You’ve recognized the use instances. You’ve constructed the enterprise case. You’re able to deploy AI on the store ground—predictive upkeep, machine imaginative and prescient for real-time high quality management, digital twins, autonomous robotics, digital PLCs. After which the mission stalls.
It’s not the know-how that stops you. It’s the community beneath it.
That is the central discovering of a brand new report from ARC Advisory Group, Why Trendy Networks are Important for AI-Prepared Manufacturing Operations. After evaluating what it takes to scale AI and software-defined industrial automation in manufacturing environments, ARC reached a transparent conclusion: and not using a trendy, safe, high-performance industrial community, probably the most formidable transformation initiatives merely can’t succeed.
Producers are below relentless strain—to enhance productiveness, cut back prices, speed up time-to-market, and compete in an more and more software-driven trade. An growing variety of producers at the moment are embracing AI as revealed within the newly launched survey, 2026 State of Industrial AI Report for Manufacturingwhich notes that 59% of producers are actively deploying AI. Rising applied sciences like shop-floor virtualization, AI-powered processes, and cloud-connected manufacturing techniques promise to assist. However they arrive with stringent necessities that legacy networks had been by no means designed to fulfill.
As Chantal Polsonetti, Vice President on the ARC Advisory Group places it: “Major implementation hurdles to adoption of superior applied sciences usually revolve across the limitations of present community infrastructure. Points with community efficiency, flexibility, scalability, reliability, resilience, safety, manageability, and observability can stall or derail important modernization initiatives.”
This isn’t a distinct segment drawback. It’s the defining impediment for producers who’re severe about digital transformation.
Arno Thijssen, Senior Principal Engineer – Course of and Automation at Neat Dr. Pepperhas seen it firsthand. Whereas his crew has recognized many promising AI use instances, they’ve acknowledged that sustainable success will depend on getting the inspiration proper first. In response, Keurig Dr. Pepper is standardizing its networks for larger bandwidth, stronger safety, and tighter collaboration between OT and IT groups.
A contemporary community isn’t merely a sooner one. In keeping with ARC, it should be an enterprise-grade OT community that’s safe by design—able to delivering the determinism and resilience that industrial environments demand, whereas additionally assembly the safety, scalability, and bandwidth necessities of AI-driven purposes.
Which means:
- Excessive-bandwidth connectivity to deal with data-intensive workloads like machine imaginative and prescient and real-time analytics
- Excessive-wattage Energy over Ethernet (PoE)—as much as 90W—to energy the following technology of commercial units together with cameras and sensors
- Embedded OT safety—asset visibility, micro-segmentation, and zero-trust distant entry constructed instantly into the community, not bolted on afterward
- Clever, centralized administration so OT groups can transfer from reactive to proactive, stopping downtime earlier than it occurs
- IT/OT partnership facilitated by means of unified architectures that bridge the hole between historically separate groups and domains
Audi’s Edge Cloud For Manufacturing (EC4P) initiative is a compelling proof level. By virtualizing shop-floor property—HMIs, industrial PCs, and PLCs—Audi has decoupled software program from {hardware}, enabling sooner upgrades, decrease prices, and a scalable infrastructure prepared for AI-driven predictive upkeep and high quality management.
Cisco offers the important networking infrastructure underpinning EC4P, guaranteeing excessive availability from the store ground to the info heart. As ARC notes, the initiative “serves as a strong instance of how a forward-thinking method to community structure can unlock the complete potential of software-defined manufacturing and AI-driven processes.”
Cisco, the main enterprise and industrial community infrastructure provider, provides a complete suite of networking and safety options desigend to assist producers construct future-ready operations.
Chantal Polsonetti, Vice President on the ARC Advisory Group
After a radical analysis of the seller panorama, ARC recognized Cisco as the one industrial networking vendor with the complete portfolio producers must succeed. That evaluation rests on 4 pillars:
- AI-ready infrastructure: Ruggedized switches, industrial routers, and wi-fi entry factors validated for operational environments—delivering the resilience and bandwidth AI purposes demand
- Operational simplicity: An Agentic AI-powered troubleshooting device that acts as a digital co-worker, enabling OT technicians to diagnose and resolve community points utilizing plain conversational language—no deep networking experience required
- Safety fused into the community: OT safety capabilities—visibility, segmentation, zero-trust entry—embedded instantly into the infrastructure, so safety scales along with your operations
- Confirmed blueprints: Cisco Validated Designs (CVDs) present examined, complete architectures that cut back deployment threat, keep vendor interoperability, and speed up time-to-value
It’s not simply ARC saying this both. Their conclusion is supported within the 2026 State of Industrial AI survey by which 63% of producers stated Cisco can be their best choice for constructing the AI-ready networking infrastructure they want.
The trail to AI-ready manufacturing runs by means of the community. Whether or not you’re evaluating your present infrastructure, planning a modernization initiative, or prepared to maneuver ahead, the suitable basis makes the distinction between a mission that scales and one which stalls.
Right here’s the right way to go deeper:
- Watch the on-demand webinar: Hear instantly from Chantal at ARC Advisory Group and Arno at Keurig Dr. Pepper as they share classes discovered and sensible suggestions for constructing an AI-ready industrial community. Register to look at now.
- Obtain the complete ARC report: Get the whole technical necessities and strategic suggestions from ARC Advisory Group. Obtain the report.
- Learn the 2026 State of Industrial AI Report for Manufacturing: Hear from industrial professionals throughout the globe. Entry the report.
- Discuss to a Cisco professional: Able to assess your community and discover what’s doable? Schedule a free session.
