Lily Snyder

The intersection of digital, human, and machine.

The Digital Thread and MES

Smart Manufacturing, factory of the future, the Digital Thread, these are all terms being thrown around in the world of IT and manufacturing. But what does it take to get there?

Since the 1980s technology has slowly been making its way to the manufacturing floor with MES. Now it is all about digital, open communication, and transparency.

Barriers to Acceptance

The digital divide: many factories have baby boomer engineers who have a hard time with basic computer vocab. How are they to understand the digital thread?

Cost

Plants are about the bottom line. What’s the cost to implement the digital thread? Invest in machines means investing more in people to train to run the machines and maintenance. Upfront cost.

Thinking of the future To Be

Basic MES implementations already have a hard time getting the customer to think about how the plant should change and act with new technology. Not re-create the manual, “paper” process but design the plant to be smart. This has a cost as well.