by Gary Mintchell | Mar 28, 2025 | Generative AI, Software
This is the second of four Siemens news items. In the vein of everyone in industrial software is Microsoft’s best friend, Copilot headlines this news. And no news today is complete without mentioning generative AI.
- The Siemens Industrial Copilot, a generative AI-based assistant, is empowering customers across the entire value chain – from design and planning to engineering, operations, and services
- Siemens expands its Industrial Copilot offering with extended capabilities for Senseye Predictive Maintenance
- The generative AI-powered solution will support every stage of the maintenance cycle, from repair and prevention to prediction and optimization
A glimpse of Siemens’ AI strategy:
The Siemens Industrial Copilot is revolutionizing industry by enabling customers to leverage generative AI across the entire value chain – from design and planning to engineering, operations, and services. For example, the generative AI-powered assistant empowers engineering teams to generate code for programmable logic controllers using their native language, speeding-up SCL code generation by an estimated 60% while minimizing errors and reducing the need for specialized knowledge. This in turn reduces development time and boosts quality and productivity over the long term.
Siemens is developing a full suite of copilots to industrial-grade standards for the discrete and process manufacturing industries – and is now strengthening its Industrial Copilot offerings with the launch of an advanced maintenance solution, designed to redefine industrial maintenance strategies.
Bringing it to maintenance
The Senseye Predictive Maintenance solution powered by Microsoft Azure will be extended with two new offerings:
- Entry Package: This predictive maintenance solution combines AI-powered repair guidance with basic predictive capabilities. It helps businesses transition from reactive to condition-based maintenance by offering limited connectivity for sensor data collection and real-time condition monitoring. With AI-assisted troubleshooting and minimal infrastructure requirements, companies can reduce downtime, improve maintenance efficiency, and lay the foundation for full predictive maintenance.
- Scale Package: Designed for enterprises looking to fully transform their maintenance strategy, this package integrates Senseye Predictive Maintenance with the full Maintenance Copilot functionality. It enables customers to predict failures before they happen, maximize uptime, and reduce costs with AI-driven insights. Offering enterprise-wide scalability, automated diagnostics, and sustainable business outcomes, this solution helps companies move beyond traditional maintenance, optimizing operations across multiple sites while supporting long-term efficiency and resilience.
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 25, 2025 | Internet of Things, Networking
5G and private 5G cellular networks were all the rage a few years ago. They hype cycle has progressed. I’ve seen some examples of real-world applications. It remains more promise than use at this time.
However, some news continues to flow through my system. This one is a partnership of sorts between Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE) and Celona. This new turnkey solution integrates with ALE’s OmniVista, OmniSwitch, and OmniAccess Stellar networking portfolio, enabling secure and high quality connectivity across complex enterprise environments including large outdoor spaces.
The cutting-edge technology in ALE’s Private 5G solution is engineered for ultra-reliable connectivity in complex industrial settings such as manufacturing, refineries, logistics warehouses, and ports including airport apron/ramp areas. The Private 5G solution offers large-area wireless coverage, secure and reliable high-speed mobility, supporting real-time, critical industrial applications, leading to enhanced IoT and Industry 4.0 integration.
This technology enables connecting next-generation IoT devices and applications that demand ultra-low latency and deterministic performance in enterprises pioneering the use of state-of-the-art devices and technologies, including autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs), robotics, HD video analytics, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) applications, all of which will benefit from robust wireless connectivity.
ALE is integrating Private 5G with its existing solutions, such as OmniVista Cirrus, OmniSwitch LAN, and OmniAccess Stellar WLAN, to deliver reliable augmented coverage across industrial sites, offices and campuses. This approach ensures end-to-end secure Zero Touch Network Access and high-performance connectivity for seamless operations and advanced applications.
Private 5G powered by Celona delivers on the promise of strong security with robust SIM authentication and Celona’s patented MicroSlicing and Aerloc technologies, which ensure reliable service and application-level SLAs, policy enforcement, and zero trust security for business-critical applications.
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 24, 2025 | Manufacturing IT, News, Organizations
This news comes from Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) International promoting its education programs. If you are involved in manufacturing software, you might find these beneficial. Over the years, I’ve heard good things about the courses. I’m not as involved with MESA as I was for years—lots of changes. This program is perhaps the best value from the organization.
The Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) International announces launch of new MES/MOM Refresher Programs through the MESA Global Education Program. These specialized courses are designed to provide professionals in the manufacturing sector with an updated understanding of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) methodologies, ensuring they remain at the forefront of industry advancements.
These refresher courses are relevant to those who have completed the foundational MES/MOM certificate program through MESA previously and are looking to enhance their knowledge, stay current with evolving technologies, and strengthen their ability to implement and manage MES/MOM solutions effectively.
Offered in two distinct formats, the new programs include:
- MES/MOM Methodologies CoA Refresher Program – This course offers a comprehensive review of the core concepts, strategies, and best practices associated with MES/MOM methodologies. Participants will deepen their understanding of MES/MOM frameworks and how to apply them to optimize manufacturing operations.
- MES/MOM Methodologies CoC Refresher Program – Tailored for those seeking a deeper dive into MES/MOM systems, this course provides advanced insights into methodologies used to manage and control operations. Attendees will learn how to navigate complex challenges and drive performance improvements across manufacturing processes.
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 17, 2025 | Generative AI, Technology
Just in from The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) about a timely new conference. I’m not sure I can make it to Seattle for this conference, but it looks like a good place to explore timely topics.
The Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the leading voice in automation and robotics, today announced the launch of a new industry event, FOCUS: Intelligent Vision & Industrial AI Conference. Set to take place September 24-25, 2025, in Seattle, this conference will provide an in-depth look at the latest advancements in machine vision, imaging technologies, AI, and smart automation applications. Attendees will explore cutting-edge innovations in vision systems and imaging while also diving into real-world case studies on AI-driven automation across industries, including manufacturing, aerospace, agriculture, defense, energy, logistics and medical devices.
With AI-powered automation and vision systems rapidly improving quality control, predictive maintenance, and robotics capabilities, industrial leaders need actionable insights to stay ahead of the curve. Unlike broader industry conferences, the FOCUS: Intelligent Vision & Industrial AI conference will center specifically on the real-world applications of AI and vision technology, featuring expert-led sessions, in-depth case studies, and hands-on technology showcases.
Registration opens soon! Stay ahead of the curve—visit the FOCUS 2025 page and subscribe for updates to be among the first to know when registration goes live.
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 17, 2025 | Edge
Here’s a partnership of two companies who like to “all caps” their names so that they jump out at you on the page. This news concerns extension of EdgeAI
ZEDEDA has unveiled expanded support for NVIDIA’s edge AI platform, introducing enhanced integration with NVIDIA Jetson systems, NGC catalog and the TAO toolkit.
This comprehensive integration provides enterprises with a complete workflow for deploying, securing and managing AI models at the edge, enabling faster innovation while ensuring operational reliability. The NGC catalog serves as NVIDIA’s repository for GPU-optimized AI models, while the TAO toolkit enables the adaptation of AI models for edge environments. ZEDEDA now seamlessly enables users to pull models from the NGC catalog, optimize those models via the TAO toolkit, and deploy and manage these via ZEDEDA’s secure edge computing platform.
Key innovations include:
- NVIDIA NGC Catalog Integration: Direct CLI integration enables seamless deployment of AI models from NGC Catalog to edge nodes, dramatically simplifying the model deployment workflow
- TAO Toolkit Optimization: Native support for NVIDIA’s TAO toolkit allows enterprises to optimize models specifically for edge deployment on Jetson systems, improving performance and efficiency
- Zero-Touch Edge Management: Automated deployment and management capabilities scale to tens of thousands of nodes, enabling rapid AI innovation without increasing operational overhead
- Advanced Observability: Built-in Grafana and Prometheus integration with extensible APIs provides comprehensive visibility into AI model performance and health at the edge
- Native Support for NVIDIA Jetson GPUs: ZEDEDA’s EVE OS provides native support for NVIDIA Jetson GPUs, including Orin NX and AGX, enabling seamless AI deployment. By utilizing ZEDEDA Marketplace models optimized with TensorRT and leveraging EVE OS for GPU acceleration, edge AI performance is significantly enhanced.
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 5, 2025 | Data Management
HighByte seems to be making more of a splash lately with its DataOps plus Universal Namespace developments. Several years ago I spotted DataOps as an important technology application. Usage still grows.
This news from HighByte concern the ability to build custom APIs.
HighByte released HighByte Intelligence Hub version 4.1 with Callable Pipelines, enabling users to build custom APIs for their operations and industrial data sources. Callable Pipelines, together with the REST Data Server, functionally serve as an “Industrial Data API Builder” that allows users to build custom API endpoints to interact with industrial data. In addition to Pipelines enhancements, version 4.1 delivers native integration with Aspen InfoPlus.21, support for the new Amazon S3 Tables service, granular audit logging for regulated industries, and seamless event capture from file-based data sources.
HighByte Intelligence Hub is an Industrial DataOps solution that contextualizes and standardizes industrial data from diverse sources at the edge to help bridge the gap between OT and IT systems, networks, and teams. HighByte leads the evolving Industrial DataOps market with the most complete solution to optimize the orchestration of usable industrial data across the enterprise. Highly regulated industries like life sciences and oil & gas have become the company’s fastest growing markets in the last twelve months.
The latest release also introduces Pipeline Debug, allowing users to test and troubleshoot individual pipeline stages without impacting the pipeline connected systems. Furthermore, the File connector has received major enhancements, including support for directory reads, SFTP, and character set decoding. The File connector is complemented with a set of new Pipeline stages to parse and write different file formats and extract and process file metadata. Together, the File connector and Pipelines create a holistic and seamless approach to advanced file processing for industry.
HighByte Intelligence Hub version 4.1 is now commercially available. All new features and capabilities introduced in version 4.1 are included in standard pricing.
