After witnessing the rapid rise of smart technologies, manufacturers are all keen to bring Industrial IoT, robots, smart devices, connected machines, and generalized computer technologies together. By doing so, they aim at automating all the mundane and not so mundane tasks of the industry and the more extensive manufacturing system.

According to an analytical report, the industrial internet of things (IIoT) will be reinventing numerous industrial sectors. These sectors may account for approximately two-thirds of the global economic output — consequently helping in driving financial gains of 14.2 trillion dollars by 2030.

But wait, do you think it's easy to implement IoT in manufacturing plants? If yes, then you must know, several challenges must be dealt with while implementing IIoT. Here's a brief discussion on a few of them:

Security

Despite all the protection assurance from modern technologies and IoT, security seems to be the biggest concern for IIoT technologies. It's because a breach may present both the organization and an individual with operational and financial damages. Most of the industrial companies are open to hacking vulnerability, lack of visibility, security concerns, insider threats, and other risks associated with IT/OT convergence.

Lack of overall cybersecurity solutions is the main challenge that must be acted upon, as it's the main reason why operational technology companies are so cautious with IIoT technology. However, there are numerous ways of dealing with this challenge, such as encrypting the information, using a mix of public and private infrastructure, and many more.

Connectivity & Perceptibility

Lack of connectivity is one of the critical IIoT implementation challenges that is rooted in most business facilities. While realizing IoT in manufacturing plants, it becomes essential to monitor machines in real-time and also ensure the performance of these machines is at an optimal level to improve production. Holding increased visibility, and better insights about the employed machine's health are also crucial to detect peculiarities and fix concerns before they occur.


Since IIoT machines are connected to different components, most of the time, trouble in synchronizing is seen due to Internet outages, technical/manual errors, or power blackouts. It further affects the connectivity of all the devices, hence affecting the entire production process.

Integration of IIoT

Another difficult to deal challenge while implementing IIoT is the integration of operational technology(OT) and information technology(IT). Be it any industry, the confluence of OT and IT must be done correctly without losing any data or generating a vulnerability. IoT devices are generally developed as independent solutions and are preferred to be instantly included in the manufacturing processes. However, the integration between the OT and IT lacks active synchronization and connectivity. The challenge, as mentioned above, can be efficiently dealt with by maintaining effective technology and communications infrastructure.

Is it possible to overcome those IIoT implementation challenges? That is still a question in the business.

IIoT challenges confronting industrial companies today might appear overwhelming. However, beating these challenges offers game-changing business opportunities to improve growth and productivity. And, the majority of the IIoT implementation challenges can be resolved with a commitment and investment to develop services and industry infrastructure aimed at implementation. Supporting infrastructure elements, together with the IoT predictive maintenance, is required to hasten the IIoT revolution. Companies that embrace a systematic approach of applying analytics systems and intelligent data management will get more privileges with IIoT.