IoT has had a lot of applications in different sectors in India. Blockchain too has emerged as an important technology. The manufacturing sector has a lot of potential when integrated with these technologies of IoT and Blockchain.
Emerging Use Cases For Blockchain In Manufacturing
1. Improves track and trace accuracy:
Combining IoT’s real-time monitoring support with blockchain’s shared distributed ledger strengthens track-and-trace accuracy and scale, leading to improvements across supply chains. Improving track-and-trace reduces the need for buffer stock by providing real-time visibility of inventory levels and shipments. Urgent orders can also be expedited and re-routed, minimising disruptions to production schedules and customer shipments. This will help in reducing the effort and paperwork involved.
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2. Brings clarity in manufacturing process:
Every manufacturing industry, specialising in any domain need to know the source of their products. They ought to know if the products are from reliable sources and are pure. It is also important for the manufacturers to know that the products that they receive obey the laws of the Indian government. The consumers are also willing to pay more for the products given a greater transparency in the products. IoT and Blockchain can together help in making the products more transparent to the consumers.
3. Reduced loss of shipments by tracking:
Supply chains in the manufacturing business can involve multiple people and stops during transit before they reach the final stage. There are many incidents where the shipments are lost and stolen. In this situation, Blockchain can be used to track the routes of the goods.
4. Labour efficiency:
There are situations when a client might supply heavy machinery tools to different companies and in case the machine breaks down the labour efficiency is largely reduced, as the workers then remain idle for short periods. This eventually leads to degrading the revenues of these organisations. Here is where a combination of IoT and Blockchain can help with these situations. A concept in IoT called the Preventive Maintenance is used wherein temperatures or vibrations can be measured using IoT sensors that collect data in real time. Devices would then compute all the data. An IoT infrastructure platform called NetObjex, which has its Indian headquarters in Thane, Maharashtra, uses the same principle. They have the data collected uploaded in the cloud where they run their platform. They have edge-devices that compute all the parameters.
5. Track performance using Digital Twin:
Digital Twin in IoT is virtual replicas of physical devices that the data science and IT industries can use to run simulations before actual devices are built and deployed. It leads to a better quality and in turn better maintenance and management of the assets. This platform helps in tracking the organisation past current and future performance. In this case, the asset sends performance data directly to its digital twin all throughout the process. Blockchain comes in handy to document all information related to assets. It can help manufacturers to ensure the credibility of the products that they receive.
Last Word
IoT and Blockchain together can play a large role and transform the manufacturing industry. They will provide a greater transparency in the while trading and an efficient tracking for a systematic functioning of the process. Sensors have become very popular and easily accessible to many, making it easy to deploy these technologies in manufacturing. Streamlining and automating a variety of processes in manufacturing becomes easy with these technologies. Both together can help manufacturers revolutionize the way products are assembled and distributed.
