Writings on this page chronicle all things digital from sensors to the cloud. Topics include OT/IT convergence, Industry 4.0, IoT, analytics, cloud/hybrid computing, and 3D printing (additive manufacturing). Or, in short: All things digital that are spurring a retooling of our connected future.

• Dare to Dream — of a Unified Industrial Network Standard is a cover story that explains how and when new field-level communications protocols (OPC UA FLC) combined with real-time Ethernet TSN extensions will finally put an end to technical and competitive issues between “warring suppliers,” as a prominent ExxonMobil chief engineer says in this article. (Smart Industry; digital edition or web version.)
• Packaging Machinery-as-a-Service Beats the Capex Budget Blues brings news of a breakthrough for fast-moving consumer goods (FCMG) operations: Outcome-based asset acquisition based on actual vs. forecast guesstimates. Discover the IoT/blockchain solution that converts operational data into dollars in real-time, and turns Capex financial risk into recurring Opex payments. (Packaging Digest)

• 3 Packaging Lines Improved by IoT Data demystifies the ease of IoT adoption for CPGs and others who need a nudge to upgrade their packaging operations at three levels: the machine, full-line, and enterprise, the latter exemplified by Unilever. (Packaging Digest)
• Finding the silver lining in cloud analytics reveals new analytics opportunities from production to supply chain and instills best-practice solution-think, thanks to luminaries at ARC, ABI, Dow, Cisco, Emerson, Northwest Analytics, SAS, Seeq and Siemens. (SmartIndustry; link)

• Will AI liberate the IoT’s potential? reveals how 99 percent of corporate leaders who combine AI with IoT to form an AIoT — Artificial Intelligence of Things — achieve greater-than-expected benefits, per research from SAS, Deloitte, Intel and IDC. (SmartIndustry; link)
• Service is the new sizzle tracks the threat of commoditization not just for manufactured goods but manufacturing itself, and the industry’s response: using AI- and IoT-powered predictive service value-adds to guarantee customer uptime and build revenues. (SmartIndustry; link)
• Edge, cloud or something in between? tracks the rise in IoT-connected edge computing networks from the perspective of pros at firms including SAP, Cisco, Oracle and Intel, whose Twitter and LinkedIn promotions were welcome. (Smart Industry; link)
• IIoT developers start delivering better process data tracks the rise and success of cloud-based operational and business analytics applications in the process industries. (Control/Controlglobal.com; link)

• PlantMan Go — The future of asset lifecycle modeling heralds the convergence of PLM AR/VR, IoT and more tech for a unified, lifecycle model for process plants. (Control / Controlglobal.com; link)
• Big Data is watching your factory say SAP, Festo, Siemens, and GE, as industrial internet of things and Industry 4.0 take root. (DirectIndustry)
• How New-Generation 3D Visualization Technology Will Transform The Workforce of Tomorrow tells (and shows via videos) the convergence of 3D visualization, AR/VR and an integrated IT infrastructure for a new generation of industrial workers. (Siemens; multiple vertical channels.)
• Automakers rev-up efficiency with 3D and VR, as explained in this piece on the state of the collaborative IT art via Dassault Systemes’ 3DExperience platform that pervades the automaking enterprise. (DirectIndustry.com)

• User-friendly and adaptable: Robotics on the packaging line: This story for the European and North American markets brings news of on robotics to CPG production from pick/place to end-of-line operations. (DirectIndustry.com)
• Essentials of Cyber Security: My job was to contextualize cyber threats and resources for those who engineer and work with industrial control systems. Author: Honeywell. (Putman/Honeywell)

Aah, memories…from the archives:

•  Take 2000 was a 32-page pre-Y2K book from my days as Editorial Director of Software Strategies, a manufacturing enterprise integration magazine. The link shows my kickoff Editor’s column and feature.
• FPI applications of CIM alliances: What did the IT landscape look like in the early days of “Computer Integrated Manufacturing?” This article’s a throwback for the ages, using food processing industry (FPI) examples.