We had the chance to spend some time with PTC leaders recently to discuss their strategy. We’ve followed PTC for over two decades and watched them transform numerous times. They’re currently in a new era under the leadership of CEO Neil Barua , who took over the CEO role several years ago after serving as…
- Electronics and High-Tech
- Federal, Aerospace, and Defense
- Automotive
- Industrials
- MedTech
Applied AI
Product data also supports PTC’s “Applied AI” strategy. It’s a practical strategy to help their customers gain new value through high value, achievable use cases. PTC has already delivered AI through existing capabilities like shape recognition and topology optimization in CAD. Now, they are using AI in ALM to validate and improve requirements and draft test requirements. In field service, they plan to leverage AI’s ability to gather data from disparate systems to streamline field service through generative data aggregation. PTC will surely extend these capabilities, and we look forward to learning more as they progress. From what I learned from a recent PTC AI in Focus webinar I joined, PTC has been making progress and delivering on a holistic, practical AI strategy.
Looking Ahead
We’re also looking forward to learning more about a new PTC product, Asset360. Asset360 is a product twin that serves as the data hub for physical assets in the field. The Product Twin Is PLM-connected and includes fielded asset configuration and activity data.
PTC also made a strategic decision to divest Kepware and ThingWorx. The capabilities were intended to further PTC’s “smart connected products” strategy, but their IoT capabilities gained traction on factory equipment around the product being manufactured, rather than on the products themselves. Divesting Kepware and ThingWorx closes that chapter and allows PTC to focus more squarely on product-centric capabilities versus manufacturing asset-centric functionality.
Accelerated by SaaS
Lastly, it’s important to mention PTC’s SaaS strategy with "Plus" offerings for Creo, Windchill, and Codebeamer. This is in addition to cloud-native solutions Onshape and Arena. Today, PTC focuses Onshape on smaller companies and Arena on fast-moving products like electronics, what we would call supply-chain-centric versus engineering-centric manufacturers. They also have their FlexPLM solution for footwear and apparel. These solutions aren’t being force-fit into the IPL strategy, which allows PTC to focus on their core capabilities.
Thank You
We expect a continued positive reaction to the focus from their customers and we’re excited to follow their progress. Thank you to PTC's Danaya Ostine, Dan Kerns, and Dave Duncan for your time sharing your vision with our analyst team. Thank you to Tech-Clarity's Michelle Boucher, Howie Markson, and Julie Fraser for joining the briefing and providing input to this post.
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How can food and other recipe-based manufacturers accelerate their innovation without wasting time and compounding their compliance risks? Startup Prodeen offers AI agents and playbooks designed to turn the tide, and early customers are finding benefits. These early customers are global food and beverage companies. Initial users are in regulatory affairs, quality, and food safety, with a view to R&D, innovation, supply chain, and procurement, as well as other recipe-based industries in the future.
Moving from SaaS Point to Systems of Outcome
The Prodeen team sees a SaaS paradox: more tools but less intelligence. A significant disconnect is between internal master data and external intelligence. They say 60% of regulatory time is wasted fighting this “compliance crisis.” So, they set out to develop agentic AI not for governance, but for operating across tasks and discipline siloes.
They set out to complement the existing systems of record and data governance, such as PLM and ERP, as well as the many point solutions for specific roles or tasks. Like Prodeen, we have also seen that existing systems often reinforce the siloes for each discipline in a company.
Our State of PLM in CPG research shows that the majority of CPG companies do not feel their PLM is prepared to meet their future needs. Replacing PLM is difficult, but getting more value from it by using AI may be a better approach. Prodeen’s solution aims to orchestrate across PLM, ERP, and point SaaS systems. Worth noting: this platform is not only for analyzing the mountains of regulatory, R&D, recipe, ingredients, and operational data, but also for executing on what they see in a governed yet rapid and agile manner.
Initial Capabilities
The Prodeen agentic AI platform includes several capabilities, each focused on a common industry need.
- Horizon Reasoning: Beyond continuous horizon scanning of suppliers and ingredients, Prodeen has configurable risk gates with reasoning. They evaluate what is relevant based on the company’s specific products, ingredients, and markets. Turning external information into actionable knowledge by agents putting it into context with the company’s data is like hiring an unlimited army of analysts .
- Dossier automation: This enables companies to turn every regulatory PDF into living knowledge, maintained by AI. Gathering scientific information from suppliers and other realms to support food contact and health analysis.
- Label compliance review: Problems with labels result in dozens or hundreds of individual and class-action lawsuits each year. This aims for agents to replace the vast expense of time and money companies spend now, starting from generating copy that can be easily executed by graphical agencies, moving on to the Artwork with not only visual markup to comply with regulations as they change, but also to auto-generate corrections.
- Playbook automation: Prodeen is creating workflows for regulatory issues across recipe-based manufacturing companies. Templates and workflows in a playbook can ensure certificates and dossiers are handled correctly and reliably within proper guardrails that ensure Agents perform consistently.
- Enterprise integrations: Naturally, a system designed to orchestrate must also connect to other systems. MCP-based connectors to both enterprise systems of record and more generic data management platforms are already part of Prodeen. These are not individual point-to-point connectors, but an agent-to-agent MCP model. This set of capabilities is evolving, but is due for release in 2026.
Fascinating also is that they recognize the potential for rapidly escalating costs and tokens; they are focused on engineering a framework by taking a multi model approach or allowing companies to bring their own model to make this sustainable for a large company with its many ingredients, suppliers, and regions while complying with regulations.
Playbook Flywheel
Prodeen’s strategy is to leverage every customer engagement to create reusable compliance workflow automation. The vision is that each new customer and use case will compound value across all customers. Examples might include conformance documentation and label simulation. With this approach, Prodeen can quickly engineer specific workflow templates into the product. The user can not only enter chat, but also use a framework to execute a process, such as editing recipes or build dashboard for risk assessment. The flywheel does not use the customer’s data, but the needs and priorities across customers. In practice, the system that listens to what the customers say during sales, demos, and use, and enables Prodeem with a 2-person team to develop one or two new playbooks per week. As they prove this out, they can quickly scale into new functionality. This is also important since AI tools and regulations change regularly.
Credible Founders
Though the company is young, the founders have deep experience in recipe-based product lifecycle management and solutions for batch process manufacturers. The founders, Nicola Colombo, Tye B., and Jakub Janoštík, worked together most recently at SGS DigiComply. Nicola was also a co-founder of Selerant, which became Trace One, and his father owned a flavor house.
They know how to run and scale a software company, and their entire careers have been focused on recipe-based industries and the challenges they pose. The AI agentic platform poses new challenges for them, but their core competencies have already been proven.
Our Take
While Prodeen is young, we see great promise in a system that has such deep industry expertise at its core and aims to orchestrate workflows that leverage existing systems. The promise of greater clarity on regulatory needs as they change, coordinated across disciplines, can begin to alleviate some of the challenges of recipe-based companies.
They have recently won some big-name customers by getting up and running quickly to add value. One large company saw results and went from PoC to production with Prodeen in less than three months. We know how thorny recipe-based compliance and innovation can be, and look forward to watching Prodeen’s progress in the market.
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Phoenix, AZ, and Media, PA, USA, February 27, 2026 – The Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association International (MESA) is working with Tech-Clarity, Inc. on a research program, The Business Value and Evolution of Manufacturing Operations Software. This research will review manufacturers' success in using manufacturing operations software, including the impact of MES/MOM, scheduling, material logistics, EHS, maintenance, connected worker, and AI. MESA and Tech-Clarity will conduct a survey to understand the benefits companies can expect from their manufacturing operations software implementations. Other topics will include what’s driving investments, how long it takes to implement, how solutions are evolving and supporting each other, and what supports success. They will share the findings in a research report, infographic, and webinar during the second half of 2026. The survey will be open for manufacturers’ responses in the spring of 2026. To date, the program has three sponsors: ISE, Parsec Automation LLC, and SAS. The program is capped at six sponsors, so only a few additional sponsors can join. For sponsorship information, please contact Julie Fraser at Tech-Clarity, Julie.fraser@tech-clarity.com. This MESA initiative will uncover the business value of manufacturing operations software through an online survey of manufacturers and producers worldwide across process, batch, and discrete industries. Tech-Clarity, MESA, and the sponsors will collaborate to develop the survey. The 2026 study extends beyond manufacturing execution systems (MES) to reflect the changing solution landscape, including AI in manufacturers’ business success. Tech-Clarity’s Julie Fraser and Rick Franzosa will lead the research program, supported by MESA’s Knowledge Committee and the sponsors. MESA’s International Knowledge Committee Chair Chris Monchinski of InflexionPoint says, “We have seen the value of original research over the years. This study will expand our current understanding not only of MES/MOM, but of all software at level three of the Purdue model, and the value it delivers.” “Manufacturers need to be sure they understand their current options, and how to get business benefits from them. MESA Members and study sponsors will get invaluable learning from sharing experiences,” Tech-Clarity’s Vice President of Research for Manufacturing, Rick Franzosa, remarked. “We are grateful for the sponsors who have already stepped up to ensure this wide-reaching research can occur. In this time of rapid evolution in manufacturing software and AI, we believe this will be a vital snapshot of our industry. We look forward to welcoming a few more sponsors to the team,” said Julie Fraser, MESA’s leader of the Smart Manufacturing Community and Tech-Clarity’s VP of Research for Operations. In April 2026, look for a press release inviting manufacturers and producers to take the survey. Then, in September, we will announce the release of the findings report, followed by the infographic and webinar. MESA members and sponsors will have special access and rights to these survey deliverables. #### About Tech-Clarity, Inc.: Tech-Clarity is an independent research firm dedicated to making the business value of technology clear. We analyze how companies improve innovation, product development, design, engineering, manufacturing, and service performance through digital transformation, best practices, software technology, industrial automation, and IT services. Our mission is to help manufacturers learn how to improve business results through the use of PLM, portfolio management, CAD, simulation, MES / MOM, IoT, quality, service, supply chain, AI, analytics, and other solutions. About MESA International: Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) International has been helping the global manufacturing community use information technology to achieve business results through premier educational and research programs, best practice sharing, and networking since 1992. MESA is a 501(c)6 not-for-profit trade association. The Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA International™) is a global community of industry thought leaders actively driving business improvement through the effective application of technology and best practices. We are a 30+ year-old nonprofit organization focused on Smart Manufacturing and the business value of converging Information Technology, Operations Technology, and emerging technology to improve industrial operations. We accomplish this through:- Facilitating collaboration and innovation through global communities who effectively use the MESA Smart Manufacturing Model.
- Generating best-practice guidance which drives greater productivity and profitability in industrial enterprises.
- Educating on these topics through the MESA Global Education Program.
How can manufacturers meet customer traceability requirements faster and easier, with a higher level of reliability? Arcstone Advanced MES would argue that using the customer’s choice of LLM AI tool to access the real-time MES and supply chain data in their solution is the answer. Apparently, quite a few automotive components and food and beverage companies would agree, as Arcstone has been growing worldwide in these industries. Arcstone has also added an AI governance tool and a studio for building and governing apps. We recently caught up with founder Willson Deng to learn the latest.
Arcstone’s Vision
The concept behind Arcstone’s offering is that MES at every level is the missing link to achieve real-time, end-to-end supply chain visibility. The company’s stated mission is to provide complete manufacturing transparency across the entire supply chain. CEO Willson Deng states: “By digitalizing and integrating manufacturing operations from the shop floor right to the hands of consumers, we aim to enable a more responsive, responsible, and sustainable manufacturing ecosystem for us all.”
This company offers both MES and supply chain software, aiming to enable even the smallest suppliers to deliver accurate manufacturing data into their ecosystem. We had our first briefing with Arcstone a few years ago; that insight goes into the concept in more detail, lists the product elements, and shows them in a graphic.
Industry Uptake
The company serves many industries, but two in particular have adopted this multi-tier supply chain via MES approach. Precision-engineered automotive parts and components, as well as food and beverage products, have driven excellent worldwide growth for Arcstone.
- Food and beverage companies use supply chain traceability for materials provenance compliance. With real-time visibility, they can reduce the risk of making health-conscious and sustainability claims and focus on capturing demand for high-margin products.
- Automotive tier suppliers’ risk of recalls and product challenges goes even deeper. For them, Arcstone helps address not only regulatory compliance but also the total cost of supporting what you sell. With plant-floor visibility, the risk of misidentifying the root cause of problems is lower. Real-time information on each part shipped is the foundation for what Tesla and others call supplier “Grade A” traceability. So, this approach can improve both top-line revenue and bottom-line margin while reducing maintenance costs.
Both industries face significant risk from faulty materials in their products and are thus regulated accordingly. Automotive parts and food and beverage are highly competitive. They can both capture more or higher-margin revenue with better traceability.
Move to MCP for AI Access & Implementation Speed
Every conversation about software these days touches on AI. Arcstone’s focus is not on creating new tools, but on ensuring companies have protection when accessing actual manufacturing data from their software. Operations people spend plenty of time seeking data, and Arcstone created an MCP interface to enable any LLM or third-party system to read and interpret data across their own enterprise and their suppliers’, customers’, and partners’ systems. It has also created a manufacturing assistant agent that makes it easier to leverage data from the plant floor.
Exposing the Arcstone MES and supply chain systems’ data across the ecosystem has also made it easier to create integrations. An MES-to-ERP integration is crucial, and rather than the two or three people and a month it can often take, the new AI approach enables it to be handled by one person in a few days. MCP also cuts time by half or more when customizations are used to help ensure the MES matches operating best practices and is adopted by operators, Arcstone says. The Arcstone ecosystem of system integrators (SIs) is finding that this AI approach enables them to focus on customer success and satisfaction with fewer headaches, too.
New arc.ai and arc.studio Capabilities
In a pragmatic yet visionary way, Arcstone has also recently released two new capabilities to support governance in the age of AI and low-code apps.
- The first is arc.ai, an enterprise AI governance platform. It includes a secure model gateway plus an agentic AI control tower for safe, cost-effective AI scaling. This layer helps with access and policies, audit and observability, and cost and usage controls. Arcstone delivers this in a phased manner: starting with SSO/RBAC foundations, then the model gateway, the agent control tower, and finally continuous improvement.
- For enterprise app creation, deployment, and governance of scalable apps, arc.studio delivers a drag-and-drop builder for templates that scale across sites, governance and version control, enterprise integration (including arc.net), a global rollout framework, and plug-in-approved AI services for faster integration.
The Mindset Shift
Deng is a true visionary and continues to offer new insights. One is that the mindset for MES and supply chain must shift from what it can do to how customers can use it. Today, AI can build code to do specific functions. Yet, the complexity of managing manufacturing data and sharing it across a particular enterprise and its supply chain ecosystem is where the fundamental value now lies. This underlying MES capability enables significant efficiency gains, whereas functional improvements and the addition of AI for specific capabilities typically deliver only incremental improvements.
Thus, the Arcstone roadmap is less focused on functionality than on robustness, reliability, and ease of use for SIs to do what they need to do. Arcstone’s focus on architecture and ease of customization is to satisfy the SIs. The SIs are there to help manufacturers learn to use the system, then hand it over to end customers to manage and maintain, with no support beyond what they might need.
Our Take
Arcstone’s vision of end-to-end multi-tier supply chain visibility to the factory floors is a strategic dream for most manufacturers. So is the level of sustainability it could enable. In many industries, being wasteful is more cost-efficient than addressing yield issues at the source. However, as regulations change, we expect to see more uptake of this unusual plant-first approach to supply chain resilience.
As commercial LLMs and AI tools mature, their integrate-what-you-choose approach may also serve them and their customers well. Adding arc.ai appears to lower the risk considerably. It can also help corporate IT as they gain AI expertise and new approaches continue to emerge. When combined with arc.studio for governed apps, the picture starts to make sense, particularly for larger enterprises and their ecosystems.
Arcstone’s partner-first philosophy further differentiates them. While many other MES and supply chain providers seek to perform services or ask customers to do it themselves with low-code or AI approaches, this can create competition with SI partners. Arcstone sees the SIs as the expert human touch that customers want and need for implementation, customization, and ongoing 24x7 support worldwide.
We have been impressed by Arcstone's vision and approach for years. We look forward to hearing about what comes next.
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Our research shows that 86% of companies consider environmental sustainability to be critical or important to their long-term business success. Further, our studies show that digital transformation is crucial to achieving it. But how can companies determine the sustainability impact their technology adoption makes to make a business case for new solutions? This eBook explores the relationship between digital transformation and sustainability, and more specifically, how sustainability impact can be credibly measured and used to make business decisions. The eBook uses and shares highlights from eleven credible, audited case studies from real companies that have improved sustainability through technology adoption.
Please enjoy the summary below. For the full research, please visit our sponsor, Dassault Systèmes (registration required).
Table of Contents
- Digital Transformation's Sustainability Value
- Why Calculate Sustainability Impact?
- How to Approach Impact Reporting
- How to Calculate Sustainability Impact
- A Sustainability Impact Methodology: Case in Point
- Case Studies
- Recommendations
- Acknowledgments
The Business Value of Sustainability
The ESG Imperative Sustainability is increasingly recognized as essential to long-term business value. ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) is a fundamental pillar of sustainable business success, alongside other business imperatives including innovation, supply chain resilience, and workforce development. Sustainability is now a must-have. Our research on strategies for sustainable business success shows that the vast majority of companies, 86%, consider environmental sustainability to be critical or important to their long-term business success. Measuring Sustainability Impact More companies recognize the business value of sustainable practices. A joint United Nations–Accenture study reports that 88% of CEOs say the business case for sustainability is stronger than it was five years ago. But what is the value, how can it be measured, and can it be incorporated into company processes to help companies choose the right initiatives and partner to achieve it? This research answers those questions. It introduces the importance of digital transformation in achieving ESG benefits and shares a credible, scientific approach to measuring the business value of sustainability impact.
Digital Transformation’s Sustainability Value
Sustainability Demands Digital Transformation
Sustainability is good business, and ESG initiatives require supporting technology. More than three-quarters of companies, 82%, report that technology / digital transformation is important or critical to support environmental and social sustainability. Digital transformation and sustainability can go hand-in-hand.
Difficulty Determining Sustainability Value
While most digital transformation initiatives and technology investments are initiated and justified to achieve a financial return on investment (ROI), it’s important to recognize their ESG advantages in addition to their financial benefits. For example, manufacturers may reduce cost by improving production efficiency while also reducing carbon emissions. Similarly, engineers could optimize designs to enhance performance while simultaneously reducing energy usage and waste. These values should be calculated to complement the financial ROI and improve decision-making based on ESG impacts.
Driving Economic and Environmental Advantages
A joint Rockefeller Asset Management-NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business analysis reports a growing consensus that good corporate management of ESG issues typically results in improved operational metrics such as return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA), or stock price. It’s increasingly valuable to determine the sustainability impact of digital transformation more directly associated with the initiative leading to the improvement. It’s even more valuable to estimate this impact in advance, complementing the financial ROI with a strategic sustainability ROI to help justify the investment.
While companies have significant experience deriving financial metrics, they often lack the ability to accurately and holistically measure the ESG impact of their digital transformation efforts on their value chain. This research explores how to properly determine the value, and reviews case studies that show tangible sustainability impact based on a credible, scientific methodology.
Case Studies
Sample Case Studies Here is a sample including two of the eleven case studies in the eBook.
Recommendations
Adopt a Sustainability Impact Mindset Focus on the sustainability value of digital transformation in addition to the financial ROI to achieve business success and resilience. ESG strategy drivers, including internal goals for net zero, customer sustainability demands, and calls for transparency like product passports, have increased. 96% CEOs agree that innovation and technological progress are essential to achieving the global sustainability agenda, and 82% of organizations plan to increase environmental sustainability investment in the next 12–18 months. Determine Sustainability Value The case studies demonstrate that digital transformation delivers tangible sustainability benefits. It’s time for companies to invest in a scientifically grounded methodology to calculate and demonstrate the sustainability value of their initiatives. Moving from general statements to scientific calculations is demanding but also a positive step to better articulate digital transformation's true value. It will require help from a variety of sources, including external experts and their digital solution and service providers. These companies can demonstrate how their solutions are proven to drive both financial and ESG value. Where possible, companies may also be able to leverage the solution provider’s methodology and case studies to calculate their own value. Use Sustainability Value to Justify Initiatives Looking to the future, companies should use the sustainability impact approach proactively. They can leverage case studies and company data to choose initiatives with ESG impact in addition to cost, quality, and efficiency improvements, ensuring they achieve both financial and sustainability ROI from their digital transformation initiatives. Getting better at measuring sustainability impacts also paves the way for building resilient, strategic, and robust operations. *This summary is an abbreviated version of the ebook and does not contain the full content. For the full research, please visit our sponsor, Dassault Systèmes (registration required). If you have difficulty obtaining a copy of the research, please contact us. [post_title] => Measuring Sustainability Impact [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => sustainability-impact [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2026-02-24 09:50:59 [post_modified_gmt] => 2026-02-24 14:50:59 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://tech-clarity.com/?p=23532 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [5] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 23514 [post_author] => 2582 [post_date] => 2026-02-20 10:50:19 [post_date_gmt] => 2026-02-20 15:50:19 [post_content] =>
How can manufacturers develop a digital thread and unlock the business value necessary to stay competitive?
Today’s manufacturers operate in an environment defined by compressed timelines, increasing product complexity, and heightened customer expectations. Success depends on the ability to move quickly without sacrificing quality, compliance, or profitability. To achieve this, organizations must enable seamless collaboration and smarter decision-making across engineering, manufacturing, quality, and the supply chain.
True operational efficiency comes from connecting people and processes through a single, reliable source of product information. When every team works from accurate, up-to-date product information, organizations reduce errors, eliminate rework, and respond more effectively to change.
A product digital thread makes this possible. Enabled by product lifecycle management (PLM), the digital thread creates a continuous, end-to-end flow of product data across the organization and throughout the product lifecycle. This eBook explores what a PLM-enabled digital thread is, why it matters, and how manufacturers can build one to drive lasting business value.
Please enjoy the summary* below. For the full research, please visit our sponsor, Propel (registration required).
Table of Contents
- The Chaotic Status Quo
- Chaos Hampers Productivity
- Connect Product Data
- CAD Can Serve as the Foundation
- Unmanaged CAD Data is Costly
- It's Time to Unlock CAD Data
- More Data Shared with More People
- Connect Product Data to PLM
- Extend PLM to the Enterprise
- Establish the Product Digital Thread
- Additional Considerations
- Get Started
- Acknowledgments
A Digital Thread for Greater Speed and Agility
Business Complexities Drive Need for a Digital Thread Manufacturers of all sizes are under pressure to rapidly deliver innovative products while meeting increased customer expectations, designing more complex products, and staying ahead of market demands. For manufacturers, business agility and getting products to market quickly can determine profitability, or even whether they stay in business. Product companies require operational efficiency that fosters collaboration, enables faster and smarter decision-making, and ensures synchronization with the supply chain. Picture all of the teams and people bringing a new product to market, accessing the same, accurate, up-to-date product information. To make this happen, manufacturers must establish a product digital thread throughout the organization and product lifecycle. How can manufacturers develop a digital thread and unlock the business value necessary to stay competitive? Keep reading to find out what a product lifecycle management (PLM)-enabled digital thread is, why it is needed, and how to build one.
The Chaotic Status Quo
New Product Development is More Complex
For manufacturers, delivering profitable products to the market has become significantly harder. Products are more complex than ever, requiring additional resources with expertise in new disciplines, driving up development costs, and putting profit margins at risk.
The Heightened Impact of External Pressures
Some of this complexity arises from external factors outside a manufacturer’s control. Customers are increasingly demanding, expecting innovative products more quickly than ever before. Competition is coming from all directions. Not only from traditional competitors, but also from new entrants. Our State of Product Development survey found that 56% of manufacturers face competition from adjacent industries, while 52% compete with low-cost or offshore manufacturers.1 Today’s supply chains add to the challenge. In fact, 74% of manufacturers in the survey identified supply chain disruptions or market volatility as a top challenge in product development.2 Beyond that, government and industry regulations are widespread, especially in High Tech and medical technology, demanding strict engineering and quality processes with thorough data collection and management.
Multi-CAD Environment Complicates Design Collaboration
Some of the complexity stems from internal issues. Remember when products were primarily mechanical?
Those days are gone. Now, mechanical, electrical, and software teams all need to work together – and be productive doing it. They must ensure that form, fit, and function all work in harmony while delivering their designs on the same development and launch timeline.
However, each design discipline uses different tools, with product data stored and managed separately or, in the worst case, only on an individual engineer's drives. Managing and accessing product data across multiple design systems, let alone file folders and shared drives, negatively impacts collaboration and reduces productivity.
Establish the Product Digital Thread
Where to Start
For some manufacturers, establishing a digital thread may be viewed as out of reach when facing budget, resources, and time constraints. However, manufacturers can establish a digital thread despite these challenges.
Use 80-20 Rule
Applying the 80-20 rule helps focus on the most important and common use cases and workflows first. These deliver the most significant business value without getting bogged down with less common and more complicated edge cases. In short, keep it simple.
Keep Established Workflows
Established workflows need to continue, especially those supporting regulatory requirements, but avoid excessive customization whenever possible. Using out-of-the-box functionality saves implementation time and money, and reduces the need for dedicated IT resources.
Connect Existing Systems
There is no need to start from scratch. A practical approach is to connect existing CAD, PDM, and PLM investments and applications that are working well to create the product digital thread.
Take a Phased Approach
The best path is to take it one step at a time. Since data across systems is probably not perfectly aligned, a phased approach to PDM-PLM integration is preferred. Start with a small project, or assembly, to avoid a massive data cleanup upfront. Then add new projects and products as data cleansing progresses.
*This summary is an abbreviated version of the eBook and does not contain the full content. For the full research, please visit our sponsor, Propel (registration required).
If you have difficulty obtaining a copy of the research, please contact us.
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Revisiting the future of PLM in Consumer Packaged Goods in the Age of AI
In 2022 Tech-Clarity, Kalypso, and PepsiCo discussed the future of PLM in CPG based on a Tech-Clarity survey on the state of CPG PLM. So much has changed over the last several years. Even then, the majority of companies felt their existing PLM wasn't ready to meet their future needs. Now, AI is broadening the gap.- What did we get right and what did we miss?
- Is PLM reaching its strategic value as a platform or limited to cost and compliance?
- Are today’s PLM implementations better suited to meet future needs?
- How does a composable PLM approach help increase value?
- How has increased AI adoption changed PLM value? PLM requirements?
What is the role of AI in Pharma manufacturing? Can highly regulated pharmaceutical companies use AI effectively? What are companies doing to leverage AI without compromising their CGMP-validated processes? Please join this practical, real-world conversation on moving AI in pharma beyond pilots and into meaningful results.
Tech-Clarity’s Julie Fraser joined a panel discussion with Sam Laermans, Global AI Lead at NNIT, Senior IT Leader and Biotech Expert Joseph Ricci, and Kate Porter, Director of Product Management and Research at POMS. Roland Esquivel, POMS VP of Sales and Marketing will moderate the discussion and lend his experience also. This diverse panel will discuss what is already working and where regulatory, quality, IT, and other questions and challenges lie.
The lively discussion touches on these topics:
- What pharma manufacturers are trying to achieve with AI and why outcomes vary
- Real-world examples of where AI is working today in manufacturing operations
- Lessons from AI initiatives that stalled or failed to scale
- Why Proof of Concept efforts often fall short and how to approach them differently
- The organizational elements successful teams put in place before AI scales
- Key questions leaders and teams should ask before investing in AI
- Technology insights from the field on what accelerates and what slows AI adoption
In November, I had the pleasure of returning to Rockwell Automation Fair at McCormick Place in Chicago, typically one of the last vendor conferences of the calendar year. At the event, Rockwell offered training classes, presentations, workshops, and a vendor expo. They highlighted, among other topics, digital twins, elastic MES, AI, and software-defined automation as key technologies for transforming the manufacturing industry.
From the opening keynote by Chairman and CEO Blake Moret, it was clear that Rockwell’s vision embraces cloud, digital twins, and AI as key elements of their technology strategy and future. It was interesting to see how Rockwell has focused significantly more on software since I first started attending Automation Fair a decade ago, and that change appears to be accelerating rapidly.
It was a program as large as McCormick Place. While I can’t cover everything discussed during the multi-day event, I will focus on a few areas that were particularly interesting.
Elastic MES: The next step after configurable and composable
As in previous years, Plex held its own conference-within-a-conference, the Plex Summit, at the start of Automation Fair, prior to the Automation Fair opening Keynote.
Following an initial session that covered Plex’s growth over the past year and customer successes, the Plex team introduced the concept of “Elastic MES”. As MES is “the operational backbone of the modern plant” (as demonstrated by the continued interest in a three-letter acronym that is nearly thirty-five years old), it has also undergone a number of evolutionary changes. MES has evolved from homegrown, hard-coded behemoths to so-called “COTS” (commercial off-the-shelf) solutions that required significant customization, to composable MES, which shifted the customization burden from the vendor to the end customer. With this history, I was intrigued by Plex’s concept of “Elastic MES” and what it might mean for manufacturers.
Elastic MES does not refer to ease of implementation; it is an MES that adapts and evolves as it operates. In the words of Mike Hart, Head of Product - Industry Strategy & Growth, “a platform that helps evolve, adapt, and optimize your business in real time.” This is not a single product; it is a systems approach. At the core are industry-specific workflows, data models, rules, and best practices. This is applied across a broad range of business processes, with end-to-end IT/OT integration, aiming to marry Plex’s IT experience with Rockwell Automation’s OT experience.
Elastic MES is extensible, resilient, and interoperable, supporting open integration with other enterprise systems. Elastic MES is delivered on a unified edge-to-cloud architecture. In effect, it is designed to deliver the agility of the cloud without compromising up time on the line. As analysts, we were initially puzzled by Rockwell’s decision to acquire Plex Systems back in 2021. Four years later, there is no question that this acquisition has benefited both Rockwell and Plex, as well as their customers. The promise of Elastic MES and the evolution toward intelligent autonomous operations are key examples.
Resilient Edge-to-Cloud: Future-Ready MES
A crucial component of achieving manufacturing autonomy is resilient edge-to-cloud connectivity. Rockwell has Plex, one of the first cloud-native MES systems, and the FactoryTalk suite, which includes MES on the edge. Their strategy is to bring these two products together and unify their portfolio. As presented by Hayden Foot, Rockwell is extending Plex with a lightweight, resilient edge component called FactoryTalk ResilientEdge. Available in Q1 2026, this will leverage the elasticity of the cloud with the resiliency of the edge. Rockwell claims this capability will enable 24/7 factory operation, as the resilient edge will react if the cloud connection is disrupted and keep IT and OT systems synchronized.
This capability is also valuable for implementing system upgrades. Upgraded components are released to a cloud repository and can be swapped into a Kubernetes cluster in standby mode without disrupting production. The final piece of the resilient edge capability is leveraging FactoryTalk Optics to display Plex MES, automation, and IIoT information to the operator on a single screen.
A decade ago, it was difficult to find a manufacturer that believed moving manufacturing software to the cloud was feasible. Some were concerned about IP protection, some about vendor lock-in, but ALL were concerned about the twin issues of availability and latency. Resilient edge-to-cloud technology, implemented appropriately, addresses both latency and availability once and for all. These new capabilities make cloud manufacturing a reality.
Software-Defined Automation: the IT-ifying of OT
There were six press conferences held specifically for analysts and media: “Transforming Manufacturing from Within”, “AI and Autonomy”, “Cyber Security”, “Sustainability Forum”, “Robotics”, and “Software-Defined Automation”. Of these, Software-Defined Automation (SDA) drew significant attention from many media and analysts, as it represents a continuation of Rockwell Automation’s journey from hardware-centricity to software-centricity.
For anyone coming from a software background, the capabilities introduced in this presentation were not earth-shattering. Yet, in the context of accelerating the evolution of OT, the topic could be viewed as revolutionary. Coming from a background in programming and testing controllers individually, the SDA capabilities presented by Dan DeYoung, Julie Robinson, and Sherman Joshua are potential game-changers.
SDA allows engineers to store all their code in version control systems, so that they can track code seamlessly across tried-and-true IT elements of design, test, and deployment. Code that is documented and under version control can then enable features such as virtual commissioning.
Rockwell pointed out that the SDA is more than just a soft controller; it is changing the way automation is done. Development is done at the component level, tested virtually – including regression testing – and deployed as containerized workloads on the edge. Rockwell also stated that customers can continue to use all the OT tools they currently have. SDA does not require customers to relinquish their investment in Logix, Optics, and other installed OT infrastructure. They also stated that they expect to have Logix on a panel where customers can also run things like machine vision, robotics, and AI, all in one single package.
Rockwell’s new design environment is intentionally designed to enable concurrent development and collaborative design. Engineers across the plant can work on the same project simultaneously. It was designed to support object orientation, which makes sense to automation engineers. Concurrency enables automated regression testing. It also gives engineers the ability to decide where to deploy at the end of the process, since all development is done virtually. In practice, this creates DevOps for automation systems.
Our Take
This is certainly not the Rockwell we knew from back in the day! The culture at Rockwell Automation today is very different from what we saw in the past. They are making huge strides in cloud, edge, robotics, and AI. At the same time, they are honoring their past by providing a path forward so their customers can leverage, rather than lose, their investments in Rockwell equipment and software. I can’t wait to see what 2026 brings.
Thanks
Thanks to Michael Kane and Kristen Kubesh for the invitation and for coordinating to help me make the most of my time. I’d also like to thank Mike Kane and Michael Hart for taking the time for an in-depth conversation about Rockwell’s MES direction.
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How do manufacturers integrate design data (PLM) with manufacturing data (MES)?
This survey is now closed, please see our active survey page link for more survey opportunities.
[post_title] => How are Manufacturing Leaders Integrating PLM and MES?
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How can a strong auditing program, as practiced in major automotive suppliers, improve? By going digital. Ease.io as been doing that for years, with a SaaS software platform for Layered Process Audits (LPAs), 5S, Safety Inspections, Gemba walks, Root Cause Analysis (RCA), and problem-solving. They recently added on-the-job (OTJ) training support to strengthen customers’ outcomes.
Standardizing and Digitalizing Audit Practices
Many lean and operational excellence programs include regular audits. Audits are designed to improve quality, productivity, and safety, and nearly always do. However, using paper, spreadsheets, tribal knowledge, and legacy or homegrown software can create inefficiencies and missed opportunities. For example, if standard processes are not executed consistently or when follow-ups to issues are slow, manufacturing issues can arise and cause problems.
For over 10 years, EASE has been selling software to support these process audit activities. Customers report vastly increased audit completion rates, with up to a 90% reduction in leadtime for major audits. Allowing data to flow smoothly with less administrative burden can help LPA and other audit processes deliver their value with minimal non-value-added overhead.
New Thinking, Digital Support
Manufacturers adopting a digital platform may encounter early resistance from end-users to the change in how audits have been conducted in the past. EASE encourages customers to explore how new technologies enable them to rethink how they do things. Using integrated technology can also help identify all trends and breakdowns. It also helps to trace the root causes of problems and track whether actions have improved the situation.
One of the most significant benefits of a digital approach is the speed to identify and notify about non-conformances. Another is the ability to make audits more effective, consistent, and visible. The digital record also makes it easier to detect when corrective actions have not had the expected impact, to re-address needed issues, and truly close the loop to optimize outcomes.
Supporting Training – A New Level of EASE
EASE is available as a SaaS subscription. The base audit & inspection version of EASE supports mobile audit and inspection checklist authoring through both pulling existing checklists and creating new ones. It also incorporates automated scheduling, findings management, and real-time data and dashboards for clear visuals of audit results. Naturally, EASE must connect to the systems of record, including QMS, MES, and CMMS. EASE Connect also enables bulk data access for BI tools and dashboarding, while Insights is their own dashboard solution that delivers custom-built dashboards specific to individual customers.
The next Level of EASE subscription includes creation and management of action plans. Action plans support collaborative RCA and analysis to document and facilitate problem investigation and understanding. Here, the EASE solution enables customers to create a library of guided problem-solving processes, milestones, and tasks. Then, the customer sets an action plan based on findings, assigning owners and approvers to each task along with due dates. Finally, this enables monitoring progress and scheduling validation tasks for sustained corrective actions.
A new release from summer 2025 includes OTJ capabilities. In performing corrective actions, EASE saw a way to facilitate training. As operator errors and poor training are shared drivers of non-conformances across the customer base, this became a clear need. Customers generate training from existing documents and publish it as contextual training that is triggered from findings. It can accommodate individual or group training, quiz users, and require sign-offs after training, also checking whether it addressed the issue. With the current “gray tsunami” of knowledgeable workers retiring, this need is only increasing.
Broad Use and Impact
EASE reports that customers have achieved excellent results. These include a 20% decrease in the cost of poor quality, a 2% improvement in OEE, and a 67% decrease in time to close out findings. Better audits and process improvements lead to lower cost of poor quality, higher productivity, and improved labor efficiency.
EASE claims to have over 350 customers using EASE in more than 3,500 plants across 60 countries. Customers are in the automotive, aerospace and defense, furniture, and a range of both process and discrete manufacturing industries. It appears that in these companies, use is also growing, as EASE reports that the platform now supports over four million audits each year.
We look forward to following EASE’s continued progress and growth in the manufacturing markets. Clearly this company Is helping manufacturers rethink and improve their audit processes. Ironically, Julie Fraser met Ease.io at the Manufacturing Leadership Council’s Rethink 2025 event. Thank you, Josh Santo, John Fredrickson, and Andrea Walter, for the briefing!
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How are manufacturers approaching the AI opportunity?
This survey is now closed, please see our active survey page link for more survey opportunities.
[post_title] => AI Maturity in Manufacturing and EPC
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If you are in the semiconductor industry, do you have the right development and manufacturing solution to scale the business to meet growing demand?
The semiconductor industry is entering a period of rapid growth, driven by AI, electric vehicles, autonomous systems, industrial connectivity, and rising data demands. To capitalize on this opportunity, semiconductor companies must scale to meet growing demand.
Yet, nearly all semiconductor companies report challenges with New Product Introduction (NPI), often caused by disconnected processes, limited visibility, and tools that don’t scale. Top Performers are addressing these issues by investing in digitalization and adopting PLM platforms tailored for semiconductor development. What should semiconductor companies consider to select the right solution?
Based on a survey of 207 semiconductor and high-tech professionals, the Buyer’s Guide for Semiconductor Development: Ideation through Manufacturing outlines key buying criteria across four critical areas: software functionality, service and implementation support, vendor capabilities, and company-specific needs. Based on expert interviews and survey research, it’s designed to help semiconductor leaders evaluate solutions to invest in the tools that will support scalable, profitable growth.
Please enjoy the summary* below. For the full research, please visit our sponsor, Siemens (registration required).
To learn more about the business value of investing in development and manufacturing processes, read our survey-based research report, Three Ways Semiconductor Companies Can Prepare for Profitable Growth.
Table of Contents
- Executive Overview
- Empowering Growth
- Overcome Data and Process Management Challenges
- Ideal Development Solution for Semiconductor
- Use an Effective Semiconductor Data Model
- Leverage the Data Model with the Right Capabilities
- Manage Lifecycle Processes
- Implementation Requirements
- Vendor Requirements
- Identify Unique Company Need
- Conclusions
- Recommendations
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
Executive Overview
The semiconductor industry is poised for significant growth, fueled by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), investments in electric vehicles, innovations in autonomous driving, enhanced industrial connectivity, and the rising demand for data storage. This is creating substantial opportunities for the sector, which is reflected in the impressive 19% year-over-year increase in semiconductor global sales in 2024. This double-digit growth is expected to continue as forecasts project that the market could soar to $1 trillion by 2030. To capitalize on this momentum, semiconductor companies are expanding into new markets, diversifying portfolios, and accelerating time to market. To succeed with these goals, they will need to build on their existing expertise and scale their operations. Top Performing semiconductor companies are supporting their growth by adopting Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, advancing digitalization, and improving process efficiency. Yet, growth comes with challenges. Nearly all surveyed semiconductor companies (99%) report difficulties with New Product Introduction (NPI). Additionally, customer expectations for faster NPI and high-quality products have increased since 2020. Many struggle with disconnected processes, limited visibility, and solutions that don’t scale, placing the burden on internal teams. The right PLM platform, tailored for the semiconductor industry, can help businesses overcome these challenges, while empowering them to achieve their goals. This buyer’s guide outlines the capabilities needed in a PLM solution tailored for semiconductor development. It includes checklists across four areas: software functionality, services, vendor attributes, and company-specific needs (Figure 1). Insights are drawn from a survey of 207 semiconductor and high-tech professionals on the tools and approaches that drive the most business value.
Empowering Growth
To stay profitable over the next five years, semiconductor companies are targeting new industries, expanding product portfolios, accelerating time to market, boosting innovation, and evolving their operational models (see graph).
By diversifying into different industries and broadening their portfolios, semiconductor companies can adapt their existing expertise and innovations for new applications and high-growth areas that require specialized chips like AI, electric vehicles, and autonomous driving. Not only does this open new revenue streams, but it also reduces development costs and improves margins. It also helps offset demand shifts, such as slowing mobile phone sales.
However, managing multiple product lines adds complexity, necessitating efficient processes to encourage reuse and streamline development. Improving how they manage and integrate data can help.
Ideal Development Solution for Semiconductor
To uncover what drives leading performance, Tech-Clarity surveyed 207 semiconductor and high-tech professionals and identified “Top Performers” as the top 25% that outperform their competitors in metrics that indicate business success. These metrics were:
- Revenue growth over the last 24 months
- Profit margin expansion over the previous 24 months
- Percent of sales from new products
- Product cost reduction over the last 24 months
- Greater project visibility
- Better risk management
- Enhanced NPI efficiency
Recommendations
Based on industry experience and research for this report, Tech-Clarity offers the following recommendations:- Plan for long-term growth and scalability across product lines, departments, and engineering silos.
- Use high-level requirements such as those in this guide to evaluate solutions based on business fit before engaging in detailed evaluations.
- Choose a solution that supports the unique workflows of the semiconductor industry.
- Ensure the solution covers all lifecycle stages to support NPI, product and characterization requirements, IP management, technology development, chip design, tapeout and mask management, and BOI and BOP management.
- Invest in digital thread capabilities for end-to-end traceability and efficiency.
- Prioritize integration of design and manufacturing data.
- Address the needs of all roles involved, from concept to manufacturing, to drive adoption.
- Select a vendor with semiconductor expertise who can act as a trusted partner.
*This summary is an abbreviated version of the ebook and does not contain the full content. For the full research, please visit our sponsor, Siemens (registration required).
If you have difficulty obtaining a copy of the research, please contact us.
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How can design engineers balance conflicting time, cost, and quality goals?
As businesses and products grow in complexity, design engineers have much to consider to produce optimal product designs. This is particularly true for smaller and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that struggle with the same challenges as their larger counterparts, but have fewer resources to address them. What are the most successful SMBs doing to manage this? This research explores this question.
Based on a survey of 230 respondents, this research study examines engineering practices and simulation use. It identifies how executives at SMBs (companies with revenues less than a billion US dollars) can realize higher development returns through simulation-driven design, which should lead to increased profitability.
Please enjoy the summary* below. For the full research, please visit our sponsor, Siemens (registration required).
Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- What Does Product Success Mean?
- Business Complexity Creates Engineering Challenges
- Product Complexity Complicates Engineering Decisions
- Identifying Top Performers
- How to Address Growing Complexity
- Addressing Complexity with Technology
- Use Simulation throughout All Lifecycle Stages
- How to Adopt Simulation-Driven Design
- The Business Value of Simulation-Driven Design
- Recommendations
- About the Research
- Acknowledgments
Executive Summary
Increasing Complexity
Engineers have much to consider to design products with the best chance of market success. Products must be high quality, economical, and fast to market. However, as business environments and products become more complex, old ways of working may no longer be enough. Engineers need better methods to navigate the complexity of their engineering and design decisions to meet their goals. This can be especially challenging for a resourced-constrained smaller or medium size business (SMB).
What SMB Top Performers Do
Despite this complexity, Top Performers have implemented practices that allow them to be 2.1 times more likely to have highly effective processes to understand trade-offs. To achieve this, they increase their use of simulation and invest in more software capabilities. Unlike their less successful competitors, they leverage simulation throughout the entire product development lifecycle, supporting a simulation-driven design approach. In fact, SMB Top Performers are 75% more likely than Others to use simulation at the concept phase, and they continue to use it from this early stage through testing.
This is such a powerful approach that 99% of SMBs using simulation to explore design ideas report finding value. They report benefits such as better products, greater productivity, faster innovation, and a higher return on their development investments.
The Right Solution
Part of successfully adopting this approach requires using the right solution and technology. Design engineers report that CAD/CAE integration and embedding simulation inside CAD are the most important solution qualities to support their use of simulation.
This Research Report
This report shares research findings that provide an in-depth look at why today's engineers at SMBs have so much more to consider than they did even just ten years ago. Design decisions are even more complicated, and simply relying on experience is no longer sufficient. The research reveals what the most successful SMBs do to address this, helping them to release more successful products and improve their profitability.
Product Complexity Complicates Engineering Decisions
Significant Product Complexity
While business complexity has created a challenging environment, the products have also become more complex, creating even more difficulties for engineers. The graph shows the top sources of product complexity. Much of this complexity comes from increased requirements.
More Requirements
With increased regulations, engineers have more safety requirements to deal with. As we saw earlier, quality is critical to product success, and this is driving more quality requirements. Customers also expect high performance, which is vital for competitive differentiation. Yet, innovation requirements have increased the number of components and systems, creating more factors to consider and making it even harder for engineers to understand the impact of their decisions. They need better ways to understand this to optimize designs and avoid inadvertently introducing errors. They also need to validate and verify requirements.
Getting this insight as the engineer works on it is the most efficient use time, especially compared to waiting weeks or months for physical test results when the design details are no longer fresh in the engineer's memory. Not to mention, the later it is in the design process, the more a design has solidified, meaning changes will impact far more components. Any error or overlooked impact will result in errors that can increase costs, cause delays, and hurt quality.
More Configurations
Finally, as companies need to appeal to various market and customer needs, engineers must manage multiple product configurations. Each variant must also meet safety, quality, and performance requirements, adding further complexity while increasing the risk of missing the mark on critical product success factors.
How to Adopt Simulation-Driven Design
Integrated Design and Analysis
Regardless of performance, design engineers agree on what helps them use simulation the most. Integrated simulation and design tools and simulation embedded inside CAD are the commonly identified features. These features make simulation more accessible to design engineers and provide a way to access the functionality without disrupting their workflow. Plus, engineers stay in a familiar environment.
Integrated Test and Simulation
Beyond making simulation easier to access, most design engineers also appreciate when simulation and test are integrated. As discussed previously, this can help reduce test time. At the same time, engineering teams can benefit from access to test results to improve future simulation models to catch problems caught during physical testing.
Recommendations
Recommendations and Next Steps Based on industry experience and research for this report, Tech-Clarity offers the following recommendations for SMBs:- Consider the complex business environment in which engineers must work and ensure they have solutions to enable them to develop successful products. To be competitive in today’s global market, it is critical that products are high-quality, yet low cost and still get to market quickly.
- Understand the factors driving product complexity and empower engineers to navigate it with ways to understand the impact of their decisions so that they can optimize their designs. Simulation is the most common tool SMBs use to manage complexity as it can help balance competing criteria such as cost and quality, while guiding decisions so that products will be more competitive.
- Adopt or increase your use of simulation throughout design to support a simulation-driven design approach, starting at the concept phase, and continuing all the way to physical testing. Top Performers are 75% more likely than Others to start using it at the concept phase
- Use a solution that will empower design engineers to use simulation without disrupting their workflow with features such as CAD/CAE integration or embedded inside CAD, simulation and test integration.
How can semiconductor companies establish a foundation to scale and profitably grow?
The semiconductor industry is projected to experience substantial growth over the next five years. How can semiconductor companies position themselves to take advantage of this growth and increase their profits? What challenges should they overcome to scale and grow the business?
Based on a survey of 207 semiconductor and high-tech professionals, this research study examines semiconductor companies' growth strategies. It identifies challenges related to new product introduction (NPI) challenges that hinder their progress. The research reveals best practices for overcoming these challenges and shares recommendations for establishing a foundation for scalable and profitable growth.
Please enjoy the summary* below. For the full research, please visit our sponsor, Siemens (registration required).
Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Plans for Profitable Growth
- NPI Challenges
- Identifying Top Performers
- Establish a Foundation for Profitable Growth
- 1. Support Digitalization with a Digital Thread
- 2. Focus on Process Efficiency
- 3. Adopt a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
- Become More Sustainable
- Recommendations and Next Steps
- About the Research
- Acknowledgments
Executive Summary
Significant Opportunity It is an exciting time for the semiconductor industry as it once again becomes a key enabler for the next evolution of technology and experiences substantial growth. This growth is so significant that many project the global semiconductor market to reach $1 trillion by 2030. In fact, 2024 saw global sales increase a tremendous 19% year-to-year, and double-digit growth is expected to continue. This growth is fueled by progress like the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), investments in electric vehicles, advancements in autonomous driving, connectivity growth in industrial machinery, and an increasing demand for data storage. This presents a tremendous opportunity for semiconductor companies. However, to capitalize on this potential, they must have the right foundation to support profitable growth. Growth Plans Semiconductor companies aim to grow by broadening into new industries, extending their portfolio, and accelerating their time to market. At the same time, since 2020, customers expect more. They now demand higher quality and faster NPI. To successfully achieve this, there are several NPI challenges they must overcome. They must improve change management, understand dependencies, centralize requirements, and enable traceability. To meet these needs, the most successful companies are adopting Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), supporting digitalization, and improving process efficiency. By doing so, they can meet increased demand and achieve greater success. Integrating Design and Manufacturing One major difference between Top Performers and Others is that they are more likely to integrate their design and manufacturing data. This integration allows them to:- Improve project visibility
- Manage risk
- Improve NPI efficiency
Plans for Profitable Growth
Growth Opportunities With the expected growth in the semiconductor industry, semiconductor companies must strategize to determine the best ways to tap into these opportunities and profitably grow. Over the next five years, they plan to grow by broadening into new industries, extending their portfolios, and accelerating their time to market (see graph).
Expand Offerings
By venturing into new industries and broadening their portfolios, semiconductor companies can leverage their existing expertise and innovation investments while tailoring offerings for different use cases. For example, AI, electronic vehicles, and autonomous driving all require specialized chips. By adapting their offerings for these various applications, semiconductor companies can unlock new revenue opportunities. Additionally, reworking existing offerings for specific applications reduces development costs for adjacent offerings, thereby boosting profit margins. Moreover, diversification can help mitigate risks associated with fluctuating demand in specific segments, as experienced with mobile phones in the past. However, overseeing the development of various offerings introduces complexity that must be managed, especially to encourage and support reuse.
Accelerate Time to Market
The cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry means timing is crucial. Being the first to market allows a company to seize emerging trends and technological advancements ahead of competitors, thus gaining a competitive edge by capturing market share before rivals respond. This strategy also maximizes the revenue potential of new offerings before the next generation emerges. To achieve this goal, companies must find ways to improve process efficiency.
Innovation
Semiconductor companies face many opportunities for innovation, especially to meet the demanding requirements of AI applications. Those that can improve performance and reduce power consumption better than competitors should capture a substantial share of that market segment. Capabilities that foster collaboration and leverage existing expertise should help to generate new ideas and solutions to accelerate innovation.
Become More Sustainable
Sustainability Strategy
Once semiconductor companies establish a foundation for growth, another important consideration that can provide a competitive advantage is sustainability. While only 15% of companies reported that sustainability is part of their growth plans, an impressive 97% of Top Performing semiconductor companies have implemented a sustainability strategy.
A well-defined sustainability strategy can give a semiconductor company a competitive edge. Many customers increasingly focus on producing energy-efficient, sustainable products with a reduced carbon footprint. Consequently, these customers are more likely to engage with semiconductor companies that prioritize sustainability. The graph shows the top actions taken by Top Performers to become more sustainable
Leverage the PLM Foundation for Sustainability
With the integration of data through a semiconductor PLM platform, companies can also utilize this information to support their sustainability initiatives. By employing digital technologies such as digital twins, simulations, analytics, and BOM roll-ups, companies can evaluate sustainability factors like the carbon footprint from the early stages. This helps understand the impact of different scenarios or options, enabling businesses to identify the best strategies for achieving their sustainability goals. The collaboration tools, supplier management capabilities, and integrated data provided by PLM can assist in capturing the necessary information for these assessments and enabling more informed decision-making.
Recommendations and Next Steps
Recommendations and Next Steps Based on industry experience and research for this report, Tech-Clarity offers semiconductor companies the following recommendations to scale and support profitable growth:- Support digitalization with a digital thread. Digitalization provides capabilities to improve efficiency. A digital thread creates the traceability needed to overcome many of the top NPI challenges that slow semiconductor companies down and hurt quality.
- Focus on process efficiency. In the semiconductor industry, time to market is critical to success. Focus on digital workflows to achieve greater levels of efficiency.
- Integrate design and manufacturing data. Integrating data creates a digital thread and traceability, supporting digital processes and streamlining change management.
- Adopt PLM. PLM serves as a platform to integrate design and manufacturing data, create a digital thread, and support digital processes.
- Become more sustainable. While sustainability may not be an important growth strategy, it can offer a competitive advantage, especially with customers focused on reducing their carbon footprint.
*This summary is an abbreviated version of the ebook and does not contain the full content. For the full research, please visit our sponsor, Siemens (registration required).
If you have difficulty obtaining a copy of the research, please contact us.
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How can automotive manufacturers improve engineering productivity?
It's an inspiring time for the automotive industry. Innovations through electrification, automation, and more are revolutionizing the industry like never before. Vehicles continue to be more comfortable, safer, and fuel-efficient, while new service offerings present further opportunities for innovation. All of this relies on the engineering team’s ability to deliver. Unfortunately, engineers regularly lose productivity to non-value-added tasks that not only rob them of their ability to innovate, but also threaten their company’s ability to compete, differentiate, and grow. Imagine the potential of identifying and removing the most common non-value-add activities engineers face and empowering them to focus on better vehicles, components, and systems.
This research examines how engineers spend their time, where they lose productivity, and the impact on the business. It then identifies solutions and approaches to reduce time wasters. Based on a survey of 228 manufacturers across industries, this report focuses on automotive companies and looks at the challenges and opportunities from their perspective.
Please enjoy the summary* below. For the full research, please visit our sponsor, Siemens (registration required).
This report is based off the research published in The Business Value of Reducing Engineering Time Wasters which takes a look across all industries.
For other industry-specific related research, read our Reducing Engineering Time Wasters reports for:
To received personalized recommendations for how your company could improve engineering productivity, take our 5-minute online assessment.
Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Product Development is Critical to Business Strategies
- The Time Wasters
- Implications of Time Wasters to the Business
- A Solution to Avoid Time Wasters
- Business Value from PLM
- Extending PLM Use Results in Greater Satisfaction
- How Companies Implement PLM
- Additional Values Due to the Cloud
- Conclusions
- Recommendations
- About the Research
- Acknowledgments
Executive Summary
Engineers Impact Business Success
Automotive companies’ ability to deliver exceptional offerings is critical to success. Likewise, their engineers are crucial to ensuring vehicles, components, and systems have what it takes to succeed in the market. Therefore, empowering engineers is key to the successful execution of business strategies.
Too Many Time Wasters
Unfortunately, engineers report spending too much time on non-value-added work with too many interruptions, taking them away from critical innovation work. Furthermore, 97% of surveyed automotive companies say this loss in engineering productivity comes at a significant business cost due to missed deadlines, higher costs, and less innovation. To overcome productivity losses, one approach is to manage product data and processes better and make it accessible to those who need it, when they need it.
Reclaiming Wasted Time
This report identifies major engineering time wasters in the automotive industry. It explores how companies of all sizes reclaim lost time by examining the use and value of PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) solutions to centralize data, manage processes, and collaborate better. PLM users reported fewer changes due to outdated information and errors, significantly reducing non-value-added work and shortening development times. This report also examines how companies select and use PLM solutions, including cloud-based implementations.
The Time Wasters
What Slows Engineers Down? The graph identifies the top engineering time wasters automotive companies face. The findings highlight how much engineers waste on non-value-added work. They need better ways to automate tedious tasks so they can focus more energy on adding value. Limited Reuse Vehicles have become increasingly complicated, evolving into complex interconnected systems of mechanical components, electronics, and software. The more engineers can leverage compliant, proven, and tested subsystems and components, the more time they will save. This also reduces the risk of introducing errors and missing requirements. However, the number of components across multiple engineering domains and suppliers, makes it very difficult to find needed data, and searching for it wastes valuable time. Also, platform designs require managing complex configurations which consumes even more time. To avoid these issues, engineers need suitable methods for finding what they need and managing configurations. Time Preparing for Manufacturing Engineers also invest significant time gathering all required data to release to manufacturing. Any data inaccuracies can result in costly scrap, rework, and delays. Further, any changes significantly impact production, especially when multiple facilities are affected. Engineers need ways to quickly gather all necessary data with its dependencies, and automated workflows to manage the release process, especially when relying on third parties such as suppliers or OEMs. Interruptions Constant interruptions to answer questions, share data, and provide updates also slows engineers down. These interruptions break an engineer's train of thought and take them away from other work. Redoing Work Engineers also waste efforts redoing work. They recreate it when they can’t find it or must fix errors due to outdated information. Better methods to centralize data would help get that time back. Poor Collaboration Finally, companies find that poor collaboration also wastes time. This is especially critical for automotive companies given the number of engineering domains involved.A Solution to Avoid Time Wasters
How PLM Reduces Time Wasters We will now focus on how PLM can be a potential solution to reduce engineering time-wasters. Automotive companies that have implemented PLM experience many benefits (see lower graphic). Engineers at automotive companies pointed to centralizing data as a top PLM benefit. Centralizing data makes it easier to find and allows them to effectively manage processes, such as engineering changes and release processes. They can also improve collaboration and traceability across projects. More automated processes and centralized data mean PLM users waste less time searching for data, and data stays up-to-date, so they don't have to recreate work if they can't find it or redo it because they used outdated information. Also, centralized data means others have easier access to what they need, when they need it, so engineers are interrupted less. This is especially critical with the multidomain systems typical in the automotive industry. Engineering Changes On top of this, respondents from automotive companies report that PLM reduces many sources of changes (see graph on right). Engineering changes resulting from these issues squander time, taking them away from innovation efforts that add more value. Avoiding these issues will save engineers significant time.
Conclusions
Reclaiming Lost Time Automotive companies prioritize their future growth and sustained success on winning in the marketplace with better, differentiated offerings. To support this, they can boost their product development capabilities significantly by eliminating time wasters that consume engineers' valuable time. Automotive companies find that PLM can empower their engineers to innovate by significantly reducing engineers' time on non-value-added tasks. As a result, they can enjoy a competitive advantage. In addition, technological advances, such as cloud-based offerings, can reduce implementation time, cost, and difficulty, making PLM more accessible.Recommendations
Next Steps
Based on industry experience and research for this report, Tech-Clarity offers the following recommendations to automotive companies:
- Consider the business impact of engineering time wasters on your company and make investments to minimize them. Empowering engineers to focus more time on value-added work will enable you to get to market faster with better, more differentiated offerings.
- Consider how challenging it can be to find and recruit engineering talent in today’s business climate. Freeing engineers from time-wasting tasks can help take some pressure off your existing staff, improving their work environment and productivity, increasing job satisfaction, and reducing the need to add more staff.
- Look at PLM as a potential solution to reduce engineering time wasters. Automotive companies report that PLM offers benefits such as centralizing data, managing processes, and improving collaboration. This frees engineers from tasks that waste their time so they can focus more on engineering and innovation.
- Use PLM for more than managing data. Those most satisfied with PLM also use it to manage engineering change processes, access control, requirements, and release processes.
- Extend the use of PLM to a broader audience beyond engineering. Those most satisfied with it include management, manufacturing, quality, and sales as users.
- Select a solution that has the flexibility to configure to your processes. An overwhelming 74% who found the implementation easy, identified this as helpful to the implementation.
- Consider a cloud solution. Interestingly, 78% of those who implemented a cloud solution considered the deployment easy and implemented it in half the time required by those using a non-cloud solution.
What would add value to a comprehensive, AI-based connected frontline worker (CFW) platform? Augmentir has added more customized and agentic AI, and we see considerable potential benefits. This company launched in 2019 with AR and deep machine learning-based AI, and has most recently added a no-code industrial AI agent studio. This is an addition to their GenAI-based Augie capabilities that span the platform.
Two-Way Frontline Data Flows
Augmentir set out to address “the impact of a smaller, less skilled, and less experienced frontline workforce” and is making headway in building out the software and the customer base. The concept is to have a single pane of glass where a frontline worker gets everything they need, in context, and nothing more. The platform integrates with a wide variety of plant and enterprise software for training and daily work.
Augmentir’s platform includes what most CFWs do: content authoring and conversion for instructions, a skills matrix, knowledge management, and sharing. It delivers any needed training based on the user’s profile and previous experience with a particular task in the flow of work. It also includes data visualization and reporting, with Microsoft’s Power BI embedded in the Augmentir platform. The founders also have an augmented reality background, so leveraging that immersive approach is native.
Where it differs from other CFWs: Augmentir aims to close the loop with machine-learning style AI, analyzing data from the operation to identify top opportunities for continuous improvement. As work proceeds day-to-day, deficiencies or errors in performing tasks appear by task, machine, worker, or cohort of workers. They call these True Insights. These indicate not only where more training might be needed, but also where to focus efforts to improve process efficiency, instruction clarity, or safety.
What’s New
In early 2025, Augmentir introduced its Industrial AI Agent Studio. This builds on the 2-year-old Augie GenAI in the platform. Augie already included Assistants for Work, Content, Data, and Extensibility, as well as APIs.
Now, it also includes agents for maintenance notifications and what they call True Productivity. True Productivity is a stacked ranking across people and work processes. Seeing the ranking from best to worst indicates where targeted training is needed – a job or area, a worker, or a work cohort. This augments the existing data flows for continuous improvement and targeting training.
Six Laws of AI Agents
Augmentir has very large customers, and this no-code approach to building agents enables them to craft agents specifically tailored to their needs. The company has published its Six Laws of AI Agents, and its Industrial AI Agent Studio helps companies build agents that adhere to those laws. Simply, they are:
- Transparency in execution
- Clear ownership by a human
- AI origin disclosure
- Persistent AI disclosure
- Human-in-the-loop for impactful actions
- No GenAI for life-critical actions
These are sensible governance principles to safeguard their customers’ and workers’ integrity and safety.
Customers and Value
So, if companies have MES, QMS, SCADA, and more, what added value can they gain from using Augmentir? Target markets include food & beverage, paper, CPG, building materials, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and industrial equipment. These companies do not all have deep MES that supports workers well, and they have many other systems that contribute to the data for the frontline.
They have customers in over 70 countries, including many large global players. Some have measured value. The large print in the diagram below shows a pure benefit. The small print is fascinating—a comparison of this inherently AI-based approach vs. earlier generation or non-AI-based approaches to CFW. The delta is significant (250% to 400%) in every case.
One company reported that if every worker just followed standard work, the operation would be 31% more efficient. With employee turnover high, cutting onboarding time by 82% with this on-the-job training and support is also significant. Saving time on issue resolution is always valuable, as time is a resource that cannot be replaced.
To build out the model of what should be happening in a plant, Augmentir has always supported time-and-motion studies. Customers have now conducted over 5 million optimized time-and-motion studies on this platform.
Our Take
It’s great to see Augmentir’s expansion to include every flavor of AI (ML, Gen, and Agents). We are particularly pleased to see their Six Laws of AI Agents as guidelines built into their new Industrial AI Agent Studio.
Those seeking a CFW to support a wide range of use cases would be well-served to review Augmentir and its platform. Beyond workforce instruction and training, this is natively designed to accelerate a range of continuous improvement efforts.
This company was founded by some of the most successful serial entrepreneurs in the industrial software market. The brand-name customers making enterprise decisions to buy and implement Augmentir speak well to the confidence they have in this company and its platform.
Thank you, Chris Kuntz, for briefing our Rick Franzosa and Julie Fraser. We look forward to following your progress in the market.
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Can today’s aerospace and defense (A&D) manufacturers meet the challenges of adopting Model-Based Enterprise approaches (a requirement for some new DoD projects), leveraging AI, while continuing to support legacy products that are over 50 years old? That is the challenge that iBase-t’s customers face every day. We recently sat down with iBase-t’s management team to receive a business update. Spoiler alert: MES is not dead; it is growing and thriving, and so is iBase-t.
Doubling Down on Aerospace and Defense
Over the years, a typical trajectory of MES software vendors has emerged. They start small, tackling a specific manufacturing industry. They make a name for themselves, start to grow in stature and reputation. For some, this leads to acquisition by a much larger company, typically a software vendor in an adjacent market, where every effort is made to modify the industry-specific MES into a more generic offering. This generic offering is ‘good enough’ for some industries, but no longer excellent for any one sector.
iBase-t was tempted to branch out to ‘related’ regulated industries such as medical devices and pharma. However, in the last few years, they have doubled down on their commitment to A&D manufacturing, serving leading A&D manufacturers like Lockheed Martin, GE Aerospace, RTX - Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace among others, with a strong focus on the Model-Based Enterprise (MBE), supplier quality management, and sustainment (MRO – Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul). They have also made changes and additions to their management team. The result has been significant business growth for iBase-t in the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry.
From a product perspective, the cloud-enabled Solumina iSeries has become the company standard, not only with new customers but also with existing customer migrations from the Solumina G-series. Each functional domain in Solumina iSeries—manufacturing execution, MBE, EQMS, SQM, BIS, and AI services—runs as independently scalable services. Customers can deploy Solumina in Customer-managed clusters (on-prem or cloud). This architecture supports high availability (multi-node clusters, health checks, automatic failover), rolling upgrades, and the ability to scale specific services (e.g., BIS or shop-floor execution) independently as transaction volumes grow. Solumina’s Business Integration Services (BIS) provide a standardized integration layer for ERP, PLM, HR, and other enterprise systems. Solumina is designed for deployment in ITAR/EAR-regulated and CUI environments. We discussed the contents of the upcoming Solumina iSeries release, i130.
Model-Based Continuity is the Key
iBase-t has been evangelizing the Model-Based Enterprise (MBE) for nearly a decade, and not only is MBE becoming a reality, but it is also becoming a mandate from their customers’ customer, the US Department of Defense (DoD). MBE involves a high degree of integration and automation across the product lifecycle. The challenge of MBE for A&D is that an infinite number of connections are required to support a digital thread across the supply chain and lifecycle of complex A&D products. It is virtually impossible for a single technology platform to support such a diverse range of applications. In addition, these A&D corporations already have multiple ERP, PLM, and MES environments (see Tech-Clarity’s research report Adopting a Model-Based Enterprise (MBE) Strategy).
In iBase-t’s view, the key is not the adoption of a single platform. The key is Model-Based Continuity, the ability to integrate and share key product data across the supply chain from suppliers to manufacturers to MRO depots, maintaining a digital thread to share critical product, quality, and safety information. At the technical level, Solumina’s MBE capabilities are built around a persistent mapping of PLM objects, 3D models, and manufacturing data. During execution, operators observe synchronized “tri-lighting” between the 3D model, data collection, and instructions, and can identify discrepancies tied back to the correct geometry and characteristics. Those same identifiers flow into MRO and sustainment, maintaining a digital thread from design through production to maintenance. This approach turns the “Model-Based Enterprise” concept into a practical, traceable data spine across PLM, MES, EQMS, and MRO.
iBase-t is working with their corporate customers to define key data elements and schemas to support model-based continuity at the part unique identifier (UID) and Quality Information Framework Persistent Identifier (QPId) level, annotated with semantic Product Manufacturing Identifiers (PMI).
Product Enhancements and Additions
iBase-t is wrapping up the development of the Solumina iSeries release, i130, planned for general availability in spring 2026. The enhancements and new product features were decided based on customers’ requests. A new product targeted for i130 is Material Out Time Tracking (MOTT). This capability had been delivered as part of implementation services for a few customers in the past; however, as manufacturers increasingly move to composite materials, it has become a mandatory requirement. This new product is Web UI-based and tracks layup and cure trigger points, splitting and kit creation, and time calculation of MOTT materials in work orders. iBase-t also made enhancements to include part attributes for MOTT materials, authoring of MOTT materials into process plans, and integrating MOTT processes into work orders.
Also targeted for i130 are enhancements to process planning, quality management, MBE, shop floor execution, and work order management.
Looking Forward
iBase-t continues to invest in key areas of business value, A&D digital innovation, global deployments at scale, and support of A&D manufacturing from design through sustainment. This is enabled by their commitment to open systems and global partnerships. As with virtually all software providers, they are also investing in AI, but specifically from an A&D industry viewpoint, offering ‘air-gapped’ inferencing models that have no external connections, to protect IP and provide a total focus driven by models based on customer and iBase-t expertise. Solumina AI uses a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pattern, where Solumina remains the system of record and AI models operate over vectorized embeddings of controlled content (knowledge center, release notes, SOPs, and customer documents). Customer deployments can run in network-isolated environments with no outbound connections to public LLM services, and all training/fine-tuning uses customer and iBase-t curated data only.
For operational visibility, they have trained an AI engine using their data schema and BI scripts, converting natural language queries into SQL queries to understand their data retrieval methods.
Current AI offerings (delivered, in Beta, or under development) include:
- Digital SME – vectorized embedding of knowledge center, release notes, Solumina expert interviews.
- Solumina Intelligence – API based (security group) data read access (eliminates direct DB access).
- ScanAI – PDF SOPs, manufacturing, and MRO instruction conversion into electronic interactive screens. With no need for code changes, iBase-t claims 85% accuracy in automatically converting SOPs: a 2.5-minute process vs. hours for manual conversion.
- Pulse AI – automated reports for quality, discrepancies, and exec summaries. This will replace Solumina Intelligence as the future of dashboarding and reporting.
Future AI Offerings:
- Solumina Model Mesh
- Agentic Framework for Solumina
- Solumina MCP Server
- Solumina Domain Specific Reasoning Model
Julie Fraser and I thank the entire iBase-t management team that participated in this business update briefing: Naveen Singh Poonian, Scott Baril, Sebastian Grady, Tom Hennessey, Kathryn Hoffman, Sung Kim, and Chris Morris. We have been covering iBase-t for many years. The focus, commitment, and drive of this management team are evident, and their current growth rate and success serve as proof.
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We are researching MedTech processes for bringing new products and devices to market. The survey asks about top challenges and approaches to common processes based on your role. The survey also looks at the current status of digital health, use of AI, digital thread maturity, and agility to respond to respond to market disruption. We will also use the results to report on the state of the market in MedTech and identify best practices. The survey takes about 10 to 15 minutes.
If you work in the MedTech industry and are part of the R&D, engineering, manufacturing, quality, or compliance team, either in management or individual contributor, please take the survey to share your thoughts. As a thank you, we will send you a copy of the report summarizing the findings.
In addition, respondents will be entered into a drawing for one of 20 $25 Amazon gift cards.*
Individual responses will be kept confidential. Please feel free to forward this survey to others you feel have an opinion to share.
Thank you for your support, please check out our Active Research page for additional Tech-Clarity survey opportunities.
*See survey for eligibility rules
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[post_content] => Industrial X Unleashed Event
IFS made a big splash with their vision for the future of industrial AI at their recent Industrial X Unleashed event in New York City. We were excited to join the event to learn how IFS plans to expand their already rich solution portfolio for manufacturing and industrial environments. The event was packed with vision, full of new announcements, and helped showcase what the industrial AI future holds.
The event was the debut of IFS’ AI strategy which includes TheLoops, an agentic platform for mission-critical operations, acquired earlier this year. But it was much more. IFS shared a comprehensive view of the value that their IFS.ai platform, services, and partners can deliver to their customers. The event and the IFS strategy transcend software to Physical AI, incorporating the world of robotics. IFS generated quite a bit of excitement with the event, and went beyond the normal hype to deliver a view into the future where digital solutions, AI agents, and people work together to drive industrial improvements.
Industrial AI Applied
IFS CEO Mark Moffat kicked things off and shared some key tenets of IFS’ AI approach. One of the key points we took away is that Industrial X is for mission-critical applications where you can’t afford to get it wrong. IFS drew a significant distinction for what’s required in these settings compared to back-office applications. This is what they call Applied AI, which is in context, in reality, auditable, domain aware, works offline, mindful of safety, and keeps people safe doing actual work. The goal, he explains, is to “10x” the workforce with robotics, addressing the industrial skills gap and elevating the humans in the process.
IFS SVP Technology Vaibs Kumar further shared the strategy for industrial settings, sharing three critical challenges that we also find in our research; workforce issues, unplanned outages, and changing supply chains. The solution, he explained, is the autonomous enterprise with agents you can trust. The vision he shared is for digital workers that act on the same data as people, dynamically reason and plan, and bring humans into the loop. This will be delivered through digital worker templates that will come “out of the box’ with an associated outcome and leverage over 50 agentic skills that are already available today. He spearheaded a comprehensive demo to showcase the approach, which we’ll share more about later.
Context Matters
Another area we found alignment with IFS’ messaging was around vertical industry context. AI is a class of very valuable tools. But AI doesn’t create value. The application of AI to solve real-world problems (or gain real-world advantages) in a specific data and industry context is where business value comes to life. Our research and experience show the importance of verticalization for AI. In specific, our Making Manufacturing Analytics and AI Matter report shares that manufacturers want industry- and application-specific AI software.
Mark Moffat echoed the importance to their strategy and the value of taking advantage of decades of operational data and thousands of pretrained workflows for their six core industries. Anthropic Applied AI Lead Garvan Doyle explained this was a key reason for the newly announced partnership with IFS. They wanted a way to leverage their secure, enterprise-grade AI capabilities in factories and plants by tapping into IFS’ expertise for AI for the real world. In his words, it’s easy to simulate digital industries because the data is available, but the real world requires a lot of different data. This is where industry context is critical for manufacturing and industrial industries.
Partners, Partners, Partners!
The event showcased a number of important partners and included announcements about new relationships with:
- Anthropic and their Claude AI Assistant
- Boston Dynamics including their famous Spot robots
- Siemens for their smart grids
- 1X Technologies with their humanoid robot
Physical AI
One of the more unique elements of the event was the seamless inclusion of robotics, or Physical AI, in the AI story. Most AI strategies live fully in the digital realm. Instead, IFS included the physical world in a cohesive strategy. AI obviously plays a big role in robotics, including vision systems and autonomous decision-making, but it’s not often that you see a continuum of action across digital and physical worlds. It’s part of what IFS talks about as the new workforce, which includes human, industrial, and digital as one system. We were treated to some use cases, for example, involving Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot that highlighted how robotic workers can extend human capabilities by working in environments that are harsh or unattractive to human workers.
The Demo that Pulled it Together
It’s uncommon to see a demo that effectively pulls together all the various elements to present an integrated view of the future way of working. IFS pulled this off. They showed an example that connected the AI vision from predicting a maintenance issue, triaging it, optimizing a service schedule, readying materials, servicing the equipment, reporting on the event, and learning from it for future corrective action.
The demo showed the interaction across an integrated workflow focused on maintaining uptime in a factory. It included traditional workers but also a digital colleague, the Digital Triage Worker (a purpose-built AI agent). It was a good view showing how agents can play different roles, at the right time, with the right information. To further the point, they extended the demo to have Spot the robot dog respond to an issue to gather more information before involving a human, saving precious service personnel a trip by gathering more information in advance without the need for human intervention. The scenario is realistic and achievable, and it's clear how Industrial X would support it.
The Demo that Pulled it Together
It’s uncommon to see a demo that effectively pulls together all the various elements to present an integrated view of the future way of working. IFS pulled this off. They showed an example that connected the AI vision from predicting a maintenance issue, triaging it, optimizing a service schedule, readying materials, servicing the equipment, reporting on the event, and learning from it for future corrective action.
The demo showed the interaction across an integrated workflow focused on maintaining uptime in a factory. It included traditional workers but also a digital colleague, the Digital Triage Worker (a purpose-built AI agent). It was a good view showing how agents can play different roles, at the right time, with the right information. To further the point, they extended the demo to have Spot the robot dog respond to an issue to gather more information before involving a human, saving precious service personnel a trip by gathering more information in advance without the need for human intervention. The scenario is realistic and achievable, and it's clear how Industrial X would support it.
Helping Make it Happen
Finding the path to value for industrial companies takes guidance. We heard from leaders at both PWC and Accenture sharing their advice. In addition to partners, however, IFS acquired an experienced AI services team. The team, Nexus Black, works directly onsite with customers to help them achieve value. Their approach is to put AI engineers in the field to deliver AI use cases. As CEO, Kriti Sharma explained, they like to get their hands dirty to implement technology to solve real problems.
Nexus Black also espouses a vertically focused approach. The message was “AI for the industries we rely on, built with the workers who run them.’ In addition to an example at a distiller, they shared solutions including Nexus Black for Aerospace to review FAA Airworthiness Directives to determine necessary actions and Nexus Black for Energy to help identify which field assets should be fixed first due to their higher risk of wildfire.
So Much More
There was so much more to this event that we don’t have time to share, including insightful presentations by MIT CISR and IFS customers Noble and Kodiak Gas Services.
Our Take
IFS shared significant progress toward their Industrial AI vision to add new value in addition to their ERP, enterprise asset management (EAM), supply chain, and field service solutions. It was great to see how mobilized they are, how broad their view is, how practical their approach is, and the world-class partnerships they’ve developed to make it happen. There was excitement in the air as IFS showed how Industrial X pulls it all together. We’re looking forward to following progress and speaking with customers who are walking down this path.
Thank You
Thank you, Mark Frampton, for including us, and congratulations to the IFS team and their partners for an impressive event – complete with a billboard! We look forward to following your progress.
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We had the chance to spend some time with PTC leaders recently to discuss their strategy. We’ve followed PTC for over two decades and watched them transform numerous times. They’re currently in a new era under the leadership of CEO Neil Barua , who took over the CEO role several years ago after serving as the CEO of ServiceMax. Our impression from the conversation is that the PTC strategy feels refreshingly focused and leverages their core strengths. We think customers will respond very well to this approach.
PTC’s Core Strengths
Stepping back, what are PTC’s core strengths? PTC started with parametric CAD and has remained strong in the design world, currently with Creo, Onshape, and Creo Elements Direct. They were also one of the earliest PLM companies with their Windchill platform. They have deep roots in these spaces and have continued to innovate and invest over time.
But PTC has also been forward-thinking and pushed the boundaries of what a “PLM” suite should offer. They have consistently looked more broadly beyond engineering, supporting what today we’re all calling the digital thread. Examples of that include expanding to ALM to support product software, Arbortext for product documentation, and Servigistics for SLM. Product data is PTC’s core strength, and their current strategy has “shifted exclusively to product data value.” Given the increasing value of structured data to fuel AI initiatives, we believe this is a solid strategy.
Intelligent Product Lifecycle
The new vision PTC unveiled is IPL, or “Intelligent Product Lifecycle.” Following on their digital thread history, it covers the full product lifecycle from engineering, through manufacturing, operations, service, and sustainment. PTC says IPL is “Powered by product data, fueled by AI.” The strategy leverages both PTC’s broad product portfolio and a belief in openness to connect to product data in adjacent and even competitive systems following an OSLC and other standards-based approaches. An example of openness is Windchill, which has always put a high priority on supporting multiCAD environments. Their open, enterprise-level approach is highly valuable as manufacturers continue to streamline operations and remove product development friction.
Integrated Product Engineering
PTC is also increasing investment in their design capabilities, what they’re calling Integrated Product Engineering, or IPE. The IPE approach consists of orchestration and collaboration across design disciplines. PTC supports this with a collection of the right pieces for today’s complex, software-defined products including the Codebeamer ALM solution to support software-defined products. This gives PTC both mechanical and software design, and they partner with leading ECAD vendors.
Manufacture and Service as Designed
PTC’s strategy extends further down the digital thread and product lifecycle to manufacturing, where they support manufacturing process planning. From there it extends to the service lifecycle and end-of-life. These areas follow the PTC strategy to focus where product data drives value. For example, PTC can offer configuration-specific work instructions for field service or MRO based on the as-designed, as-manufactured, and as-maintained product structures.
Industry Focus
PTC will continue to focus on five markets they feel they can best service because they have what they call “whole product” needs, including software-defined products, safety-critical / regulated industries, serviceable / circular products, and high rates of engineering change. The industries they focus on are:
- Electronics and High-Tech
- Federal, Aerospace, and Defense
- Automotive
- Industrials
- MedTech
Applied AI
Product data also supports PTC’s “Applied AI” strategy. It’s a practical strategy to help their customers gain new value through high value, achievable use cases. PTC has already delivered AI through existing capabilities like shape recognition and topology optimization in CAD. Now, they are using AI in ALM to validate and improve requirements and draft test requirements. In field service, they plan to leverage AI’s ability to gather data from disparate systems to streamline field service through generative data aggregation. PTC will surely extend these capabilities, and we look forward to learning more as they progress. From what I learned from a recent PTC AI in Focus webinar I joined, PTC has been making progress and delivering on a holistic, practical AI strategy.
Looking Ahead
We’re also looking forward to learning more about a new PTC product, Asset360. Asset360 is a product twin that serves as the data hub for physical assets in the field. The Product Twin Is PLM-connected and includes fielded asset configuration and activity data.
PTC also made a strategic decision to divest Kepware and ThingWorx. The capabilities were intended to further PTC’s “smart connected products” strategy, but their IoT capabilities gained traction on factory equipment around the product being manufactured, rather than on the products themselves. Divesting Kepware and ThingWorx closes that chapter and allows PTC to focus more squarely on product-centric capabilities versus manufacturing asset-centric functionality.
Accelerated by SaaS
Lastly, it’s important to mention PTC’s SaaS strategy with "Plus" offerings for Creo, Windchill, and Codebeamer. This is in addition to cloud-native solutions Onshape and Arena. Today, PTC focuses Onshape on smaller companies and Arena on fast-moving products like electronics, what we would call supply-chain-centric versus engineering-centric manufacturers. They also have their FlexPLM solution for footwear and apparel. These solutions aren’t being force-fit into the IPL strategy, which allows PTC to focus on their core capabilities.
Thank You
We expect a continued positive reaction to the focus from their customers and we’re excited to follow their progress. Thank you to PTC's Danaya Ostine, Dan Kerns, and Dave Duncan for your time sharing your vision with our analyst team. Thank you to Tech-Clarity's Michelle Boucher, Howie Markson, and Julie Fraser for joining the briefing and providing input to this post.
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