From smartwatches that run a mobile operating systems, smart media players, smart cars that can park themselves and smart pills that can measure body temperature seamlessly, these days almost everything is being automated and connected to the internet. In this light, smart machine technology has ‘evolved’ to analyze, compute and reason, just like a human being. Today, smart machines aren’t just part of the sci-fiction genre, but are an everyday reality.
What exactly is a smart machine?
While humans are susceptible to making errors and are comparatively less reliable and consistent, the next-generation intelligent machines can be ‘trained’ to execute repetitive, monotonous and scheduled tasks, minus the element of human error. Thus, productivity, capacity utilization, and efficiency is improved by a wide, reliable margin. A smart machine is an intelligent tool that can examine, compute and reason, without any human intervention using machine-to-machine (M2M), artificial intelligence (AI), and other modern innovations.
These new age devices manufactured by top IT brands include robots, self-driving cars and other cognitive computing systems that are proficient at solving problems in real time, aided by logical reasoning skills. Based on advanced software tools, edge control, connected products, and applications, these powerful devices boost efficiency by delivering succinct and timely data which in turn boosts the production outcome and maximizes quality.
Smart machines are a subcategory of artificial intelligence that can educate themselves on how to do understand the dynamics of and perform tasks. These new age machines are seamlessly moving towards digital, using machine learning and artificial intelligence to its full potential.
Why embrace smart machines?
It is no surprise that we are on the verge of a second technological revolution wherein the digital innovations are reinventing and redefining our lives as well as our notions of work, growth, and prosperity. Whether your business is paying attention or not, smart machines are already being widely adopted in a number of manufacturing as well as service sectors, if not used by you, then by your competitors.
Today, technology is constantly on the move and both machine manufacturers and end users must embrace the change or risk being left behind. The new technologically sound machines offer consumers an array of benefits including greater efficiency, performance improvements, as well as flexibility and safety. Expounding :
Efficiency : Embedded skills along with disruptive sensors enable smart machines to measure and monitor their own mechanisms and environment. While ensuring the reliability, efficiency, and flexibility in manufacturing lines, smart machinery plays a pivotal role by providing relevant data and information quickly in a decentralized manner which ultimately helps in the decision-making process.
Flexibility : From plug-and-work to modularity and reusable designs, these central elements of cognitive machines backed by machine learning are much more user-friendly than their predecessors.
Safety & security : These two aspects are high priorities for any company, and the next generation smart machines are designed whilst keeping these in mind. They are verified to improve the safety of operators and minimize the security risks associated with amplified networking.
Connectivity : Going far beyond the traditional standalone automation and machinery, smart machines offer production planning capabilities and data sharing, thanks to the high-end connectivity with broader networks via ethernet. They make vital production data available, by aptly bridging the gap between operation technology and information technology.
Given the many benefits of smart machines, why do a majority of manufacturers still use outdated equipment in their factories, shops or assembly plants? Well, the reasons may be quantified, ranging from lack of knowledge to entry barriers or absence of technical expertise or mainly due to the high cost of deployment. Consequently, these factors are unquestionably a major threat posed to the growth of the global smart machine industry.
Emergence of IIoT has rejuvenated the push for smart machines
The development of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the associated technological enhancements have profoundly fueled the massive adoption of intelligent machines in the industrial as well as service sectors in recent times. From wireless communication tools to trending cloud technology and other smart devices, the emergence of IIoT has influenced the future of these new age machines with regards to their range of utility and mode of operation.
With rising competition, vendors are offering options, such as services and control modules from remote locations, using smart devices and Wi-Fi technology. These devices are convenient and flexible in operations and allow a single human operator to guide and control multiple machines simultaneously.
Tapping the “smart” in smart machine business
Unlike the menacing things seen in sci-fiction films, intelligent machines are actually very people friendly. Smart machine technology signifies a marvelous development for any industry that depends on machine technology, be it manufacturing, healthcare or agriculture sector. Driven by the needs of end-users, the growth of smart machine business depends entirely on the level of innovation that a company can foster.
With the appropriate use of the latest technologies in these machines, vendors can better address consumer market trends including the ever-rising reliance on mobile devices and the growing demand for machines that are easy to install and use.
The innovations that make all this possible comprises of ethernet connectivity for improved access to data, mobile technologies for the extremely remote operation of equipment and digitization for low-cost expansion of machine automation programs. The best way for any business frontrunners to prepare for the future, is to stay updated on the current and emerging disruptive trends.
Source the in-depth and valuable insights on this constantly evolving space as identified by industry experts at Technavio. A free sample report on the global smart machine market is listed below.
