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As someone who grew up in the 1980’s, I was a fan of David Letterman. One of his favourite bits was his nightly Top 10 list. The list was usually topical in nature and it brought some laughter to justify staying up that late. Well, I can’t say that mine will make you laugh, but instead, I do hope to bring some value to your business or organization.
I think one of the issues that we have in the IoT space is that we tend to talk too much about technology and not what the actual benefits are. We use phrases like, “Imagine what you can do with the data you receive!”. Well, most of us aren’t children and we don’t want to have to imagine. We need to do a better job in explaining it, in ways that actually make sense to most business owners.
In honour of Mr. Letterman, here are 10 ways that an IoT solution can help your business:
10) Reduces your Energy usage
Nothing drives me nuts more than wasting energy. It isn’t all about the cost but just it is a waste of valuable resources. For businesses, it is mostly about the cost. Things like reduced lighting after-hours, reducing the output of key systems when not in use and not having to drive to a service call are all benefits of IoT Solutions…and they all reduce your Energy usage.
9) Brings new billing options and flexibility
It seems that no one wants to build a product and just sell it as a one-time thing anymore. Businesses are moving towards service and recurring revenue models. One way to do this is to be able to gather information real-time. When you have this info, you’re able to bill per use, per cycle, per month or however you want to do it.
8) Improves Safety
We all know that you are supposed to touch a door during a fire to know if it is safe to open it. IoT solutions do that, and then some….your team can be warned of potentially dangerous issues before they get there, reducing injuries and costs.
7) Allows you to spot Trends much earlier
Want to know why some things sell better than others in your location? Want to know why your team is not as productive as before? IoT solutions allow you to not only gather info from the field, but also to make business decisions with it. You’ll spot trends that you can act on much sooner than before and maybe before your competitors.
6) Improves the Life Cycle of your Valued Assets
My wife seems to wear out the brakes on her car much faster than I do on mine, even factoring in the extra distance driven. One ride with her will show why….she has a heavier braking foot. Knowing things like this about your equipment usage (and being able to see ideas on how to fix it) will make all of your machinery last longer, making your investments even better.
5) Reduces Downtime
Wonder how productive a printing shop is when their machines go down? Not very. IoT Solutions help you spot trends (things overheating, alerts to unscheduled maintenance, etc). You can now make minor repairs before major ones shut you down.
4) Makes your Products and Services better
Ever wonder if the engineering changes you made to your product actually helped? IoT solutions allow you to gather usage data and to spot trends that allow you to gain valuable insights into your customers’ usage and behaviours.
3) Improves Employee Productivity
Imagine a school was unexpectedly closed one day….you can bet the guys who pick up the garbage and stock the vending machines wish they knew before they went there for their scheduled stops. Alert your team to changes, give them the best information and let them access key data remotely – all this will make them more productive.
2) Reduces Waste and Theft
Restaurants are usually pretty good at controlling waste, but even they are not immune to spoilage. Spotting trends, keeping an eye on the temperature of a key fridge and alerts to issues with food during delivery are just a few IoT solutions that cut down on waste. Not using perishables in your business? Well, the same solution concepts can also be used to reduce unwanted theft, both internal and external.
And, the #1 reason….It improves your Customer Service levels
Let’s face it, in the day of quick manufacturing and Google in everyone’s hand, products and knowledge can be copied faster than ever before. What differentiates your business is your level of service. IoT solutions give you amazing tools to help….knowing an outage happens before you get calls, repair issues over the air (and not dispatching a truck) and improved products that meet the customer needs better are just a few of the ways that IoT can help your business.