Today, industrial manufacturing companies are facing greater operational and regulatory burdens than ever before. And while most companies have a strong annual focus on growing financially, the new realities of the business climate have made many organizations see that growth can only occur if operations are efficient and harmonized with sustainability initiatives. This is where Industrial Energy Management (IEM) can and does play a big role for many companies in helping companies see and handle the larger overall energy picture.

LNS Research was pleased to be among the industry media and analyst guests at Rockwell Automation’s RSTechED event last month in Orlando, FL. This was the 17th annual event series, which is geared around education and competency in the latest automation and information offerings for Rockwell Automation and partner attendees.

A lot has been made about the future promises (and rightly so) of the Internet of Things (IoT). Indeed, as one of the major and potentially transformative overarching tech trends coming into focus, the possibilities for production, maintenance, fulfillment, customer service and more within the manufacturing sphere have created a massive buzz.

Management systems like those represented in the ISO standards and others have a major impact on what happens in the industrial setting. Whether we’re discussing those aimed at quality, environment, health and safety, risk, social responsibility, or energy management, each is designed to provide structure around resources—processes, procedures, and personnel—while enabling continuous improvement.

If some self-proclaimed tech prophets are correct, in a couple of years you’d be reading an article like this on some form of wearable technology. These prognostications are a little strong, and while the hype over wearable tech may be vast, it would be folly to underestimate its potential.

As asset performance has become an increasingly important aspect of manufacturing profitability, companies are rushing to adopt progressive maintenance practices. Predictive, Condition-Based, and Reliability-Centered maintenance are now among the topics trending on the web.

For manufacturers, the prospect of predictive maintenance is an exciting concept in cost savings and efficiency, and one that can potentially transform the way a business operates (and already has, for some). While the enabling technologies of Big Data and the Internet of Things (IoT) have a long way to evolve, there are a number of things your company can do to get on the course to being increasingly predictive that are provided in more detail at the end of this week's round-up.

One of the most asked questions from manufacturing leadership is “How do I stack up against the competition?” And for those who are embracing lean, one of the metrics they always seem concerned with is OEE or Overall Equipment Effectiveness. 

In the first LNS Research blog article on this topic, we discussed the huge potential for billions of interconnected devices, along with summarizing some of the key investments, movers and shakers, and activities that are occurring surrounding the Internet of Things (IoT) for the manufacturing industries. We also explored the first of three big hurdles that we see as slowing down adoption – the need for more interoperability standards between IoT and existing manufacturing and IT industry standards.

In a recent blog post, we discussed the direct relationship between predictive maintenance and sustainability performance. It is not a commonly drawn linkage, but the correlation between how we manage our assets and overall sustainability metrics could not be more clear.