Next month, all eyes turn to Rockwell Automation as the company hosts its annual Automation Fair event, this time in Boston, Massachusetts. The company is already touting a suite of meaningfully new technologies and solutions that will be on display for attendees.
That said, no innovation happens in a void. Rockwell is putting its best foot forward, not just in terms of technological prowess, but with advancements it believes will address key marketing needs while providing competitive differentiation and value in a space that is increasingly cluttered with new vendors and attempted Artificial Intelligence (AI) disruption. Here is a breakdown of where I see the organization positioning itself, and why it's focusing its efforts in these five directions:
Laying the Almighty Unified Data Foundation Layer
Integration, Scalability, and Simplification All Point Toward Faster Deployments
Keeping Operations Safe and Secure
The New Core Word for AI: Practicality
1. Laying the Almighty Unified Data Foundation Layer
No two words are going to be spoken more regarding AI in the next 12 months (with the exception of one, but more on that later) than “data contextualization.” This comes in response to multiple reports around AI failing to scale past its pilot phase, as well as numerous manufacturers showing skepticism toward meaningful Return on Investment (ROI) regarding mass AI initiatives.
The reality is this: AI solutions, for all their power, are not a magic bullet that will take a factory—especially one in early stages of digitization—from siloed, disjointed workflows to a fully optimized brownfield environment. Even in more advanced settings, AI is still bound by the traditional information barriers faced by human operators and analysts. If the data are fragmented, AI’s capability to analyze and make actionable recommendations from them suffers.
Enter FactoryTalk Conductor, one of Rockwell Automation’s most recent announcements and a headliner at Automation Fair, where it will see its global debut. FactoryTalk Conductor is, as its name suggests, an orchestration platform created to harmonize AI-powered workflows at multiple stages across the industrial automation lifecycle, including design, operations, and maintenance. It is one product that lays a common data foundation for AI-enabled workflows.
This contextualized data foundation will be essential in successfully scaling AI out of the pilot stage toward more expansive deployments. By bringing AI data together across multiple engineering environments, Rockwell Automation is keeping pace with key competitors, such as Siemens’ Opcenter Intelligence, Dassault Systèmes’ DELMIA and 3DEXPERIENCE agentic platform, and Critical Manufacturing’s Enterprise Data Model (also Tulip’s Industrial Connectivity layer, if you want to start from a more frontline operations perspective). It’s hardly unique, but it is essential, and FactoryTalk Conductor’s integration with Studio 5000 Logix Designer, Logix Echo, Emulate3D, and FactoryTalk Optix solutions should provide meaningful value to existing customers that have already bought into those solutions.
I’ll be very curious to see it in person at Automation Fair, and expect me to have more to say on its potential competitive differentiation from those other highlighted solutions after more direct experience with it.
2. Integration, Scalability, and Simplification All Point Toward Faster Deployments
Several of Rockwell Automation’s highlights for the show, such as PointMax I/O, Armor PowerFlex 330 Integrated Drive Motor, EtherNet/IP In-cabinet Solution, and FactoryTalk’s new AssetIQ, Design Workbench, and ResilientEdge technologies are all angled around simplification at both the hardware and software levels. This isn’t shocking. Time to value has long been seen as a key differentiator in the market (after all, it’s in the name), so one should start with improving “time.”
Lately, however, there has been a push to better define and understand time to value. Yes, time remains the key ingredient, but it is no longer all about quick integration and initial deployment. Many manufacturers now see integration and scalability as other key pieces in the time to value equation. Rockwell is unlikely to win any outright integration contests; while its software can be made to work with third-party solutions, it is far from the most agnostic solution on the market.
Nevertheless, these announcements point to a desire to convey a focus in simplicity and faster time to value for those that do buy into Rockwell’s solution ecosystem, with hardware and software highlights showcasing the breadth of the effort.
3. IT and OT Unity
Breaking down data silos is about more than changing systems. While AI dominates the spotlight and (maybe too much) analyst attention, meaningful change still lies primarily with people. In this case, Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) staffs, which have largely suffered a semi-adversarial relationship, so far, as tech far as investments are concerned. IT loves looking at improvements that are large in scope and will yield real transformational impact. Say “large in scope” to OT and that likely refers to the size of the headache you’re indirectly causing.
Meaningful data integration cannot happen until these two, traditionally separated organizations, are, if not fully merged, then more properly integrated in a way that encourages communication, cooperation, and—most importantly—priority alignment. This isn’t to say that IT and OT need to work at the same desk (OT at a desk, ha!) or in the same room, but they must both see and agree on the same issue and investment, otherwise any solution will face an uphill battle.
Rockwell products at Automation Fair speaking to this need include LogixEdge Controller, which combines the more traditional Allen-Brady Logix control system with high-performance, edge computing in a single device. This creates real-time deterministic control working within software-defined automation running right alongside traditional Logic runtime.
4. Keeping Operations Safe and Secure
The rise of AI, especially the stories of rogue agents and escalating cybercrime sophistication, has put renewed attention on OT cybersecurity. The increase in intelligence at the edge brings risks, as well as benefits. Rockwell is well aware of this, as its new SecureOT Platform Managed Services and OT Cybersecurity Assessment Suite make it easier to create and support more secure machines through continuous risk prioritization, improved technical guidance, expanded infrastructure support, and platform and asset management tools. On the hardware side, the CompactLogix 5390 Controller provides empowered security without sacrificing scalability in the modern system environment.
Security, in general, will become a larger competitive differentiator in the months ahead, in part thanks to the rapid drive toward AI investment and utilization. Potential cyber issues arise with every serious investment and workflow improvement, and AI is arguably the most volatile new technology introduced to the manufacturing space since the creation of the Internet. There is enormous potential for improvement, but manufacturers not thinking about securing their hardware and software workflows are opening themselves up to serious risk.
5. The New Core Word for AI: Practicality
The final word on AI, perhaps indefinitely, is practicality. The luster and sheen from initial exposure is wearing off and manufacturers want to see meaningful, practical use cases and investment areas for AI technology. Every Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and digital operations provider I have spoken with or investigated within the past 3 months is placing at least some emphasis on practicality. With Rockwell, it takes the form of positioning for its new Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform and AI-powered Quality Management capabilities, which promise “practical artificial intelligence to everyday manufacturing workflows.”
Even with data contextualization, many AI solutions still suffer from the perception of being seen as solutions in search of problems, leading many to question whether any significant investment is worth it. Rising token costs and infrastructure limitations will only exacerbate this challenge.
The burden is on Rockwell—and everyone else—to move past “talking the talk” and enter full “walk the walk” mentality with proving their AI solutions are not just viable, but necessary.
Again, these are all initial impressions based on what Rockwell Automation has chosen to highlight for its Automation Fair agenda. I look forward to seeing more in-person and learning from the experts in attendance. If you’re going to be at Automation Fair and fancy a discussion around any of these topics (or you want to blow my mind with something new), then I would love the chance to chat! Schedule a meeting today
Ben Weaver