Industrial IoT and e-commerce integration ‘to protect supply chains’

The effective merger of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications and e-commerce platforms could help minimise the damage wreaked upon global supply chains by Covid-19.

The need for seamless integration between the two has become imperative, experts said during a virtual panel discussion at the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit.

Helena Lisachuk, global Internet of Things leader at Deloitte, said such integration would allow for smoother real-time transactions and introduce end-to-end visibility within supply chains.

“The value, as a big enterprise, is that you can look after smaller suppliers to make sure they survive through a difficult time and can plan for the future ... You also have a direct relationship with your end customer,” she said.

IIoT refers to interconnected sensors and devices that are synchronised with industrial applications in sectors such as manufacturing and energy management.

The size of the global IIoT market is expected to grow at an annual compounded rate of 8.83 per cent and hit $118.4 billion (Dh434.5bn) in next five years, according to Bengaluru market research company Valuates.

Ms Lisachuk said the combination of IIoT and e-commerce would also help to meet growing demand for customisation of products.

“You personalise your experience as much as possible on e-commerce platforms. Bringing that experience towards the industrial space, you could learn a lot from e-commerce models in terms of personalisation, customisation and distribution,” she said.

Connecting IIoT platforms and e-commerce would allow industrial machinery manufacturers to offer additional services that would enhance their prospects, the experts said.

“Machine makers today not only provide the hardware and plug them together. They also use data to understand customer needs ... additional services mean additional business and digitisation has a big impact there,” said Eric Maiser, head of the Competence Centre Future Business at the VDMA, Germany’s mechanical engineering industry association.

He said it was essential that small and medium enterprises, which are often highly specialised producers and play a critical role in manufacturing supply chains, build connected platforms in partnership with others.

Ensuring that SMEs are not left behind would involve collaboration between all players, especially when it comes to sharing the cost of introducing technology platforms, the panellists said.

This is the third edition of GMIS, a joint initiative by the UAE and UN’s Industrial Development Organisation. The event had been scheduled to take place in Hanover in April but was cancelled because of the pandemic.

The first edition of GMIS was held at Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi in 2017 and had more than 3,000 government, business and civil society leaders in attendance.