Factory Expertise, Now Scaled by AI
· Process Manufacturing

Factory Expertise, Now Scaled by AI

Every factory depends on expertise — the intuition of a technician who can hear when a nozzle is misaligned, or the experience of an engineer who can trace yield loss back to a single feeder. But that expertise is disappearing fast, even as machines generate more diagnostic data than ever before.This new white paper, GenAI, Operational […]

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Rethinking Predictive Maintenance: Why the Hardest 10% of Industrial Assets Demand a New Class of Sensors
· Predictive Maintenance

Rethinking Predictive Maintenance: Why the Hardest 10% of Industrial Assets Demand a New Class of Sensors

Most predictive maintenance sensors work well—until they don’t. When your pump is in an acid-laden environment, your mill bearings hit 120-150°C, or your crane gearbox runs at 4 RPM for half the shift, the majority of “AI-enabled” standard sensors become expensive paperweights. That’s where COOs leading high-reliability plants are quietly shifting from standard predictive AI […]

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Scaling Factory Expertise: Achieve Expert-Level Diagnostics 10x Faster with AI
· Discrete Manufacturing

Scaling Factory Expertise: Achieve Expert-Level Diagnostics 10x Faster with AI

Manufacturers today are navigating a perfect storm: surging production demands, a retiring workforce, and legacy equipment that can’t keep pace with modern expectations. According to the National Association of Manufacturers, 1.9 million jobs may remain unfilled in the next decade, with many vacancies driven by retiring subject matter experts (SMEs). This creates costly gaps in troubleshooting, […]

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From Pilots to Progress: How Manufacturers Can Scale MES and Industry 4.0 Initiatives the Right Way
· Hybrid Manufacturing

From Pilots to Progress: How Manufacturers Can Scale MES and Industry 4.0 Initiatives the Right Way

At the MES & Industry 4.0 event in Porto, Jeff Winter, VP of Business Strategy at Critical Manufacturing, outlined a practical roadmap for manufacturers ready to move beyond experimentation and into scalable transformation.Start with a Purpose-Built MVPRolling out MES across multiple sites doesn’t need to be slow or resource-draining. The key is starting with a Minimum […]

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Rethinking MES Architecture for the Age of AI and Edge Computing
· Hybrid Manufacturing

Rethinking MES Architecture for the Age of AI and Edge Computing

At the MES & Industry 4.0 Summit in Porto, Adélio Fernandes, VP of Engineering and Co-founder of Critical Manufacturing, shared forward-looking insights on how MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) must evolve to meet the needs of today’s data-intensive, AI-driven factories. His perspective highlights a shift from monolithic platforms to flexible, edge-ready architectures designed for speed, adaptability, […]

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The Cost of Bad Data: Why Time Series Integrity Matters More Than You Think
· Connected Industry

The Cost of Bad Data: Why Time Series Integrity Matters More Than You Think

Data plays a critical role in shaping operational decisions. From sensor streams in factories to API response times in cloud environments, organizations rely on time-stamped metrics to understand what’s happening and determine what to do next. But when that data is inaccurate or incomplete, systems make the wrong call. Teams waste time chasing false alerts, […]

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Subscription MES: A New Path to Digital Transformation
· Hybrid Manufacturing

Subscription MES: A New Path to Digital Transformation

What if deploying MES didn’t require a massive budget, a year-long integration plan, or buy-in from every corner of the enterprise? A growing number of manufacturers are shifting away from all-in-one MES rollouts and embracing a more agile approach—building their execution systems app by app, module by module, and scaling only what works. The result […]

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Still Using Excel on the Shop Floor? Why That’s Costing You More Than You Think
· Discrete Manufacturing

Still Using Excel on the Shop Floor? Why That’s Costing You More Than You Think

Despite years of digital transformation buzz, many manufacturers still rely on spreadsheets, paper-based records, and siloed systems to run critical operations. As Augusto Vilarinho, Head of Global Sales at Critical Manufacturing, bluntly put it during the recent MES & Industry 4.0 Summit in Porto:“Excel is still the most used MES in the world.”The consequences? Missed […]

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From Historical Data to Real-Time Action: Unlocking Industrial Intelligence
· Predictive Maintenance

From Historical Data to Real-Time Action: Unlocking Industrial Intelligence

Learn how integrating a time series database with your historian helps industrial teams detect issues faster, act in real-time, and build predictive strategies that reduce downtime.Modern industrial systems continuously generate time-stamped data from sensors, PLCs, SCADA systems, and other connected devices. Known as time series data, this information reflects how conditions change over time, tracking […]

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From Execution to Intelligence: Generative AI’s Role in the Future of MES
· Hybrid Manufacturing

From Execution to Intelligence: Generative AI’s Role in the Future of MES

At the second edition of the MES & Industry 4.0 International Summit in Porto, Portugal, Lucian Fogoros, Co-founder of IIoT World, spoke with Francisco Almada Lobo, CEO and Co-founder of Critical Manufacturing, about how generative AI is evolving the role of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)—from rule-based executors to intelligent, collaborative decision-support platforms.The conversation revealed more than future potential—it surfaced […]

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The Factory Floor Can’t Adapt Without This
· Discrete Manufacturing

The Factory Floor Can’t Adapt Without This

Manufacturers are under relentless pressure to adapt—fast. But while the demand for agility is everywhere, the reality on the ground tells a different story. Most factory floors still rely on outdated systems, fragmented data, and manual workarounds that leave them exposed to disruptions.The problem isn’t the lack of ambition. It’s the absence of a reliable […]

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What Generative AI Is Really Changing on the Factory Floor
· Discrete Manufacturing

What Generative AI Is Really Changing on the Factory Floor

Forget the hype. Generative AI isn’t replacing workers or designing entire factories — yet. But it is changing what happens on the factory floor, where complexity, variability, and labor shortages meet real-time decisions. From reducing assembly errors to preserving expertise before it walks out the door, generative AI is beginning to solve the gritty, everyday […]

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