CISA’s secure-by-design pledge has turned into vendor attestation paperwork showing up in 2026 procurement cycles. Here’s a practical rubric for telling substantive commitments apart from marketing copy — and RFP language that forces vendors to be specific.
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Smart-glasses hardware has finally caught up to the shop floor, but scaling AR work instructions past a pilot line is a data-architecture problem, not a device problem. Here’s how to evaluate whether your MES is actually ready.
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Standardizing motion code on PLCopen function blocks genuinely reduces cross-plant maintenance pain, but it doesn’t erase vendor lock-in — it just moves the lock-in down to the drive parameter level. Here’s how to think about the migration honestly.
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Most scrap-code lists fail because they were designed for a report, not a thumb on a touchscreen. Here’s a practical method for rebuilding one operators will actually use.
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As historian vendors reposition around AI and analytics, plant teams face a real architectural choice between tag-based enterprise stacks and usage-priced, analytics-first platforms. Here’s how to actually compare them.
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Nearly every MES and historian vendor has attached an AI copilot SKU to 2026 renewal quotes. Here’s a framework for pricing it against measured value instead of vendor productivity claims, and the contract terms that actually matter.
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Rockwell’s multi-year push to merge Plex, Fiix, Verve, and its FactoryTalk MES lines into one software narrative is now landing squarely in customer renewal quotes — here’s the checklist practitioners need before they sign.
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MES and MOM used to describe two different levels of scope. In 2026, vendors and job postings use the terms almost interchangeably — here’s how to read what’s actually being asked of you.
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OEMs are starting to demand proof of IEC 62443 segmentation and access control, not just a network diagram — here’s what evidence actually holds up and how to start building it now.
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Vendors are moving from MES copilots that answer questions to agents that take real actions — releasing orders, adjusting schedules, triggering holds. Here’s a permission model to build before you flip that switch, not after.
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