There is a Human Element to IoT Implementation

In the best cases, a user has set a goal before the project starts, like, »We want to improve our productivity by 30%,« or »We want to make our delivery times four times faster.« There is a widespread belief that the key thing is to make all data accessible. However, what to do with the data is often not defined - nor is it determined if it’s worthwhile to capture metadata, or to what extent the data is context-sensitive.

That doesn’t sound like a promising starting point!

Companies are facing a mountain that no one within the organization has climbed before; there are no known routes. How long will the implementation take? What materials should I bring? How many »Sherpas« will I need? Who are the best partners for my project?

Ultimately, I need not only to create a project plan but also to ensure that everyone involved approaches the project with high motivation and is well-coordinated and actively engaged.

What approach do you recommend?

I recommend an approach based on Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). This is a method for agile strategy implementation, a goal-management technique, and a management system for targeted employee guidance.

OKRs break down an organization’s long-term goals into small, achievable objectives. These objectives are qualitative goals that describe what a team wants to achieve within a short period - three months, for example.

Key Results make the objectives measurable. They answer the question of how the team will know if the goal is achievable and where adjustments or additional support for team members might be needed. In OKR projects, the role of leaders shifts from demanding results to fostering support, with regular check-ins rather than once-a-year employee reviews.

OKRs are characterized by six key aspects: outcome orientation, continuous goal review, team spirit, prioritization, transparency, and a focus on simplicity.

How do you help your clients, especially regarding these six OKR aspects?

For team spirit, prioritization, and transparency, we support our clients with a portal where they can find all information and easy-to-understand video tutorials. A supportive community enables a crowd-sourcing approach. Everything is prepared for quick, successful, and scalable OT-IT integration.

And on a technical level?

We emphasize simplicity: our entry-level digitalization solution for production - the Hub-GM200 - offers a range of apps on the hardware that can capture analog and digital sensor data, preprocess it locally, and transfer it to external systems like databases, MES, and ERP systems via OPC-UA or MQTT. Even accessing interfaces like Modbus-RTU, Modbus-TCP, and many others becomes child’s play thanks to the Siineos operating system with its numerous wizards. Many of us know how much time can be lost when trying to query a Modbus-RTU device - and there are still countless such devices out there!
For example, if you want to monitor an injection molding machine, the Hub-EN200 can capture, visualize, and communicate all efficiency-relevant data, such as power, voltage, efficiency, pressure, temperature, and compressed air consumption, with a single device. Four current transformer inputs are available for L1, L2, L3, and N (1A/5A) for capturing electrical energy.
To measure Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) in production lines, there is an app that allows the user to quickly capture and display KPIs. All they need is a Hub with Siineos and the MaDoW app. Then, they simply assign downtime reasons to the respective inputs or virtual data points.

In.Hub at the SPS 2024: Hall 7, Booth350