Scaling Smart Manufacturing: The Interoperability Forum

Presented by the Manufacturing Leadership Council and CESMII, The Smart Manufacturing Institute.

The Challenge

Manufacturers Have a Competitiveness Problem. Which is also a Data Problem.

Manufacturers have invested billions in automation, digitalization, data platforms and AI. Yet many continue to struggle with the same challenges:

• Data trapped in disconnected systems
• Costly, custom integrations
• AI initiatives that fail to scale beyond pilots
• Vendor lock-in that limits flexibility and innovation
• Inconsistent information across plants, systems and supply chains

The issue isn’t a lack of technology. The issue is a lack of interoperability.

Without a common way for systems, applications and data to work together, every new initiative becomes another integration project—another data silo!

Why Attend?

This forum brings together manufacturing business leaders, digital transformation teams, architects, engineers, technology providers and system integrators to demonstrate how interoperability creates the foundation for scalable smart manufacturing and industrial AI.

Participants will learn how leading manufacturers and technology providers are moving beyond one-off solutions and adopting architectures that enable:

• Faster, lower cost deployment of digital solutions
• Reusable and portable applications
• Reduced integration costs
• Greater flexibility across vendors and platforms
• Scalable AI and advanced analytics
• Improved operational performance and business outcomes

The Audience

For Manufacturing and Business Leaders

Interoperability is emerging as one of the most important drivers of manufacturing competitiveness. By enabling portable applications, reusable solutions and seamless information exchange across systems, interoperability lowers the cost of innovation and accelerates the deployment of smart manufacturing capabilities.

Manufacturers that embrace interoperable architectures are better positioned to improve productivity, quality, workforce effectiveness, supply chain resilience and AI-driven business outcomes at scale.

For Technical and Architecture Leaders

Explore practical approaches for designing and building an interoperable manufacturing environment through:

• Open, standards-based information modeling
• Semantic interoperability and shared context
• Unified Namespace and event-driven architectures
• Graph-based operational data architectures
• Platform interoperability requirements
• Open APIs and portable application ecosystems
• AI-ready smart manufacturing architectures

Key Takeaways

• A clear understanding of why interoperability has become a strategic imperative
• A practical framework for evaluating smart manufacturing architectures
• Insights into enabling scalable industrial AI
• Examples of real-world implementation approaches
• Actionable guidance for accelerating digital transformation efforts

Act I: The Business Imperative—The Why

11:00 – 11:30 a.m. EDT

Question Answered:

Why should CXOs and plant leaders care?

Speakers:

David R. Brousell, Founder, Vice President and Executive Director, Manufacturing Leadership Council

John Dyck, CEO, CESMII

Act II: The Architecture Imperative—The How

11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. EDT

Question Answered:

What are the architectural imperatives necessary to actually solve these problems?

Overview of Smart Manufacturing Imperatives:

What would it take for a smart manufacturing or industrial AI application developed today to run tomorrow in every manufacturing facility in the world?

Speaker:

Jonathan Wise, Chief Technology Architect, CESMII

Act III: Interoperability in Action—The Proof

12:15 – 1:45 p.m. EDT

Vendor Showcase:

Can this actually work?

Organized by business outcomes:

• Connecting Operations
• Contextualizing Manufacturing Information
• Portable Applications
• Industrial AI

Act IV: Manufacturers Speak—Business Validation

1:45 – 2:30 p.m. EDT

Executive Panel:

Why is interoperability so strategic to manufacturers?

Speakers:

Chris Crotts, General Manager, Toyota North America

Michael Hotaling, Executive Advisor, ExxonMobile

Matthew Parris, Director, Quality Test Systems for Industry 4.0, GE Appliances

Lisa Zasada, Senior Engineering and Manufacturing Executive, General Mills

Act V: The Path Forward—Call to Action

2:30 – 3:00 p.m. EDT

Where do we go from here?

• Interoperability as a business imperative
• The innovation around the SM Imperatives, SM Profiles, SMIP, i3X
• Working Groups, RFP, Pilot projects, Training, Marketplace

Speakers:

John Dyck, CEO, CESMII

Prasad Satyavolu, Senior Managing Director | Global Lead – Manufacturing, Operations, Industrial A.I. & Physical A.I., Accenture