The challenge of connecting data across electronics manufacturing
Electronics manufacturers have more access to production data than ever before. Yet despite growing investments in digitalisation, many companies still struggle to achieve complete visibility across their production environments.
According to Moritz Floder, Product Manager Digitalisation at Kurtz Ersa, one of the biggest obstacles is the sheer diversity of systems used throughout the industry.
"The biggest challenge is the big variety in architecture. From customer to customer the used systems, machines and brands are different. Even from plant to plant of one customer there can be important differences," Floder told Evertiq ahead of his presentation at Evertiq Expo Berlin 2026.
This diversity makes consistent data collection far more complicated than it may appear. While manufacturers increasingly aim for end-to-end transparency and traceability, connecting machines, software systems and production processes often requires significant integration efforts.
"For end-to-end transparency connectivity is the key. To achieve this goal data needs to be collected through interfaces.Standard interfaces help to come to a common understanding on what is needed. However, to establish all interfaces, an initial investment needs to be done anywas,“ Floder explained.
As factories continue to digitalise, production data is becoming an increasingly valuable asset. While requirements differ between manufacturers, Floder points out that process parameters play a crucial role in maintaining high product quality and ensuring stable production processes.
At the same time, greater connectivity enables higher levels of automation across the factory floor.
"Instead of manual interaction, interfaces enable product changes automatically through the whole line," he said.
Looking ahead, Floder expects data collection to become even more closely linked with automated decision-making and process optimisation.
"I see a trend toward more and more automatization. This also includes corrections based on collected data, ensuring optimal settings in the loop," he explained.
During Evertiq Expo Berlin on June 18, Moritz Floder will present "Data Capture Across Manual and Automated Processes in Electronics Manufacturing". His presentation will provide an overview of the challenges and solutions related to process data acquisition in smart electronics manufacturing, with a particular focus on efficiency, quality assurance, traceability and end-to-end visibility across the production environment. Registration for the event is now open.
