Why manufacturers are moving to AI and IoT with Masergy

From automating assembly lines to using real-time data for equipment maintenance, digital transformation in manufacturing is booming as the market continues to undergo massive disruption. Nearly 40% of manufacturing CIOs polled by Gartner said their enterprise’s operating cost competitiveness has fallen behind due to digital disruption. At the same time, about 40% of manufacturers that allocated IT budget to digitization efforts report above-average value from that investment, and at a reasonable cost when compared with peers.

Manufacturing organizations should look at digital innovation technologies to kickstart smart manufacturing so they can automate and modernize processes that help them produce more quantity and higher quality at lower costs. Such technologies include Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), but integrating those solutions into legacy environments is easier said than done.

Masergy is at the forefront of helping manufacturers leverage AI, automation, and IoT to see through to these goals. Here are three manufacturers that moved to smart manufacturing using Masergy’s network and cloud platform.

BBQ grill-maker Weber achieves IT agility with AI and cloud

Weber-Stephens Products – the company behind the famous Weber Grill – prioritizes speed-to-market manufacturing and discovered 37 networking gaps that it needed to address prior to making a digital transformation. As a company that builds e-commerce websites and new mobile applications, much of Weber’s IT work is in the cloud. The manufacturer was struggling with multiple network providers across its sites as well as a global infrastructure that couldn’t support all of its cloud applications and services.

Masergy brought a custom-fit technology and services suite to each of Weber’s sites, no matter the size or location. In fact, Masergy provided an easy-to-use management portal that enables their IT team to control the network anytime, anywhere, and seamlessly manage it for years to come. Through AI and cloud applications, Weber was able to modernize its infrastructure, achieve IT agility for digital services, and close its 37 IT gaps in just 14 months. Read the full case study.

High-tech manufacturer Entegris accelerates production with an AI-focused approach

Entegris, a global high-tech manufacturer, was feeling immense pressure to produce more at faster speeds. The consumerization of IT created expectations for production lines to be more automated and deliver instantly. Without a modern network, there was no way the company could achieve these goals.

Masergy enabled Entegris to pivot away from the IT infrastructure it knew was holding it back, so it could focus on a cloud-based, software-defined, and AI-based approach to IT. After implementing Masergy’s network and SD-WAN services, Entegris was able to increase the reliability of its global network, reduce outages and time-to-connectivity, and see overall improved business continuity. With these assurances in place, the company now achieves accelerated production to meet modern, competitive standards. Read the full case study.

Office furniture company Teknion leverages IoT and unites its global locations

Teknion needed to collect and analyze massive amounts of data to create dashboards and make informed decisions about the repairs and usage of its office furniture. The smart way to do so is through an IoT strategy that relies on a robust IT infrastructure. Additionally, the company needed an unlimited number of virtual, segmented network environments so the company’s R&D department could securely and safely experiment with new digital services, developing office occupancy sensors for its customers.

Through working with Masergy, Teknion is now driving a cloud-first strategy that has enabled it to accelerate its innovation by uniting critical business applications and IoT initiatives across 30 global operations. With one IT environment, leadership has complete transparency into Teknion’s network and can effectively drive its IoT strategy and digital services future.

Cloud security is also a high priority for the company as it needs to protect intellectual property and operate on a public cloud infrastructure. Masergy’s network provides reliable, high-quality, secure service for all of Teknion’s applications. Read the full case study.

Learn more about how Masergy can drive digital transformation for manufacturing.