igus has published a white paper entitled "˜How the Industrial Internet of Things has led to the development of next-generation smart plastics with sensing capabilities built in.' Set to grow at a CAGR of 8 per cent from now until 2020, when IIoT will reach a value of over $150bn, the paper assesses the advantages and benefits it brings to businesses operating on global markets.
Matthew Aldridge, managing director, igus says: "There is now a discernible trend towards communication-capable, intelligent devices being used to create integrated systems across all levels of automation. Such data transparency opens up new business models for machine and plant builders across a wide range of industrial sectors."
IIoT is helping manufacturers capture and analyse this data, warning machine and plant builders of problems before they occur. The tracking of patterns to indicate failure would be an enabler to condition based modelling, unleashing the true potential of predicative maintenance. Aldridge adds: "This predicative approach takes the black art out of maintenance, and turns it into a science."
It is from this context that a new breed of smart plastics is emerging - specifically resulting in cables, energy chains and bearings - embedded with intelligence via the addition of sensing, monitoring and communications. Enhanced with such technology, the lifespan of cables used in automated machinery and plant is predictable. Energy chains and bearings can monitor their own wear. As a result, smart plastics can deliver IIoT-enabled capability, potentially delivering increased plant availability, maximised uptime and reduced costs through condition monitoring and predictive maintenance regimes.
The white paper is available free to download from www.igus.co.uk/smartplastics, where you can also learn more about igus smart plastics.