The Industrial IoT Blog
IIoT Insights by Henry Costa
Tag: MES
Manufacturing Execution Systems that manage and track production activities on the shop floor. They link planning systems to real-time operations for quality, performance, and traceability.
-
Why Your OEE Is Probably Wrong
Read more: Why Your OEE Is Probably WrongI’ve spent decades working with plant data, and if there’s one thing I wish more people understood, it’s this. Inconsistent machine data quietly ruins your OEE, often before you even know there’s a problem. I’ve seen this at small sites…
-
ProveIt! Conference 2026. Real ROI with Abelara, Tupinix, and Axilon
Read more: ProveIt! Conference 2026. Real ROI with Abelara, Tupinix, and AxilonAt ProveIt! Conference 2026, I sat through a session that felt more like a plant-floor working session than a tech pitch. It was framed as a live, fictionalized case study. The company was Cappy Hour Bottling. The names were fictional.…
-
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…
-
Shop Floor Connectivity Lessons from a Titanium Dioxide Plant
Read more: Shop Floor Connectivity Lessons from a Titanium Dioxide PlantLong before “IIoT” became a standard term, manufacturing plants already had a real problem to solve. Data was everywhere on the shop floor, but nowhere at the same time. Control systems knew what was happening second by second. Labs held…
-
Top 10 OPC UA Servers to Watch in 2026
Read more: Top 10 OPC UA Servers to Watch in 2026Connecting machines is easy on paper. Doing it reliably, securely, and at scale in a real manufacturing environment is not. OPC UA servers sit at the center of that challenge. They are the layer that quietly determines whether your IIoT…
-
Top 10 IIoT Platforms to Watch in 2026
Read more: Top 10 IIoT Platforms to Watch in 2026If I could summarize the last two decades of my work in manufacturing, it would be this. I’ve watched factories move from isolated automation islands to increasingly connected, data-driven environments. Along the way, I’ve seen Industrial IoT platforms promise a…
-
SAP MII End of Life: What Comes Next for IIoT and Shop-Floor Connectivity
Read more: SAP MII End of Life: What Comes Next for IIoT and Shop-Floor ConnectivityIf you’re running SAP MII (Manufacturing Integration & Intelligence) as the backbone for edge connectivity and IIoT use cases, you’ve probably heard by now: the clock is ticking. SAP has officially announced end-of-life for MII, with mainstream support ending in…
-
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…
-
The Power of Storytelling with IIoT Data
Read more: The Power of Storytelling with IIoT DataIf you’ve been in manufacturing for a while, you know the plant floor is noisy—not just with machines, but with data. Every sensor, robot, and PLC is constantly spitting out numbers. But here’s the thing: all that data is just…
-
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…
-
Lessons From 50+ SAP Digital Manufacturing Projects
Read more: Lessons From 50+ SAP Digital Manufacturing ProjectsIf you spend enough time in manufacturing, you realize the shop floor is the real test for any digital solution. Since 2005, I’ve worked on more than 50 SAP Digital Manufacturing (MII/OEE/PCo) implementations across more than 10 industries, from the…
-
How Big Data, IIoT, and a Unified Namespace Work Together to Unlock Smart Manufacturing
Read more: How Big Data, IIoT, and a Unified Namespace Work Together to Unlock Smart ManufacturingGetting value from smart manufacturing isn’t about chasing the latest tech or buying shiny new machines. It’s about making data flow — from every sensor and PLC to the cloud, and then back to the people who need it. Over…