturing

Out of all industries being changed by IoT, manufacturing is perhaps the largest. Thanks to IoT solutions, manufacturing facilities can reduce the time it takes to put out a finished product and conserve materials, which is not only good for the environment, but also helps companies save a lot of money.

Smart sensors are now being deployed across manufacturing facilities all around the world. These sensors collect data about a machine’s performance and can be connected to a system that makes automatic adjustment. They can also detect components that are faulty or nearing the end of their useful life.

4. Supply Chain

In warehousing and shipping applications, sensors can be deployed on vehicles to measure environmental variables like temperature. This is particularly important when handling goods like food, as it ensures they make it to their destination in a safe condition.

A variety of IoT devices, including smart sensors, can be deployed throughout the supply chain to identify products and track their position as they move. They can greatly improve the efficiency of the entire operation by preventing bottlenecks.

5. Agriculture

The agricultural industry can greatly benefit from sensors that can be remotely read at all times. Smart sensors can monitor factors like air quality, humidity, soil profiles, levels of chemicals in the soil and so on. Greenhouses have been using similar devices to track humidity and temperature for decades, but the new versions can be monitored remotely from any location.

6. Healthcare

The deployment of IoT in healthcare can enable institutions like hospitals to provide a higher level of patient care and potentially save lives by preventing mistakes and oversights. The IDC predicts that the healthcare sector is the industry which will experience the highest growth of IoT deployment in the coming years.

There are a lot of things IoT devices can be used for in the healthcare field. For example, medical imagery equipment can automatically share images with a patient’s entire medical team, while connected equipment can automatically alert staff members if a fault condition exists, making troubleshooting easier.

7. Energy

Smart energy grids are now in use in many regions. They rely on a variety of IoT devices to monitor the status of various components and automatically optimize the use of resources. Oil and gas companies are deploying IoT devices to make it easier to measure how their drilling is going.

The data collected is used to adapt the pressure and speed of the drilling, which makes the whole process a lot more efficient. The end result is less wasted resources, which helps reduce environmental damage and keeps operating costs down.

The Internet of Things is becoming a greater part of our daily lives. Many people are now using IoT devices in their homes. At the same time, several industry sectors are realizing that these devices can make their operations more efficient, which cuts down on costs and benefits the environment by reducing toxic emissions and wasted material.