As I previously mentioned in a recent blog on IX Reference Architecture, LNS Research has been at the forefront of research on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the technologies’ impact on Industrial Transformation (IX).  In that blog, I also indicated LNS Research was the first to define an IIoT Platform. With market changes and technology advances, we have become convinced manufacturers should be looking beyond IIoT Platforms to a comprehensive view of IX Reference Architectures. A recent LNS Research Spotlight details our thinking. 

LNS Research recently hosted an Executive Roundtable online with manufacturers about their responses to the global pandemic.  Manufacturers are working closely with their local and national public health institutions, unions and Worker Safety organizations (such as OSHA in the US) to develop plans on how to react to the crisis unfolding in front of them.  It should come as no surprise that most manufacturers were quite short-term focused.  Few manufacturers reported on developing medium- or long-term plans yet. 

LNS Research has been at the forefront of research on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the technologies’ impact on Industrial Transformation (IX). We all were the first to define the term. We were the first to define an IIoT Platform. With market changes and technology advances we have become convinced manufacturers should be looking beyond IIoT Platforms to a comprehensive view of an IX Reference Architectures. A recent LNS Research Spotlight details our thinking. This blog post focuses on one piece of that Spotlight: what is an IX Reference Architecture?

LNS Research had the pleasure to attend Rockwell Automation’s 28^th Annual Automation Fair and companion Process Solutions User Group in Chicago, IL November 18 through 21st, 2019. Rockwell Automation noted there were over 16,000 attendees at the event making it the largest Rockwell Automation Fair ever. They also hosted “Automation Perspectives” for the media and analysts on the 19^th of November.

On Wednesday, December 11, 2019, LNS Research hosted a webcast on “Industrial Transformation (IX) in Aerospace & Defense". The presentation covered the scope, scale, strategy, budget, organization and technology choices of Industrial Transformation (IX) Programs globally and in the Aerospace & Defense (A&D) industry specifically. We also looked at another regulated industry, Life Sciences, to validate our conclusions as to why A&D companies are leading in IX. The session concluded with detailing the 5 Best Practices for driving IX. Here we will look at the 6 most common questions that came out of that session.

LNS Research recently attended Oracle OpenWorld 2019 in San Francisco. One of the mega technology events for the Golden Gate City, the conference took over all three halls at the Moscone Center and had over 60,000 attendees.

Oracle is now over $40 billion in revenue (2018) with over 137,000 employees; it positions itself as the number one supplier of business software. The company is clearly innovating in many directions. The event covers the two sides of Oracle: Oracle, the technology, and Oracle, the applications vendor. Additionally, the firm has sophisticated positioning for “emerging technologies.” So, let’s examine each, and determine if this means Oracle can finally engage deeply in the plant.

NPI Essential for Business Results, Yet Generally Ineffective

New product introduction (NPI) is a linchpin process in most corporations and industries. NPI is key to competitiveness, revenue growth, and customer retention. Given the importance of NPI to overall corporate success, it’s no surprise that manufacturers devote considerable cost and effort to it. According to our most recent data, the median manufacturer involves 25% of personnel in NPI and has a new product cycle that lasts 24 months on average. Despite the substantial investment, NPI often fails to deliver expected outcomes. Forty-four percent of NPIs fail to meet all or even most success criteria.

We recently attended HxGN Live 2019, Hexagon’s annual digital solutions conference, in Las Vegas Nevada. Three thousand attendees were there to dive into nine different keynotes and over 500 sessions, many with hands-on training. The firm is a global leader in sensor, software, and autonomous solutions headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with 2018 revenue reaching €3,760.7 million (approximately $4.234 billion USD). Its business includes industrial enterprise solutions with €1.941 million in revenue serving the electronics, manufacturing, energy and power, automotive, and aerospace and defense segments. They are known in the manufacturing world for 3D design and simulation technologies (predominantly for process assets), positioning and location identification mapping capabilities, metrology equipment, and an array of other sensors. The event included a bevy of new product launches across every major division of Hexagon.

LNS Research recently attended HPE Discover 2019 event in Las Vegas, hosted by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). The company had $30.88 billion in revenue in 2018, and is focused on Edge, hybrid cloud, and intelligent data. The conference was a well-executed event with well over 9,000 attendees and 8% growth over last year. The highlights were demonstrations and presentations on cool use cases in exciting topic areas:

As we study Industrial Transformation (IX) at the macro level, we seek leaders among industrial companies for further insights. We recently interviewed one of those leaders, ABB’s Chief Digital Officer, Guido Jouret, who reinforced our best practices findings from the recent IX survey.