Smart Factory & AI
Where AI really adds value on the shopfloor, how connected worker changes the frontline, and what both need underneath.
Agentic AI and MCP, explained for people who run factories
Agentic AI and MCP are all over LinkedIn. What they actually are, what they could mean for the shopfloor, and what has to be in place before any agent touches production.
AI for the frontline: copilots, shift summaries and coaching
AI for operators isn't about replacing people. It's about giving every new starter your best operator's knowledge. What works today, and why it needs MES/MOM context.
AI, ML and GenAI on the shopfloor: what each one actually does
AI, machine learning and generative AI get used interchangeably. They shouldn't be. What each one is, where it earns its keep in a factory, and what it needs.
Connected worker: why your operators need one app, not five
Connected worker solves real frontline problems. Bought as a standalone tool, it creates new ones. Why it belongs inside your MES/MOM, not alongside it.
Raw machine data is worthless. Context is what makes it useful
A machine signal that says 'stopped' tells you nothing. How MES/MOM turns raw data into contextualised information, and why point solutions lose that context.
Shift handover is a process. Treat it like one.
Most shift handovers are a quick chat at the door. Detail gets lost and the next crew starts blind. How to make handover a structured, data-driven process.
Digital work instructions that know what's running
Paper work instructions go out of date the day they're printed. How digital instructions with production context help new starters get it right in days, not months.
You can't hit ESG targets without shopfloor data
Manufacturers publish ambitious ESG goals while their shopfloors run exactly as they did five years ago. Why sustainability needs operational data, and where it comes from.
Your MES is already a digital twin
Digital twins are sold as something new. A well-implemented MES/MOM has been a live digital representation of the factory for years. What changes next is simulation.
Practical GenAI for the shopfloor: four uses that save time today
Forget the hype. Four practical ways generative AI already saves time in factories, and the one condition that decides whether any of them work.
Predictive maintenance needs data you probably aren't collecting yet
From reactive to preventive to condition-based. What predictive maintenance really needs, why downtime data comes first, and where operators fit in.
Closing the loop: service data back to the shopfloor and engineering
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.
Skills you can enforce, not just record
Most skills matrices live in a spreadsheet nobody checks at the point of work. Why skills management should block the wrong person from the wrong job, not just report it.
What the research says about smart factory ROI
The headline numbers from Deloitte, MarketsandMarkets, IoT Analytics, LNS Research and the Manufacturing Institute, what they show about smart factory returns, and what they don't.
The smart manufacturing maturity model: you can't skip a level
Five levels from paper-driven to AI-enabled. Where most factories really are, where AI starts to pay back, and why there are no shortcuts.
Eight smart manufacturing myths that refuse to die
AI will solve everything. Excel is good enough. IIoT replaces MES. Eight myths I hear in boardrooms and on LinkedIn every week, and why they're wrong.
What is a smart factory? No version number required
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.
The biggest challenges in food and beverage manufacturing
Food safety, traceability, short shelf lives, recipe variability and labour: the pressures on F&B manufacturers and where shopfloor systems help.
AI won't fix your factory. Data will.
Every leadership team wants AI. The ones getting value started with clean, contextualised shopfloor data. Where AI really fits in smart manufacturing, and what to do first.
The MES/MOM market: growth, three categories and what it means for buyers
The MES market is growing fast and most manufacturers haven't started. Why demand is rising, how the vendor landscape is splitting in three, and the trends to watch.
Get the next one in your inbox
New articles on shopfloor AI, smart factory strategy and the MES/MOM lessons I wish someone had told me before my first implementation.
Prefer LinkedIn? Follow me there →
- Vendor-neutral, practical guidance
- Written from real implementations, not brochures
- Shopfloor AI, smart manufacturing and MES/MOM
- No hype, no buzzword bingo