I am seldom invited to these things anymore. At least the automation ones. More on the software and IT side lately. But news came with advanced information from Yokogawa.
Building on the tremendous success of YNOW2024: Impact Your World in Houston, YNOW2026 will bring together hundreds of industry leaders, visionaries, and innovators as we continue shaping the future of industrial automation, digital transformation, and sustainability.
Over three transformational days, attendees will discover bold ideas, practical solutions, and visionary strategies designed to accelerate their digital journey. From expert-led sessions to valuable networking opportunities, YNOW is more than a conference, it is where the next chapter of industry innovation begins.
Registration will open in early 2026. In the meantime, customers and partners can join our Early Access List to be the first to receive event updates and announcements.
We look forward to welcoming you to New Orleans in 2026 for another inspiring YNOW experience.
“This is my eighth ICC, and this is by far the best.” I asked a customer this morning how he was enjoying this year’s edition of the annual Inductive Automation Ignition Community Conference.
I concur completely (although I’ve attended more than eight). The Harris Center in Folsom had long since proved to be too small to house the community’s growth. Executives agreed to move the venue to the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento. They planned for doubling the size from 800 to 1,600, but the organizers told me that doing this the first time encompassed so many unknowns that they couldn’t breathe easily until half-way through the first day. This one reminded me of the automation company user groups I once attended.
I’m writing this in the hallway. The energy from conversations certainly keeps my energy up.
Part of the attraction this year emanates from the ability to house more breakout sessions. New also this year are Walker Reynold’s Prove It! Sessions. I sat in one with HighByte where the task is to prove to the audience that their solution really works.
Colby Clegg and Carl Gould ICC 2025
It helps when company executives have something good to say. And CEO Colby Clegg and CTO Carl Gould certainly rocked the conference with the huge advances in the latest Ignition Release—8.3.
The original vision I heard some 23 years ago focused on building an HMI/SCADA using IT-friendly technology from the ground up. Oh, and coming from a background as an integrator for another software company, the second focus concerned the pricing model designed to make the software more affordable and pricing more transparent.
Reading through just the bullet points I have below shows how far “IT-friendly” has come. The foundation for Ignition ties even more deeply into technologies familiar to all IT developers. With the hit of the show saved for previews of coming attractions when Colby and Carl announced coming in a few months—Model Context Protocol (MCP), thought of like an API for Agentic AI. MCP is so new and powerful that Inductive Automation may be beating IT developers to the game.
Inductive Automation Releases Ignition 8.3
Ignition 8.3 is such a comprehensive update that I’m surprised that it isn’t 9.0. Inductive says it provides tools for building solutions in SCADA, IIoT, MES, HMI, and more. It’s so much more that if I were an analyst paid $50,000 to do things like this, I’d give the category a new name.
This update (actually a significant technology foundation update) to Ignition 8.3 delivers major advancements in data processing efficiency, security, management, and development speed in order to elevate operational technology (OT) to modern IT standards and meet the speed and scalability needs of modern enterprises. These updates continue in the vision of the founder I first heard 22 years ago about developing OT software with the latest IT-friendly technology.
“Ignition has disrupted the industry and defined a new paradigm in industrial enterprise integration. With Version 8.3, we have completed our long-standing vision to create the world’s most powerful, most open, and most flexible application development platform,” says Colby Clegg, CEO of Inductive Automation and co-creator of Ignition.
Key Ignition 8.3 features include:
The new Industrial Historian Solution Suite, which includes the Historian Core Module, the SQL Historian Module, and a new Historian API for custom historian implementations.
The new Event Streams Module, which enables mapping and directing of event-driven data by creating a communication pipeline between various sources (such as tag changes or Kafka topics) and handlers (like scripts or database tables).
Perspective Module improvements, including a new Drawing Editor with native vector illustration tools, a form generator, and an offline mode for data entry and storage.
The redesigned Ignition Gateway, featuring a faster, more powerful web interface, integrated search capabilities, enhanced customization and visual organization, and consolidated configuration and diagnostic tools.
Next-level security that aligns with modern IT standards, including a new Secrets Management system, and Google Protobuf for faster, more secure communication between clients and gateways.
Long-Term Support (LTS), receiving regular updates and enhancements through the next five years.
Ignition 8.3 also features enhanced store-and-forward capabilities, improved enterprise deployment management, built-in REST API, new Gateway deployment mode, version control and collaboration with Git, simplified containerization, and much more.
Ignition Solution Suites, which include collections of Ignition modules and optional support plans that provide Upgrade Protection. Ignition Solution Suites simplify the Ignition purchasing process so that users can buy and deploy the precise solution they need more quickly. Five Solution Suites are currently available, and they align Ignition’s capabilities with common industrial use cases: The Application Building Suite, The Industrial Historian Suite, The DataOps Operations Suite, The Alarm Management Suite, and The Enterprise Integration Suite.
Every year the company recognizes significant and unique applications developed with Ignition. This year the company also recognized outstanding efforts in educating students about industrial automation with the Educational Engagement Firebrand Award, and honored contributions to the Ignition user community with the Community Impact Firebrand Award.
2025 Ignition Firebrand Award Winners:
Concera (End user: Sibanye-Stillwater)
Insight Engineering (End user: Haymes Paint)
SAGE Group (End user: Sydney Airport Corporation)
ASE Global
National Renewable Energy Lab
2025 Community Impact Firebrand Award Winner: Nick Minchin, Senior System Engineer at SAGE Automation, who dedicated much time to answering questions and helping people on the Ignition Forums.
2025 Educational Engagement Firebrand Award Winner: HebronSoft / Hebron IT Academy. These students from the Ukraine developed a process of custom fabricating prosthetic hands for soldiers who lost limbs in the war.
I missed the last industry conference. There are several interviews in queue for me to finish writing and a couple of interviews pending. But here is one conference I will be attending. If you are in Boston April 1-2, let me know. Aras invited me to their conference last year. The speakers and interviews taught me much about what’s important and coming in the world of manufacturing software. I expect no less this year.
And, yes, if you are in Boston those days, let me know. Perhaps an early coffee or something else later?
The event will Feature Presentations from Honda, CERN, Microsoft and Other Industry Leaders
Following is an overview of the event from Aras.
Aras, a leader in product lifecycle management (PLM) and digital thread solutions, has announced that the agenda for ACE 2025 is now live. The event, taking place March 31 – April 3, 2025 at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza, will bring together global leaders in engineering, manufacturing, and digital transformation under the theme: Connected Intelligence: AI, PLM, and a Future-Ready Digital Thread.
2025 marks a major milestone as Aras celebrates 25 years of continuous innovation while looking ahead to AI-driven PLM, advanced digital thread strategies, and scalable transformation initiatives. ACE 2025 will explore how today’s industry pioneers are establishing seamless digital threads across the entire lifecycle to enhance resilience, efficiency, and long-term competitiveness.
A key focus of this year’s event is the impact of connected intelligence on manufacturing and engineering—and how companies can unlock its full potential to drive measurable value. Attendees will gain access to expert insights, real-world applications, and actionable strategies designed to accelerate their digital transformation and optimize PLM processes.
A few of the featured speakers:
Honda’s Tomoya Isome, Manager, Chief Engineer and Nobuyuki Akahoshi, Chief Engineer, will share how they’re leveraging Aras Innovator to revolutionize data management for 22,000 users.
CERN’s David Widegren, Head of Engineering Information Management, will detail the challenges of managing the full lifecycle of some of the largest and most complex machines ever built.
Gartner Vice President Analyst Sudip Pattanayak will explore why digital threads are more critical than ever for seamless connectivity and collaboration in today’s complex industries, sharing strategies to tackle fragmented data, privacy concerns, and scalability challenges.
“ACE 2025 is a celebration of the incredible community that has grown around Aras over the past 25 years,” said Roque Martin, CEO of Aras. “This event brings together innovators, engineers, and industry leaders who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with PLM, digital thread, and AI. We’re excited to mark this milestone by fostering new connections, sharing knowledge, and shaping the future—together.”
Here is a virtual opportunity to visit Italy. ZAPI Group is hosting its fourth Future of Electrification Conference. I’d love to go to Italy in person, but I think I’ll hit this virtual opportunity.
Its fourth Future of Electrification virtual conference on February 26-27, 2025 will examine trends in the worldwide shift toward electrification, challenges and opportunities across different geographical regions, and the latest innovations driving adoption and transformation.
I wonder if they’ll explore the wrench that the Trump Administration may throw into these efforts?
The conference will provide insights into market dynamics, technology, and regulatory factors shaping the electrification movement. Centered on the theme “Innovating for Change,” presenters will share leadership expertise in the industrial electrification space, discuss the impact of battery technology in the adoption of electrification, examine challenges in the evolving global trade landscape, and more.
Blake Moret deserves credit for many reasons during his tenure as CEO of Rockwell Automation. He has not been afraid to try things. If they don’t work out, he just pivots and tries something else.
There was the interlude with PTC and ThingWorx. Rockwell gained some benefit, but in the end the benefits were less than spectacular. He sold the stake and acquired Plex (operations software) and Fiix (maintenance management software) gaining solid cloud-based performers.
He also brought in a diverse lineup of senior management including some from outside the company. Outsiders usually leave after a few years, and indeed, the senior level executive cadre consists primarily of people who came up through the ranks. This is not a criticism. Sort of just the way it is. But it helps bringing in fresh thinking. Senior management is also not limited to old white men. There is diversity at the top levels which should make for more interesting discussions.
These comments introduce the 2024 edition of Automation Fair. The format introduced last year makes the experience more like the previous TechEd events with a helping of the in-house trade show that was Automation Fair. All attendees pay a fee to get in. Distributors previously brought customers who had free admittance to the show. That was one reason for the high attendance numbers.
People wondered how it would work this year. It worked. Well, 11,000 people showed up. The show floor and technical sessions were packed. I’d say it was successful.
Moret’s key message during his talks can be summarized as simplification. He stated he was proud of the way the development teams have made things work together better. Rockwell has enhanced the edge-to-cloud experience. “Autonomous,” meaning AI and AMRs, add to existing workflows while lowering the risk of implementation. This topic also includes software-defined architecture and extensive use of digital twin. He finished mentioning Rockwell’s extensive consulting group which houses much domain expertise.
I have more notes than will fit even a long-form blog post. The following compilation takes you through a couple of days of keynotes and briefings.
Matheus Bulho, SVP of Software and Control, spoke on the machine layer. The Design software layer integrates devops into the design platform. It continuously updates the code base in the cloud during development meaning developers can easily visualize code conflict from different programmers.
Logix Echo and Emulate3D finally realize a vision I wrote about from Rockwell Automation perhaps 20 years ago. The technology has arrived to enable design and commission of an entire system in virtual space in partnership with Nvidia. Rockwell has also integrated Copilot into the platform. Software-defined automation has arrived at the platform, as well.
Tessa Myers, SVP Intelligent Devices discussed products targeted at line and plant layers. “We’re driving end-to-end performance with smart, connected machines. End-to-end orchestration includes production logistics, operations management software, material handling, production logistics, and consulting expertise reimagine how material moves through manufacturing lines.
Products include Plex software, OTTO AMR technology, data-ready equipment, Mosaics, industrial data ops, and EnergyManager.
Matt Fordenwalt, SVP Lifecycle Services, handled the Enterprise level of products during the Tuesday keynotes. He discussed security and data standards pointing to Fortinet system level thinking combined with OT and IT domain expertise. Adding Claroty software for visibility and intelligence plus RA company Verve. Other partners in the security chain include Dragos, Crowd Strike, Microsoft, and Cisco.
Some notes from a series of press briefings:
Emmanuel Guilhamon, Vice President, Sustainability, discussed how AI will be helping companies meet environmental goals. He emphasized the need to build business cases in order to sell sustainability to management.
Jordan Reynolds, Vice President of AI, (yes, RA has a VP of AI) told us AI should not be thought of as a separate product. Rather, AI is being built into many products to make them easier and simpler to use, as well as, more powerful.
Matt Rendell, Chief Executive Officer, Clearpath Robotics by Rockwell Automation and Ryan Gariepy, Chief Technology Officer, OTTO Motors by Rockwell Automation reported on advanced robotics and OTTO motors bringing connected factories to life. These recently acquired companies can now better integrate out of the box due to joining RA. These form an integral part of RA’s connected factory vision.
Tony Carrara, Business Manager, FactoryTalk Design Studio,
FactoryTalk DesignStudio, still targeted for discrete, introducing motion and process 18 months or so, Copilot, modernizing building automation system, hosting in Azure, project creation, product guidance, project guidance GenAI use cases; Copilot January 2025, also first release cloud to controller; Innovation Booth; (hmm, no AR/VR); testing guardrails for LLMs in Logix, future research voice interaction;
Michael Bayer, Director of Contracts Capabilities, and Rick Kaun, Vice President of Solutions, Verve Industrial, a Rockwell Automation Company brought Cybersecurity into focus as a business risk. From sensors to controllers, it’s all about data. And that is a risk. People in the factory are not cybersecurity experts, so help is needed. Insurance companies are pressuring the Board to meet the risk. Employees are asking for skills. They want to be security savvy. Kaun says the Verve platform helps clients find assets.
Kris Dornan, Commercial Marketing Manager, and Liz Bahl Prosak, Commercial Portfolio Manager, presented the LogixSIS (safety integrated system for process safety).
Key Capabilities of Logix SIS:
Modern SIL 2 and SIL 3 solutions delivers comprehensive safety across a wide range of industrial applications.
High availability safety delivers continuous operation for critical processes.
Streamline implementation by leveraging familiar hardware and software.
Reduce engineering time to maximize efficiency through simplified design and configuration.
Upgrade the system without requiring planned downtime.
Available through Rockwell Automation distribution channels that provide convenient access to customers worldwide.
Show Floor Tours
One item from the show floor tour piqued my interest—VisionAI. Touted as Rockwell Automation’s first vision system, it features AI-driven software with strong data capabilities and expected connectivity. Actually, this is the third RA vision system. I sold and installed a few in the mid-1990s. It was called the CVIM. A product called VIM preceded that one. The CVIM was powerful, had a huge footprint, and was prohibitively expensive by 1996. I became an editor in 1998 and witnessed the demise of the product.
It’s expensive for me to go to Automation Fair. I weigh the costs carefully. Information was abundant. Meeting old colleagues invigorates the week for one who works alone. I’m glad I made this trip. Next year in Chicago is a no-brainer.
AVEVA Unified Engineering, the new enhancements will bring together global, multi-discipline, multi-organization teams and allow them to work from the same up-to-date project data in a common environment. Whether working in 1D, 2D or 3D, AVEVA Unified Engineering takes teams from working in siloed applications with document-based workflows to an agile, intelligent, collaborative digital environment. It further helps businesses to deliver optimized plant designs by enabling collaborative, transparent data-centric decision-making processes, ultimately enabling companies to deliver projects on-time and on-budget.
AVEVA Operations Control is a complete operations offer with zero tag, IO, and server limitations; providing complete architectural flexibility from process to plant to enterprise. It offers unlimited access to HMI/SCADA visualization, historian, reporting and team collaboration capabilities. Data management capabilities will enable a new ecosystem and use cases including AI-powered analytics for quality and production optimization. As part of its update, AVEVA is including key CONNECT capabilities with every AVEVA Operations Control subscription. The combination benefits users with new insights from the industrial AI assistant that queries both process and MES data. Customers can take advantage of pre-defined and self-service editable dashboards and animations, to holistically visualize complex interactions. The combination of AI and visualization allows customers to investigate issues, solve problems, and gain actionable insights for optimizing production and the business.
AVEVA PI System portfolio with new and expanded capabilities for its AVEVA PI Data Infrastructure offering. New write-back capabilities from CONNECT to AVEVA PI Server enable real-time collaboration between operations experts and other stakeholders such as analysts and data scientists, allowing operators to incorporate advanced analytics within trusted tools and existing workflows. In addition, new performance enhancements will increase users’ ability to move, manage, and manipulate data to meet business demands. Customers are already achieving breakthrough results in productivity, quality, uptime and cost savings when they integrate their industrial data from the edge, the plant and the cloud using CONNECT.
