Human expectations for constant connectivity and better information are boosting industrial internet of things projects, according to Sherri McDaniel, president of Atek Access Technologies.
“I think we’re at an interesting time as human beings,” McDaniel said. “We now expect to be connected all the time, and we have certain expectations about what we’re going to be able to do as we’re connected. That is starting to bleed over into our work lives, that same expectation about what kind of data we have access to.”
Atek Access Technologies entered the wireless and remote monitoring market when it acquired TankScan, which provides technology for sensor-based monitoring of tanks for fuel and other fluids, in 2007. McDaniel said that with customers increasingly asking what other types of remote assets that the company could help monitor, it launched a new platform for connecting and monitoring other types of industrial equipment earlier this year. AssetScan includes hardware, software and data analytics for industrial IoT connectivity and management.
Atek announced last week that both TankScan and AssetScan are now connected with John Deere’s API in order to feed data into the John Deere Operations Center, an online tool that allows farmers to centralize and analyze farm-related data. TankScan is connecting farm tanks for fuel management and supply tracking, while AssetScan can be used with soil moisture sensors, among potential applications.
McDaniel said that Atek is expanding in other ways as well. The company currently utilizes Verizon’s cellular network; she said it is going to expand capabilities for global usage, and is also keeping track of new IoT networks like LoRa and LTE Cat-M and overall IoT roadmaps. Verizon, she noted, has said that it plans to have a Cat-M network launched by the end of this year.
McDaniel added that interest in IoT has accelerated rapidly in the last couple of years.
“I have seen companies suddenly really push forward their program for adoption,” McDaniel said. She said that Atek has dealt with multiple companies for which it put together return on investment portfolios over the last four to five years with no response, only to see them start pulling the trigger on IoT projects now.
“The costs are coming down. You can get ROI more quickly, and our expectation for having information at our fingertips is changing,” McDaniel said.
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