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Concurrent Engineering Blog

How Products are Moving to the Next Level with the Internet of Things

Posted by Emma Rudeck on 10-Apr-2015 17:23:00

prods_moving_to_next_level_with_iotYou've probably started to hear more and more people talk about the Internet of Things. As a concept, it has huge potential for us. But what actually is it all about and how is it going to impact on our lives.

Basically, the Internet of Things is the idea of connecting devices to the Internet. This can be anything from smartphones, fridges, jet engines and so on. In the future, this concept probably means that anything that can be connected to the Internet will be connected to it.

Historically, products were all mechanical. Then, advances in technology, meant that products became both mechanical and electrical. Fast forward to the current century and we have the emergence of smart products – products that include embedded software. 

This is now moving to the next level, the level of smart, connected products.

These products are able to communicate through connectivity. Smart, connected products in the Internet of Things (IoT) blur the line between products and services. They enable an entirely new set of capabilities that create value for both manufacturers and their customers.

For manufacturers (i.e., those in the Things business), these innovations not only have the potential to generate incredible amounts of new value, but also to disrupt the status quo.

The capabilities created and data generated by this new generation of smart, connected products requires new thinking about the enterprise applications and the connected ecosystem to optimise current business processes, drive better decision-making, and expand areas of innovation.

If you agree that being competitive is vital to your company’s success, then you know that having the right strategies in place to take advantage of technological advances is essential. For manufacturers, the ‘Internet of Things’ and emergence of  ‘smart, connected products’ offers great potential – but only if you have the plans, structures and strategies to take advantage of this opportunity.

Internet of Things eBook