Why I tackled cross‑plant hot failover without a hardware shopping spreeI've been on the shop floor when a single PLC failure stopped two downstream lines and forced a weekend of overtime and expensive emergency hardware orders. Two plants, one critical controller, and a supplier lead time that...
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Process Optimization
I recently ran a small but rigorous pilot to prove that a smart patch — a...
Smart Factory
When I was asked to consolidate quality data coming from three different legacy...
Sustainability
I often get asked how to make sustainability more than a reporting checkbox —...
Automation
I’ve spent the last decade deploying machine learning models where the rubber...
I often get asked how to make sustainability more than a reporting checkbox — how to turn environmental targets into operational levers that plant managers, engineers and procurement teams can act on day‑to‑day. A sustainability scorecard that...
I’ve spent the last decade deploying machine learning models where the rubber meets the plant floor: on PLC‑adjacent gateways that need to run reliably 24/7, speak industrial protocols, and survive long maintenance cycles. In this article I’ll...
I remember the first time I watched a pilot smart‑factory deployment sputter not because the machines were unreliable, but because the data couldn’t be stitched together. PLCs spoke one protocol, CNCs another, and the condition‑monitoring...
When I run pilots for collaborative robots (cobots), the primary question I hear from plant managers and line supervisors is simple: “How can we test this without breaking takt time?” Disrupting production to evaluate a new automation concept is...
When a supplier outage or a sudden demand spike threatens production, the conversation quickly turns to resilience. Over the years I’ve helped OEMs and tier‑1 suppliers translate that fuzzy idea into numbers that executives can act on. In this...
I’ve spent the last decade redesigning operator interfaces on high‑mix production lines, and one lesson keeps coming back: the best HMI is the one that feels like it was made for the person standing in front of it. When I talk about...
I remember the first time I watched a servo drive fail mid-shift: a sudden torque oscillation, a production stop, and a frantic scramble to diagnose a machine that looked fine on paper. That experience shaped how I approach predictive maintenance...
When a new product variant appears on the line — a different connector, an altered label layout, or a slightly changed surface finish — the instinctive reaction in many plants is to rebuild the defect-detection model from scratch. I’ve been in...
I’ve spent more than a decade helping OEMs and tier‑1 suppliers move from “sticky” Excel spreadsheets to production‑grade MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems). For small automotive suppliers, this transition can feel daunting: the...
I’ve spent a good part of my career standing at the intersection of automation, control systems, and procurement — watching how a single sourcing decision can ripple through production, maintenance, and even product roadmap. When it comes to...