Over the past three decades, the manufacturing industry has been undergoing a significant transformation, one that leverages smart building technology to deliver new efficiencies in safety, energy usage, and enhanced employee productivity.
Such building automation is powered by the internet of things (IoT) technologies, enabling deep insights into how a building’s systems are performing and allowing managers to make critical and timely decisions about a range of functions, including machine performance, building security, maintenance, employee comfort, and more.
Smart building applications enable efficiencies in the manufacturing facility, but their true value can be measured in the bottom line as their implementation translates directly to greater cost savings from end-to-end.
Some of the most current smart building trends in manufacturing include:
Network emergency lighting
Monitor emergency lighting compliance within the facility from a single dashboard. EMIoT technology allows remote monitoring and energy savings while freeing up plant personnel and resources for higher value tasks.
Enhanced security
Sensors monitor employee movement and access, providing valuable insights, reducing waste, and ensuring plant safety at all times. Access can be fully controlled at a macro level to prevent unauthorised entry and monitor presence more accurately.
Increased safety
Safety is a significant concern in manufacturing, where the presence of complex machinery increases the risk of dangerous malfunctions and breakdowns causing injury. Machine monitoring reduces the potential for breakdowns, while smart smoke alarms, HVAC systems, and improved security systems fortify the safety of your teams at all times.
HVAC monitoring
Smart HVAC systems allow you to monitor the status of your heating and cooling systems, optimising energy use and reducing costs while still providing comfortable working conditions when and where required.
More efficient use of personnel
The employees in a manufacturing plant are always on the go. In a large facility, it is impossible to be in several places at once, but smart technology allows them to connect to each other and monitor system and machine status in real-time. This reduces unnecessary activities and enables better time management throughout the day, helping the entire plant to run more efficiently as a result.
Machine performance monitoring
In a more traditionally-designed manufacturing workflow, machine downtime and loss of productivity are often issues. IoT sensors can monitor machine performance and alert key personnel to slowdowns that may affect production. Additionally, they can often prevent downtime completely by allowing technicians to anticipate and correct faults before they cause a major disruption.
Fully connected workforce
Personal devices can be connected within the manufacturing environment, allowing your teams—no matter how large or diversely positioned—the ability to collaborate in real-time. This reduces time-to-act and supports a fast and effective decision-making workflow.
The transformation to smart buildings
Smart building technology deployed on the IoT network continues to improve business processes, bringing new efficiencies, revitalising productivity, and affecting cost savings through many channels. Companies that have begun their digital transformation can easily take advantage of these advancements and start to realise immediate benefits.
Most manufacturing companies are already applying digital solutions to improve core processes, so advancing to an IoT environment is the next logical step. IoT leverages the data produced by various systems and translates it into actionable insights, supporting management functions and opening the doors to better decision-making while enabling business growth.
What is EMIoT and how can it help?
WBS smart building technology is delivered through our EMIoT platform and can be configured and scaled to your specific needs. While our core technology centres around emergency lighting and energy-saving, EMIoT allows you to deploy a wide range of IoT smart devices on the system, providing you with a user-friendly foundation from which to grow your smart manufacturing facility.
Visit the EMIoT Page to learn more or contact us today.
