In the past decade, Internet of Things (IoT) devices have become staple technologies for connecting the physical and digital worlds. However, while many common IoT applications — from tracking sleep habits to optimizing energy usage — have been centered on the home, IoT is increasingly being used to help professionals and businesses perform better.
IoT has a particularly strong potential to help businesses across industries protect themselves from unforeseen issues and effectively mitigate disasters. In this article, we’ll analyze how IoT is enhancing protections for employees by reducing human error and enhancing workplace safety standards. We’ll also explore how IoT can secure our global supply chain.
Reducing Human Error in the Workplace
Human error in the workplace is a common cause of workplace accidents. When employees are poorly trained, disregard safety protocols, or simply make a mistake, a variety of disasters can ensue. Injuries, damaged machinery, and more can all cost your business thousands of dollars and many hours of lost productivity.
The IoT can contribute to a safer workplace for employees by using sensors to identify where human errors are most common, as well as instantly notify workers of potential hazards. While traditional floor markings and signage may not capture an employee’s attention straight away, wearable IoT devices in industries like manufacturing can map out when employees are entering dangerous areas and instantly alert them with vibration or sound. These sensors can also inform them when they’re performing tasks incorrectly — for instance, by analyzing movement along an assembly line.
Implementing these safety measures can help companies avoid significant costs, including worker compensation and OSHA fines, by keeping employees as well-protected as possible.
Improving Workplace Safety Standards
The IoT doesn’t just help individual employees recognize when an error is about to occur. It can also help businesses avoid getting close to dangerous situations altogether by improving workplace safety standards. For example, while OSHA and ASME only require documented inspections of some equipment once per year, IoT sensors can provide ongoing assessments. Using this data, which your team members can view in real-time, your business can set better quantitative standards to determine when preventative maintenance is needed.
Similarly, your team can use wearable IoT devices to ensure all workers are physically capable of performing tasks — even if they’re unaware that they may need a break. For example, these devices may be able to spot physical signs of tiredness, so you can assign tasks like lifting to employees who are less likely to slip and cause damage or injure themselves.
Protecting the Supply Chain With Better Analytics
In recent years, many of the biggest issues facing businesses have been related to delays in the global supply chain. On top of helping individual businesses mitigate disaster, IoT technologies can be applied to the broader supply chain to prevent long-term crises in the future — for instance, by empowering manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and other businesses with better predictive analytics.
For instance, fleet managers can equip trucks with GPS trackers, temperature sensors, and other IoT technologies that prevent breakdowns, theft, and other issues at critical times. When potential issues are detected, fleet managers can proactively take those vehicles off the road and prepare alternative solutions to keep their distribution processes moving along smoothly.
When vehicles, machinery, and other essential equipment break down unexpectedly, IoT devices can also inform business managers of exactly where the issue is, so they can immediately work on solutions instead of wasting time on diagnosis.
Improving Strategic Inventory Management
As many business leaders learned during the height of COVID-19, great inventory management is key to keeping supply chains moving. Having an adequate stock in case of emergencies — while also avoiding an overstock so big that profits decrease — is key to ensuring long-term success in individual companies and across the supply chain. The IoT can help businesses improve their inventory management strategy.
Using IoT sensors on shelves, for instance, companies can instantly track the movement of their inventory. This can be done without dependence on warehouse employees, who aren’t always able to update inventory straight away and can be prone to human error. As supply chain processes become more complex, similar IoT technologies will be key to keeping real-time inventory data fully accurate, whether you’re moving stock to a different brick-and-mortar retail store or you’ve sold a product to a supplier or e-commerce customer. This way, companies can forecast potential delays and quickly handle immediate stock concerns.
Mitigating the Risk of Natural Disasters
Natural disasters aren’t the most common cause of supply chain issues around the world, but when they occur, they can be particularly disastrous for companies. In severe cases, they can completely destroy infrastructure and inventory, leaving companies with thousands — if not millions — of dollars in damages. While it often isn’t possible to prevent natural disasters from occurring, the IoT allows businesses to get prepared, protect their assets, and take preventative measures to keep the supply chain moving ahead of time.
For example, IoT sensors have been used to track seismic activity, allowing government agencies and businesses to spot early warning signs of earthquakes. In power plants, IoT devices can also warn business leaders of abnormalities so they can prevent expensive and life-threatening accidents.
The Best Path to Improving Disaster Preparedness Is IoT
IoT devices are powerful technologies that can transform the future of many businesses, as well as the broader supply chain. In individual companies, IoT devices can be part of an early warning system that prevents equipment damage and employee injuries, which could otherwise lead to disastrous costs and productivity issues. They can also improve overall safety standards to further reduce the risk of major accidents.
To protect the supply chain, businesses can use IoT devices (like temperature sensors and GPS trackers) to gain more predictive analytics regarding the health of equipment and vehicles, the movement of inventory, and the risk of natural disasters. When every company in your supply chain is able to proactively mitigate disaster — as well as avoid damage and keep moving stock along when disaster is inevitable — you can keep your business as healthy as possible in the long term.
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