If you’ve always loved numbers and facts, then you’re likely planning to pursue higher education in data analysis. After graduation, you will have the credentials to pursue a job doing what you enjoy the most, and if you work in the manufacturing industry, you can transform it.
Defining Big Data and the IoT
Data has been helping businesses make better decisions for centuries. The amount of data grows every minute, with every action from both humans and machines.
Every footprint, whether by a person or a tech device, can be measured, and together these footprints make up big data. This data is both structured and unstructured, and its definition continues to evolve and drive the Internet of Things (IoT), as well as artificial intelligence (AI).
The IoT is a huge network of connections between things and humans – big data and IoT have tremendous economic value.
Far-Reaching Benefits
Big data and the IoT can help manufacturing organizations in many ways. The technologies can help manufacturers with automation, which has the potential to reduce their production downtime and improve supply chain management.
There are sizable boosts to gain in efficiency, as well as a better quality of management overall. Better standards for products are potentially attainable as well.
Big Data Analytics and Maintenance
In the manufacturing industry, those who earn a degree, such as the New England College MS in Applied Data Analytics, can expect to make a positive difference in the areas of maintenance and automation. For instance, they can mine performance data from machines to get insights about how to maintain equipment at its best level of performance.
This exciting new area is called predictive maintenance. Being able to predict equipment failure has the potential to save manufacturing plants significant maintenance time and boost production rates. It also allows manufacturers the opportunity to focus on improving product quality.
Supply Chain Improvements
Big data and the IoT also provide information about the supply chain. Specifically, the innovative tech monitors supply chain details in real-time and provides the information to plants and any connected suppliers.
Among the details available to view are material flow and manufacturing cycle times of products. Using big data in this way can reduce product costs, as well as saving valuable time, all while allowing businesses to enjoy a bigger return on investment.
Data in Modern Manufacturing Processes
Using data to improve operations is something that a growing number of manufacturers are doing with their team analysts. While process data was previously used primarily for tracking purposes, now it is showing businesses ways that they can improve existing processes.
Trained analysts can spot patterns in data and draw insights from that information for manufacturers to act on as soon as possible. They can do so as a growing number of businesses integrate their existing systems with tools that allow them to communicate with systems that comprise the Internet of Things. Collecting data will enable manufacturers to gain valuable information about how their products perform and are used.
