IIoT Platform Buyer’s Guide

With all of these different platforms competing for your business, it can be difficult to know which will work best for your purposes.

That’s why we advocate asking a series of question about your current capacities and your future needs.

This exercise is intended to help you set priorities and identify the features that matter most to you.

1. What are your goals?

A basic question, sure. But your can’t really assess the pros and cons of each platform unless you can ask precisely how a platform will help you reach your goals?

So what metric would you like to improve? What process would you like to digitize? Where would it help to have more data? Are there certain lines with more errors than others?

It doesn’t really matter how you answer—that’s going to be a reflection of your operations and needs.

It does matter that you do.

2. What data will make the difference?

What do you want to know? Whether it’s operator efficiency or machine availability, chances are there’s one (or many!) areas where you could use better data.

Identifying which data matter—and why—will make it significantly easier to narrow your platform search.

3. Who will use it?

Do you need a tool that supports your frontline workforce? What about management? Do you need something for engineers and operators? What about executives?

Technologies aren’t deployed in a vacuum. It takes people to create value. Knowing who’s going to create value for you is key.

4. How long will it take to deploy?

Your timeline is up to you. But make sure that your vendor can meet it—not the other way around.

5. How easy is it to update?

Will you need to chase down IT every time you want to update an application? Will the platform create more tickets than it closes?

The resources you can dedicate to a platform depend on your staffing and workloads.

6. How soon until you’ll need to add another solution? Will you end up with a factory filled with platforms?

This is where breadth of capability starts to matter. Many platforms are closer to single solutions than full platforms. Which means that they might not be extensible enough to address each of your needs and improvements.

Be sure to ask if the platform will fit your needs next year, in 5 years, and 10.

7. Will it integrate with your existing systems?

As extensible as some platforms are, it’s unlikely one platform will fulfill every software and hardware need you have.

So be sure to identify any integrations you’ll need (ERP, MES, PLC, etc.), and make sure that the platforms you consider will play nice.

At this point it makes sense to illustrate what platforms do by giving examples of how they’re used in real manufacturing operations.

In this section, we’ll review three ways manufacturers use Tulip. Each case study was selected because it highlights a particular facet of platform functionality.

Process Visibility At Nautique

Nautique boat company is a leading manufacturer of high-end motorboats based in Orlando, Florida.

Nautique made the decision to use a manufacturing platform because they lacked the data necessary to drive continuous improvement. While the process improvement team regularly conducted time studies, the variety of parts, processes, and people made it impossible to collect data efficiently and comprehensively. According to one of Nautique’s process engineers, “The manual collection of information really wasn’t providing enough data for us to make data-driven decisions.”

As a result, Nautique sought a platform to help automate data collection.

Using Tulip, a senior process engineer built applications to track which operator did what on the upholstery line, and when. The application automatically collected step and cycle time, and gave the team complete visibility into a 400 operator factory.

Now, the platform automatically collects and displays data on easy-to-read dashboards, making it easier to identify opportunities for process improvements.

Further, Nautique uses the data they collect on operator performance to hone training programs.

All in all, Nautique used a platform to achieve a 30% reduction in cycle time and a 7% increase in production. Together, that’s over $500,000 in projected annual savings.

For Nautique, a platform was a means of gathering the data that mattered to them while connecting workers to their workflows.

Connected Workforce at Staymobile

Many organizations struggle to communicate with a distributed workforce. The scattering of workers across locations and geographies can result in inconsistent procedures, incomplete data, and unmanageable amounts of paper.

This was the situation Staymobile found themselves in when they began searching for a platform solution.

Staymobile is a national, INC 500 provider of computer, Chromebook, and mobile device repair and service solutions.

As a national organization with a geographically distributed workforce, Staymobile struggled to standardize work across locations. Paper-based work instructions were difficult to follow, and made it difficult for engineers to verify technician compliance. Often, multiple versions of the same work instruction were in use at different locations, leading to inconsistently executed procedures and avoidable mistakes. Further, paper-based processes made it impossible to collect data that gave them visibility into their operations on a national level.

Using Tulip, Staymobile built digital work instruction applications that engineers could adapt to the unique needs of every location. At the same time, each of these applications automatically collected process data, enabling Staymobile to stay agile and make adjustments as necessary.

“The flexibility and ease of use of work instructions have been a game changer for us,” began Rob Lennox, EVP of Staymobile.

Each application is integrated with Staymobile’s ERP, making inventory tracking and processing planning simple. Because these applications are delivered through the cloud, they let Staymobile centralize their data collection. “The Tulip apps are designed for collecting this data. It’s almost completely geared toward what engineers need from an output perspective for actionable KPIs.”

Because they chose a flexible platform over a single-use case solution, Staymobile is building new applications to drive ongoing initiatives.

“We’ve been using Tulip for five months now, and we’re on a daily basis finding ways to improve, enhance, and deploy new things into our organization,” said Lennox.

The organization is already planning Audit applications to replace a paper book, as well as custom applications configured for specific site visits.

Connected Factory with Taza

Most manufacturing processes are a tightly choreographed collaboration between humans and machines.

Without good data, it can be hard to determine which are responsible for inefficiencies. This is especially true when industrial machines are decades old and can’t connect to the internet. When scaling up, it can be unclear whether there’s unused capacity, or whether it’s necessary to buy new machines.

This was the challenge facing Taza Chocolate, a bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer based in Somerville, Massachusetts, when they received a large order from a national wholesaler.

Taza opted for a platform approach. First, Taza installed IIoT sensors on their analog machines. They then connected these sensors to Tulip applications, enabling them to measure RPM, cycle time, engine speed, temperature, and humidity throughout their operations. This data was used to visualize machine uptime and downtime in real time, and to identify the root cause of bottlenecks.

As a result, Taza was able to increase the number of pieces they produced per shift by 15%, while increasing uptime. All the better, they were able to meet rising demand for their product without purchasing new machinery.

When leading market research firms declare a technology a trend, it’s only natural that vendors will rush in and align themselves with the Next Big Thing. It’s hard to stand out in a crowded field.

The problem is that this kind of positioning makes it significantly harder for manufacturers to determine which solutions are right for them.

This guide is our attempt at helping you select a platform that will make a difference for your operations.

If you think that’s Tulip, get in touch. We’re here to help.