Data-based decisions

There’s still quite a way to go in the industrial sector’s journey towards digitization. Many companies, especially the smallest ones, don’t have segregated IT (Information Technology) and OT (Operational Technology) networks, instead, all of the equipment is connected to one single network which leads directly to the Internet. In others, generally the largest ones, the workshop’s network is separated from the office’s network by means of a firewall, making it possible to control communication between the two worlds in a very granular manner.

In the age of digitization, a company’s ability to customize their offer is crucial to enable them to become the preferred choice of current and future customers. This is an adaptation which is necessary in every sector, and the metal industry is not exempt: how do you differentiate yourself from the competition? The key is not in the product, nor in the software per se, but in the processes and in the way that the various pieces of software are adapted to them.

In the same way that the heart pumps blood in different ways according to the requirements of the body, the MES gives the production manager the ability to adapt to the pace and characteristics of the company, its customers and its production plants.