Manufacturers aren't resisting automation. They're investing in it—robotics, artificial intelligence, predictive maintenance, automated scheduling, quality systems, analytics, and connected equipment are changing how factories operate. But the conversation is changing. For years, the question was, “What can we automate?” Today, manufacturers are asking a more important question: “What should we automate, and what business outcome will it create?” That's a significant shift because automating...

Every manufacturing company has processes. There is a process for taking an order, planning production, purchasing materials, scheduling work, shipping the finished product and invoicing the customer. When everything goes according to plan, those processes can run remarkably well. But manufacturing rarely stays on plan for long. A customer changes an order. A supplier misses a shipment. A machine goes down. A quality issue appears. Material costs suddenly increase. A customer needs an order...

CRM systems track customers and opportunities; ERP systems track orders, inventory, costs, and financials; production systems track capacity and schedules; and procurement systems track suppliers and materials. Then there are dashboards, analytics platforms, AI tools and countless spreadsheets filling in the gaps. Manufacturers have never had more data. The problem isn’t a lack of information. The problem is that different parts of the business often speak different languages. Sales talks...