It is no secret that Manufacturing and related industrial verticals will be significantly impacted by the Internet of Things (IoT) and the new business models evolving from digital disruption. Many industry luminaries and market-leading companies agree that one of the most exciting aspects of digital manufacturing is the concept of Connected Machines, where previously non-networked equipment such as robotics, machine tools, packaging and other specialized devices in production operations can now be converged onto a common network infrastructure.

My colleague Bryce Barnes was recently quoted in an Engineering.com article describing this trend:

"What does it mean when you connect everything together? It's about the value of moving information. Think about what a smartphone does. No one predicted a device that can access almost all of the sum of human information. The total number of machines in the world is enormous, about 65 million. Most are operated and managed locally. Moving data from those machines is a challenge."

Manufacturers are now just beginning to harness this new generation of machine-to-machine systems, mobile applications, and cloud-based services including analytics - all digital capabilities to drive efficiencies (such as reducing unplanned downtime) and innovation (such as offering new value-added services)across their entire value chain. In many ways, the industry is adopting digital technology to improve processes and is making groundbreaking progress toward the total digital integration of today's factory.   The next evolution for digital manufacturers is to provide prescriptive guidance and services to end users of their products on 'how will access to real-time manufacturing data improve overall productivity efficiency and responsiveness to customer/market changes?'

Why is making machinery 'IoT-ready' such a critical discussion? Within today's typical production environments, even undertaking smaller pilot projects with connected machinery (for example, targeting a specific assembly line or product line are for example) can drive significant business value and return on investment for manufacturers.

Get answers to this question and more in our upcoming#CiscoChaton Twitter onNovember 16 at 9:00 a.m. PST, members of the @CiscoMFG team will be joined by our new partner, machine tool leader Mazak Corporation for what promises to be a thought-provoking discussion on these topics. With our recent collaboration and announcement on the Mazak SmartBox, the trade press has already favorably reacted resulting in various articles including ones in American Machinist, Modern Machine Shop, and in analyst publications such as ARC Advisory Group's  Industrial Internet of Things online blog.

During this#CiscoChat, I will be joined byBrian Papke,president of Mazak Corporation, as well as Cisco's Bryce Barnes, and other participants to discuss how to harness the power of connected machines. Join us to participate and follow the discussion onNovember 16 at 9:00 a.m. PST, using hashtag#CiscoChat. Thanks for reading, and hope you will join us on Monday!