Manufacturers are automating more processes than ever. But the difference between automating a decision and automating the right decision is context. Automation is very good at reacting to what it sees. The problem is that what it sees may only be one piece of the business. A system can recognize that inventory has fallen below a reorder point, that a production job needs to move forward, or that a quality issue has been detected. But those events rarely exist in isolation. What happens next...

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...