Abstract
This chapter gives brief information about internet of things (IoT) and then detailed knowledge of industrial internet of things (IIoT). Internet of things applications can be seen in different areas, such as smart cars, smart homes, smart cities, agriculture, healthcare, industry, etc. This study focuses on the industrial part. Industrial internet of things (IIoT) means internet of things (IoT) applications for industrial usage. IIoT give a chance to enterprise for tracking supply chains, monitoring production line operations, and real-time consumption of energy, managing stock, and transportation decisions. This study used case study method for developing theory about IIoT's contribution to enterprise productivity. IIoT applications can be adapted to which operations of the enterprise, and how it will contribute to enterprise productivity is explained in this chapter. The chapter discusses the projects that are within the vision of IIoT but not yet implemented and concludes with suggestions for future studies.
TopBackground
Industrial revolutions explain succinctly the transformation of production within a periodical context. The technological advances contribute to the renovation of the production systems and increase the level of efficiency. The First Industrial Revolution took place after Walter’s development of the steam engine at the end of the 18th century (see Figure 1). Significant improvements inproductivity was attained upon adopting mechanical production in lieu of a human powered one. Henry Ford’s realization of assembly lines in production plants and utilization of the electric power in the early 20th century marks the beginning of the Second Industrial Revolution. The then newly developed serial production became the standard after a while, elevating productivity to a new level. Integration of automation systems and information technologies, such as flexible production systems and robotics, further increased productivity during the Third Industrial Revolution (Chen, 2017).
Figure1. The progress and characteristics of industrial revolutions (Chen, 2017)
Proliferation of the computer networks, a process started in the 1990s, was followed by the commercialization of the World Wide Web in 1995. Cisco Systems reports that 70% of the households in the US had access to a broadband connection as of 2003 and the number of devices connected to the Internet reached 12.1 billion as of 2014 (Greengard, 2015). In parallel with this increasing rate of Internet use, the tools of Industry 4.0 offer smart solutions to various problems faced both in everyday life and in the industry. Industry 4.0, also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, prioritizes machine to machine (M2M) communication and integration of all business processes. While this integration can be among physical objects and various software, it can also be among several disciplines or take an interdepartmental form within a company (Lasi, Kemper, Fettke, Feld, & Hoffmann, 2014). Since IoT and specifically IIoT are within the scope of this work, they shall be described in further detail in the following sections.