Internet of Things (IoT) technology enables connected devices to autonomously communicating and sharing information. In the automotive industry, for example, this change means that it's increasingly common for vehicles to stream data about their location and environment while in operation.
Product connectivity, through the Internet of Things (IoT), offers many advantages to product designers and engineering. it enables us to relay information back and forth when the product is out in the field and it gives us more ways in which to add new capabilities for our products and solutions.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is already changing the way products are designed and developed. The ability of smart, connected products to feedback important information from the field directly to the manufacturer means that organisations can access more insight and data than ever before. Fundamentally, this helps to improve future product iterations and even new product lines.
Gartner has predicted that 20.8 billion connected devices will come online by 2020, showing just how much the Internet of Things (IoT) is already changing the way we live. But its potential impact on the way businesses deliver support services is an area that deserves particular focus.
Manufacturers are increasingly using performance-based analysis to provide real-world data on product performance from the field. Rather than making assumptions about performance, this approach offers unbridled access to how products operate once they leave the factory. But for manufacturers who are designing and iterating the next generation of smart, connected products, they need a more advanced approach: Data-Driven Design.
The Internet of Things lifts the barrier to solving traditional problems, such as how products perform after shipping. We were so used to not having the data; we’ve created processes and ways of working that accept knowledge gap as inevitable.
To say connected products is a trend is an understatement. By the end of 2017, IDC estimates that 70% of discrete manufacturers will offer connected products.
This new breed of products, which have connectivity at their centre, is dramatically changing industries and competition as we know them today.
But, for organisations to be able to meet the challenge, they need all the key stakeholders in the product lifecycle to be aligned. At the same time, processes will need to be streamlined, so that organisations are in a better shape to react to customer feedback and the real-time data that connectivity provides.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is emerging as the driving factor behind new technological developments and it’s transforming both the home and business - in a very good way indeed.
In the world of product development, every stakeholder - be they a designer, a manager or within marketing, needs access to the most accurate, up-to-date information, if the organisation is to produce the best products on time and within budget. Simply put, it’s a democracy. If just one stakeholder is unable to access a key element of the design or vital piece of feedback, the entire project may be put at the risk of increased lead times or, worse, failure upon release.
