How can manufacturers make the critical transition from data to action? How do they effectively navigate the overabundance of data to pick out what’s meaningful? How do they use these insights to drive overall productivity and efficiency in an automotive context?

The answer to these questions involves deploying a three-tiered IIoT approach that provides automotive OEMs and suppliers with a comprehensive digital roadmap for their operations.

To improve its manufacturing and supply chain operations data, Johnson Controls implemented LeanDNA, a cloud-based platform that connects the company’s numerous ERP systems. Like many companies with distributed locations and processes, Johnson Controls data was scattered and difficult to find and understand. LeanDNA provides the company with a comprehensive, organized view of cross-site analytics. 

Companies achieve manufacturing excellence when people have the tools they need to produce high-quality work. On the shop floor, this comes about through the marriage of workers and machinery and the refining of processes through constant care and iteration. 

Manufacturing in the age of Industry 4.0, digitally connected machines and smart factories require a new breed of engineers who are equipped with a fresh set of skills. That’s why Arizona State University recently launched the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks.

You can’t accuse Volkswagen’s Dirk Voigt of having his head in the clouds—he’ll take it as a compliment. The head of digital production at VW, Voigt and a team of manufacturing and IT pros are developing an industrial cloud computing system to amalgamate production data from more than 120 factories. The objective: greater efficiency and lower costs.