By Jegan Raghavan, Global Product Head, Zoho IoT
As manufacturing leaders adopt emerging technologies to enhance operations and contribute to the next technological pivot, they must ask themselves: are we building the digital backbone needed to compete globally over the next decade or are we merely optimising for yesterday?
Amidst this transformative phase, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has evolved from a technological option to a strategic necessity. It represents the convergence of operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT), creating an ecosystem where machines, sensors, and systems communicate seamlessly.
A recent Nasscom report found, by 2025 over two-thirds of the global manufacturers are planning to invest extensively in Industry 4.0 deployments. Globally, manufacturers are now enjoying unprecedented visibility into every facet of their business and operations while enhancing their precision levels and time-to-market. When implemented optimally, IIoT can help businesses reimagine how they operate, compete, and scale–transforming factories into agile, resilient, and data-driven ecosystems.
Why IIoT?
When manufacturers rely on rigid legacy systems or fragmented data, they face a grim reality: they do not have a clear view of what is happening on the ground. Therefore, issues hide in blind spots, bottlenecks causing delays are hard to trace, and teams are left guessing instead of acting. In discrete manufacturing, especially in the automotive sector, this lack of visibility and traceability can be costly.
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), for example, must deliver high-quality parts while maintaining efficiency and minimising downtime. Without real-time monitoring, small process deviations can escalate into major quality issues, compliance failures, and supply chain disruptions that threaten contracts and market position.
Modern OEMs coordinate complex supplier networks, each required to meet strict performance standards. Success requires more than collaboration; it demands precision, transparency, and synchronisation through IIoT systems. These integrated platforms provide the real-time data and operational control necessary to maintain quality standards, optimise efficiency, and ensure supply chain reliability.
Furthermore, IIoT systems offer an often overlooked benefit to businesses: sustainability. As stakeholders increasingly prioritise environmental responsibility and regulatory frameworks become more stringent, organisations must demonstrate measurable progress toward their sustainability objectives. IIoT technology provides granular visibility into energy consumption, material utilisation, and emissions output, enabling manufacturers to identify inefficiencies, optimise resource allocation, and reduce environmental impact while achieving cost savings and strengthening their ESG credentials.
But, what makes an IIoT implementation tick?
IIoT adoption goes beyond just deploying advanced technology, but requires adopting solutions that are adaptable to the unique needs of the workforce, seamlessly integrating into existing processes, and aligning with the strategic goals of the enterprise. Here are a few salient aspects to keep in mind for a successful IIoT implementation:
Empowering the shop floor team: A critical factor in successful IIoT adoption is ensuring that solutions can be customised by the end users, production operators and managers, without requiring deep technical expertise. This empowers the people closest to the production process to leverage IIoT in ways that address their specific needs. For instance, an operator should be able to adjust machine temperature thresholds based on observed patterns during specific shifts. A plant manager should be able to customise dashboards to monitor energy consumption across lines. A quality supervisor should be able to generate downtime reports by shift without needing IT support.
Vendor-neutral architecture: Many traditional automation solutions trap companies in closed ecosystems that limit flexibility and increase long-term costs for businesses. Modern IIoT solutions must be vendor-neutral, capable of integrating devices and systems from multiple manufacturers. This approach is particularly important for Indian manufacturers, many of whom have accumulated equipment from various suppliers over the years. Therefore, IIoT platforms should operate as an impartial data aggregator, without favouring specific hardware manufacturers.
Security-by-design at scale: As manufacturing operations become more connected, security concerns naturally increase. Without robust security measures, IIoT systems could potentially expose sensitive production data or even create vulnerabilities that allow malicious actors to interfere with operations. Indian manufacturers must demand IIoT solutions with security built into every layer–from encrypted device communications to rigorous access controls for data and systems.
Leadership alignment: Even the best IIoT strategy can falter without one defining ingredient: executive alignment. A top-down strategic approach to IIoT adoption creates the organisational alignment necessary to realise the business value. When executives frame IIoT as a competitive necessity rather than an optional technology experiment, the entire organisation mobilises to ensure successful implementation and adoption.
Building smart factories: With AI, manufacturers can also build predictive maintenance systems to eliminate unplanned downtime and create self-adjusting production lines. Given the advancements in the space, manufacturing leaders can now use simple language prompts and built-in analytics tools to dig into data and make more informed decisions. Today’s IIoT deployments are linked to the underpinnings of tomorrow’s AI-powered smart factories. IIoT deployments gather detailed production data, which helps train AI models that can then detect anomalies, spot trends, and improve decision-making on the factory floor.
Those who embrace IIoT now will be able to build the digital foundation required to compete in an increasingly data-driven global market. The question is no longer whether to implement Industrial IoT, but how to quickly leverage it to gain competitive advantages.