The definition of autonomy in manufacturing is shifting from a conceptual goal to a practical requirement. According to Axel Lorenz, CEO of Process Automation at Siemens AG, autonomous production allows facilities to maintain consistent output despite volatile inputs. This capability is becoming critical as manufacturers face fluctuating feedstock quality and variable energy supplies from renewable […]
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How do you determine if your plant is ready for Prescriptive AI? Before investing in a prescriptive AI platform, Small and Medium Manufacturers (SMMs) must verify that their data environment is a “clean engine” ready for high-performance intelligence. Try this checklist to determine if your shop is ready to bridge the gap from manual monitoring to prescriptive autonomy.Phase 1: […]
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The graveyard of smart manufacturing projects is filled with perfect, scalable, future-proof monoliths. They are elegant technical cathedrals, engineered on whiteboards to last a decade. The problem is, the ground beneath a manufacturing operation is not solid. It is shifting sand, a living system of legacy machines, undocumented workarounds, and relentless production pressure. Your beautiful […]
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Why modern factories remain dangerously exposedManufacturers invest heavily in IT security, cloud controls, and compliance frameworks. Yet once you step onto the shop floor, a different reality often appears. Industrial environments still contain machines that communicate openly, without encryption, authentication, or access restrictions. In many cases, anyone connected to the network can not only read […]
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Industrial companies everywhere, from manufacturing and energy to transportation and smart cities, are being pushed to “do something with AI.” Predictive maintenance, digital twins, edge AI, and even agentic operations are now showing up on roadmaps and board slides.But here’s the reality: AI ambition is accelerating faster than AI readiness.That’s why IIoT World, in collaboration with HiveMQ, released […]
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The manufacturing sector is currently facing an existential challenge: the “brain drain.” With approximately 30% of the workforce nearing retirement, the industry is losing decades of unwritten “tribal knowledge.” In an environment of tightening margins and increasing complexity, the traditional approach of simple monitoring is not sufficient. To survive this transition, the industry is shifting toward prescriptive autonomy, […]
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Life sciences manufacturers operate in environments where innovation and compliance must coexist. But how is that possible in practice, and what use cases are emerging across the industry?In a recent webinar hosted by IIoT World, “Adapting GxP Operations for Modern Compliance with Regeneron,” industry leaders explored how regulated manufacturers can modernize operations, adopt new technologies, and maintain […]
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A fundamental change in expectations is reshaping how manufacturers evaluate artificial intelligence systems. The long-standing benchmark of 80% accuracy in document processing is no longer acceptable. In the context of AI-driven product and supply-chain decisions, this level of performance constitutes failure. When two out of every ten data points extracted from a critical document—such as […]
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We are getting the conversation about data infrastructure backwards.The chatter online is saturated with debates on cloud versus edge, the merits of one database over another, and the magical promise of AI algorithms. These are implementation details. The fundamental, unglamorous, and decisive battleground for predictive operations lies elsewhere. It’s in the cultural and mechanical translation […]
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Why access to machine data is becoming a strategic issueFor years, many manufacturers operated with limited access to the data generated by their own machines. Interfaces were proprietary, extraction was restricted, and meaningful reuse often required additional contracts or fees. This shaped how digital initiatives evolved—and, in many cases, why they stalled.EU data regulation is […]
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Why Many Projects Stall and What Moves Them ForwardEndurance athletes talk about the “40% wall.” It is the point where the body feels spent, even though much more capacity remains. David Goggins uses it to describe the moment when discomfort is mistaken for a hard limit.Industrial AI projects hit a similar wall.Manufacturers deploy analytics, connect […]
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Shown publicly for the first time at CES, the eXplore Tour is a mobile industrial environment built to answer a question most leaders ask before approving change: “Can I see this work before it touches my operation?”IIoT World spoke with Chris Stevens, President, US Automation at Siemens Digital Industries, about what the experience is designed to […]
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