IoT is a powerful force for Industry 4.0, enabling OEMs to better understand their products and customers while uncovering new revenue streams. The possibilities are endless, and so are the technical and business choices for implementation. For these reasons many OEMs choose to partner with an IoT solutions provider to realize their application needs. Typically, the OEM is responsible for the application knowledge, while the IoT provider brings any combination of hardware, software, and remote monitoring. This allows for increased time to market, and decreased development costs. However, in order to prepare for their IoT journey we have found that it is best for OEMs to have a clear understanding of the following questions in order to be best prepared for success.
Requirement questions (the what)
- What needs to be monitored?
- What are we looking to discover, enable or prevent from happening?
- How many assets do we typically need to monitor in a single location?
- What types of information are we looking to trend over time?
- Is a sensing solution already in place, do we need to install a new or different one?
- Where would the sensors be physically placed, are they far apart or close together?
- How would the sensors typically be installed, and by whom?
Business questions (the why)
- Why can the IoT program be justified; what KPIs need to be met in order to be successful?
- Why are we capable of running and maintaining the IoT solution after we develop it; are we able to shift our mindset, service and sales processes?
- Why can we justify the value of the solution to our customers; will we lease the solution, charge a fixed fee, allow them to resell the offering downstream?
- Why do our customers care about the solution; do they benefit from cost savings, increased reliability, risk mitigation, improved productivity or safety improvements?
- Why will our dealers and channel partners embrace this solution?
- Why do we deserve to compete in the solutions market; will we commit to a cycle of continuous improvement and competitive evaluation?
Whether you are looking into beginning your own IoT program, or are exploring IoT solutions partners, we recommend that you at least have the above questions answered ahead of time. Want to learn more? Contact us at sales@preddiotech.com
