Manufacturers are accustomed to threading the needle — keeping costs in check, maintaining tight margins and addressing new requirements from customers, suppliers, partners, and regulators — even as they navigate uncertain markets. It’s well-known that information technology plays an important role, enabling mission-critical operations while simultaneously empowering manufacturers to use their data to improve decision-making, satisfy compliance requirements, and more.
Not surprisingly, manufacturing IT professionals oversee a sizable IT estate. Their responsibilities span ensuring the seamless operation of everything from back-office software to the PLCs that drive factory floor machinery, as well as the APIs that interconnect these systems. In many cases, leveraging analytics solutions to stitch together data from disparate systems can be a more practical and effective approach than direct integration, depending on the specific problem being addressed.
Keeping this intricate network running smoothly is no small feat. On top of this, there are new solutions spanning from COTS applications to AI innovations which must be vetted to ensure that the organization remains competitive.
