Difference between IoT and IIOT

Internet Of Things (IOT) began as an emerging trend and has now become one of the changing elements that is driving the world in many respects. This is because there is an increased appreciation for smart objects, which tends to make life easier. In recent times, almost every appliance we use, ranging from iron, clothing, cars and other household electronics have some level of connectivity to the internet. The rate at which IOT is developing has beaten the imagination of everyone!

  Industrial Internet of Things is the industrial or the manufacturing version of the Internet of Things. Industrial Internet of things can be viewed as a systematic expansion of automation and a progressive improvement of how machines communicate to each other at the manufacturing sites.

In the broader sense, confusion may normally arise as to whether these two business words mean the same. The distinction between the Internet of things and the industrial internet of things remains a debate among professionals. Are they really the same or there is a difference? And if there is a difference, what could be the difference?

The emerging professional consensus

Several papers that has been written on this subject by different professionals indicate that experts are gradually coming into consensus that the two concepts seem to have slightly different meanings. They however, have a number of similarities.

Basically, IOT relates to human-object interaction. For instance, there are devices that can draw the attention of users to events and the occurrences of certain situations, such as in the rise or fall in the temperature of a house, which goeshigher or lower in degree. This helps users to track the sequel of events and activities as and when they occur. These devises also give users the opportunity to monitor and control their devices from a distance.

IIOT, even though it also performs the same function and activities such as in the case of remote control, its capabilities exceed that of the IOT. It is used to monitor and control industrial processes as well as aiding in the gathering of data for management use. This has led to a greater proliferation of IIOT by Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) for control and quality assurance.

Primarily, both IOT and IIOT, makes available an intelligent and affordable devices, which connectivity ensure monitoring and control. It is however, clear that whereas IOT is basically used to provide convenience to the consumer, IIOT is used in manufacturing to extend the existing automation to enhance control, monitoring, visibility and quality. IIOT can therefore be described as a device that is used to network a group of machines to enhance communication between those machines.

Conclusion

The summary of the whole idea is that, differences exist between the IOT and IIOT, only in the extent of application. IOT can therefore be seen as the end product of the IIOT. It is the point of meeting of the physical and the digital world. In other words, it is the visible benefits of the IIOT. IIOT is therefore specific but IOT is broader in application.Whereas IOT is aimed at seeking consumer convenience, IIOT seeks a more sophisticated way of enhancing machine to machine communication to ensure an effective monitoring and control.