The Industrial IoT Blog
IIoT Insights by Henry Costa
Tag: Industry 4.0
The integration of digital technologies into manufacturing to connect machines, data, and processes. It enables automation, real-time insight, and more flexible, efficient production.
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Smart Manufacturing Starts with Dumb Questions
Read more: Smart Manufacturing Starts with Dumb QuestionsIf you want a smart factory, start by getting comfortable asking dumb questions. Not “dumb” like careless. Dumb like simple. The kind of question you might avoid because you think you should already know the answer. After years working across…
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Industrial Edge Computing: Advantages and Use Cases
Read more: Industrial Edge Computing: Advantages and Use CasesWhat is industrial edge computing and why is it important? Industrial Edge Computing refers to processing and analyzing data close to the place where it is generated, that is, directly at industrial devices or sensors. Unlike traditional cloud-based computing, this technology…
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Software-Defined Automation (SDA) Is Coming. What It Means for Your IIoT Architecture
Read more: Software-Defined Automation (SDA) Is Coming. What It Means for Your IIoT ArchitectureSoftware-Defined Automation (SDA) is one of those terms that sounds like it was invented in a marketing meeting. But this time, there’s real substance behind it. And if you’re building or evolving an IIoT architecture today, you should pay attention.…
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Model Context Protocol (MCP) Explained: Making IIoT Smarter
Read more: Model Context Protocol (MCP) Explained: Making IIoT SmarterIf you work in industrial automation or manufacturing, you know the pain of getting data from machines, sensors, and systems into the hands of people and AI tools that can actually use it. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a…
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The Trust Gap in Industrial AI
Read more: The Trust Gap in Industrial AIImagine this situation. A team spends months building an AI use case. The model looks strong in workshops and dashboards. The recommendation goes live on the plant floor. Then operators ignore it. Not because they are against technology. Not because…
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CESMII and I3X at ProveIt! Conference 2026. Making Interoperability Real
Read more: CESMII and I3X at ProveIt! Conference 2026. Making Interoperability RealI have been around manufacturing IT long enough to see the same movie play out. A site wants digital transformation. They buy a few tools. They connect some machines. They build some dashboards. Everyone celebrates for about six months. Then…
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What I Took Away from ProveIt! 2026. A Reset in Expectations
Read more: What I Took Away from ProveIt! 2026. A Reset in ExpectationsI have been to a lot of manufacturing events over the years. Some are useful. Some are basically a sales funnel with better coffee. This one felt different. What I liked most is that the conference actually tried to prove…
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Data Context in IIoT. Why Raw Numbers Aren’t Enough for Smarter Manufacturing
Read more: Data Context in IIoT. Why Raw Numbers Aren’t Enough for Smarter ManufacturingI’ve spent years deep in large IIoT programs. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of tags streaming from shop floors to cloud platforms across very different industries: automotive, pharma, high volume, and highly regulated. And there’s one lesson that keeps…
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My Expectations for the ProveIt! Conference 2026
Read more: My Expectations for the ProveIt! Conference 2026I’m heading to ProveIt! Conference in two weeks. February 16–20 in Dallas. It’s practically in my backyard. No flights. No hotels. Just me, my car, and five days of IIoT demos, vendor sessions, and hopefully some useful conversations with people…
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From Shop Floor to Cloud: How Manufacturing Data Moves
Read more: From Shop Floor to Cloud: How Manufacturing Data MovesI’ve spent years watching data travel from shop floors to dashboards. And honestly, most people skip over the messy middle parts. On paper, the sensor-to-dashboard chain looks clean and simple. In real manufacturing environments, it rarely is. If you’ve ever…
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Top 10 IIoT Use Cases to Watch in 2026
Read more: Top 10 IIoT Use Cases to Watch in 2026Every year, we see new IIoT trends, new buzzwords, and new “top use case” lists. But inside a plant, the reality is usually much simpler. People don’t come to work excited about Industrial IoT. They come to work hoping the…
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Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0: Evolution or Revolution?
Read more: Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0: Evolution or Revolution?Lately, there’s a lot of talk about Industry 5.0. Some folks say it’s a revolution. Others say it’s just a logical next step after Industry 4.0. I’ve spent the last two decades living through these shifts on plant floors, in…