F054: The Resilient Intelligent Factory: Eliminating Downtown and Empowering the Connected Workforce

Unplanned downtime remains one of the largest hidden costs in metal manufacturing, impacting throughput, labor efficiency, on-time delivery, and profitability. While many organizations explore predictive maintenance (PdM) technologies, there are often cultural barriers like reactive firefighting habits, siloed communication between maintenance and operations, unclear ownership of reliability, and resistance to process change.
This session presents a practical, field-tested playbook for reducing unplanned downtime across stamping, fabrication, and processing operations. Through real-world customer case studies, attendees will learn how manufacturers overcame these cultural barriers by first quantifying the true cost of downtime and translating reliability challenges into financial impact.
The presentation outlines a crawl–walk–run framework that integrates people, process, and data to show how to prioritize critical assets, improve visibility into equipment health, and implement predictive strategies in manageable phases. Attendees will leave with actionable steps to build internal support, drive cultural change, and achieve measurable reductions in unplanned downtime.

In the modern manufacturing landscape, the gap between top-floor strategy and shop-floor execution is closing. This session explores the synergy between QAD Adaptive ERP, powered by Champion AI, and connected workforce solutions like Redzone. We will dive into how AI-driven insights can predict supply chain disruptions before they hit the line and how real-time frontline data creates a "closed-loop" ecosystem. Attendees will learn how to leverage AI to move from reactive troubleshooting to proactive optimization, ensuring their digital transformation yields measurable ROI and a more resilient operation.