by Gary Mintchell | Jun 30, 2026 | Manufacturing IT, Operations Management, Organizations
Before I could compile all my news from last week, a subsequent news item superseded this one. Long-time partners The Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association International (MESA) and Tech-Clarity, Inc. are once again teaming up for an important survey on manufacturing operations. Unfortunately, MESA just sent a release announcing that they are closing as of today, June 30, 2026.
I’m not surprised. I noticed a few months ago that the last of the major sponsors, Rockwell Automation, have pulled out of sponsorship. There were no longer enough sponsors to finance the organization. I devoted many hours to MESA over the years. I also met many great people. I feel an empty space.
I contacted long-time friend Julie Fraser who assured me this research is still on.
TL;DR—Knowledge Sharing Opportunity: Complete a survey to get the results and learn from other manufacturers
[The Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association International (MESA) and ]Tech-Clarity, Inc. invite manufacturers to respond to a new survey on managing manufacturing operations. Responses are confidential, and participants will get a copy of the resulting research report.
Research topics include:
- Why are companies investing in MES/MOM manufacturing operations software (MOS) now?
- What is the business value of these level 3 applications? Are implementations delivering the expected benefits? How long does it take to achieve the benefits?
- How is MES/MOM evolving? What functions such as quality, maintenance, scheduling, and analytics are separate, from one solution provider, or share a common data model? Are these systems hosted on-premise, SaaS, or a hybrid?
- What is the impact of AI at the manufacturing operations level? What are companies doing now and planning? What are they expecting? What benefits are they achieving?
- What are the best practices to maximize value from manufacturing operations software investments? What can we learn from each other? Are AI and MOS applications better together?
Most predictions are for double-digit growth in the MES market this year and beyond. Thus, these questions are pressing for both manufacturers and the solution providers who serve them. The program has five sponsors, each a leading player in this software arena: Critical Manufacturing, Infor, ISE, Parsec Automation LLC, and SAS.
Manufacturing Operations Software (MOS): Tech-Clarity defines MOS as commercial plantwide software (as defined in level 3 of the Purdue model) needed to run a manufacturing facility. MOS includes MES, MOM, and industry-specific capabilities such as eBR and eDHR. It may also encompass associated functions in quality, maintenance, scheduling, inventory, environmental, health, safety, and connected worker. MOS also refers to new approaches, such as factory operating systems, composable manufacturing software, industrial data intelligence/AI, and platforms with applications.
Tech-Clarity’s Julie Fraser and Rick Franzosa are leading the research program, supported by MESA’s Knowledge Committee, headed by Chris Monchinski, and the rich community of five sponsors.
“The desire to leverage AI in manufacturing operations is adding to the allure of having trustworthy manufacturing operations data in context. We see growing interest in ensuring that production IT and OT data, as well as quality, scheduling, maintenance, and worker support data, all flow smoothly. We’re looking to understand the details of how companies want to do that,” says Fraser, Vice President of Research for Operations at Tech-Clarity and MESA’s leader of the Smart Manufacturing Community.
MESA’s International Knowledge Committee Chair Chris Monchinski of InflexionPoint states, “Getting MES or MOM systems ready for AI may have many dimensions. While they are the best foundation for this work at level 3 of the Purdue model, many implementations are not quite ready for the rigors of AI’s data needs.”
“MES has been delivering solid benefits for many years. The question is where manufacturers are focusing their investments and projects, and how AI both forces the need and accelerates progress for these systems,” says Tech-Clarity’s Vice President of Research for Manufacturing, Rick Franzosa.
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 21, 2026 | Generative AI, Manufacturing IT, Podcast, Services, Software
Nothing in industrial technology news annoys me more than the hype around artificial intelligence—AI. I recorded this podcast on the eve of the Automate trade show and conference in June 2026.
Looking to for realistic use of Industrial AI, I’m bringing in an interview with a practitioner. Bryan DeBois is Director of Industrial AI at RoviSys, one of the largest independent system integrators. He has 20 years in MES, historians, and plant floor software. He leads teams that operationalize AI and data infrastructure in live plants, working with the C suite and ops to turn goals into running systems.
We look at definitions of AI. Then turn to the technology development from when RoviSys developed its AI practice in 2019 pre-LLMs. RoviSys took autonomous AI beyond predictive applications. Hiring deep manufacturing expertise, they can use AI to assist the human in the loop to make constrained decisions. DeBois discusses real-world applications. He then leads us through the beginning of a project.
Watch on YouTube.
Listen on your favorite podcast app or on my Website.
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 18, 2026 | Edge, Manufacturing IT, Operations Management
Rockwell Automation ’s software group has undergone substantial change over the past few years. It seems to have settled into a groove lately. I’d imagine that its story at this year’s Automation Fair in November in Boston should be interesting.
The TL;DR of today’s announcement—New product offers a unified execution architecture, bringing intelligence, resilience and enterprise scalability to modern manufacturing operations
Rockwell Automation announced June 18, 2026 the availability of FactoryTalk ResilientEdge, a next-generation execution architecture designed to support autonomous manufacturing operations across highly-automated environments.
Built on FactoryTalk Optix and integrated across Rockwell Automation’s portfolio, including Plex Manufacturing Execution System (MES), FactoryTalk ResilientEdge creates a single execution layer that spans machines, people and production systems. The platform delivers predictable, low-latency execution at the edge along with cloud capabilities that enable analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) training and enterprise orchestration. The combination of edge and cloud means that operations are continuous even if connectivity is lost.
The edge-to-cloud interaction comprises the bulk of such announcements lately. Connection points, of course, constitute the key interface for real action.
FactoryTalk ResilientEdge turns advanced manufacturing capabilities into a standard operating infrastructure by unifying plant models, connectivity, execution and intelligence into a single framework. Within FactoryTalk ResilientEdge, users will find a variety of innovative features: shared production model, native and interoperable connectivity, real-time edge execution with embedded business logic, cloud-scale analytics, and AI. The result is an execution system that eliminates the divide between Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT), dramatically reducing the complexity of deploying and evolving modern manufacturing operations.
“At a time when 95% of manufacturers are advancing AI and machine learning initiatives, FactoryTalk ResilientEdge enables a new class of manufacturing execution,” said Anthony Murphy, vice president of product management, Rockwell Automation. “Manufacturers can scale automation, intelligence, and autonomy across their operations while preserving the economic and scalability advantages of the cloud, helping manufacturers deploy faster and lower their total cost of ownership.”
Three key points
- Enabling AI-Driven Autonomy—Modern automation initiatives require reliable execution, structured data flow and scalable architecture as the foundation for advanced analytics and AI initiatives. FactoryTalk ResilientEdge delivers a resilient execution layer that supports advanced analytics, AI and closed-loop optimization without compromising plant-level performance.
- Secure, Interoperable and Built to Scale—FactoryTalk ResilientEdge helps manufacturers modernize operations by improving operational resiliency, optimized for Rockwell Automation ecosystems while remaining open and interoperable across heterogeneous production environments. The security, interoperability and scalability of the new offering is a testament to Rockwell’s elastic MES solutions.
- Faster Deployment and Lower Lifecycle Cost—By reducing integration complexity, centralizing monitoring and supporting modular scalability, FactoryTalk ResilientEdge can lower lifecycle costs and accelerate deployment. FactoryTalk ResilientEdge capabilities can be deployed as needed, supporting companies who phase their modernization strategy.
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by Gary Mintchell | Jun 4, 2026 | Manufacturing IT, Software
Here is a new service—operational decision intelligence. Also a company new to me—SteelTree. They define an operational decision intelligence service as something designed to help industrial teams improve awareness, reduce friction, and coordinate action across fast-moving operations.
The information I could gather combined was very sparse. Not sure why it’s better or worth than anything out there already (unless the “.ai” means something new in AI. It could be worth checking just in case.
The company seeks to help teams move beyond disconnected dashboards, spreadsheets, reports, and silos to improve visibility, coordination, and execution across day-to-day operations. SteelTree enables teams to quickly identify changes, recurring issues, performance drift, coordination gaps, and priorities requiring attention.
The model consists of:
See → Decide → Execute → Learn
SteelTree helps industrial teams:
- See what’s happening
- Decide what matters most
- Coordinate and execute actions faster
- Continuously learn before small issues become larger problems
“Most teams are not lacking systems or data,” said Kanwar Arora, Founder of SteelTree. “What they’re lacking is continuous operational awareness across fast-moving environments. Teams still spend too much time moving between dashboards, spreadsheets, reports, and silos just to understand what requires attention. SteelTree reduces the friction between operational signals, decisions, and action.”
Unlike traditional BI, dashboarding, and reporting tools that often depend on analysts, dashboard development, and delayed reporting cycles, SteelTree is focused on helping teams maintain awareness and coordination without adding overhead.
The company believes many organizations still struggle with operational visibility and coordination despite significant investments in business systems and reporting tools.
“As the software industry races to embed AI across enterprise applications, many teams still struggle with a more fundamental challenge: maintaining awareness across fast-moving operations and coordinating action effectively,” said Peter Price, Founder of SteelTree. “SteelTree starts by helping teams see clearly, but visibility alone is not enough. The real value comes from helping teams decide faster, execute more effectively, and continuously learn across day-to-day operations.”
SteelTree’s launch is focused on industrial teams looking to improve operational awareness, decision-making, and coordination without the complexity typically associated with traditional enterprise analytics and reporting tools.
The service is available immediately with free access.
by Gary Mintchell | May 15, 2026 | Data Management, Manufacturing IT, Operations Management
This is one of those press releases that have come to me for years that a typical magazine would just republish and call it news but leaves me wishing for much more information. Like who, what, how. The story concerns implementing a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) that enabled doubling of production through the consolidation of data.
I’d love to know more, but this comes from Rockwell Automation—a company who tempts me with cool information but then never follows through. So, if you’re a Rockwell customer checking out their MES solutions, perhaps your account manager can supply you with a deeper look into what appears to be a promising application.
News in brief: Century-old Pacific Northwest co-packer consolidates nine systems into one, achieves 99% inventory accuracy, and wins 2025 Plex Transformer Impact Award
Rockwell Automation announced that Portland Bottling Company (PBC), a leading U.S. West Coast beverage co‑packer, has been named a recipient of the 2025 Plex Transformer Impact Award. PBC earned recognition after doubling its monthly production volume and achieving measurable operational improvements following its deployment of the Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform.
Founded in 1924 and based in Clackamas, Oregon, PBC specializes in ready-to-drink beverages manufactured exclusively in aluminum cans. As customer demand increased, PBC recognized the need for greater operational visibility and control. Prior to implementing Plex in 2020, the company relied on nine disconnected technologies with no single source of truth. Manual inventory processes introduced data errors, limited production insight and reduced the company’s ability to respond quickly to customer needs.
To address these challenges, PBC worked with Plex partner Revolution Group to implement Plex Manufacturing Execution System (MES) — including Plex MES Automation & Orchestration (A&O) and Plex Quality Management System (QMS). By consolidating its technology landscape into one connected platform, PBC provided every department, from production and quality to inventory and maintenance, access to the same real-time operational data, eliminating silos that had previously constrained growth.
“Tracking our customers’ inventory accurately is paramount to our business. Plex enables us to do this efficiently and easily report on-hand balances and warehouse charges,” said Robert Van Blake, IT director, Portland Bottling Company. “Real-time data is a key factor in operational productivity improvements. Prior to Plex, this data was cumbersome to collect and subject to human error.”
The impact of transformation was both immediate and sustained. PBC increased production volumes from 900,000 to two million case equivalents per month. Inventory accuracy reached 99%, while shipping accuracy hit 100%. Productivity improved by 10% and waste dropped by 20% and maintenance response times decreased—enabling the company to scale operations while maintaining quality and customer service.
“Plex MES extends beyond execution to help manufacturers bring greater coordination and visibility across quality, inventory and production,” said Michael Hart, head of industry strategy and growth, Rockwell Automation. “Portland Bottling Company’s transformation brings this to life, showing how a connected operational foundation can drive both efficiency and scalable growth.”
by Gary Mintchell | May 14, 2026 | Generative AI, Manufacturing IT, Operations Management, Software
I devoted three days in April to attend the Aras Community Event (ACE 2026) in Miami, FL. Even though I am not a specialized market analyst in that market, I’ve been involved with the application of product lifecycle management ever since I was “The Kid in Engineering” at a manufacturing company back when, well, I was just a bit older than a “kid.”
Our company (another company that designed and built automated assembly equipment) transitioned to computer-aided design (CAD) while I was in management. Later, I became involved with AutoCAD.
So, there are memories of the great advances in the technology and capabilities.
My first summary of my three days with the Aras community in Miami was recorded on my podcast and YouTube channels. As I wrote at the time, “These PLM events always return me to the time when I did this sort of work–manually. Then my first taste of computers digitizing the bill of materials as a first step in our data management journey.”
Aras product managers showed how LLMs trained on the data within the app along with proper governance worked with agents to perform a number of tasks. Tasks in many cases that would require days of pain-staking work from a human.
While I heard from an analyst in the market that they thought this was all painfully slow, I’d offer the thought that a company does not want to outpace its customers. Most will not want to jump into the deep end immediately.
Chatting with CTO Rob McAveney, I heard how the company is taking a balanced approach to introducing these new technologies assuring that they are bringing their customer base along laying out the progression of “agentification of PLM.” The vision includes turning Aras Innovator into an “enterprise nervous system.”
The pressure of digitalization and the so-called digital transformation of companies drives these developers and suppliers into trying to find solutions to the immense data problems they face. Aras’ core technology lies in the digital thread, a topic often referred to.
Ironically, my discussions with Aras and some customers and prospects during the conference revealed an unhealthy fact that I’ve often heard in another software application market—MES. It seems that few users use the full complement of solutions offered by the vendors. This means that what could be a mature market is actually open for new solutions—meaning an innovative upstart like Aras has opportunity for market growth.
I researched the market using my favorite search engine—Claude.ai. The global PLM & Engineering software market reached $31.1 billion in 2024, growing 9.7% year-over-year, and is projected to hit $41.6 billion by 2029 at a ~6% CAGR. The top 10 vendors account for roughly 85% of the total market.
The leading suppliers include Siemens Digital Industries, Dassault Systèms, PTC, and Autodesk. Analysts report Aras Innovator is built for adaptability, offering a platform designed to evolve quickly with a low-code development environment and strong Digital Thread capabilities.
The four key development points for Aras agentic AI and LLMs, which were repeated often are:
- Trust
- Governance
- Observability
- Explainability
Shortly following the Aras event, I attended virtually the Siemens press conference from Hannover Fair.
Further research between the two revealed these thoughts from a variety of analysts.
Siemens Teamcenter Copilot is powerful but bounded. Siemens’ approach includes Teamcenter Copilot and AI Chat for natural language queries, RapidMiner for spotting quality issues, and AI extraction of procedures from static PDFs. Siemens describes it as “training AI in the language of engineering and manufacturing” — embedding domain-specific intelligence aligned with physics, lifecycle context, and operational constraints.
However, what Siemens is doing is focused, practical, and grounded in helping users navigate data Siemens already manages well. The copilots do not attempt to extend beyond Teamcenter — they do not ingest data from other PLM tools or external systems that influence product decisions, and the improvements remain confined to the boundaries of one platform.
Aras’s approach is architecturally more open. InnovatorEdge is designed so that product data, processes, and digital thread remain governed inside the core platform, while Edge services make them consumable everywhere else — enabling agents to link data across PLM, ERP, IoT, and documents.
One independent analyst commentary summarized the broader landscape bluntly: all four major PLM vendors — Siemens, Dassault, PTC, and Aras — are adding AI inside their products, but none of them are rethinking PLM architecture for an agent-native future. They are embedding assistants inside old systems rather than redesigning systems around the needs of agents. That said, Aras’s open, low-code, API-first architecture puts it structurally closer to an agent-ready foundation than Siemens’s more monolithic platform.
ACE attendees noted that while AI’s transformative potential was clear, discussions also centered on the need for human oversight, data governance, and addressing concerns about traceability and the dynamic nature of LLMs — suggesting customers are excited but appropriately cautious about full autonomy.
