When looking to improve operations and solve production challenges, manufacturers often turn to technology. Over decades, problem solving across the value chain means it is typical for manufacturers to amass a multitude of unrelated point solutions and software platforms.
The business priority today is to connect these solutions to leverage additional value from the data they generate – but this is often very challenging. Technologies bought at different times for different purposes do not naturally work together.
Opening up this treasure trove of insight is the biggest opportunity that exists in manufacturing today and the answer lies in connectivity. Connectivity not only allow us to shape a new way of working in manufacturing through collaboration – it enables us to get to the common root of the many, varied, isolated production challenges that limit the ability of our sector to prioritise innovation.
An ecosystem of ecosystems
Nexus from Hexagon is an open technology digital reality platform that exists to connect, break down barriers and unleash insight. The most important thing about Nexus is openness. More than just vendor agnostic, developers can actually build their own apps in the platform. The level of synergy this brings is unprecedented. It is no longer about making the best of legacy technology stacks, but shaping the manufacturing operation you want to become.
Built in the cloud, Nexus centralises ecosystem management in real-time, ensuring all areas of the business are pulling in the same direction. Perhaps most powerfully, with every imaginable insight in one place, it unleashes the power of AI, machine learning and cloud processing to help manufacturers turn that untapped insight into actionable plans that transform their operations.
By connecting that insight and replacing rigidity with agility, the team behind Nexus is on a mission to rid our industry of the problems we spend our time solving so we can unleash our creativity and innovation to break ground in every area of manufacturing.
Horizontal collaboration
Manufacturing organisations today are very centralised. They manage a complex operation involving engineers from many different disciplines. Those engineers are organised into siloes. Teams, divisions and specialisms all have their place in manufacturing, but ever since our industry set off on the path to digitalisation, cross team collaboration has been eroding and siloes are more common than ever.
Nexus is a tool that breaks down the digital barriers to collaboration. It allows the point technology solutions that exist within each of these siloes to be connected together through shared data which enables collaboration across the organisation.
By giving visibility to different departments and sharing data, you are enabling faster more localised decision-making which is closer to where the problem is. Nexus drives autonomy into the far reaches of manufacturing businesses, pushing decision making down the chain and empowering the workers on the ground who already have the right know-how, with the right insights to solve problems on the spot.
Nexus is the gold standard platform for open collaboration. Harness it and it’s like your siloes were never there.
Connect, empower, innovate
I recently had the opportunity to discuss the potential of Nexus with HxGN TV at HxGN LIVE Global 2023 in Las Vegas. For more background on the platform and why it was created, you can watch the full video at the top of this page.
The big promise of Nexus is the combination of insight and collaboration. By minimising the amount of time we spend solving problems in manufacturing, we can place ever more focus on innovation, which will ultimately drive our sector towards a very exciting future.
Discover what Nexus enables manufacturers to achieve in our blog Nexus: Empowering makers with the freedom to innovate.
For an overview of Nexus or for more information, please visit nexus.hexagon.com.
