MESA Knows Smart Manufacturing

Artificial Intelligence is changing manufacturing—but the organizations seeing the greatest value aren't replacing their Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). They're building on them. In our latest MESA podcast, MES and AI: Better Together , we explore why MES remains one of the most valuable foundations for industrial AI. AI needs more than data—it needs trusted, contextualized, governe...

Smart manufacturing initiatives often fail for reasons that have little to do with technology. The real challenge is organizational: bringing together IT, OT, engineering, operations, cybersecurity, data, and business teams into a cohesive digital transformation force. In this episode of MESA Knows Smart Manufacturing, we explore what it takes to build the modern IT/OT “dream team.” As manufacture...

In this episode of MESA Knows Smart Manufacturing , ChrisMonchinski sits down with Julie Fraser of Tech-Clarity and key sponsors to discuss an important new industry initiative: the 2026 Business Value and Evolution of Manufacturing Operations Software (MOS) Study.  The conversation explores how the definition of manufacturing operations software has expanded beyond traditional MES to include a br...

We’ve spent decades in the OT space measuring return on assets, return on capital… But what about return on data? For this MESA “Knows” Podcast, we sat down with Joanne Friedman to tackle a question most organizations still can’t answer: What are we actually getting from our data? Every enterprise can tell you what they spend on data—platforms, lakes, AI initiatives… Very few can quantify the valu...

What a wild ride in the past week for the software vendors of the S&P 500 and beyond! In this episode, we sit down with Francisco Almada Lobo , CEO and co-founder of Critical Manufacturing , who used the term “SaaSpocolypse” to describe the growing tension between SaaS business models, AI "vibe-coding" and the operational realities of manufacturing software — particularly MES. This c...

A good maturity model doesn’t tell you how advanced you are—it tells you what risks you’re carrying and what you should do next. There maybe some skepticism out there on the value of maturity models and assessments; however, this is not just consultant-speak . A maturity model is a structured way to answer one of the hardest questions in digital transformation: What are we ready for—and what are w...

As manufacturers accelerate their use of artificial intelligence to optimize production, improve quality, and predict maintenance, the cybersecurity stakes have never been higher. This episode explores how AI is reshaping the industrial control system (ICS) landscape — creating both powerful new defense tools and complex new vulnerabilities. Our panel of experts dives into how standards like ISA/I...

As we gear up for the upcoming Smart Manufacturing Now 2025 event, I have had the privilege of moderating a special podcast with MESA members who have been at the forefront of applying AI in manufacturing. This isn’t just about the hype — it’s about real stories from the plant floor: Successes that show AI’s true impact on productivity and quality Challenges that reveal what it really takes to dep...

A special MESA Knows podcast episode previewing what’s coming at Smart Manufacturing Now ! Our third year conducting this important virtual event, Hear what to expect from the event, who’s speaking, and why this is the gathering for manufacturing leaders driving digital transformation. Don’t miss the insights, energy, and opportunities coming your way. https://mesa.org/smart-manufacturing-now/

In this episode, we dive into the critical role of data integrity by design in enabling the future of smart manufacturing in the life sciences industry. As Pharma 4.0 initiatives gain traction, leading organizations are shifting from reactive compliance to proactive data governance strategies that embed quality, traceability, and trust directly into their digital systems. Our expert guests will ex...

In this episode, we sit down with manufacturers and supply chain experts to explore how today’svolatile trade environment is forcing a strategic rethink across the industry. From shifting sourcing decisions and rising costs to accelerating reshoring and digital investments, we unpack how tariffs and uncertainty are no longer just a policy issue — they’re an operational reality. I am joined by seve...

What’s really driving success with analytics and AI in manufacturing? In this episode, we dive into the latest industry survey results with Julie Fraser of Tech-Clarity to uncover what’s working, what’s not, and what leading manufacturers are doing differently. Don’t miss this data-driven conversation that puts real-world insight behind the buzz. This full survey report is available from MESA. It...

Following on the heels of a great community discussion, I have Joanne Friedmann and Khris Kammer discuss the elevation of data to the forefront of IT/OT architecture. Embedded in that is a thinking about the value of data and how it be measured, your Return on Data. Smart manufacturing and the MESA model place data at the foundation of any effective architecture. There is a significant shift in IT...

The pace of technology change in manufacturing can be dizzying. Some of our listeners to this podcast have asked us to take a step back from some of our deeper investigative topics and simply review the current state of technologies applied to analytics in smart manufacturing. We call this episode "Back to the Basics". I am joined by an all-star group of MESA experts to define what is artificial i...

How is Artificial Intelligence Changing Industrial Analytics? From the Smart Manufacturing Now event and a tumultuous year of technology change, it's clear that AI will have a significant impact on industrial operations.  But how will we measure performance, quality and safety going forward?  Is there continuity between operational analytics before AI and today, so that we can understand the impac...

The practice of MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations) has been with us as long as the first industrial revolution and today is as critical as ever. But Smart Manufacturing has had major impacts on MRO. Our group has assembled to discuss the impact of Smart Manufacturing on MRO. Smart Manufacturing technologies and operations enable more accurate predictive maintenance, better tracking of equip...

The large language model (think Chat GPT) made quite a splash at the end of 2023. This class of technologies can be applied to many real-world challenges that face industrial enterprises. But what problems are practical to be solved today by the application of LLM technology? The MESA Analytics Working Group discusses the challenges and opportunities that LLM bring to manufacturing. Join us, its a...

The digital twin may be the ultimate expression of digital transformation. The concept of a Digital Twin has evolved and expanded over the years, but at its core, it generally refers to a virtual representation of a physical asset or process that can accurately represent and simulate its equivalent physical asset or process. Digital twins in manufacturing have been gaining momentum and are increas...

Knowing where you are on your digital transformation journey is the key to setting goals and identifying and celebrating the wins. But is it healthy to obsess about this score? And whats behind this single number that is expected to define your level of readiness? And compared to whom? In this episode the analytics working group from MESA International will try to unpack all this and get to the ro...

Why do 87% of data science projects fail? Non-Availability of Quality Data .... The data is usually raw and may contain many missing or absurd values. In such cases, it sometimes becomes impossible to make the given dataset into a model-friendly dataset. Thus, if the data quality is not good enough, the data science project will likely fail. What is the anecdote? ... Data Governance. But the truth...

The concept of a "manufacturing metaverse" is still in its early stages; however, its potential impact to uncover real-world business value can be observed and measured today. The MESA Analytics WG Podcast team debates and cuts back to the core of what we can expect today and what we can speculate for the future of a more immersive, integrated cyber-physical manufacturing world. Chris Mo...

How will industry jobs be affected by the increasing application and integration of analytics. With all the buzz around new technologies in AI/ML, ChatGPT, etc. this topic is “ever” relevant. Everyone is speculating and considering what this impact will be (some interesting links below) ⁠https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/TTC-EC-CEA-AI-Report-12052022-1.pdf⁠ ⁠https://www.mckinse...

Zero-trust security is an approach to cybersecurity that assumes no user or device should be trusted by default, even if they are within the network perimeter. Instead, access to resources and data is strictly controlled and continuously verified, regardless of location or device. This has several implications for data analytics in zero-trust security environments. The members of the MESA Analytic...

ChatGPT, the Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer, is all the rage.  Speculation abounds on the technologies applications and who might be de-careered because of it.    The analytics working group at MESA has an informative discussion on what ChatGPT is today and how technology like ChatGPT may be applied across manufacturing, especially when challenged with synthesizing mas...

In the Smart Manufacturing arena, the concept of Cyber-Physical is not new.  We have many examples of the interaction between the digital and physical space including connected works and co-bots.   Now we have the "Metaverse"... but what does this mean for industrial digital transformation and how is this different from the concept of digital twin. Gartner, the Tech world, and vario...