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LNS Research Announces World’s Most Productive Companies™ 2025
Top 100 Companies Recognized for Outperforming Peers in Industrial Productivity Growth LNS Research has released its study announcing the World’s Most Productive Companies™ for 2025. The newly published report, designed as a COO playbook, outlines the methodology behind LNS Research’s significant, annual productivity study.
The Productivity Event
Engage directly with COOs and global industrial leaders from the World’s Most Productive Companies™. Benchmark against proven performers, collaborate with peers who are driving exceptional productivity gains, and discover how to replicate their results within your own organization. Join us in Huntington Beach, CA.
HighByte, Oden, & TrendMiner Shift Gears Toward Next Stages of Growth
Running an industrial software company is not easy. Painfully long sales cycles, high entry barriers, and an array of compliance regulations, among other factors, make running these industrial software companies a particularly complex endeavor.
How Manufacturing Leaders Achieve Safer, More Profitable Production
Manufacturing leaders can’t pay their way out of the unfolding labor crisis. Today’s workforce simply does not respond to higher wages, sign-on bonuses, etc. Many manufacturing leaders are focused on survival, while corporate executives and global stakeholders still expect the organization to deliver on bold sustainability promises.
EHS Software Evolves to Enable Operation 2030
Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) software is no longer a nice to have for manufacturers to achieve long-term success in a dynamic and competitive global landscape. The dramatic increase in risk and demands for more sustainable operations has only raised the bar for solution providers to deliver more robust, integrated, and connected solutions to manage risk, ensure compliance, and retain talent proactively.
Catch the Wave or Fall Behind: Why Your Transformation Can't Wait
A monumental shift has occurred as industrial leaders realize competitors are moving forward with transformation initiatives and leaving them behind. In our LNS Research 2023 State of Industrial Transformation (IX) Tech survey of 321 manufacturing leaders, three mega themes emerge from the data: Transformation Programs Are Up. We saw the most significant shift in eight years of tracking IX initiatives.
The Future of Manufacturing Transformation: Rethink 2024
The Manufacturing Leadership Council (MLC) recently celebrated its 20th year of Rethink, its annual executive event that recognizes companies that are accelerating digital transformation. But before the big dance, or gala in this case, the event provided ample opportunity for manufacturers to exchange ideas and strategies through guest speakers, panel discussions, and networking breaks.
Augmented Reality in Manufacturing: ARe You Missing Out?
Augmented Reality (AR) is no longer a solution looking for a problem to solve. With over half of manufacturers having already adopted AR, LNS Research found that most of this adoption has been among Future of Industrial Work (FOIW) Leaders, who are 11 times more likely to widely deploy the technology than Followers.
Collaboration Platforms to Solve Your Frontline Workforce Challenges
The Connected Frontline Workforce (CFW) applications space is diverse, dynamic, and fragmented. Players range from early-stage start-ups backed by venture capital to publicly traded global tech giants. The vendors in thisspace offer a wide range of products and go-to-market strategies. CFW initiatives have become a strategic imperative for many as manufacturers seek to solve critical labor shortages, skills gaps, and retention issues in frontline operations.
2024 New Year Resolutions for Manufacturing to Future-Proof Operations
The workforce shortage has been the burning platform for many manufacturing CEOs. The latest data shows that if every unemployed worker accepted an open role, three million jobs would still remain unfilled. Manufacturing quit rates prove the competition for talent will be a critical factor in sustaining operations. Declining tenure, an aging workforce, and early retirements can be seen as a challenge or an opportunity for the future of industry.
L2L Summit: A laser-focus on CFW Solutions and Connected Worker Value
L2L’s Connected Workforce Summit hosted over 70 companies and 140 attendees in sunny Salt Lake City this May. Registered attendees were given a rare opportunity to join a plant tour at a nearby Young Living, essential oils producer, manufacturing facility, and distribution center. Limited seating was increased due to high demand, with a chartered bus taking 45 attendees to Spanish Fork, UT, to see production and L2L’s connected worker hub, a Connected Frontline Workforce (CFW) solution, in action.
Generative AI Headlines C3 Transform 2024
The fifth edition of C3 AI's annual conference, C3 Transform, was held in Boca Raton, Florida earlier this March. Over 500 attendees gathered at the city's namesake hotel, representing a variety of companies, ranging from long-time C3 flag bearers Shell, Baker Hughes, and Koch Industries to relatively new customers, such as General Mills, Dow Chemicals, and Johnson Controls.
3DEXPERIENCE World 2023
Visions and Opportunities in the Virtual and Physical World 3DEXPERIENCE World was Dassault Systemes’ first global SOLIDWORKS event since Covid. The conference was well-attended, with 4,000 people in Nashville’s Music City and 10,000 connecting from cyberspace. The event’s theme was "Imagine", which refers to visionary leadership and the goal of imagining what we all can do together.
Organizational Culture: The Heart and Soul of Your Transformation
The majority of today’s business professionals will be familiar with the famous quote by management consultant Pete Drucker, “Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast," which implies that no matter how solid a business strategy is, its likelihood of success depends on the people executing it and the organizational culture that surrounds them.
Norfolk Southern has been having bad days a lot recently
Norfolk Southern has been having a bad day for the past month. What can manufacturers take from their struggles? Norfolk Southern Railway has had three, count them three train derailments in the past month. Most notable was the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, then another two in rapid succession. LNS Research Fellow Tom Comstock wrote about the Southwest Airlines debacle several weeks back. I want to take a different track here on Norfolk Southern’s recent spate of derailments.
Paper, Spreadsheets, and the Other Usual Suspects of Messy Quality Data
The Quality function in a typical industrial organization spans across multiple levels, from quality management, quality execution and control, research & development, laboratory inspection, supplier audits, customer warranty, etc. Not surprisingly, communicating between these functions requires consistent data and information transfers across multiple systems.
Lines are blurry, and it’s not helping Quality 4.0 program leaders
My LNS Research colleague Tom Comstock recently wrote an update to the IX Platform landscape that was published in our Industrial Transformation blog. There is one theme from that post that I want to pull the thread further on here; Blurring lines of demarcation between architectural elements of Industrial Transformation (IX). This was a significant issue when I was on the other side of the table, trying to develop my strategy.
The 36th Annual International Maintenance Conference (IMC)
Building a culture of learning took center stage at IMC 2022 Over 1,000 attendees participated in the 36th Annual International Maintenance Conference, co-located with the Reliability 4.0 Digital Transformation Conference hosted by ReliabilityWeb.com on December 6-8, 2022 at Marco Island, FL.
Four Questions from our Advanced Analytics Roundtable ft. Pratt & Whitney
On January 26, LNS Research hosted our first Executive Roundtable for 2023. The virtual event on the topic of Advanced Industrial Analytics was attended by over 25 senior executives from leading industrial companies like Pfizer, Cargill, Georgia Pacific, Raytheon Technologies, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals among many others.
Big Hairy Audacious Goals: The Kiss of Death in Industrial Transformation (IX)
Let’s look at the data and why. First a quick reminder: Jim Collins and Jerry Porras first coined the term BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal, pronounced BEE-hag) in their 1994 book and it has inspired thousands of companies since then. Like John F. Kennedy saying that the US wanted to be on the moon by the end of the decade – without any kind of plan to know it was possible – BHAGs are giant goals that are deliberately visionary and equally overwhelming.
How should Quality Leaders prepare for Future Economic Uncertainty?
Every day there is another story or sign that there might be an economic downturn in our future. When we look away from the news, we see a different reality.Manufacturers are struggling to keep up with demand and fulfill orders. We hear from many of our member end-user clients that they are having trouble finding and keeping people to maintain their operations. Forecasts don’t project a downturn in demand. What should we believe?
Bentley Systems' Year in Infrastructure Conference & Going Digital Awards
Event Summary Bentley Systems' 18th annual Year in Infrastructure Conference and Going Digital Awards took place November 14-15, 2022, in London. The awards program recognizes Bentley software users’ successful projects in infrastructure design, construction, and operations. Over the past six months, 11 independent jury panels selected the 36 finalists from over 300 nominations submitted by more than 180 organizations from 47 countries in 12 categories.
Challenges That Matter: Top Three Reasons Industrial Analytics Fail
Advanced Industrial Analytics programs are at a pivotal stage in today’s manufacturing industry. LNS’ latest Analytics That Matter research shows that a third of recently surveyed industrial companies have fully engaged in Advanced Analytics programs, and almost twice as many are running pilots or have budgeted to do so within the next 12 months.
The IX Platform Market Continues to Evolve
A little over a year ago we published our Solution Selection Matrix (SSM) for IX Platforms. When we introduced the definition of the IX Platform, we noted that “…the ability to monitor markets, readjust IX Program initiatives and otherwise be adaptive to change is critical to achieving step change improvements in operations.” Here we seek to help manufacturers “monitor” the IX Platform market by highlighting five trends we see across the market.
Quality 4.0 Predictions for 2023
Every year, LNS Research puts forth predictions surrounding the key trends in Industrial Transformation (IX) topics on which we focus our research. As the Quality Specialist at LNS Research, I have the opportunity to make predictions for what to expect in 2023 for the Quality 4.0 space, and here is what I foresee coming... The rise of the Digital Quality Leader In our 2021 Quality 4.0 Maturity Survey, only 9% of Quality 4.0 Transformations were led by the Chief Quality Officer title.
What do manufacturers have in common with Southwest Airlines?
The Answer: Massive Technical Debt What was the major news story of this Christmas holiday? Flight cancellations and the Southwest Airlines “meltdown.” Manufacturers should be looking at that story and asking themselves if they are next. For too many manufacturers the answer is yes. Let’s take a quick look at the Southwest story and one of the lessons manufacturers should be learning from the meltdown.
Honeywell’s Living on the Edge with a Rock-n-Roll Strategy
Honeywell Connect puts on a show for Executives using classic Rock-and-Roll Orlando was the spot for the 45th Honeywell Users Conference (HUG) in June and the maiden Honeywell Connected Enterprise (HCE) flagship in-person event in November. Recent changes have brought in new leadership and a new Life Science growth strategy to rebuild the industrial software provider brand.
Cost of Quality in the Digital Age
To borrow the phrase from Philip Crosby, Quality is Free. The book, by the same name, was published in 1978, well before the Industrial Digital Age. It laid out the case for a different view of Quality’s mission and how to achieve many of the ideals that Quality Leaders were (and still are) looking for. Among them; Zero Defects. Economic Conformance There are two competing views of cost behavior around Quality in business. The first is called the Economic Conformance Model (ECM).
Industrial Transformation: Everybody's doing it but few are getting it right
75% of IX Programs are not yet seeing ANY value Transformation is all the rage. Everybody is talking about it. Everybody is doing it. But the stark reality is that only a fraction of participants are doing it right. Only a select set of industrial companies are realizing meaningful business improvement. Let’s look at the data and some high-level causes for the failure to launch.
Emerson Embraces AspenTech & Charts New Course for Next-Gen Automation
As a member-level partner of LNS Research, you will receive our expert and proven Advisory Services. These exclusive benefits give your team: Regular advisory sessions with our highly experienced LNS Research Analysts Access to the complete LNS Research Library Participation in members-only executive Roundtable events Important, continuous knowledge of Industrial Transformation (IX) Let us help you with key decisions based on our solid research methodology and vast industrial experience.
Emerson Exchange Embraces AspenTech and Unveils “Boundless Automation”
As a member-level partner of LNS Research, you will receive our expert and proven Advisory Services. These exclusive benefits give your team: Regular advisory sessions with our highly experienced LNS Research Analysts Access to the complete LNS Research Library Participation in members-only executive Roundtable events Important, continuous knowledge of Industrial Transformation (IX) Let us help you with key decisions based on our solid research methodology and vast industrial experience.
iBASEt Excelerate 2022: Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing Wing Man
LNS Research recently had the privilege of attending iBASEt’s first in-person Excelerate conference since 2019. The event was hosted at Disney Swan Resort in Orlando Florida with 279 registered attendees including iBASEt employees and partners. While the event was small compared to the industry giants, it is a new record for iBASEt and larger than almost every other vendor conference focused on Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES).
Quality 4.0 is a Team Sport
Quality’s role as a support function in the main value chain places great demand on Quality resources and in the digital age of rapidly shifting customer sentiments and ever-present supply chain fluctuations, keeping all of the players moving in the right direction is a challenge even for the best coaches. Quality 4.0 is a transformational approach to changing the business of Quality. First introduced by LNS Research in 2017, Quality 4.0, has been gaining momentum ever since.
IBM & Intelligent Asset Management, Maximo World 2022
In August, the IBM Asset Management and Sustainability teams presented an updated product portfolio and go-forward strategy at Maximo World 2022 in Austin, TX. The conference content provided users with a deep dive into new products, software development, and integration updates, as well as customer-presented case studies.
Dramatic changes are coming to Training in the Digital Age
Human Resources have deployed Learning Management Systems at the corporate back office level over the years, this has resulted in Quality becoming disconnected from training activities. Employee turnover has cost impacts, quality impacts, and productivity impacts in an organization so manufacturing operations have a stake in training and qualification. Additional gaps have emerged because those corporate systems are not good at managing qualifications for the front-line workforce.
IMTS 2022: Still a Machine Builder & Machining Focused Show...Mainly
IMTS 2022 was held last month at McCormick Place in Chicago, live in person for the first time since 2018. LNS Research had sixteen briefings from member vendors over the two days we were there. I attended, along with my colleagues, Mehul Shah and Brady Aitken. This year's IMTS event was bigger than the record-breaking show in 2018, with over 1.2 million square feet of space and close to 100,000 visitors over the six days of the event.
Learn from Failing Workforce Initiatives to Build Manufacturing Talent
Clinging to existing practices has intensified workforce challenges, forcing the C-suite executives burning platform to focus on human capital. Unfortunately, "The Great Goodbye" continues to negatively impact operational performance with the hemorrhaging of manufacturing talent. Eighty-seven percent of manufacturers are pursuing Future of Industrial Work (FOIW) initiatives, but only 37% of programs have delivered corporate value.
What is Digital Performance Excellence?
Traditional Continuous Improvement toolkits and supporting management systems in the Industry 3.0 world are people, policy, and procedure-centric processes. One characteristic they have in common is that high effort initially produces performance gains. Still, over time, gains diminish even with additional effort applied.
Unified Performance Excellence is the Engine of Workforce Empowerment
What is Unified Performance Excellence? Unified Performance Excellence (UPX) is how the world's most successful manufacturers are reinventing Continuous Improvement (CI) programs and management systems. They are taking advantage of digital and AI toolkits and new approaches to innovation and transformation to drive significant gains across safety, quality, emissions, and productivity.
Why your Digital Performance Excellence (DPX) Initiative Will Fail
Digital Performance Excellence (DPX) involves embedding the process and management of Performance Excellence in the digital environment. This approach leverages advanced digital tools to bridge the gaps in knowledge, speed of execution, and results commonly associated with traditional operational improvement methods.
Hexagon Moving up in Quality
LNS Research had the privilege to attend HxGN LIVE Global 2022 at the Venetian in Las Vegas. HxGN LIVE Global was Hexagon’s first in-person large-scale event since 2019 and drew over 2,000 customers and partners physically from thirty-four countries. The event included keynotes from executives across the company, exhibits, and an almost parallel media and analyst track allowing us to explore the company’s messages more deeply.
Why Your Quality 4.0 Program Will Fail
There is some good news out there regarding Quality 4.0. programs. First, the prevalence of Quality 4.0 programs is growing. The number of Quality 4.0 programs nearly doubled from 2019 to 2021. Second, Quality 4.0 Leaders are reporting double-digit improvements in several key business metrics, including Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) and Revenue. However, all is not sunshine and roses in Quality 4.0 programs. More than half of the deployed programs are underperforming on their targets.
Sparta Connection 2022: Missed Opportunities
LNS Research was privileged to attend Sparta Connection 2022 at the JW Marriott Resort and Spa in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, earlier this summer. This year’s event was the first live, in-person event for Sparta since 2019. Sparta Connection kicked off with Dr. Oxana Pickeral, CEO of Sparta Systems, delivering an opening keynote laying out a few themes that should be interesting to attendees and those considering the Trackwise product.
Sparta Connection 2022: A New Leadership Team, Challenges, and Opportunities Abound
LNS Research was privileged to attend Sparta Connection 2022 at the JW Marriott Resort and Spa in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, earlier this summer. This year’s event was the first live, in-person event for Sparta since 2019. Sparta Connection kicked off with Dr. Oxana Pickeral, CEO of Sparta Systems, delivering an opening keynote laying out a few themes that should be interesting to attendees and those considering the Trackwise product.
Survey Snippets #6: The Why, What, and How of Industrial Transformation (IX)
One of the most common mistakes LNS Research sees manufacturers make in their Industrial Transformation (IX) programs is starting with technology selection. To help companies better structure their IX programs, we have designed the LNS Research Industrial Transformation Framework (shown below).
The Emerson - AspenTech Merger and the Need for Speed
On May 16, 2022, Emerson Electric Company and Aspen Technology announced the closing of their $11B merger which brings together much of Emerson’s industrial software businesses (OSI Inc. and Geological Simulation Software) with AspenTech to create the “new AspenTech” as a global industrial software provider. With the close of the transaction, Emerson owns 55% of the new AspenTech and AspenTech shareholders own the remaining 45%.
Survey Snippets #5: Three Tips To Successfully Scale Your Transformation Business Case
Building business cases is often the first of many challenges today’s industrial companies have to face as part of their Industrial Transformation (IX) programs. The ideal business case should help companies identify and prioritize the correct problems and provide a clear roadmap for the solution. However, many companies struggle to effectively do this.
What is Quality 4.0? And What It Isn’t.
Quality 4.0 is a concept LNS Research first introduced in 2017, and it has been gaining momentum ever since. However, the concept has also picked up some misconceptions along the way. To clear up any confusion, we will redefine Quality 4.0 here and answer several key questions about its scope, value, and role in Industrial Transformation (IX).
Metrics That Matter in an IIoT World
Manufacturing is changing. The traditional view of production plants as islands of automation, expertise, and control no longer stands up in an ever more connected world. Exciting things are occurring across Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) as forward looking organizations begin to digitally transform and integrate operations within their companies to revolutionize performance.
Smart Connected Operations eBook
Many of the top industrial business objectives and challenges have remained largely unchanged for some time: ensuring quality, responding to customer demands, handling disparate systems and data sources, and fostering increased operational collaboration.
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