IoT Partnerships and Auto Emissions Progress [Roundup]

Caterpillar Invests in Analytics Startup Uptake

Earlier this week mining and construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar announced an investment and partnership with a data analytics platform start-up called Uptake for the purposes of building "predictive diagnostics" for Caterpillar and its customers. The move is the latest example of an industrial company pursuing the promise of improved predictive maintenance in Asset Performance Management through harnessing Big Data and Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities.

With Uptake's product development speeds vastly outpacing the several years required design and build a new bulldozer, Caterpillar stands to realize far-reaching ROI from this partnership.

"This is an early example of something that will become commonplace at some point--entrepreneurs trying to disrupt within an industry rather than disrupt and industry from the outside," said Brad Keywell, CEO of Uptake. Michael Lev-Ram has the full story at Fortune Magazine...

EPA Report Shows Progress on Automotive Emissions

For the second year in a row, the automotive industry has outperformed the national greenhouse gas emissions standards set by the EPA. In its second annual Manufacturer's Performance Report, the agency found that the majority of manufacturers and more than 99 percent of sales met both the 2012 and 2013 standards, with model 2013 vehicles achieving a record 24.1 miles per gallon, which represents a .5 mpg increase over 2012 and almost 5 mpg over models from 2004. Over the past decade, there have been a number of initiatives to make the industry more sustainable, including hybrid models, lighter-weight body materials, cleaner, less sulfurous gasoline and diesel fuel, and others.  

However, automakers have loftier goals in their future, as the 2016 mandate is a 35.5 mpg fleet-wide average by 2016. More details at Environmental Leader...

IoT from the Investor Perspective:the Next Big B2B Opportunity?

Being a research and advisory firm, as you might expect, we often focus on advancing the conversation on the potential uses for emerging technologies--where can it be applied today, tomorrow, and years down the road in the industrial space, and to what end? But what about the investor community that provides much of the funding that drives this innovation?

Earlier this month, Boston-based venture capital firm OpenView Partners decided to weigh IoT and its force on the B2B sphere. OpenView is focused on making investments in expansion-stage enterprise software companies. While making mention of the hype around the term and many of the considerable roadblocks to its realization that we've discussed, OpenView concludes, like many in the marketplace, that IoT's "impact and importance to business cannot be overestimated." Read more about OpenView's perspective in this recent blog post.

Why Calibration Management Needs to Be Considered in your Asset Performance Management Strategy

In many industries today, such as food and beverage, documented proof requirements are increasing to address safety and health concerns, among other reasons, and requiring companies to tighten their quality management capabilities. In many cases, it's the Quality department that manages calibration, and whatever software or systems exist around it. However, as Principal Analyst Dan Miklovic argues in a post earlier this week, calibration management is a key component of Asset Performance Management (APM), regardless of who owns the actual process.