Now is the best of times, or the worst of times – depending on which manufacturer you ask. Numerous sub-sectors are poised to thrive again. Others were in decline before COVID-19 and the disruption to the supply chain was so sudden that by the time they had adapted, demand had moved elsewhere. Some manufacturing firms are responding by relocating facilities, while others are looking to bring back jobs closer to their headquarters.

For manufacturers, unlike some sectors, a prominent investment focus will be the digital technology that transforms their operational technology (OT) capabilities. In order for critical OT applications to deliver better outcomes, the underlying infrastructure must be able to prioritise them.To achieve this, and to put in place the advanced networking that can also provide better routing and strong security, the IT and OT functions – which have historically operated in parallel – need to work much more closely.

While OT transformation is far from easy,given substantial factories and long supply chains, the effort is worth it, according to Gartner. The analyst house found that 36% of manufacturing enterprises realise above-average business value from IT spending in digitalisation. By transforming OT – using predictive maintenance, automation, remote operations and digital twin applications – manufacturers can overcome the following four challenges:

• Maintain asset availability and utilisation – predictive maintenance
• Improve operational efficiency – automation
• Drive manufacturing safety – remote operations
• Tap into new revenue streams – digital twin

Join your industry peers for this executive virtual roundtable, featuring insights from the expert team at Verizon and an interactive discussion under Chatham House rules.