Scaling Smart Manufacturing & Industrial AI:

The Interoperability Forum

Business Value, Architecture Foundations, and Demonstrated Capabilities for Getting There

WEBThe Interoperability Forum-100

INTEROPERABILITY IN ACTION - A DEMONSTRATION SHOWCASE:

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Where

Virtual

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When

August 4, 2026

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Time

11:00AM - 3:00PM EST

THE SCHEDULE

From Strategy to Implementation to Action

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM

The Business Imperative – The Why

ACT I
John Dyck, CEO, CESMII & David Brousell, Vice President & Executive Director at Manufacturing Leadership Council:

Question Answered - Why should CXOs and plant leaders care?

11:30 AM - 12:15 AM

The Architectural Imperative – The How

ACT II
Jonathan Wise, Chief Technology Architect, CESMII

Question answered - What are the architectural imperatives necessary to actually solve these problems?

Overview of SM Imperatives
What would it take for a SM or Industrial AI application developed today to run tomorrow in every manufacturing facility in the world? 

12:15 PM - 1:45 PM

Interoperability in Action – The Proof

ACT III

Vendor Showcase: "Can this actually work?"

Organized by business outcome

  • Connecting Operations
  • Contextualizing Manufacturing Information
  • Portable Applications
  • Industrial AI

1:45 PM - 2:30 PM

Manufacturers Speak – Business Validation

ACT IV

Executive Panel: Why is interoperability so strategic to manufacturers?

  • General Mills
  • Toyota
  • GE Appliances
  • ExxonMobil 

2:30 PM - 3:00 PM

The Path Forward – Call to Action

ACT V

John Dyck & Prasad Satyavolu, Senior Managing Director | Global Lead - Manufacturing, Operations, Industrial A.I. & Physical A.I., Accenture:

Where do we go from here?

  • Interoperability as a business imperative
  • The innovation around the SM Imperatives, SM Profiles, SMIP, i3X
  • Working Groups, RFP, Pilot projects, Training, Marketplace
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THE CHALLENGE

Manufacturers Have a Competitiveness Problem. Which is also a Data Problem.

Manufacturers have invested billions in automation, digitalization, data platforms, and AI. Yet many continue to struggle with the same challenges:

  • Data trapped in disconnected systems
  • Costly, custom integrations
  • AI initiatives that fail to scale beyond pilots
  • Vendor lock-in that limits flexibility and innovation
  • Inconsistent information across plants, systems, and supply chains

The issue isn't a lack of technology. The issue is a lack of interoperability.

Without a common way for systems, applications, and data to work together, every new initiative becomes another integration project… another data silo!

 

HEAR FROM THE MANUFACTURERS LEADING THE WAY... 

ChrisCrotts

Chris Crotts

GENERAL
MANAGER

Toyota_16x9

Michael Hotaling

Michael Hotaling

EXECUTIVE
ADVISOR

ExxonMobil-80

Matthew Parris

Matthew Parris

DIRECTOR, QUALITY TEST SYSTEMS FOR INDUSTRY 4.0

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Lisa Zasada

Lisa Zasada

SENIOR ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING EXECUTIVE

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THE PURPOSE

Why Attend?

This forum brings together manufacturing business leaders, digital transformation teams, architects, engineers, technology providers, and system integrators to demonstrate how interoperability creates the foundation for scalable Smart Manufacturing and Industrial AI.

Participants will learn how leading manufacturers and technology providers are moving beyond one-off solutions and adopting architectures that enable:

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Faster, lower cost deployment of digital solutions
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Reusable and portable applications
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Reduced integration costs
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Greater flexibility across vendors and platforms
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Scalable AI and advanced analytics
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Improved operational performance and business outcomes

THE AUDIENCE

There Is Something Here for Everyone

For Manufacturing & Business Leaders

Interoperability is emerging as one of the most important drivers of manufacturing competitiveness. By enabling portable applications, reusable solutions, and seamless information exchange across systems, interoperability lowers the cost of innovation and accelerates the deployment of Smart Manufacturing capabilities.

Manufacturers that embrace interoperable architectures are better positioned to improve productivity, quality, workforce effectiveness, supply chain resilience, and AI-driven business outcomes at scale.

For Technical & Architecture Leaders

Explore practical approaches for designing and building an interoperable manufacturing environment through:

  • Open, standards-based information modeling

  • Semantic interoperability and shared context

  • Unified Namespace and event-driven architectures

  • Graph-based operational data architectures

  • Platform interoperability requirements

  • Open APIs and portable application ecosystems

  • AI-ready Smart Manufacturing architectures

THE SPEAKERS

Thought Leadership Driving Change 

THE OUTCOME

Key Takeaways

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A clear understanding of why interoperability has become a strategic imperative
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A practical framework for evaluating Smart Manufacturing architectures
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Insights into enabling scalable Industrial AI
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Examples of real-world implementation approaches
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Actionable guidance for accelerating digital transformation efforts