Amber Hickman |
Zebra Technologies has shared a new framework to support manufacturing leaders with digitalisation projects for the Industry 4.0 era at Hannover Messe 2025.
The Connected Factory Framework focuses on three important pillars for transformation and growth: actionable visibility, optimised quality and an augmented workforce.
Zebra Technologies is showcasing this framework at Hannover Messe with demonstrations covering machine vision, 3D scanning, rugged devices, wearable computers, workforce communication software, radio-frequency identification and kiosk solutions.
“A finely tuned strategy that aligns leadership and resources must be a top priority for decision-makers to achieve connected factories that seamlessly capture, analyse and share real-time data insights from frontline workers and machines,” said Ryan Martin, senior research director at ABI Research. “Digital transformation priorities are becoming more practical, with robust deployments of AI solutions widening the competitive gap among manufacturers. These AI solutions benefit labour training and retention, quality inspection, supply chain resilience and intelligent automation.”
The framework was established in response to Zebra’s The Rise of the Connected Factory study, which found that 67 per cent of manufacturing leaders don’t know how to start the process of digitally transforming the plant floor. According to the study, major barriers include not knowing where to start, availability of resources and scalability of projects.
However, 89 per cent plan to increase technology and physical infrastructure investments by between six and 10 per cent.
“These are promising and ambitious investment plans, but without clear strategic alignment across leadership and knowing how and where to begin and resource and scale projects, there could be a risk of wasted budgets and poor execution. The Connected Factory framework can help,” said Stephan Pottel, strategy director of manufacturing EMEA at Zebra Technologies.
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