The trade talks a lot about digital transformation, however what actual influence does the IoT have on provide chains for companies like Unilever?
IoT Information caught up with Dominic Maidment, International Lead Enterprise Architect at Unilever, forward of this yr’s IoT Tech Expo Europe to chop by the noise and perceive how the IoT is reworking one of many world’s largest corporations.
For Dominic, the long run isn’t about one single piece of tech; it’s concerning the artistic fusion of a number of. He speaks with pleasure about combining IoT with AI, edge computing, and digital twins, describing it as “like giving our provide chain a sixth sense.”
It’s this mix of highly effective applied sciences that allows new prospects. “What really thrills me is how this tech cocktail can drive sustainable innovation,” he says, pointing in direction of examples of “smarter factories, much less waste, and vitality use so environment friendly it might make a kettle blush.”
To make that excellent tech cocktail, all of the components want to combine properly. Dominic factors to one of many greatest complications within the trade: interoperability. He has an all-too-relatable analogy for it, calling it the “tech model of making an attempt to get all of your family members to agree on dinner.”
It’s a witty line, however one which captures a major problem. “With out standardisation, we danger a spaghetti junction of units, protocols, and platforms,” he warns, and that’s earlier than even stepping into the safety implications of such a tangled mess.
So how do you begin to untangle it? A key pattern Dominic urges companies to look at is edge AI. As an alternative of sending huge quantities of knowledge to the cloud, you course of it proper the place it’s created. “It’s like giving your units brains on the border,” he explains.
The influence of utilizing AI on the edge is speedy. You get sooner selections, higher privateness, and an finish to thumb-twiddling whilst you await a response from the cloud. For a enterprise like Unilever, “this might imply real-time responsiveness in manufacturing and logistics, no extra guessing video games.”
What’s clear from Dominic is that many individuals usually misunderstand what IoT is all about. He’s eager to appropriate the widespread false impression that it’s “only a bunch of devices speaking to one another.” In his view, that fully misses the purpose.
“In fact, it’s the information that’s the actual star captured, analysed, and acted upon.” The units are simply the supporting forged.
He makes use of one other nice metaphor to drive the purpose dwelling, describing IoT as “the nervous system of a sensible enterprise.” The sensors are the nerve endings, continuously feeding data again to a central mind that may make clever selections.
At its core, that’s what Unilever is constructing. It’s “how we flip perception into influence.” The expertise isn’t the objective; it’s the automobile for smarter, better-informed motion.
Given the complexity, it’s simple to see why some corporations may really feel overwhelmed. When requested for his recommendation on the place to start, Dominic’s reply is easy and people-focused: Neglect the shiny new toys for a second.
As an alternative, he advises, “start with a enterprise drawback, not a tech wishlist.” It’s about discovering a real-world problem after which determining if expertise gives a sensible answer.
Dominic stresses the necessity to construct groups with folks from throughout the enterprise and to all the time plan for progress. That is the way you guarantee an important thought can really work at scale. “We don’t do tech for tech’s sake, we do it to make life higher for our customers and our planet,” he explains.
In the long run, it’s a robust reminder that probably the most superior expertise is simply nearly as good because the human function it serves.
Dominic Maidment will likely be becoming a member of different IoT trade specialists at this yr’s IoT Tech Expo Europe in Amsterdam on 24-25 September 2025. Dominic will likely be sharing additional insights in a panel dialogue titled ‘The Way forward for Digital Twins – Intelligence, Automation, and Past’ on day one of many occasion.
See additionally: Eseye: Why the true price of IoT connectivity is commonly hidden
Wish to study concerning the IoT from trade leaders? Take a look at IoT Tech Expo going down in Amsterdam, California, and London. The excellent occasion is co-located with different main occasions together with Cyber Safety & Cloud Expo, AI & Massive Information Expo, Clever Automation Convention, Edge Computing Expo, and Digital Transformation Week.
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