Industry 4.0 solutions provider: Ten questions to ask when choosing the best in IoT applications

Although there is a clear need to implement IIoT solutions, choosing and onboarding the right Industry 4.0 solution provider remains a major challenge for industrial buyers.

How to choose a provider of Industry 4.0 solutions and IIoT applications?

The search for an IIoT solution should be undertaken with the help of an experienced Industry 4.0 solution provider who understands the business well.

The first step is to find a company that specialises in industrial IoT, understands discrete manufacturing, and can manage the specific challenges posed by the digitisation of physical production processes. You need a supplier who understands the industry because the challenges, applications, and use cases are very different for discrete product manufacturers, and often more complex, than for other companies.

How to choose the best IIoT solution among so many Industry 4.0 solution providers?

The variety of IIoT platforms and software solutions available is immense, and manufacturers attempting to join Industry 4.0 often struggle to understand the differences between the solutions and the advantages of each.

This makes the decision-making process long and tedious, and the result is that companies are busy with pilots and evaluations instead of successfully implementing solutions.

An Industry 4.0 solution provider, for its part, does its utmost to provide potential customers with a wealth of relevant data prior to purchase, but it is difficult to expect complete transparency, at least during the early exploratory stages. Furthermore, it remains the responsibility of manufacturers to ask the right questions.

Points to consider when choosing an Industry 4.0 systems provider

We have compiled the ten most important and relevant questions that any manufacturer should ask themselves when choosing the right Industry 4.0 solutions provider. If you want to get the most out of higher return on investment for Industry 4.0 solutions We recommend that you take a detailed look at the following 10 questions.

1. What sets your solution apart from other established IIoT companies?

   When it comes to IIoT solutions, some industrial plant managers, despite being familiar with Industry 4.0 trends, cannot explain why they are working with a specific IIoT solution and how it differs from others. However, there are significant differences between providers and platforms.

   For example, some Industry 4.0 solutions focus on discrete manufacturing, while others specialise in the process industry. Given that discrete manufacturers have specific challenges, risks, working methods and complexity, they should use a specialised IIoT provider.

   Furthermore, some companies focus on a single application or specific solution, such as predictive maintenance for a particular machine, while others offer a comprehensive solution that can meet the needs of an entire production plant or even the entire supply chain. It is important to clarify from the outset the extent to which a specific solution can help you on your IIoT journey. Think carefully about how many of your current and future production challenges could be addressed with advanced manufacturing solutions.

2. Does the Industry 4.0 system provider include the decision-making support solution and an optimisation layer?

   IIoT solutions are not just about collecting data, but delivering actionable insights based on that data that can help factory staff and management optimise their daily decision-making processes, make fewer mistakes, reduce waste, increase scale and drive revenue.

   However, not all IIoT solutions currently available can do this because it requires in-depth knowledge of manufacturing processes and the business challenges faced by different vertical industries, as well as extensive experience in AI algorithms and optimisation methods.

   The bottom line is that you need to have a thorough understanding of manufacturing, as well as the IoT methods needed to collect the data and the AI methods that deliver benefits and process improvements from that data.

   Many suppliers have recognised the need for factories to digitise and can meet this need relatively easily by connecting machines or devices. Modern manufacturing requires real-time decisions, scaling based on a long and growing list of variables and constraints. Demand is constantly growing, and the effort goes beyond what humans can handle. If manufacturers want to maintain quality, they must turn to technology that not only knows how to collect data, but also knows how to use it to derive the right actions.

   Choosing a solution that offers insights, predictions, and actionable suggestions is the differentiating factor.

3. What does it mean to have experience in industrial applications in a specific sector?

   After ensuring that the IIoT solution has benefits that suit the demands and offers optimisation, you should check in which industries it has been implemented and for how long.

   It is recommended to work with an Industry 4.0 solution provider who is familiar with the specific challenges and has gained experience in this field. This is important because an experienced IIoT provider will know how to find the right solution for specific needs, as well as provide suggestions and offer relevant knowledge regarding cybersecurity and data issues.

4. What is your position on security? Will you offer authentication and authorisation for all components or users?

   Industry 4.0 carries cybersecurity risks, and sadly, many companies have experienced cyberattacks related to the IoT. Cybersecurity risks should not be dismissed and can create major problems.

   However, the best IIoT solutions develop systems that offer encryption and authorisation, work with the secure HTTPS protocol, include threat detection, firewalls, VPNs and password changes, and provide an architecture that is sufficiently resilient in the event of a breach. In addition to these necessary external security measures, you must also ensure that the solution is secure internally. We recommend taking a look at the gGuide to using HTTP and MQTT protocols in IIoT projects for factories.

   Cloud providers employ huge teams of cybersecurity specialists. Therefore, as long as you choose your Industry 4.0 solution provider wisely, you will end up with a cloud provider that probably provides a higher standard of data security than your current internal servers. Review the Five steps to optimise industrial process safety through IIoT and digitalisation

5. How does customer support work with configuration, training, and ongoing maintenance?

   This issue is not examined thoroughly enough during the selection process for an Industry 4.0 solutions provider, despite the fact that it has enormous implications for the success of the project.

   Therefore, it is necessary to check the level of professional services that the IIoT solution offers to get started, as well as the level of support that the provider offers in relation to team training, continuous availability, response time, problems they solve, etc.

   The chosen Industry 4.0 solutions provider must also offer experienced consultants who have the proven capabilities necessary for successful implementation and ongoing work processes, handling the various stages from project definition and process mapping through integration into existing systems, system configuration, testing and fine-tuning, to successful launch and maintenance.

   It is also important to know the roadmap, how often version updates occur, including the update process and whether it causes any downtime in production, and the availability of the development team to fix bugs and their ability to do so remotely. All of these criteria give you an idea of what to expect in terms of feature updates, bug fixes, and improvements. In addition, it is important to know whether a dedicated account manager will be assigned to address any needs that arise.

6. How easily does the solution adapt to the current IT environment and the rest of the equipment in the plant?

   In most cases, the IIoT solution needs to be open and flexible so that it can be integrated or communicate with other third-party systems, such as ERP, MES, inventory management systems, manufacturing planning systems, CAD/PLM, and the like.

   Given that most manufacturers are already integrated with multiple legacy systems, this is essential to ensure continuity of information flow, avoiding the need for data re-entry, complex migrations, or data loss.

   Furthermore, a system that is compatible with different types of communication protocols is required. Given that one of the main problems in the industrial manufacturing ecosystem is the lack of standardisation, there may be legacy systems that use multiple communication protocols and are based on various industrial standards. Therefore, the IIoT system to be chosen must be compatible with common communication protocols.

7. What about scaling production to meet market demand? How will the IoT solution do this?

   Growth always takes its toll, and scaling has multiple implications for existing software.

   The IIoT solution you choose must be as future-proof as possible. It needs to be agile for both business and operations. After all, its main objective is to drive efficiency, which leads to increased growth and scale. A good IIoT solution should be as flexible as possible, allowing you to add additional partners, scale to support massive growth, increase asset categories, support a larger supply chain, and even be adaptable in terms of business models.

8. How user-friendly is the system? Has it been designed to work in an industrial manufacturing environment?

   Ultimately, it is the user interface and experience that meet users' needs, and the success of a new IIoT solution depends on the users.

   If the system is user-friendly and intuitive, you will achieve massive engagement and a tick in the box on your way to implementing your smart factory vision.

   The user interface must be intuitive and self-explanatory to enable a rapid learning curve for all employees. It must be accessible from different platforms such as PCs, tablets, and mobile devices. The structure of the user interface view must be highly flexible so that the team can easily manage the large amounts of data generated in real time.

   Getting a demonstration or conducting a trial are excellent ways to evaluate the user interface of any solution, as well as asking for references and speaking with other individuals who use the system in production.

9. What groundwork needs to be done? Does the solution require special hardware?

   It may often be necessary to install additional sensors and edge devices or computers at the premises to filter the data collected by the sensors.

   Before implementing an IIoT solution, it is important to understand what prerequisites the Industry 4.0 solution provider is responsible for. Who will handle the hardware installation? Who will manage the ongoing logistics and support for the new hardware? Can the solution be deployed remotely? These are important questions to understand what the deployment process entails and who is responsible for what.

10. Where are the data centres located? Will there be latency due to distance?

    An Industry 4.0 solutions provider must have servers located in one or more data centres. They must know where these are located and what measures are taken to reduce latency as much as possible. If they use a CDN for most customers, this will suffice. If data is required to remain within a specific location, a professional provider will have the relevant answers and will find a suitable solution to meet the needs.