How IoT Can Help To Solve Major Pain Points Within The Manufacturing Industry 

As Asia embraces digitalization, IoT (Internet of Things) stands poised to transform industries, offering a glimpse into a future marked by enhanced efficiency and connectivity.

According to Statista, it is anticipated that the revenue in the IoT market will experience a steady annual growth rate of 13.53% from 2024 to 2028, resulting in a market volume of US$1,250.00bn by the end of the forecast period!Described as being “limited only by the human imagination”, the rise of IoT technology presents unprecedented opportunities for innovation and connectivity in South East Asia to learn more about these opportunities, we spoke to Mint Kaewmanorom who, at the time, was the Head of Marketing and IoT Solutions at True Digital Group, Thailand.With over 12 years of global experience as the Head of Marketing and IOT Solutions at True Digital Group, Mint Charoenporn Kaewmanorom brings expertise in Digital Marketing Operations, Market Segmentation, Applied Analytics, Team Management, and much more.She joined us for the first episode of our brand-new podcast, The Forward Podcast, and together, we explored this IoT growth further, focusing on emerging trends and looking at how these trends will intertwine with our lives and the industries around us, proving that the Internet of Things is more than just fancy gadgets and gizmos.Aziza: Zooming out and looking to the future, when we look at the potential that the IoT realm has, it is often described as being limited only by human imagination. So, looking forward to a world with limitless possibilities, can you tell us what are some emerging trends that you are working closely with within the IoT realm?K-Mint: There are key emerging trends with new technologies across different verticals through IoT, AI, Cloud, Robotics, AR/VR, or Data Analytics. And those all have a high impact on business revenue growth.In my personal opinion, there is still room to grow IoT digital solution adoption in the manufacturing industry. Revenue growth in smart manufacturing during the last 3 years in the global market is 43%, while that in Thailand is only 21%. IoT can definitely solve key pain points in this industry. Apart from being a touristic country, Thailand’s income heavily relies on being a production hub. Utilizing IoT in this sector brings in higher FDI and moves the country forward.There are at least 6 key problems in the manufacturing industry:
  • There’s a lot of unplanned out time. This challenge is all about productivity.
  • Second, is people’s safety right? How can we ensure that the operation complies with safety requirements, with environmental friendliness, and the environment?
  • The third is how to keep high-quality control to minimize production errors and real high-quality quality manufacturing standards.
  • The fourth pain point would be cost efficiency. There are a lot of unnecessary costs involved in production. It’s either production costs, labor costs, overhead costs or high electricity consumption.
  • The fifth would be new business expansion opportunities. In the manufacturing companies. Usually, the key challenge is to see new revenue sources outside the current production line.
  • The last challenge is all about data. There are huge data losses. Data is scattered everywhere. Data from different sources cannot be integrated. And, you know, when you cannot collect or capture data accurately, it leads to wrong decision-making throughout the process as well.
IoT can come in and help to solve these challenges. and also, apart from being a touristic country, Thailand’s income heavily relies on being a production hub. So, utilizing this IoT in this sector definitely brings in a higher foreign direct investment and moves the country forward.If you’d like to hear more about IoT opportunities in Thailand, and how True Digital is expanding its growth for the future with consumers, simply hit play where you can hear all of that and much more. Aziza: In your opinion, how has the evolution of consumer behavior and needs influenced the demand for connectivity and the IoT solutions that True Digital has available?K. Mint: As you know these days consumer journeys are no longer linear, right? They are very good at seeking that information and they interact with multiple channels themselves, both offline and online, anytime anywhere and definitely, they expect a faster response like, Tell them, make an exclusive offer. like they know, you know, they already know our solutions and our products really, really well, and they expect us at the same time to know them, you know, to be able to give them personalized offers and services. Therefore we apply the AI platform to personalize our engagement with our customers on our digital solutions, solving specific pain points.For example, for the retail landscape. Our IoT solutions help retail stores to increase operational efficiency with the gap scan like detecting empty shelf space with the AI camera also to have a correct on shelf product, allocation, and assortment. In addition, you know that the source can deliver personalized offers and promotions to shoppers. Stores can have better store management through a centralized inventory platform and staff, as a result, can better spend their time, you know, on giving customer service more effectively rather than spending that time on checking stocks at the back. So that’s the example of the retail landscape. B2B perspective.From the perspective of the B2C landscape to modernize a digital lifestyle. We have a True ID application which is the entertainment content app. So once consumers start watching our content right on the application, they will be recommended with their preferred content. The more they watch, the more data is saved, too. We give it credits and privileges for the True ID app users. TrueID app is not only limited to True users by the way, but actually accessible to anybody who has Internet access.Another example I am going to give is that True X is like the smart home solution or the digital Home Assistant, which means you can personalize how to live your life comfortably and seamlessly at home with high security and convenience. You know you can create your own room scene with your install, smart home devices, and command, you know, on just one single application. So it’s like your friend, your digital home application in order to make your life more convenient, more comfortable, and definitely, you know. Live your life with high security.