IIC Journal of Innovation | Page 45

IIC Business Strategy and Solution Lifecycle control and decision-making, based on the asset’s operational data. This in turn enables the creation of new IIoT services leveraging this intelligence. These new IIoT services can have a transforming effect on the company`s value chain, ultimately resulting in the creation of IIoT value networks (Figure 1). In this article, we will look at what this means in more detail. Figure 1: IIoT Business Solution 1.2 Opportunities and Impact on the Value Chain In the past, most manufacturers lost touch with their products after the product sale. Take, for example, car manufacturers, who only learned about what happened with their products if the customers returned to the OEM`s own repair shops or service centers. So in the post-sales parts of the value chain, many manufacturers were “flying blind”. The IIoT is changing this: By being constantly connected to their products, manufacturers can now learn about how their products are used. They even have the ability to directly interact with the customers after the initial sale, or offer additional, digital services. Figure 2: Opportunities and Impact of IIoT on the Value Chain [EIoT15] For example, information gleaned from field data can be used by the product design and engineering teams to help them significantly improve future product designs. Marketing and - 44 - December 2015