IIoT Lighting for Commercial and Industrial Businesses

While most consumers remain focused on the IoT (Internet of Things), the IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things) continues to grow in the background. With recent developments in the digital, networking, and processing circles, the dream to have smart commercial facilities is now realizable. Intelligent lighting has emerged as the unsung hero of IIOT. Through integrated lighting systems through a network and sensors, smart lighting is quickly earning its preserve in commercial spaces.

IIOT lighting systems are proving a must-have for commercial and industrial spaces for a variety of reasons:

Benefits of IIOT Lighting

Using IIOT lighting, businesses are not only able to control lighting, but the system installed can also provide detailed energy-consumption reports. The reports are essential for companies looking to cut costs by saving energy.

By integrating sensors, the lighting system can detect occupancy and turn on the lights then turn them off when they are not in use. This is a critical measure that can save the business money in energy consumption and minimize running costs.

IIOT lighting also allows you to control the lighting in the entire facility from the palm of your hand. As a facility manager, you can manage all aspects of lighting inside the building using a laptop from across the world.

Using the dashboard connected to the primary device, you can also identify inefficiencies and anomalies in the facility that can help you improve business operations and productivity of employees.

Downsides of IIOT Lighting

There are downsides to everything – even with this revolutionary technology. Weighing both sides of the coin is essential in helping you make an informed decision.

The initial cost of setting up is the most intimidating factor for most facility managers. Even though the cost of setting up the lighting and networking might be significant, maintenance costs are minimal.

Once installed, smart lighting provides an immediate and quantifiable return with documented reports and improved energy consumption. Cumulatively, these savings justify the cost of transitioning into intelligent lighting for the facility and even earn the facility profits.

The Takeaway

The future of intelligent lighting is bright! At the moment, the main goal is to help to run a more energy-efficient facility and save costs. In the future, the technology could be used to raise security alerts, monitor productivity in the workplace, and even keep inventory fresh!

Understanding Lighting Controls

What Are Lighting Controls

Lighting control systems are an intelligent network-based lighting control solution that incorporates communication between various system inputs and outputs related to lighting control with the use of one or more central computing devices. Having a good lighting control system enhances any large warehouse/distribution centers, manufacturing, and cold storage facilities.

How Lighting Controls Can Reduce Energy Consumption And Improve Safety

Lighting controls can reduce energy consumption by being set on timers and only being used when lighting is needed. This could mean light is only used when the sun isn’t out or when there is motion in the building. This could improve safety as well as energy consumption by making sure the area is well lit at all times.

Types Of Lighting Control Motion

Basic lighting controls include motion-sensing technology that will illuminate only when areas are occupied. When zones are vacant, the light automatically dims until spaces are filled again. Other lighting controls include Dimming this can adjust the brightness of the lighting depending on the natural lighting and how much light is needed in the room.

Network Lighting Controls

Network lighting controls can control multiple devices within a building. Every fixture includes an integrated sensor that would allow various capabilities. You can program these control to function as needed. These sensors will not only control the lighting but also the temperature, humidity, power metering, space optimization and more. Network lighting controls can grow and adapt with a business, as they can be reprogrammed at any time

How Relumination Can Help

We can help you install and program lighting controls into your business. We help commercial and industrial companies reduce overhead costs, save electricity, minimize facilities management expenses, and decrease their environmental footprint. Check out our website to learn more about our lighting control and other services.

The Advantages of IoT Controls

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

Facilities managers and production managers always look to maximize ROI on any new system or improvements to an existing one.  Knowing the advantages of IoT controls enables managers to focus on optimizing production, storage, or distribution methods. LED lighting delivers an immediate cost reduction to any facility, but adding specific sensors to the lighting units and linking those sensors to customized software gives managers information about each area, activity, and timing.

By analyzing the data, those managers get insights into everything that is happening 24/7/365 in each part of the facility. The net result is maximum energy efficiency, performance efficiency, and improved safety.

Basic Advantages of IoT

Efficiencies of LED lighting may deliver up to 50% in energy savings. By installing purpose-designed sensors, even greater efficiencies are deliverable. The sensors detect occupancy and movement, so lighting can be reduced or increased as needed. Natural light can be “harvested” which also reduces costs. Because lighting is everywhere in a building, every piece of production and transit equipment, raw and finished stock, as well as people’s locations and movements can be tracked.

This data gives insights into optimum stocking, transport, and investment decisions, so specific questions can answered. For example:

  • Are stock items stored in the most accessible locations?
  • Is in-building movement the most efficient or do forklift drivers, for example, take an unexpected (and longer) route to avoid obstacles no one else is aware of?
  • Would changing inventory locations reduce transit costs and improve productivity?
  • If the sensors show that high energy usage activities are being carried out during maximum kWh-cost periods, can they be rescheduled to lower kWh time slots?
  • Is some production equipment operating less efficiently (resulting in lower output) than comparable equipment? If so, would investing in new plant deliver the right ROI?

Answers to these and other questions all become available by installing the right sensors to the right LED units.

The Takeaway

Smart lighting systems expand to become smart production and distribution processes. Good lighting improves productivity and safety performance. It also, when linked to action which is automatically monitored by overhead sensors, gives management comprehensive insights from the analyzed data.

This enables managers to make sophisticated and accurate decisions about how the facility is run. If you would like to discuss Relumination can support your drive for greater efficiencies, higher productivity, and lower costs, please contact us.

How To Use IoT Controls To Aid Social Distancing In Your Facility

A major issue that businesses and workplaces are facing today is encouraging its workers to abide by social distancing guidelines. In larger facilities, this is not always easy to monitor and can be overwhelming. However, an LED lighting system that utilizes IoT (Internet of Things) technology can put this task at your fingertips and eliminate the need to tour your facility. This technology monitors the people and assets in your facility and reports back to you in real time, and also allows for LED lighting adjustments for worker safety. IoT controls can also make it easier for your employees to meet social distancing guidelines and stay safe.

Social Distancing Controls

Employee Location Monitoring – IoT applications are able to track the location of people in your facility and uses an advanced algorithm to provide accurate data by the room. Employees and others wear tags for tracking purposes which are detected by smart sensors. You can also use these applications to replay data and see where people have been in the past, and whether they have broken any social distancing guidelines. Searches and alerts are also available.

Occupancy Tracking – Other IoT applications make use of location tracking to calculate the occupancy of a specific room or area in your facility. Sensor networks are able to track the movement of your employees and provide accurate views of occupancy in real-time, highlighting problem areas where social distancing isn’t (or cannot be) practiced. These IoT applications can also show where employees tend to congregate over time.

Facility Insight – The ability to sense the lighting levels and occupancy for an entire facility will reveal hidden problem areas and reduce human error. Real-time and historical data is made available in one central location. Monitoring the environment in your facility, or multiple facilities is vital to understanding worker behavior. HVAC failures and other equipment failures can cause workers to abandon social distancing and congregate in more comfortable areas, and alarms can be used to alert you to potential problems before this occurs.

Safety Controls

Advanced Lighting Controls – A wireless IoT system will allow you to easily adjust lighting levels by room and area not only to enhance worker comfort and safety but to encourage workers to practice social distancing in problem areas. Different lighting profiles, made by collecting data on employee movement and occupancy, can be configured by area throughout an entire Smart Building and adjusted accordingly throughout the day.

Fine Tuning – Other IoT apps can allow for occupancy sensing and adjust light levels automatically, and can be used to program the lighting system to dim a problem area progressively during high-occupancy times. These functions can be customized room by room for easy management of social distancing and can be done from virtually any mobile device.

Conclusion

The current health crisis is one that large facilities have never seen before and innovative solutions are needed to protect worker safety, health, and productivity. Using an IoT system with your LED lighting will make monitoring social distancing manageable and offer innovative solutions for enforcing worker safety. If you have questions or need more information on how an IoT system can help you, be sure to contact us.