GE and The Industrial Internet

Just yesterday (9th October 2014) GE officially opened up its flagship Industrial Big Data platform called Predix to third party development. Predix puts the spotlight on something now commonly referred to as the "Industrial Internet", a system of large-scale data collection from sensors placed into machines and the analysis of this data to improve industrial processes.

Image source: www.trainordavisdesign.com

GE has already deployed around 10 million sensors into the many types of industrial equipment it manufactures. Currently, these sensors are generating over 50 millions units of data every data. Using the Predix platform and the data from these sensors, GE aims to build a smart network of machines laced with advanced analytics, wherein the machines get to communicate with each other and their human operators to create large efficiency improvements in their performance. Pedix platform is not just restricted to GE products; it can be used by any vendor and, furthermore, anyone (customers, vendors, or third-party developers) is free to develop apps on this platform to fit their needs.

Industrial data if applied smartly and analyzed correctly has a huge potential. The manufacturing plants of the future might not have to worry about costly downtime anymore -- with the help of the industrial internet, these facilities might be able to predict if there is a problem in a machine and fix it preemptively. The airline industry looses billions of dollars every year due to flight delays resulting from unscheduled maintenance. Equipping jet engines with sensors and monitoring the engine performance could greatly reduce the frequency of such incidences. Just knowing how a machine is performing and where specifically a problem has occurred could greatly assist in fixing the machine correctly and with ease. Furthermore, by using this data, machine manufacturers such as GE, will be able to design more resilient machines in the future.

The possibilities are endless. However, it is important to note that as with any technology, a cautious approach is needed. A large scale usage of the industrial internet before testing it out fully and establishing foolproof security measures could have huge negative consequences. All in all, there is no doubt that this is a great time to launch the Predix platform. The Industrial world, which has been largely untouched by the internet revolution, is hungry for a technological revolution of its own.


Some Links:

TED talk on Industrial Internet by Marco Annunziata: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBDShp6U7tU

GE Predix Platform Webpage: https://www.gesoftware.com/platform

NY time Blog on Predix: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/09/ge-opens-its-big-data-platform/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

GE news on opening up its platform to all users: http://www.genewsroom.com/press-releases/ge-open-predix-industrial-internet-platform-all-users-278755