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The Next-Gen Connected Factory opportunity, differentiators, use cases, Cisco solution

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Next-Gen Factory Networking

Get the background information you need on the networking requirements of a modern manufacturing facility and how Cisco solutions can address your customers' needs.

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Market insights + trends
Audience challenges
Why Cisco Next-Gen Factory Network?
Opportunity overview

Market insights + trends

The edge of disruption

Manufacturer’s production environments are evolving faster than ever before and their networks are not ready for new explosions of data this produces or evolving cyber threats. Rather than letting these challenges disrupt business, organizations must tackle these challenges head-on by leading with technology and digitizing their business, freeing data securely, to support the operational agility required. In order to survive and thrive, manufacturers must embrace Industry 4.0 principles of connectivity and smart automation, and enhance their networks to leverage data to boost productivity, improve product quality, and drive growth.

Two worlds converging

Digitization and security requirements are driving IT and OT teams to be more interdependent on each other than ever before. While the OT teams are focused on solving problems around availability, product quality, and workforce enablement, IT teams are focused on network management with automation, assurance, and security.

Audience challenges

Operational effectiveness and agility

To adjust to the rapidly changing new normals, manufacturing operations to be agile – whether it be changing your product mix, introducing new products on a tight schedule, or hyper-customizing your products for specific customer needs. The need for agility demands extensive digitization and a network that can facilitate the changes manufacturers need.

80% of manufacturers don’t know when their equipment is due for maintenance
80% of manufacturing data will be placed at the center of the process by 2022 so they are able to make real time decisions based on real time data.

Evolving cyber security threats

As the number of devices being connected to the factory network multiplies, attack surfaces increase and new cyber threats emerge. These cyber attacks can lead to stoppages and downtime resulting in plant performance plummeting. The business is then left with information loss, business disruption, revenue loss, and equipment damages.

65% of manufacturing environments run outdated operating systems
The FBI states that the national average is still more than 30 days from breach to detection.
40% of manufacturers had their operations affected by a cyber incident in the last year

Industry knowledge is leaving

As the workforce continues to age, the skills gap begins to widen and fewer experts are left on the plant floor to prevent mistakes and solve a crisis. Simultaneously, these businesses are striving to do more with less and cannot let these challenges disrupt production. This requires the plant floor to be more integrated than ever before as connectivity is critical to automating the workforce.

71% of manufacturers identify inability to “attract skilled workers as their top challenge”.
6/10 open skilled production positions are unfilled due to talent shortage

Why Cisco Next-Gen Factory Network?

Digitize your business and safeguard what matters most

Cisco IoT solutions for operational networks helps manufacturers address key challenges of increasing equipment effectiveness, reducing downtime, and protecting against cyber security threats, through effective digitization.

Cisco offers a validated and scalable architecture that uses purpose-built ruggedized networking components that can withstand harsh industrial environments. The architecture utilizes proven management tools that provide network automation and performance assurance for production agility. Sensors embedded within the networking components provide deep visibility of connected assets and application traffic that can be used for segmentation, anomaly detection, and threat response for securing your operations and reduce business risk.

Cisco industrial networking combines enterprise-grade with industrial strength

Opportunity overview

In order to survive and thrive in today's world, your manufacturing customers must enhance their factory network to support digital transformation and Industry 4.0 principles. Successful industrial digitization requires more network bandwidth, rich data, cyber security, simplified scale, and edge compute capabilities. With Cisco Industrial Networking, your customers can connect, secure, and manage their factory network to safeguard what matters most.

Cisco IoT Authorized Partners can capture significant incremental revenue by selling Cisco's Industrial Networking portfolio. You can leverage your existing relationships with IT and OT manufacturing teams and selling skills. By helping your customers digitize their factory network you can position yourself for future incremental revenue as organizations connect more and more new assets to boost productivity, improve products, reduce time to market, and drive growth.

Promoting Cisco Industrial Switching, Cisco Cyber Vision, and Cisco DNA Center, lets you address your customers top concerns with award winning products. And it's also an opportunity to upsell Cisco Industrial Networking and Cisco Security solutions, and enlarge your relationship with customers to identify many new business opportunities.

Now is an excellent time to start having conversations with your customers!