Three industries that stand to gain from big data-driven IoT

62% of companies report they received measurable results from big data investments. If augmented with Internet of Things capabilities ” such as sensors and trackers ” data-driven enterprises gain potential for extensive market research, better process visibility, and higher operational efficiency.

Yet, big data consulting specialists report that some industries may be ideally poised to benefit from marrying big data and IoT.

Digital marketing ” predict what makes your clients tick

Knowing the purchase drivers of your customers, you can anticipate their choice and offer the right product at the right time. IoT assists you in enriching customer profiling in real-time, whether it is retail or other offline locations where your customers circulate. Bluetooth-enabled beacons interact with customers by connecting to their smartphones and smartwatches.

An interconnected system of beacons doesn’t only register your audience’s presence ” it helps them discover you and add more value to their ongoing experience. Beacons can send push notifications with the latest offers to passers-by or navigate them to the store. The advantage is that the interaction doesn’t stop there. People bring their devices everywhere, so you can learn what your customers do after the purchase and how they use the purchased goods.

This is when big data tools come into play: you receive insights on how they move in the store and why they are interested in your products ” far earlier than they become your customers. What’s left is to calculate predictions and channel your marketing campaigns in a more precise way to reach underrated niche audiences.

Industry 4.0 ” optimize performance and prolong equipment life

The equipment you use is inevitably aging. Preventive measures are important, but executing them based on protocol only is a shot in the dark. If maintenance is performed too early before a possible failure, it may be ineffective and cost more. Hiring a maintenance operator every time you need to check a valve a thousand miles away is unsustainable, and there are no instant reports on what’s going on.

So how do you know your maintenance schedule is on point? Make it predictive depending on failure signs. If you can analyze the state of your equipment in real-time and foresee issues at early stages, the repairs will become less frequent and more cost-effective.

Predictive maintenance is achievable with IoT. Your whole production cycle can be interconnected and monitored by attachable sensors. Accompanied by big data technology, such a system will be able to digest high volumes of data quickly enough and provide you with optimal timing for maintenance for each asset. Such monitoring isn’t stopping the production flow and is often able to find maintenance patterns you didn’t think of.

Using big data analytics, you can stock up spare parts, watch performance metrics, and plan preventive maintenance before it disrupts your work. As a result, your assets are used for a longer term, and that reduces the total costs of production.

Logistics ” bring visibility to your supply chain

IoT has the potential of bringing a whole new dimension to shipment tracking. Besides answering initial questions of where is my shipment’ and how long is it going to take’, data-driven IoT trackers let you keep an eye on many more physical parameters that are crucial for the goods’ expiration dates and storage requirements.

For example, there can be updates on temperature, position, humidity, vibrations ” specifically tuned for the type of goods you ship. You can find out the exact reasons why your units were broken, or why the delivery was running late. If the shipment is moving too slowly, lost connection, or is exposed to possible damage, you get an event-triggered notification.

Also, the data collected by IoT devices can be used outside of routes: you can settle disputes with recipients using proofs, or control and improve shipping conditions continuously.

With big data tools applied to cargo tracking, you gain a competitive edge. Weak spots become visible, predictive analytics suggest better routes to secure cargo from environmental factors and blocked roads. In the end, this leads to increased customer satisfaction.

Tap into data-driven IoT to get measurable results

There are only 31% of companies that call themselves big data-driven, and others are not in a hurry to join. That means, your IoT-enabled competitors are probably still sleeping on big data’s hidden treasures like enhanced customer profiling, predictive asset maintenance, and process visibility.

Since a happy union between IoT and big data is destined to success if done right ” it’s anyone’s time to shine.