Smart Connected Products

Smart Connected Products are devices featuring the integration of three components: the physical component, the smart component which provides intelligence and data management capacities (think of smart security systems or sensors, for example), and the connectivity component which allows for the integration of products with other devices, tools, systems and operators. Thanks to these characteristics, smart connected products allow the exchange and analysis of data, unlocking new doors for manufacturers and end users, strengthened by the ability of these products to further expand their performance and possibilities and to increase their actions beyond the traditional physical realm.

By exploiting the potential of smart connected products, we can open up new corporate and industrial optimization opportunities at the product level which are more reliable, optimization of production processes, integrated data gathering and analysis, monetizing the information gathered by the smart products themselves.

Thanks to smart connected products, a company can:

• Integrate different devices and make the devices themselves data sources
• Use the data gathered for complex analysis with the goal of generating insights and forecasts, even in real time
• Open up predictive maintenance possibilities, including remotely, with consequent reductions in maintenance costs
• Develop integrated systems so as to manage the performance of devices and corporate processes in a connected, smart fashion
• Open up previously unimaginable Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality scenarios in which to test virtual versions of new products under development right from the design phase, using the data gathered.

Lutech’s Smart Connected Products strategy is based on a complete approach, integrated yet practical, which combines new technologies, expertise and capacities supported by effective and efficient process management. Thanks to strong relationships with our technology partners and a digital ecosystem to provide connectivity, managed services and integrated hardware or software, Lutech can guide and support you in improving the capabilities of your smart connected products.

In manufacturing, the development of smart connected products allows new usage models and business models to be developed.

The most highly structured companies already make use of remote monitoring systems for their machinery, but most are looking to add infrastructure able to manage software updates and added-value services such as:

• Connecting the product control system (PLC) and/or intelligent sensors (read and write access);
• Making secure transmissions to a DB via Wi-Fi, data SIM etc.;
• Collecting the data in a datacenter, cloud and/or hybrid architectures;
• Condition monitoring for the real-time display of the monitored data via browser, app, AR;
• Machine learning to understand how the machines work and optimize their operation;
• Predictive e Prescriptive analytics to develop new services and business models (as a service, sales models etc.).

Lutech’s PTC solutions to open up the future to its industrial clients are ThingWorx and Vuforia. These solutions offer tools and technologies that enable the rapid development and implementation of powerful Industrial IoT applications and augmented reality (AR) experiences, including the implementation of physical smart products and the necessary connections and integrations between them.

A key differentiating factor is the integration of ThingWorx and Vuforia® technologies, which allows large amounts of data to be conveyed and contextualized in a very short space of time. This translates into huge efficiency improvements for processes, with benefits that are passed on to the entire value chain.

The value of an AR solution integrated into an IoT platform is that the data which are managed and processed are fully available for the augmented reality model.

This allows, for example, those responsible for maintenance to view information from different information systems in Augmented Reality to have a list of the latest findings on each component. In addition, the operator will have safety information for the type of work to be carried out, assembly/disassembly sequences, and spreadsheets to update information in real time and speed up operating processes.

In conclusion, the use of integrated PLM, CAD and IoT platforms with additional Augmented Reality functions – such as those from world leader PTC, which Lutech provides to its clients in complex and structured manufacturing contexts – allows companies to automate processes as much as possible, to standardize the information flow through the different company application systems, to produce real-time analysis and simulations in a predictive and monitoring perspective and, finally, to monitor and optimize the performance of their systems, processes and Smart Connected Products, pursuing a single corporate goal of efficiency, quality and total control in the management of the product lifecycle.

Contact Lutech to implement a Smart Connect Products project in your company and enable the digital transformation for your business