The Industrial IoT Blog
IIoT Insights by Henry Costa
Tag: Lessons Learned
Practical insights gained from real projects, including what worked, what failed, and why. Used to improve future decisions, designs, and execution in IIoT and manufacturing initiatives.
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Five Conversations That Changed How I Approach IIoT Projects
Read more: Five Conversations That Changed How I Approach IIoT ProjectsSome of the biggest changes in how I work didn’t come from reading a whitepaper or going to a conference. They came from conversations. Quick ones, sometimes. A comment over coffee, a pushback during a design review, a frustrated operator…
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IIoT Vendor Demo vs Reality: What They Don’t Show You
Read more: IIoT Vendor Demo vs Reality: What They Don’t Show YouIf you’ve ever sat through an IIoT vendor demo and thought, “Wow, this looks easy,” you’re not alone. I’ve been in this industry for over two decades, and I can’t count how many times I’ve seen a slick demo only…
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Building a Smart Manufacturing Consulting Practice: The First 90 Days
Read more: Building a Smart Manufacturing Consulting Practice: The First 90 DaysStarting a Smart Manufacturing consulting practice from the ground up is a bit like jumping onto a moving train — you need to get your bearings fast, build trust with new faces, and learn to solve real problems before you…
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Retiring SAP MII: Closing a Chapter and Opening the Next One
Read more: Retiring SAP MII: Closing a Chapter and Opening the Next OneAfter spending almost twenty years working with SAP MII (before that, xMII), it feels strange to say goodbye. It was part of daily life for many of us. It solved tough problems, frustrated teams, and more than once saved a…
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What a Steel Mill Taught Me About Real-Time Manufacturing Intelligence
Read more: What a Steel Mill Taught Me About Real-Time Manufacturing IntelligenceIf you want to understand what real-time intelligence really means in manufacturing, spend a day in a steel mill. I learned more about data, people, and decision-making in that noisy, hot, and relentless environment than in any classroom or conference…
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Why IIoT Projects Fail (And What I Learned After Being on Both Sides)
Read more: Why IIoT Projects Fail (And What I Learned After Being on Both Sides)If you work in manufacturing long enough—especially in Industrial IoT (IIoT) or Industry 4.0—you’ll see plenty of projects that don’t go as planned. Some stall, others limp along, and a few just quietly fade away. I’ve been on both sides:…
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Integrating Autonomous AGVs: Lessons from the Field
Read more: Integrating Autonomous AGVs: Lessons from the FieldSome projects stay with you — not just for the technology, but for how they reshape what you think is possible on a shop floor. A few years ago, I was part of a large automotive manufacturing initiative that brought…
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What I Learned Building a Smart Manufacturing Portfolio for Consulting
Read more: What I Learned Building a Smart Manufacturing Portfolio for ConsultingCreating a Smart Manufacturing or Digital Manufacturing portfolio for a consulting company is one of those things that sounds simple on paper but is anything but in real life. Over the past two decades, I’ve built and led practices from…
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My Experience with Oil & Gas SAP MII Implementations
Read more: My Experience with Oil & Gas SAP MII ImplementationsIf you’ve worked in Oil & Gas for a while, you know it’s a world apart — process industry, strict safety rules, and a patchwork of legacy systems that don’t like to talk to each other. Over the last two…
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Getting Started with SAP xMII: My Journey from Web to Factory Floor
Read more: Getting Started with SAP xMII: My Journey from Web to Factory FloorI still remember the first time I walked into a real factory as an IT guy. It was 2005, and up until then, my world was all about web development — PHP, JavaScript, databases, and the usual chaos of internet…