Over the last few weeks, I’ve been briefed by a lot of PLMish companies about what they’d be showcasing at Hannover Messe, the giant trade fair in Germany that looks at all things smart manufacturing. Almost 130,000 people attended this year to hear from 4,000 companies about the latest design and manufacturing technology trends and to see who is speaking to whom in the hopes of picking out early signals of a hot deal.

The briefings I received generally included previews of the product, partnership, and customer win announcements that would be made at the event. Sometimes, they also gave virtual booth tours; companies spend a LOT on their presence in Hannover, and the customers and industrial examples they showcase say a lot about their marketing for the coming year, so they want to show it all off.

I was impressed with the scope of innovation but again a little dismayed that the gap between what the vendors are talking about and what the users are looking for doesn’t seem to be narrowing.

My little PLMish thought bubbles:

• AI has the potential to be awesome. But that’s what it is right now in our world: potential. Yes, chatbots can help with customer service queries and drafting contracts, emails, and other documents. Even so, we’re not close to AI-ing ourselves a new car, house, or medical device. We can do parts of those design, validate, and build processes, but not the whole thing. So, PLM vendors, stop talking like we can. PLM buyers: start thinking about what you could use these technologies for, and challenge your vendors to prioritize that functionality. And start getting your data in order for what you might eventually want to do with it — that takes longer than you think. Practical right now: guard rails for new PLMish tool users so they know what their next mouse click should be, or that their simulation inputs are not physically possible. Ancillary information, quickly and authoritatively, to help speed the design process — but a human still generally needs to make the design happen.
• PLM technologies can help manufacturers adjust to tariff uncertainty by examining supply chains and their logistics. But only if we’re actually using PLM as intended. Buyers: if you use PLM to manage checkins and permissions (as many of you still seem to), you’re leaving so much on the table. Work to ensure supplier data is correct so that you can use PLM to build and interrogate your bills of material and bills of process. You could game out scenarios, trading off cost, schedule and risk. You could notionally redesign your products without getting into the CAD nitty gritty and look at costs, availabilities, profitability, and much more — but only if you’re using the PLM to its fullest. Vendors: you’ve been preaching this forever; now you have an even more compelling value argument. Make it. Teach your customers how to level up their use; make it easier for them with guided workflows. (But don’t gouge on pricing; people have very, very long memories.)
• Digital threads, digital twins, and virtual twins are still everywhere and still not consistently defined. That’s both good and bad. It’s good because it needs to be unique to the product or enterprise; how one user company defines it depends on what they make, how they do it, and whether they’re only making or also offering lifecycle support … the twin is simpler or more complex depending on those answers. But it’s also bad because each vendor has their own definition, and part of my job is translating from that vision to the buyer’s requirements. Buyers: define the twin/thread in a way that makes sense to you, and make sure the vendors you’re talking to understand exactly what you mean. Vendors: listen and use the buyer’s language.
• Connecting technologies abound and have some of the same buyer vs vendor mismatches. Buyers: What are you connecting to what, why, and how much are you willing to pay for each connection? And what, for the love of !@#$, will you do with that data? See part the first, about AI. You need a data management strategy before you connect anything. Yes, connecting everything to everything would be oh-so-cool and would get you ready for any eventuality, but at what cost? How can you manage all of that data? Vendors: yes, connecting things can unlock all sorts of value, but help your prospects look at quick wins. What can you, together, prove in 2 weeks? For what fee? Your prospects need to understand what they can and cannot expect from these data streams.
• Sustainability: Still important? Done deal? Political football? Perhaps because I’m in the US, this year’s sustainability messaging is less about ecological/societal benefits and more about the bottom line. Reducing energy usage, creating less waste, and lowering emissions can all lead to financial savings. There is still some discussion about improving the planet for our children, but more about boosting profits. I hope this resonates even more and that we can finally move this out of the grandstanding phase and into action, even here in the US.
• Is Industry 4.0 still happening? What’s Industry 5.0? IMHO, we’re nowhere near done with Industry 4.0 and don’t need to jump on any 5.0 bandwagons. Industry 4.0 was about integrating the physical and digital worlds to boost productivity and flexibility in manufacturing, while lowering risk. 5.0 builds on that, adding AI, big data, and other technologies to include social missions such as sustainability and human-centricity. The technology buyers I speak with are still working on 4.0, but see above, on sustainability. And they’re trying to do AR/VR/connected worker — not quite human-centric, but getting closer. Vendors: I’m not sure the 5.0 messaging that I’ve seen with buyers at this point. Could we be working on 4.0+ right now?

Amid all of the software-related announcements was a lot of hardware news. There is so much interesting stuff happening in robotics, production line systems, power systems that are smaller and more performant, and new ideas for electrification. As I understand it, and entire hall of several hundred companies was devoted to hydrogen and fuel cells — definitely a place to be if that’s your market niche.

In all, a lot of remarkable innovations, coming to market soon.

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The title image is courtesy of Hannover Messe, https://messe.canto.de/v/hannovermesse/album/UODL4?viewIndex=2&display=fitView