I’ve covered asset and facility performance from the dawn of maintenance software to the birth of predictive and condition-based management to the IoT-connected present…

• Service is the new sizzle: The future of AI-assisted field service emerges to connect field service operations and open new revenue-generating services for industrial firms, combatting the commoditization of mechanical assets. (SmartIndustry; link)
• Edge, cloud or something in between? has experts from firms including SAP, Cisco, Oracle, GE and Intel demystifying IoT-connected edge computing in a hybrid IT world. Heavy emphasis on remote, predictive services. (Intel promoted the story on LinkedIn. (Smart Industry; link)
• PlantMan Go — The future of asset lifecycle modeling: Pokemon Go meets PLM as VR/AR, IoT and other technologies asset databases into a unified, integrated lifecycle model of operations… from facility design to decommissioning. (Control/Controlglobal.com; link)
• How New-Generation 3D Visualization Technology Will Transform The Workforce of Tomorrow: How immersive 3D visualization and augmented/virtual reality eases workforce training and asset management for a new generation of tech workers. (Siemens)

• Success in the field: Digitization of sensor networks forever changed how field instruments were managed and processes maintained — from Novartis in Singapore to the oilfields of Alaska’s North Slope. (FieldComm Group)
• Pepsi bottler shares secrets of OEE, Six Sigma, Lean: In a sector characterized by razor-thin margins, this major bottler used advanced methods to gain dramatic results. (Automation World)
• There’s an app for…that? The dawn of smartphones ushered in the dawn of OEE data and KPIs apps to track real-time asset and performance management via IoT connectivity. (Food Processing)
• Catching the Drift: All about the software engineers and technicians use to predict and prevent drifting calibrations on industrial process instrumentation. (Control)
• Inside, Outside — contracting strategies for a new economy: The detiled, straight dope — from military to manufacturing — on how large operations came to outsource workers, processes and whole facilities. (Plant Services)
• Fix me: A deeply researched report on the growth of condition-based maintenance management beyond spot monitoring. It includes details from sensors that report their own looming demise to the birth of an industry-standard data framework…and early adopters from nuclear power to pulp & paper. (Plant Services)

“Fix Me” was a deeply researched report on condition-based maintenance, spanning industries from nuclear to pulp and paper, and technologies from control systems to infrared diagnostics and sensors that predict their own demise.