Manufacturing industries are on the verge of a data-driven revolution. They collaborate in hyperconnected value networks employing a large variety of data‑and‑analytics applications. Data is the lifeblood of these applications, driving productivity, new customer experiences and ensuring a positive impact on society and the environment. While companies can implement many applications using only internal data, they can rarely unlock the full opportunity alone. More sophisticated applications often require the exchange of data beyond company boundaries to effectively train artificial intelligence algorithms and to support collaboration in complex networks that require increased transparency. Consequently, data sharing is a key enabler of multiple advanced data‑driven applications in manufacturing.

However, there are challenges the industry alone cannot address. Success only happens when all stakeholders in production ecosystems come together and continue to solve important organizational and technological challenges.

Shedding light on these issues, this project aims to help manufacturers collectively make the best of their collective data and build successful data ecosystems in manufacturing. To do so, the community has developed tool to map out barriers and achieve excellence, the Manufacturing Data Excellence Framework. Drawing learnings from successful, value-adding data-collaborations, this framework will lay out prerequisites and principles for data sharing excellence, help companies assess their readiness and highlight key priorities to achieve the next maturity levels. The community leverages this framework and ongoing community discussions to embark on a cross-industry learning journey, but also incubate new collaborations around common areas of interest to support a journey towards globally connected manufacturing data ecosystems. 

Organizations may chose to engage in this initiative by:

• Sharing best practices and success stories for data collaborations, demonstrating achieved impact in productivity, customer experience and the environment


• Applying the Manufacturing Data Excellence Framework by performing a maturity self-assessment and providing continuous feedback to retain its relevance in the ever-evolving manufacturing operations


• Contributing in the development of new pilot collaborations together with community peers