What developments will determine the future of industrial manufacturing and critical infrastructures?

On the one hand, industrial companies need to accelerate their data-driven transformation. Through generative AI and predictive analytics, companies can optimize processes and empower employees to work more efficiently, reduce waste and become more sustainable. On the other hand, they benefit from an open data culture in which internal teams and external partners use data together in the spirit of a networked industrial economy.

To support these transformation processes, Aveva has developed Connect, the world's largest open, agnostic and cloud-enabled platform for industrial technology and operations. Connect brings together a Digital Twin as a virtual representation of real assets with a single trusted data source. It is a dynamic ecosystem in which people, applications and services are connected. This enables users to revolutionize the entire plant life cycle.

How can digitalization support these transformations?

The basis for everything is the digital twin, which serves as the basis for the planning, simulation and ultimately the operation of the plant. This applies to both greenfield and brownfield projects. The digital twin is continuously enriched with information about machines, systems and components. During operation, real-time data and models on production execution, stock levels, product quality and genealogy, personnel planning and energy use are added. This comprehensive digital representation enables optimized monitoring, control and optimization of the plant's performance and ecological footprint.

What is the Connect platform and how does it support strategic integration from the supply chain to the factory?

Connect transforms data into contextualized and actionable real-time insights that improve decision-making. This digital twin enables smarter design and optimized workflows. This allows teams anywhere in the world to work in a single collaborative cloud environment. Thanks to the networked systems, software solutions, whether on-premise, in the cloud or hybrid, are easily accessible. Connect is compatible with market-leading applications such as Aveva PI System and Aveva System Platform as well as third-party solutions.

The latest enhancements include our new Manufacturing Execution Software (MES) hybrid solution. It provides customers with a real-time view of their plant and allows them to share it with their external ecosystem via the cloud. A control tower system combines the multi-site MES data with data from the entire ecosystem and maps the complete supply chain. This enables companies to make better decisions, increase their operational efficiency and scalability and make the entire value chain more resilient and agile.

Are there examples of what such an ecosystem could look like in practice?

A great example of this networked thinking in practice is Henkel, a leading global manufacturer of consumer goods and industrial chemicals. As a sustainability pioneer, the company focuses on solutions that fulfill its economic and ecological climate-friendly goals along the entire value chain. With the help of a digital backbone based on Aveva MES and System Platform, the Laundry & Home Care business unit has improved its overall plant efficiency by 15 percent and saved more than 37 million euros over eight years.

Hybrid cloud solutions such as Connect enable industrial companies to unlock the value of data and AI more quickly. These make a valuable business contribution, support sustainability goals and strengthen the entire value chain. Hybrid cloud solutions bridge the gap between on-site production control and cloud-based data management so that companies can survive in a networked industrial economy in the long term.