The Internet of Things and Its Potential for Industrial Processes

It has been a decade since the definition of Industry 4.0 has been proposed for the first time at the Hannover Messe in Germany in 2011. Despite this relatively wide time, a clear definition of “Industry 4.0” has not been given yet, or more precisely, not uniformly adopted. Multiple technologies are seen as enabling for this fourth industrial revolution, providing truly new grounds to build and develop the factories of the future. Between the vast variety of such technologies, Internet of Things surely represents one of the most significant ones. Its potential is enormous since it could contribute along with the Industrial Internet to digitalize production processes. A structured analysis on the different hardware and software components of such technologies would be of major help for the practitioners and researchers as a guide to adequately assess, compare and select the most appropriate techniques for the specific industrial problem to face in the context of Internet of Things, Industrial Internet and Industry 4.0.