The Industrial IoT Blog
IIoT Insights by Henry Costa
Tag: IIoT
Industrial Internet of Things connects machines, sensors, and systems to collect, share, and use industrial data. It enables real-time visibility, optimization, and smarter operations.
-
Data Context in IIoT. Why Raw Numbers Aren’t Enough for Smarter Manufacturing
Read more: Data Context in IIoT. Why Raw Numbers Aren’t Enough for Smarter ManufacturingI’ve spent years deep in large IIoT programs. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of tags streaming from shop floors to cloud platforms across very different industries: automotive, pharma, high volume, and highly regulated. And there’s one lesson that keeps…
-
My Expectations for the ProveIt! Conference 2026
Read more: My Expectations for the ProveIt! Conference 2026I’m heading to ProveIt! Conference in two weeks. February 16–20 in Dallas. It’s practically in my backyard. No flights. No hotels. Just me, my car, and five days of IIoT demos, vendor sessions, and hopefully some useful conversations with people…
-
AI, IIoT, and the Knowledge Leaving the Shop Floor
Read more: AI, IIoT, and the Knowledge Leaving the Shop FloorLet’s talk about something nobody really wants to admit. Most plants are sitting on a ticking time bomb. Decades of operator know how are about to walk out the door as experienced people retire. The machines and systems might look…
-
Building a Credible IIoT Business Case
Read more: Building a Credible IIoT Business CaseIf you’ve ever tried to pitch an Industrial IoT project to your CFO and felt like you were speaking a different language, you’re not alone. This situation comes up repeatedly in manufacturing organizations. The discussion often happens in small conference…
-
Unified Namespace (UNS) as the Architectural Foundation for IIoT
Read more: Unified Namespace (UNS) as the Architectural Foundation for IIoTIf you want to talk about making factories smarter and more connected, you have to talk about Unified Namespace. I’ve been working with industrial data for more than 20 years, and I’ve seen many architectural patterns come and go in…
-
From Shop Floor to Cloud: How Manufacturing Data Moves
Read more: From Shop Floor to Cloud: How Manufacturing Data MovesI’ve spent years watching data travel from shop floors to dashboards. And honestly, most people skip over the messy middle parts. On paper, the sensor-to-dashboard chain looks clean and simple. In real manufacturing environments, it rarely is. If you’ve ever…
-
Top 10 IIoT Use Cases to Watch in 2026
Read more: Top 10 IIoT Use Cases to Watch in 2026Every year, we see new IIoT trends, new buzzwords, and new “top use case” lists. But inside a plant, the reality is usually much simpler. People don’t come to work excited about Industrial IoT. They come to work hoping the…
-
IIoT Gateway vs Edge Computer vs Industrial Router: What’s the Difference?
Read more: IIoT Gateway vs Edge Computer vs Industrial Router: What’s the Difference?People ask me all the time: what’s the difference between an IIoT Gateway, an Edge Computer, and an Industrial Router? And honestly, I get why it’s confusing. Vendors love to mix these terms, and sometimes the same box gets called…
-
IT/OT Integration. Lessons from Pulp & Paper
Read more: IT/OT Integration. Lessons from Pulp & PaperI started working with industrial data integration in 2005, and one of my first major projects was at a large pulp and paper manufacturing site in Brazil. This was back in 2006-2007. At that time, nobody was calling it “IIoT.”…
-
Beverage Manufacturing Connectivity Before IIoT Was a Thing
Read more: Beverage Manufacturing Connectivity Before IIoT Was a ThingBetween 2012 and 2014, I worked on two large manufacturing connectivity projects in the beverage industry. At the time, nobody called them IIoT projects. They were described as manufacturing intelligence or production reporting initiatives. SAP MII happened to be the…
-
Electronics Manufacturing Before IIoT. Lessons from a Global Rollout
Read more: Electronics Manufacturing Before IIoT. Lessons from a Global RolloutWhen I first stepped onto the shop floor of a global electronics connector manufacturer, the biggest challenge was not the machines. It was fragmentation. Each plant had its own way of working, built over years to support high-volume, high-precision manufacturing…
-
SAP MII End of Life. What Comes Next for Your Career?
Read more: SAP MII End of Life. What Comes Next for Your Career?When I first started with SAP xMII back in 2005, I never imagined I’d see the day the platform would be sunset. Yet here we are. SAP MII, the tool I built a big part of my career on, is…