News und Analysen zu MES, Smart Factory und industrieller Produktion.
An article published by IIoT World on 12 November 2026, summarizing a panel at the Industrial AI Summit 2026, proposes a practical rule for splitting AI between edge and cloud and for introducing autonomy in stages. It is a sponsor-influenced opinion piece, but it offers a good checklist for a first pilot.
Since 12 September 2025, the EU Data Act gives users of connected machines the right to access the data they generate and to share it. An industry panel, however, reminds us that compliance is not enough: you also need an open data architecture and clear governance.
On 12 November 2026, CISA, the FBI and other US agencies warned that industrial refrigeration control systems are a target, following attacks on European supermarkets. For food and meat producers, it is time to check which controllers are exposed to the internet.
On 12 November 2026 Anthropic announced Claude for Manufacturing, a plugin with 17 skills and four connectors for ERP, CAD and office tools. What does it mean for those who run plants and MES systems?
According to OPSWAT, scanning files only once at the point of entry leaves a gap in OT security. This is sponsored content, best read as the vendor's viewpoint, but it offers useful ideas for anyone managing updates and firmware.
According to IIoT World, P&G cut warehouse shift planning from 8 hours to 20 minutes with AutoScheduler.AI. The case, as told by the vendor, offers practical lessons for anyone working on MES and production monitoring.
According to the Politecnico di Milano's Data & Decision Intelligence Observatory, Italy's Data Management & Analytics market reaches €5.07 billion in 2026. Yet only 18% of large companies use a Decision Intelligence approach.
According to ANIE Confindustria, the 2027 Budget Law rewards the energy transition and infrastructure but sets out no plan for industrial investment. For anyone planning automation projects, the message is clear: a stable framework is needed.
On 5 November 2026, Automazione Plus published the full version of a roundtable on up-skilling and re-skilling in industrial networking. The theme: as Industrial Ethernet, TSN, OPC UA and cybersecurity evolve rapidly, the skills needed on the factory floor are changing.
Teva evaluated about 300 technologies in a single year for its 30 plants, and uses "proof of value" in place of proof of concept. A selection method relevant to anyone managing many factory pilots.
At Industrial AI Summit 2026, Siemens, Ingersoll Rand and Infinite Uptime discussed the shift from selling machines to guaranteeing outcomes. For anyone running a plant, what matters most is risk, data and verifiability.
On 23 October 2026, IIoT World published a Q&A with practical guidance on standards and controls for AI in OT environments. It is a partisan view, but useful as a checklist for anyone connecting MES, shop-floor data and AI tools.
The Italian manufacturer of printing, converting and tissue machinery uses HMS Networks' Ewon Flexy gateways to deliver remote support. A concrete case showing how machine connectivity can reduce downtime and service costs.
Stellantis' Goiana plant in Brazil has built an industrial data architecture that supports more than 30 AI applications and cuts integration times from months to weeks. A useful case for anyone who already has OEE dashboards and wants to reuse the same data.
At the Industrial AI Summit 2026, panelists argued that industrial AI must earn operators' trust, proposing three metrics and a four-level autonomy scale. A practical guide to judging pilot projects on operational results.
At its Milan assembly, AssoSoftware presented the “Investo Digitale” proposal, which a study says could add 0.20% to GDP in the third year. It is not an incentive you can use today, but it is a signal worth following for anyone planning MES and IT/OT integration investments.
An IIoT World article dated 2 November 2026, based on a panel at the Industrial AI Summit 2026, explains why AI pilots fail to reach production and proposes a data maturity test. For plants old or new, the starting point is machine connectivity.
Avnet Silica has announced a framework distribution agreement with Teltonika Networks covering the whole EMEA region. For anyone connecting machines and lines to MES and cloud platforms, it is a good moment to reflect on how to choose network hardware.
An IIoT World article (October 29, 2026) reports on an Industrial AI Summit 2026 panel: tag naming, clock synchronization and historian licensing are the first points of failure when AI moves beyond the pilot. Here is what manufacturing SMEs can take from it.
HMS Networks has announced a "Device Intelligence" layer built into its Anybus ONE platform, designed to let industrial devices analyze their own operating data. This is a vendor announcement: here is what it says and what it means for those running plants.
At the Industrial AI Summit 2026, speakers from Siemens and Infinite Uptime argued that most predictive maintenance never got beyond anomaly detection. The next source of value, the panel said, lies in prescriptive guidance and in reducing plant redundancy.
A panel at the Industrial AI Summit 2026 found that plant data reaches historians but stalls before it gets to AI: the contextualization layer is missing. What this means for those running plants and IT/OT systems.
According to a study promoted by Mimit, 51% of BI-REX's client companies report a greater capacity to innovate, and 22% say they would not have started without the Competence Center. Useful evidence for anyone planning a digitalization project.
In a Q&A published by IIoT World on 13 October 2026, Denis Leite of Mekatronik describes a pattern in which AI proposes and the OT architecture decides. Edge security thus covers the data flow as well, not just the devices.
On 15 October 2026, Manufacturing Dive gathered plant leaders' views on the AI and automation boom: most have experimented, but not all have seen a good return. The real issue is the quality of shop-floor data.
In a Q&A published by IIoT World on 14 October 2026, Schneider Electric and TwinThread define a specific role for LLMs in planning: an interface and what-if layer on top of optimization engines, with testing on a digital twin before go-live.
On 12 October 2026, a cyberattack reportedly drove refrigerators in hundreds of French supermarkets up to 50°C. The case shows how risky it is to expose industrial controllers to the internet, even in the cold chain.
According to Schneider Electric's Neil Smith, the new European obligations on packaging and cybersecurity are mainly solved through connected data management. It is a vendor's viewpoint, but it offers a useful prompt for anyone responsible for traceability and quality.
On 8–9 October 2026, IIoT World published a Q&A from the prescriptive AI session at the Industrial AI Summit. Its guidance on retrofits, diagnosis and cost models is useful for anyone running plants with ageing machinery.
On 9 October 2026 Automazione Plus published the Cleaf case, an Italian maker of furniture panels that used ifm sensors and the moneo IIoT platform to make compressed air consumption transparent. A concrete example of IIoT with a low barrier to entry.
A Limble survey of 686 US professionals, reported on 8 October 2026, shows teams complete barely more than half of their planned preventive maintenance. The impact on availability, and therefore on OEE, is direct.
At the Industrial AI Summit 2026, OT security experts named identity, traceability and segmentation as minimum conditions before letting an AI agent act on production data. A practical checklist for plant managers and IT/OT teams.
On 5 October 2026, Schneider Electric announced an agreement to acquire PTC for about $22.6 billion. The deal puts the relationship between product data, engineering and operations back at the center of the discussion.
According to Clusit data presented in Milan on 7 October 2026, manufacturing accounted for 18.4% of publicly known cyber incidents in Italy in the first half of 2026, versus 5.4% globally. The gap matters to anyone connecting machines, MES and shop-floor data to corporate networks.
In an interview published by IIoT World on 2 October 2026, Schneider Electric's Neil Smith argues that plants should connect their OEE data and automate downtime reason codes before investing in artificial intelligence.
AWS and HighByte have published the white paper "A Maturity Model for Industrial Data Management", which proposes three maturity stages and a self-assessment questionnaire. A useful reminder for anyone investing in AI: data comes before models.
On 10 September 2026, IIoT World published an analysis of a 2023 panel arguing that digitalization should be led by production management, not by central IT alone. Here are the takeaways for plant managers and IT/OT leaders.
On 28 August 2026, IIoT World published an analysis naming the Unified Namespace as a prerequisite for taking AI and digital twins into production. The piece is opinion-led and leans heavily on vendor data: here is what it says and what plant managers can take from it.
A four-part IIoT World series, concluded on 14 August 2026, reflects on the future of remote work in industry. Parts 3 and 4 offer useful insights on alarms, compliance and security for anyone connecting machines and plants.