Over the last several years, the mantra of “digitization is coming” has rung like a steady bell in the ears of both industrial manufacturers and the OEMs who support them. Although the theory surrounding how digitization can help OEMs to accelerate time-to-market, to optimize workforce knowledge, to increase productivity, and to lower downtime, has been a consistent topic of discussion, it has taken some time for practical solutions to appear that make a difference in how machine OEMs run their businesses. The market has finally matured enough that disparate technologies can now come together, and the core elements of truly IIoT -ready devices, edge control, and software and analytics can now talk to each other, enabling OEMs to begin offering a new generation of digital services to their manufacturing customers. Three areas where digitization is generating benefits for OEMs Most OEMs find themselves in an environment where processes, and the tools that support those processes ...
