The Shop Floor Revolution: Why Modernization Can’t Wait

A modern shop floor connects people, processes, and systems in real time, turning raw data into insight. It prepares manufacturers for AI, automation, and advanced analytics. However, even today, manual processes and disconnected systems remain the reality on many shop floors. Data is locked in silos, visibility is limited, and critical decisions take too long, highlighting a yawning gap between operational reality and digital potential.

Closing this gap was the focus of the second episode of delaware North America’s Shop Floor Revolution series featuring delaware’s Mill Products expert, John Rossiter, Solutions Engineer, Mill Products. He noted that holding onto legacy processes is inefficient and risks a manufacturer’s competitive survival.

The High Cost of Legacy Processes

For many manufacturers in the paper, metals, and packaging industries, the shop floor remains a black box. According to Rossiter, data lives in spreadsheets or the heads of veteran operators, and the organization’s refusal to modernize has immediate consequences for the workforce.

“They’re going to have problems in today’s modern working world, where the new employees coming in are expecting more of a technologically advanced shop floor,” Rossiter explained. “They will lose out on quality workers because they are still doing things manually.” ​

Beyond the talent drain, the inability to react quickly to market changes leaves these manufacturers behind competitors who have already digitized their operations.

Closing the White Space in SAP Digital Manufacturing

During the webinar, Rossiter noted that SAP Digital Manufacturing (DM) provides a robust cloud-based execution system. However, complex industries like mill products in the paper, plastic, wire, and cable sectors often face unique gaps—what he called the “white space.” ​

Standard systems might struggle with specific industry needs, like combining orders for different customers into a single efficient production run, such as printing different potato chip bags on the same roll, in the case of food manufacturers, and then tracing them back individually. This is where the DM4Mill by delaware extension comes in, building pre-configured solutions directly alongside the SAP platform.

Crucially, modernization succeeds or fails on user adoption.

“We know when it’s easy to use, they’ll use it even more and be more excited about the functionality and the increased efficiency that it brings to the users,” Rossiter said. ​

Crossing the Digital Divide to AI

Everyone wants to talk about AI, but few acknowledge the prerequisite of clean, real-time data. Organizations cannot have predictive maintenance if their machine data is stuck on a clipboard.

Rossiter framed this perfectly: “The shop floor is a foundational data layer that needs to be mined to make those emerging technologies work.” ​

By digitizing this layer, manufacturers can finally jump what Rossiter called the “chasm that sits between the shop floor and the top floor,” turning raw production data into executive-level insights. ​

What This Means for SAPinsiders

There can be no AI without data. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are buzzwords until an organization has a digital foundation. As Rossiter noted, organizations cannot turn an AI engine loose on preventative maintenance without first capturing granular data from the shop floor. For SAPinsiders, this means that modernization is the mandatory first step toward future innovation.

Usability drives technology ROI in manufacturing. User Interface (UI) is the hidden gem of successful shop floor projects. Therefore, if the system is intuitive for operators, adoption rates soar. On the other hand, complicated, clunky screens lead to workarounds and insufficient data. Organizations must therefore prioritize the operator experience, which is just as critical as the backend technology.

Traceability is profit. In industries like food packaging or building materials, enhanced traceability isn’t just about compliance but about cost control. Being able to trace a defect back to a specific roll, operator, or sensor reading allows organizations to surgically limit recall scope, potentially saving millions by avoiding a blanket recall.