Any manufacturer with a complex production line understands the importance of having a connected factory. By deploying machines that can communicate and share data with a central system, a manufacturer can adapt to operational needs in real time to drive efficiencies and improve the bottom line. But connected factories also face challenges that can hamper success if left unaddressed.

New technologies get a lot of attention. In fact, you probably hear a nearly constant stream of discussion about technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, machine learning and the Internet of Things. Sometimes, it even seems impossible to avoid the acronyms for these technologies — AI, VR, ML and IoT.

By comparison, radio frequency identification is largely ignored outside of certain trade journals. Retailers, however, should pay attention to RFID, which has provided the retail industry with a way to identify and track inventory for the past 15 years.

As data analytics have taken off in retail, I’ve seen companies racing to make investments in the space — implementing robust analytics platforms and onboarding teams of data scientists in a rush to stay ahead of their competition. According to a Gartner study of retail technology, 45 percent of retailers either have up-to-date AI technology…

No retailer wants to read complaints about their store on social media platforms such as Yelp or Facebook. And in segments with thin margins, such as grocery stores, a lousy customer experience can be particularly damaging. To improve the customer experience, retailers are increasingly implementing autonomous systems that can continuously monitor stock levels, cleanliness and…

Manufacturers favor “just in time” over “just in case” across the entire supply chain because it minimizes overhead expenses and fattens margins. But manufacturers, their suppliers and their customers are still leaving a lot of money on the table because they don’t have deep, real-time visibility into all of the factors that affect supply, demand…

Unless your organization is stagnant, uncompetitive and happy that way, digital transformation is a matter of when, not if. More than merely digitizing paperwork and other analog processes, digital transformation is about leveraging the Internet of Things to make smarter, faster business decisions, improve operational efficiency and wow your customers. Enabling those kinds of fundamental…