Unlocking Business Intelligence Through IoT With Pratiti Technologies

Pratiti Technologies is successfully delivering IoT projects for years now because there is not just connectivity of things involved, we focus on solutions. What can be created around data from sensors, devices, cloud, analytics and applications, connected to clearly defined business objectives is what we deliver. We have experienced in all phases of an IoT service providers engagement starting from consultancy and architecture, through module development and systems integrations to testing, support and managed operations. This experience combined with our focus on end-to-end business solutions that can be delivered as platforms make us an ideal partner in all aspects of an IoT project.

What we see today as an emerging technology has the ability to transform all aspects of modern digital enterprises and Pratiti Technologies views IoT as a means to connect the dots around connected asset information with concrete targeted solutions. We view it not as just technology but a way to create concrete business solutions that help us optimize an end-to-end process with connected equipment, information, events and people so that you can effectively add value to your offerings, create insightful IoT ecosystems and achieve higher profitability.

The value of IoT lies in its ability to take action from connected asset data and information so that it can create smarter ways of monitoring, optimizing, maintaining, servicing and managing assets by making use of the right infrastructures and connected equipment, connectivity and networks, cloud, analytics and human expertise in a confluence of technologies. We understand that creating the right connected asset ecosystem is crucial and at the same time we know that choosing the right technology and tools is also no lesser matter so that we can create a solution that fits a customer's requirement perfectly as per the ROI required from the ecosystem.

For the connected asset ecosystem to be truly helpful, the core idea should be able to handle real-time data streams and forecast information in time to create preventative actions. While one machine can provide immediate status updates for those connected to it, a greater value add can be brought in by aggregating several machines or contextual data that can provide a more holistic view. We view the scope of IoT today to be found in the aggregation of real-time and historical data with analytics driven insights, remotely or locally at the edge where needed and predictive models where possible and digital twins can be created to visualise its performance.

Every IoT project can be said to be initiated due to a business need and not due to a technology requirement. All about reducing equipment downtime or understanding equipment performance, or enhancing overall visibility of the production, or monitoring remote assets or creating smarter connected products all come down to the core business goal driving the technology requirement. When the end goal is clearly understood as the barometer of success, the technology requirement for collecting and analyzing the connected asset's data and information can be made more precisely ensuring optimal spend on IoT ecosystems.

Pratiti Technologies combines its IoT capabilities with a combination of skills and expertise in cloud, edge computing, analytics, digital twins, data engineering, machine learning and development and Dev Ops so that we are able to create end-to-end solutions for plants, factories, hospitals, field operations, remote infrastructure, mobile and consumer applications alike. We also have experience in working with a range of connected platform capabilities like PTC Thing Worx, Siemens Mind Sphere and Site Where, apart from creating modular solutions with our proprietary framework, MFGSuite. This experience enables us to create connected solutions that can take into account the environments they will operate in and the technology capabilities of the platform or range of platforms to choose the right technology stack for every project.

The development process of connected products starts with testing the foundation of the connected product by identifying the information that is required to be collected, having the equipment and the systems connect, establishing the volume and latency requirements and then establishing the visualisation requirement whether operational or services related. This can then be utilized to develop, test and deploy a minimum viable product at the start and then incrementally get a more complete product to monitor all components in the industrial environment. For IoT processes that involve many different interconnected teams and technologies, Pratiti Technologies has a published IoT Practice that helps give an end-to-end view of the technology investment from ideation to solution architecture, to module design, development, testing, and managed support operations.

Connected products have the added benefit of being able to work with information from sensors, equipment, applications, cloud, analytics and digital twins to give new perspectives on how they are operating and what they are capable of by upgrading standalone products to connected products. If connected product development is pursued, it can be for tracking product usage, enabling new service offerings, delivering insights that enable proactive solutions, detecting issues before they occur or integrating data with digital twins for holistic monitoring. We work with organizations to build such products and connected product environments for numerous requirements and applications.

industrial iot platform providers is an emerging area that offers huge potential benefits for factories and other manufacturing environments because of the wealth of operational information that can be generated. Connected machinery can be made to provide detailed information about an asset's operating state, condition, health, status, usage, quality and more information that can be used for insights and optimization. Pratiti Technologies has focused on IoT enabled business applications for manufacturing and has developed its suite, MFGSuite, for discrete and continuous or batch manufacturing processes, aiming to give real-time machine KPIs and health, condition, production status, quality KPIs, as well as smart energy management and production tracking and traceability.

An enhanced benefit can be achieved with connected assets if the collected information can be combined with analytics and smart applications that can help make better sense of the information, identify trends and patterns, combine historical and real-time information, use machine learning or AI enabled anomaly detection, digital twins for asset visualization and other capabilities, all of which can be used to enhance asset health and optimize asset management. While data can always be collected from connected assets with sensing, digital twins or other means, the true value of the IoT data can be unlocked with the right combination of sensors, edge computing, analytics, AI, digital twins and visualisation.

The architecture that make up a typical IoT ecosystem and provide connected asset information comprise sensors and controls, gateways, connectivity, cloud and analytics, user experience applications and enterprise applications so that each component can interoperate reliably with the others and connect data to actions. The use of gateways or cloud, use of protocols, integration of IT and plant systems and the selection of sensors and connected equipment needs to be of the right choice and scale for the solution. This makes IoT a holistic ecosystem that can leverage security requirements, edge computing and data engineering expertise.

Any IoT platform needs to take into account the current cloud infrastructure, current enterprise applications, connected equipment landscape in the organization, IoT platform requirements and budget. We have experience with building solutions on PTC Thing Worx, Siemens Mind Sphere and proprietary solutions and frameworks, such as our MFGSuite offering. We also have the expertise needed to work with your existing equipment, protocols, data standards and other hardware and infrastructure, to create the right platform solutions.

One of the most cost-effective ways to leverage the connected asset's information is to carry out a small proof of concept or prototype and then evaluate the solution in real-world conditions and then expand it into a scalable architecture. By verifying the solution for a single aspect and then adding the other components, the end customers can be assured of a sound ecosystem that delivers ROI and is not in development without validation.

From the shop floor to the cloud, our IoT capabilities, combined with our expertise in connected applications, testing, industrial automation, digital twins, digital product development, cloud, analytics, embedded programming and Dev Ops can help you create a scalable connected ecosystem that adds value to your operational processes and business offerings. Every business will find their own way in their IoT journey and our experience, through co-creation approach, can tailor solutions to the company's specific needs, not only in terms of requirements but also in terms of cost, scalability and long term sustainability. We are here to give you the right path to a connected organisation.