Automation

Machines are now an integral part of our lives and they brought digital transformation across the industries. The existence of chatbots, robots, drones, AI, voice assistants, etc has improved the quality and efficiency of business with their amazing capabilities to augment human intelligence and process huge datasets. According to a Forbes article, millions of machines are fed with data, they learn new things, become better and smarter, and they expand their ability to store knowledge, transfer it and exchange it with other machines. 

Industry 4.0 has brought digitization and automation to industries that enable productivity and business growth with cost-efficient processes that demand minimum human intervention. Machines can work 100 times faster than human beings and can adapt to any and every condition. The communication between these machines is significant for them to work faster and stronger. 

Machine-to-Machine Networks

The communication between machines will enable them to act on fast requirements and take decisions without human assistance. Since machines and devices are abundant around us, establishing a clear network for communication becomes complex. Better machine data networks ensure streamlining of supply chains, reduces downtimes, predict maintenance expense, and machine monitoring. 

Machine networks differ from IoT since they are independent network equipment which connects between machines and IoT connects these independent systems through the internet. 

Machine-to-machine communication networks are effective in locating resources like oil and gas and also enable connectivity between robots. An article by Forbes reveals that networks enabling a full range of consumer experiences get noticed, but the emergence of standards such as Narrowband Internet of Things associated with 5G is also equally essential. Further, the article says that low-cost sensors are giving rise to machine monitoring and perception at a faster rate, but to be used to their fullest potential, the machines equipped with such sensors require a full-stack approach to combine seamless connectivity with context-specific analytics and remote action.

Machine communication networks are a crucial part of IoT and they are now operated through wireless technologies like sensors, local area networks, and cellular networks. Wireless connections are flexible, cost-efficient, and easy to support. A report states that the M2M connection markets are expected to reach USD 26.52 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 5.5%. Cloud systems and other digital data platforms are necessary to store data generated through machine-to-machine networks because they are scalable and have a huge storage capacity compared to other servers. 

M2M communication can be used in automatic meter reading to collect data from water or energy meters to understand exact energy consumption and operational costs. Monitoring demand and supply chain in logistics is also an important benefit of establishing machine data networks. 

The advent of autonomous vehicles will also drive the growth of machine communication since these vehicles are connected through IoT and process data to understand traffic signals and commands 

Towards a Connected Future

Increased connectivity between machines can enhance the growth of several industries including agriculture and aviation. There are endless possibilities of machine data networks in monitoring, streamlining business operations, tracking renewable energy sources, etc. Digital transformation and automation will enable machine networks to work without human assistance. Machine connectivity will aid larger innovations in the future and benefit the global industrial economy.