The Role of IoT Connectivity in Predictive Maintenance and Asset Tracking

Predictive maintenance is the industrial application of the maxim “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. In essence, it’s the discipline of analyzing the activity in every component of a supply chain or mechanical process in an attempt to pinpoint potential weaknesses and remedy them before they occur.

The strategy has been a part of engineering throughout human history. The world’s first analogue computer, the ancient Greek Antikythera mechanism, indicates that humans have been using mechanical means to map the future since at least as early as 200 BC.

As the key term “predictive” suggests, this has often involved a healthy dose of guesswork. Recent innovations in wireless technology, eSIMs, and AI have shifted the discipline from an art to a science, providing a data-based foundation for companies to build on. Today, predictive maintenance is an essential aspect of industry, helping companies to increase efficiency, avoid downtime, and consistently deliver returns on investment. These methods are now being applied to international supply chains to monitor processes and track assets across the globe.

The predictive maintenance pathway

As a discipline that essentially attempts to predict the future, predictive maintenance is highly complex and reliant on data points across the manufacturing and supply chain. The journey from data sensor, through analysis platform, into a workable predictive maintenance strategy, is centered around IoT connectivity.

This use of edge-to-cloud IoT data for asset tracking is now widespread in global logistics and supply chain management. Reporting the exact location and condition of goods throughout their journey is possible through networks of distributed smart sensors. This is the first step of the predictive maintenance pathway. A typical predictive maintenance strategy consists of two halves: data acquisition and analysis.

• The first phase requires the collection and transmission of raw data across the company’s device ecosystem: every sensor relaying real-time information on its surroundings.

• The second concerns the collation and storage of this data, using online management systems and machine learning algorithms to trawl the information, detect patterns, and build actionable insights.

• The third is turning these insights into action: both human and automated processes can act on the alerts and analyses generated in phase two to avoid obstacles before they occur, maximizing the uptime and efficiency of their systems.

All three phases require flawless connectivity to function correctly. Connectivity quality directly impacts data freshness, location accuracy, and the speed at which maintenance risks or asset deviations are identified. The analysis stage further requires a centralized online platform that presents the data and insights in a manageable format. Predictive maintenance systems require significant initial investment to implement – only with an equally reliable connectivity source can they deliver a return on that investment.

The cost-benefit comparison of predictive maintenance and asset tracking IoT

The benefits of predictive maintenance range from the immediate – reduced downtime, fewer lost or idle assets, lower maintenance costs – to longer-term upgrades, to operations and branding. Improved logistics directly improves customer satisfaction, emboldens companies to expand into new regions, and optimizes efficiency across multiple departments. Combining this with an international connectivity partner for all wireless communications further catalyzes these and promotes global growth. Implementing such a transformational tactic is not without its challenges, however.

The challenges of predictive maintenance and asset tracking

1. Installation: The most significant challenge to developing an IoT-based asset tracking or predictive maintenance network is the initial investment in the acquisition and installation of wireless devices and trackers. Software-based solutions, like IoT eSIMs, can mitigate some of the cost and time as they can be remotely deployed, at scale, to devices around the world.

2. Coverage: Once wireless hardware is in place, retaining constant connectivity with every sensor becomes an ongoing task. In some instances, such as oceangoing or air cargo, it becomes effectively impossible. Some predictive maintenance requires high volumes of data to be wirelessly transmitted at low latencies over a 5G connection. Maintaining connectivity across a wide range of wireless standards, from LPWAN to 5G, and establishing a network of primary and backup mobile suppliers in every country fills these coverage gaps, though it can take considerable administrative effort.

IoT connectivity for asset tracking across borders

For companies with geographically distributed IoT fleets, collating device data in separate countries can prove challenging: separate connectivity agreements, varying coverage quality, wireless standards, and connection speeds in each region can swiftly result in administrative backlogs and spiralling roaming fees. Long-term, they stifle growth as the time and cost required to establish and maintain connectivity contracts in new regions outstrips any potential benefits.

Multi-IMSI SIMs built on multi-IMSI technology allow companies to dodge these issues. Global MVNOs like 1GLOBAL connect all devices worldwide to a single connectivity agreement and global data plans. The benefits here are twofold: companies are free to scale their IoT fleets into new countries without administrative delays, and IoT devices remain continually connected across borders.

An international IoT network requires more than just a consistent mobile connection. IoT companies need to account for differences in mobile standards, comply with national wireless policies, and maintain rigorous oversight over their fleet’s data usage. An international partner like 1GLOBAL enables IoT businesses to fully leverage the surging global demand for wireless services.

Establishing integrated connectivity between every aspect of a supply chain has longer-term transformational benefits to the entire organization: by connecting previously disparate elements, companies can establish an accurate view of their entire end-to-end operation. Success can be measured through KPIs such as asset uptime, mean time between failures (MTBF), asset utilization rates, location accuracy, maintenance cost reduction, and speed of issue detection.

One of the world’s largest logistics companies, DHL, outlines the importance of this principle: “Once there is communication and information exchange between assets, shipments, and inventory – in other words, supply chain connectivity – you can feed this data into specific platforms and databases, enabling information analysis and visualization, along with predictive analytics.”

Cross-sector examples enabled by IoT connectivity

Nearly any business that forms part of a supply chain stands to benefit from improved wireless connectivity among its assets.

Food delivery companies, for example, can now obtain real-time updates on the temperature, viscosity, and humidity of perishable goods.

Meal-kit companies like HelloFresh invest thousands each year into packaging and transport of their chilled ingredients – obtaining accurate environmental data on these shipments allows them to ascertain the quality of the ingredients even after delays, saving on food wastage and revenue.

This data is collected by distributed networks of smart devices, ranging from simple temperature sensors to eSIM-enabled smartphones and laptops. The worldwide shipping company DHL employs the full spectrum of wireless device sophistication in its tracking system, from simple RFID tags to GPS sensors and eSIMs-enabled computers harnessing low-latency IoT connectivity for tracking.

Despite the aforementioned initial costs of installing smart connectivity, predictive maintenance is routinely shown to create measurable ROI in a broad range of industries. A study of the technology revealed:

• GE Aviation reduced unplanned downtime in its manufacturing sites by 30% after implementing an IoT-based predictive maintenance strategy, soon offsetting the cost of installation.

• Siemens follows a similar tactic to optimize the efficiency of its wind turbines, using IoT devices and machine learning programs to prevent potential mechanical failures and cut repair costs by 20%.

For city-dwellers, a clear example of this principle in action is the recent rise of ridesharing apps and micromobility services like e-scooters. These “free-floating” pools of vehicles must be accurately accounted for at all times. Customers need to stay informed of their location, alerted when they enter restricted zones, and updated with information on the vehicle’s battery level and speed.

Operators and civic governments, meanwhile, require pinpoint location data of every vehicle, among other fleet asset tracking and telematics data. Meeting these requirements requires a constant stream of real-time asset monitoring and analytics across a range of mobile standards. This extends from simple RFID connections between the vehicle and connected hardware like helmets, to powering high-volume in self-driving cars via the latest 5G pathways. Despite the dense systems of wireless connectivity required to establish and scale a fleet of shared mobility vehicles, the industry is growing rapidly – by 2030, shared mobility is expected to account for a fifth of global transportation.

Digital twins: accelerating industrial asset tracking and predictive maintenance

The global rollout of the 5G data standard has enabled the use of digital twins for industrial processes. A digital twin is a virtual recreation of a real-world machine, process, or facility, allowing operators to test potential changes, optimize processes, and monitor conditions without interrupting the operation of its physical counterpart. Creating a digital twin requires constant transmission of vast volumes of data at extremely low latencies – a function made possible by 5G data networks.

Part of the reason for the rapid growth of the industrial IoT sector is due to international connectivity partners like 1GLOBAL. By collaborating with a global mobile supplier, businesses can deploy international IoT networks without needing to negotiate multiple individual roaming agreements or risk coverage gaps across regions. By eliminating regional network constraints, organizations maintain consistent data flow and real-time visibility across global asset fleets.

How 1GLOBAL IoT enables predictive maintenance and asset tracking

As a pioneer of eSIM technology, 1GLOBAL is a leading international IoT supplier. 1GLOBAL IoT services help global organizations implement and maintain smart wireless connectivity across their supply chain, industrial processes, and among team members. This service is based on:

• A global core network

• An online IoT connectivity management platform

• A suite of API-based tools that integrate with existing systems

As a worldwide MVNO and IoT services provider, 1GLOBAL allows companies to connect their devices across a range of wireless standards to the 1GLOBAL core network – a single network comprising 600+ partner carriers, in 190+ countries, with a minimum of three mobile networks in every country. This ensures constant global asset tracking connectivity, without the risk of dropped signal or separate connectivity agreements for every country.

Our IoT eSIM technology is equipped with the 1GLOBAL eIM solution based on GSMA SGP.31 standard for instant provisioning and flexible management of profiles on IoT devices. This allows 1GLOBAL to include local connectivity profiles for asset tracking and predictive maintenance devices from a single platform.

Crucially, a scalable solution like this prepares companies for an IoT-driven future. As wireless connectivity continues to embed itself into private and commercial life, the IoT market valuation is set to exceed $1.5 trillion within two years. Embracing scalable connectivity plans now prepares organizations for sustained success in the future.

Learn more about how we help brands to scale their IoT services, or contact our team today.