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52 SMT Magazine • November 2015 tions and professional services, we help custom- ers proactively assess and address their network infrastructure, industrial security, automation, and information solutions. Our integrated con- trol and information solutions break down bar- riers by bringing secure access to contextual- ized data to generate actionable information. We bring IT and OT together by delivering a combination of control-system design, modern automation and information applications, so- lutions, software, and professional services to help customers address risk and improve per- formance. Besides Cisco, we have also aligned with other IT and OT market leaders, such as Microsoft, Panduit and AT&T, as well as our en- tire PartnerNetwork, to continue to drive the vi- sion—enabling us to solve real-world customer problems, which we could not accomplish on our own. Las Marias: one of the things that is help- ing manufacturers cope with the high rate of change is automating processes in their manu- facturing lines. From your perspective, which processes in the electronics manufacturing can easily be automated? Hannah: It really depends on the individual company's maturity and business objectives. Therefore, conducting an internal baseline as- sessment is a critical first step, as well as being mindful of the current and future operation states. Next, organizations should consider their goals regarding quality, downtime, pro- ductivity and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Furthermore, they have to identify pri- mary objectives for pursuing a connected en- terprise; for example, what problems they are trying to solve or where they are seeking greater efficiencies. From there, operators can build the roadmap to move from discussing and theoriz- ing the connected enterprise to rationalizing and operationalizing it. Las Marias: What about the risks and chal- lenges when a decision has been finalized to au- tomate certain assembly processes? FeaTure INTervIeW CoNNeCTING THe eNTerPrISe