Deep Dive Focus Day - October 13, 2026
8:30 am - 9:00 am
Deep Dive Focus Day Registration Opens & Networking Breakfast
As connected worker technologies evolve from wearables and AR to robotics, agentic AI, and autonomous decision support, the challenge is no longer finding new tools but identifying which ones deliver real ROI. This workshop helps leaders cut through vendor noise, evaluate technologies against operational reality, and build value aligned roadmaps that balance innovation with integration and workforce adoption. Participants will learn how to link emerging technologies to KPIs, assess maturity and fit, and design connected worker strategies that scale with confidence.
- Learn a structured approach for evaluating emerging technologies based on value thesis, operational fit, and measurable KPI impact
- Understand the hidden costs that drive the 60 percent failure rate in connected worker programs, including change management, integration complexity, and data readiness
- Build the capability to distinguish "signal from noise" across a crowded vendor landscape and assess technology maturity, stability, and long‑term viability
- Explore how to map use cases to business value and create a 12‑month connected worker roadmap tied directly to P&L outcomes
- Gain practical methods for baselining with operational truth, quantifying ROI, and aligning digital investments with site‑level realities
- Examine real‑world case studies that demonstrate how wearables, AR, robotics, and agentic AI can drive productivity, safety, and quality improvements when deployed effectively
Rocky Pinheiro - Global Vice President of Quality and Innovation, PennEngineering Co
Clay Brehm - Principal Architect, PennEngineering
AI is advancing faster than most industrial organizations can absorb, and the real challenge is deciding where it truly creates value. This workshop brings together PennEngineering's digital, quality, and AI leaders to explore the key decisions behind responsible adoption, including platform selection, high value workflows, security, and data integrity. Drawing on hands on experience building an AI factory and deploying solutions across global sites, the session gives participants a practical view of what it takes to make smart and scalable choices in AI deployment.
• Define AI readiness and platform strategy — What it takes to balance enterprise grade security with usability, adoption, and speed for both developers and everyday users.
• Identify high value workflows — How PennEngineering built an AI factory model to surface real business needs, prioritize use cases, and avoid the 95% of pilots that never scale.
• Design a scalable deployment model — Lessons from persona based rollout planning (power users, core users, non users) and how to accelerate value without overwhelming the organization.
• Integrate AI into quality, training, and frontline workflows — Practical insights from deploying across global operations, including multilingual and shop floor centric use cases.
• Navigate data integrity, cloud, and cybersecurity considerations — How to ensure trust, governance, and secure OT/IT convergence without slowing innovation.
• Plan for global rollout and change management — What international deployments reveal about communication, culture, and sustaining momentum beyond the first 6–12 months.
10:30 am - 10:45 am
Morning Networking Break
Manufacturers are under pressure to improve performance, reduce variability, and unify data across complex operations. This workshop explores how modern MES platforms modernize manufacturing execution by connecting equipment, people, and processes through a modular and scalable architecture. Participants will learn how leading organizations digitize workflows, strengthen quality, and manage real time performance across production, maintenance, and inventory while scaling standards with confidence.
Manufacturers are facing a widening skills gap driven by retirements, new technologies, and rising production complexity. This workshop explores how modern skills management and training technologies give leaders real time visibility into workforce capability, streamline compliance, and accelerate development. Participants will learn how to build a more adaptable, confident, and future ready workforce by aligning skills, training, and operational needs.
• Gain real time visibility into workforce capability to identify gaps, assign work confidently, and reduce operational risk.
• Accelerate onboarding and upskilling with targeted training pathways tailored to role, proficiency, and performance needs.
• Strengthen compliance and audit readiness through automated tracking of certifications, qualifications, and training status.
• Improve workforce planning by linking skills data to scheduling, staffing, and production requirements.
• Build a more resilient workforce by standardizing skill development and supporting continuous learning across sites.
How do you keep the production line moving when the supply chain is in constant flux?
12:15 pm - 1:00 pm
Networking Lunch
Manufacturers are increasingly turning to predictive maintenance to eliminate unplanned downtime and improve asset reliability. By combining real time equipment data, machine learning models, and automated diagnostics, organizations can detect issues earlier, prioritize interventions, and empower teams with faster, clearer decisions. This workshop explores how workplace intelligence transforms maintenance from reactive to predictive, delivering measurable improvements in performance and resilience.
• Reduce unplanned downtime by identifying failure patterns early and scheduling interventions before breakdowns occur.
• Improve asset reliability through continuous monitoring and automated anomaly detection.
• Accelerate decision making with AI driven insights that surface root causes and recommend next actions.
• Strengthen maintenance execution by standardizing workflows and ensuring consistent response across teams and sites.
• Increase operational resilience by integrating predictive insights into daily planning, staffing, and production decisions.
Manufacturers cannot empower a connected workforce without reliable, accessible, and well governed data. This workshop explores how organizations transform raw, siloed information into trusted, actionable insights that support faster decisions, stronger performance, and scalable digital initiatives. Participants will learn the essential elements of a modern data foundation and how it enables frontline teams to work with clarity and confidence.
• Build a unified data foundation that connects operational, maintenance, and quality information into a single source of truth.
• Improve decision making by delivering accurate, contextualized insights directly to frontline teams.
• Strengthen data governance with clear ownership, standards, and validation processes that ensure trust at scale.
• Reduce variability and errors by replacing manual data collection with automated, real time capture.
• Accelerate digital transformation by enabling AI, analytics, and connected worker tools to operate on clean, consistent data.
Agentic AI is moving from concept to practical deployment, giving manufacturers new ways to automate decisions, optimize workflows, and support frontline teams. This workshop explores how plant ready agentic AI can deliver real operational impact by improving reliability, reducing manual effort, and enabling faster, more consistent decision making. Participants will learn what it takes to deploy these systems responsibly and at scale.
• Identify high value use cases where agentic AI can automate decisions and improve daily operations.
• Reduce downtime and variability by enabling AI driven recommendations and autonomous workflows.
• Strengthen frontline performance with real time guidance that adapts to context, constraints, and plant conditions.
• Improve trust and adoption through clear governance, transparency, and human in the loop oversight.
• Accelerate scaling by aligning data, infrastructure, and cross functional teams around plant ready deployment requirements.
2:30 pm - 2:45 pm
Networking Break
As AI, automation, and agent based tools move deeper into industrial operations, cybersecurity must evolve from a late stage check to a foundational design principle. This workshop focuses on the practical steps required to embed security into AI initiatives from day one, establish guardrails before experimentation reaches production systems, and build shared accountability across IT, OT, and innovation teams. Participants will explore emerging AI driven risks, cultural barriers that slow adoption, and the ways AI itself can strengthen cyber defenses through detection, automation, and reduced human error.
• Understand why early stage AI projects often overlook cybersecurity and learn practical methods to make secure by design the default
• Identify the minimum controls and guardrails required before AI or agentic tools interact with production systems or OT environments
• Explore strategies for improving communication and trust between IT, OT, and innovation teams to accelerate secure AI adoption
• Learn how to build shared accountability models so security becomes an enabler rather than a blocker
• Examine the most misunderstood cyber risks emerging from generative AI and autonomous agents in industrial workflows
• Discover where AI can genuinely strengthen cybersecurity through improved detection, automated response, and reduced human error
Many organizations are moving beyond pilot projects and working to scale connected worker tools across multiple plants, regions, and operational environments. This workshop explores the practical realities of expanding digital workflows, and frontline enablement tools while navigating ROI pressure, culture change, resource constraints, and varying levels of digital maturity. Participants will learn how to build a repeatable, enterprise aligned model that accelerates adoption and delivers measurable operational value.
• Understand the organizational and operational factors that influence connected worker adoption
• Learn how to standardize digital routines across multiple operations
• Explore a scalable deployment model that moves beyond pilots
• Build ROI narratives that resonate with senior leadership
• Identify where connected worker tools intersect with emerging AI use cases
• Strengthen workforce adoption and capability building at scale
Why most AI projects fail, and what your organization can do differently
4:15 pm - 4:15 pm
Deep Dive Day Workshops Conclude
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
#CWM Summit ‘Regiception’ & Welcome Networking Drinks (Open to All Attendees of the Connected Worker Manufacturing Summit)
Join us after a full day of deep dive insights or if you missed the Deep Dive Focus Day, join us to kick off your time with us at the Summit, grab a drink and mingle with other attendees!
