Software-defined automation: Resilience in manufacturing requires an architectural change

▤ Summary

Manufacturers face persistent disruption and need resilience that goes beyond buffers and point solutions. The article argues software-defined automation (SDA) offers an architectural shift by combining virtualization, real-time data mobility, and centralized orchestration to make automation configurable, recoverable, and faster to deploy. SDA reduces hardware dependence, cuts development and engineering costs, and creates a unified data layer that eases integration and enables lifecycle-wide optimization. That integrated foundation also prepares plants to extract value from AI and autonomous orchestration. Industry surveys cited show over 60% of manufacturers are ready to move from evaluation to pilot implementations within the next year.

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