Smart factory strategy
What a smart factory really is, the myths to ignore, where to start and how to modernise without betting the plant.
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What is a smart factory?
A smart factory isn't science fiction or Industry 6.0. It's people, processes and technology working together on good data. Five things define it.
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Eight smart manufacturing myths
AI will solve everything on its own. Excel is good enough. IIoT replaces MES. Eight myths I hear in boardrooms and on LinkedIn every week, and why they're wrong.
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Industry 4.0 vs 5.0
Industry 4.0 is about connected machines and data. Industry 5.0 adds people, resilience and sustainability. What's actually different on the shopfloor.
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Time to truth
Follow one stoppage through a factory: how long until the truth reaches the right person, with context? Seven stages, from paper to autonomous operations.
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Smart factory: where to start
A practical plan for the first 90 days of a smart factory programme: what to do each month, and how to pick the first site before talking to vendors.
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How to modernise a factory
A practical route from paper and spreadsheets to a connected, data-driven factory: what to do first, and how to know you're ready for the next step.
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Code, build, stitch or configure
Four ways to run shopfloor systems: code from scratch, build from blocks, stitch point solutions together, or configure a platform. The trade-offs of each.
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Replacing a homegrown MES
Replacing a homegrown MES brings challenges few anticipate: the people who built it, and the urge to rebuild the old system feature by feature.
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MES/MOM and digital twins
A digital twin is only as good as the data feeding it. MES/MOM is the key source of real-time, contextualised shopfloor data that keeps a twin honest.
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Service data loop
When a product fails in the field, the answer is often in the as-built record. How service, ERP, MES/MOM and PLM connect to turn failures into fixes.
Keep learning after the last article
One article at a time on smart factories and the shopfloor systems behind them, starting from the beginning of the series. Free, and you can leave in one click.