The Industrial IoT Blog
IIoT Insights by Henry Costa
Tag: Plant Connectivity
The ability to securely connect machines, sensors, and systems on the shop floor to digital platforms. It enables reliable data flow from OT to IT for monitoring, analytics, and optimization.
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What Is IIoT? The Basics You Should Know
Read more: What Is IIoT? The Basics You Should KnowIf you work in manufacturing, you’ve probably heard people throw around “IIoT” (Industrial Internet of Things) like it’s the answer to every plant problem. Sometimes it sounds like magic. It’s not. But it is changing how we run factories, and…
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What to Keep in Mind When Designing a New IIoT Strategy
Read more: What to Keep in Mind When Designing a New IIoT StrategyIf there’s one thing I’ve learned from two decades in the trenches of manufacturing IT and IIoT, it’s that a good strategy isn’t about chasing the latest technology or ticking off a checklist. It’s about making real improvements—connecting machines, data,…
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From the Purdue Model to Event-Driven Architecture (EDA): What’s Really Changing
Read more: From the Purdue Model to Event-Driven Architecture (EDA): What’s Really ChangingLet’s talk about the shift from the Purdue Model to Event-Driven Architecture (EDA) in manufacturing. I’ve experienced this transition firsthand—on the shop floor, in IT meetings, and across countless architecture reviews. Here’s what’s truly happening, why it matters, and what…
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What IIoT Consulting Really Looks Like: Stories, Lessons, and a Bit of Reality
Read more: What IIoT Consulting Really Looks Like: Stories, Lessons, and a Bit of RealityLet me tell you what IIoT consulting has really been like for me—across automotive, metals, pharma, food, and a few other places where things get built, mixed, or assembled. I’ve been at this since before “Industry 4.0” was a thing,…
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My First Real IIoT Project: Making Automotive Plants Smarter
Read more: My First Real IIoT Project: Making Automotive Plants SmarterIf I had to pick one project that truly started my Industrial IoT journey, it would be this one. Back in 2017, I was helping a large global automotive parts manufacturer — one of the top 10 worldwide — modernize…
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IIoT Journey: Edge-First, Cloud-Second
Read more: IIoT Journey: Edge-First, Cloud-SecondI want to talk about why, after two decades in Industrial Smart Manufacturing, I’ve become a strong believer in an “Edge-First, Cloud-Second” approach for connecting plants, machines, and people. This isn’t some theory — it’s the result of real projects,…
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Foundations: What Is a PLC in an IIoT Architecture?
Read more: Foundations: What Is a PLC in an IIoT Architecture?Let’s start at the beginning: what’s a PLC, and why does it matter so much in smart factories and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) setups? The Basics: What Is a PLC? A PLC, or Programmable Logic Controller, is basically the…
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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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Kafka or MQTT for Data Streaming from Edge to Cloud?
Read more: Kafka or MQTT for Data Streaming from Edge to Cloud?If you’ve ever had to pick between Kafka and MQTT for streaming data from the plant edge up to the cloud, you know it’s not a simple “one size fits all” answer. I’ve lived through this choice in real projects…
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Is SAP DM a Replacement for SAP MII?
Read more: Is SAP DM a Replacement for SAP MII?Let’s cut to the chase: SAP Digital Manufacturing (DM, sometimes called DMC for “Cloud”) is not a direct, drop-in replacement for SAP Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence (MII). I’ve spent much of the last few years helping global manufacturers figure this…
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Why Replacing SAP MII is a Priority (and What We’re Learning Along the Way)
Read more: Why Replacing SAP MII is a Priority (and What We’re Learning Along the Way)Let’s talk about SAP MII — why so many of us in manufacturing are moving on, and what it’s really like to make that leap. SAP MII: The Backbone That’s Now Showing Its Age If you’ve spent time in manufacturing…
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How I Moved from Building Websites to Building Connected Factories
Read more: How I Moved from Building Websites to Building Connected FactoriesIf you’d told me back in the late ‘90s that I’d end up designing IIoT architectures for global manufacturing networks, I probably would have laughed and said, “First, let me get this JavaScript working.” My path from simple websites to…