To me, IoT in industry has little to do with pretty data on a dashboard. It's about no longer losing money on machines that stop without warning.
Where sensors add the most value
Predictive maintenance
Vibration and temperature sensors warn you when a machine is close to failing. Maintenance happens before the breakdown. Typical savings land between 18% and 30% of maintenance costs.
Machine availability
Do you know how much time each machine actually spends producing? Most factories don't. Sensors answer that right away.
Quality control
Sensors catch variation in the process before it becomes a defect. Rework and waste go down.
What it costs
An industrial IoT pilot can start at R$10,000 to R$30,000, monitoring 3 to 5 critical machines. The return usually shows up within 3 to 6 months.
How I would start
Pick the most critical machines, the ones that stop and cost a lot. Install basic vibration, temperature and current sensors, and connect everything to a simple dashboard.
Then watch the patterns for 30 to 60 days. Only then make decisions based on the data.
To wrap up
Industrial IoT doesn't have to be complicated. Start small and expand as the results show up.
