Table 2.

Potential use case and specific business values

Potential use cases	Benefits gained
Product design	Improve product design and engineering change Improve equipment performance Reduce the number of prototypes, save time, and reduce cost Improve customer expectations regarding quality Identify products that are ready for the upgrade Predict the end of life of the product
Process design	Reduce process variability Help turn existing assets into tools that optimize processes and accelerate innovation Help observe processes under different conditions and eliminate problems before they occur Help identify bottlenecks
Production planning & control	Reduce the overall cost of producing a new product Reduce time to market for a new product Improve Product tracking and monitoring Facilitate Energy consumption analysis
Facility and asset management	Assist in viewing what is happening on the factory floor Identify quality and safety problems, monitor machine capacity, and make necessary changes Give real-time status on machine performance
Innovative process	Gaining big-picture visibility Help reimagine innovation processes Help strategizes for many possible futures Share designs, information, and insights easily across ecosystems
Preventive maintenance	Facilitate maintenance repair operations Help with product tracking and monitoring Facilitate product failure analysis and prediction
Empowerment and collaboration	Makes information more readily accessible to workers Help with education and research Incentivizes curiosity and encourages innovation Allow multi-disciplinary teams to collaborate on projects seamlessly
Warranty and services	Help understand equipment configuration for more efficient service More accurately determine warranty and claim issues Help reduce overall warranty cost and improve customer experience Improve efficiency and cost to service product Help better manage recalls and warranty claims
Quality control	Improve overall quality and detect defects sooner Improve reliability and performance Determine when quality issues started Help improve diagnostics and preventive maintenance