May 2025

Building Agile, Sustainable CPG Operations in a Constrained World
· Process Manufacturing

Building Agile, Sustainable CPG Operations in a Constrained World

In the highly competitive consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector, manufacturers are under increasing pressure to meet shifting consumer demands, accelerate product innovation, and achieve sustainability targets—all within limited physical and energy infrastructure. According to Neil Smith of Schneider Electric, the convergence of regulatory compliance, mass personalization, and demand variability is reshaping how CPG leaders think […]

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Why Manufacturers Still Struggle with Industry 4.0—and What to Do About It
· Discrete Manufacturing

Why Manufacturers Still Struggle with Industry 4.0—and What to Do About It

At a time when Industry 4.0 conversations dominate industrial trade shows and boardrooms alike, many manufacturers still miss the mark. The problem isn’t the technology. It’s how it’s being approached.Jeff Winter, a well-known voice in digital manufacturing and VP of Business Strategy at Critical Manufacturing, shared insights at Hannover Messe 2025—cutting through the jargon to […]

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Why AI Needs IoT to Deliver Real Value in Industrial Operations
· Discrete Manufacturing

Why AI Needs IoT to Deliver Real Value in Industrial Operations

At Hannover Messe 2025, amid the buzz around generative AI and intelligent automation, Bernd Gross, CEO and co-founder of Cumulocity, offered a pragmatic lens into the convergence of AI and IoT—and what industrial leaders are still getting wrong.As co-founder of Cumulocity and an early architect of industrial IoT platforms, Gross has witnessed the sector’s evolution firsthand. His […]

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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of AI
· Artificial Intelligence

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of AI

A Human Story Repeating ItselfThroughout history, the development of technology has been met with a blend of awe, excitement, fear, and resistance. Whether it was the discovery of fire, the invention of the wheel, the rise of the steam engine, or the more recent emergence of nuclear energy and artificial intelligence, humanity’s journey with innovation […]

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Fortinet’s OT Cybersecurity Summit: Tackling Real-World Threats and Building Resilient Infrastructure
· Cybersecurity

Fortinet’s OT Cybersecurity Summit: Tackling Real-World Threats and Building Resilient Infrastructure

On May 8, 2025, Fortinet is hosting the OT Thought Leadership Security Summit in Houston, a must-attend event for asset owners, cybersecurity professionals, and operational leaders across the energy, utilities, and critical infrastructure sectors.As cyber threats targeting operational technology (OT) environments grow more sophisticated—driven by nation-state actors, hacktivism, and geopolitical instability—the need for collaboration, strategy, and modernized security is […]

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Industrial AI Needs a Backbone—And That Backbone Is DataOps
· Discrete Manufacturing

Industrial AI Needs a Backbone—And That Backbone Is DataOps

At Hannover Messe 2025, John Harrington of HighByte offered a timely reminder: as AI races ahead in the industrial sector, the infrastructure supporting it—specifically, DataOps—needs to keep up.While AI dominates the headlines, its power is fundamentally limited without access to the right data. Harrington put it bluntly: “Data is the oxygen for AI.” But not just any data—clean, […]

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AI in Manufacturing Enters Its Third Wave: The Rise of Autonomous Agents
· Artificial Intelligence

AI in Manufacturing Enters Its Third Wave: The Rise of Autonomous Agents

At Hannover Messe 2025, AI isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a battleground of ideas. While many vendors promise intelligence, Francisco Almada Lobo, the CEO of Critical Manufacturing, offers a structured, visionary framework for how manufacturing will truly evolve in the next five years.It starts with recognizing a shift already underway: manufacturing is entering the third wave of […]

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