{"id":3791,"date":"2026-07-23T16:13:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/?p=3791"},"modified":"2026-07-24T07:27:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:27:56","slug":"thinmanagers-important-role-in-the-2026-state-of-smart-manufacturing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/?p=3791","title":{"rendered":"ThinManager&#8217;s Important Role in the 2026 State of Smart Manufacturing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Modern manufacturers\u2019 most pressing initiatives have been steadily building within Rockwell Automation\u2019s Annual State of Smart Manufacturing report for over a decade. This annual research looks at how smart manufacturing is evolving and provides insights from a wide range of industrial professionals. You can download your own copy here&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rockwellautomation.com\/en-us\/capabilities\/digital-transformation\/state-of-smart-manufacturing\">https:\/\/www.rockwellautomation.com\/en-us\/capabilities\/digital-transformation\/state-of-smart-manufacturing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the annual report\u2019s content applies to a range of Rockwell Automation portfolio solutions and capabilities, this article seeks to highlight the associations that relate to ThinManager specifically. I\u2019ll keep it simple by pointing out the page number of the report and how ThinManager\u2019s capabilities overlap with the information on that page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Page 2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right out of the gate, the report speaks to many of the common challenges faced by all smart manufacturers, like geopolitical tensions and supply chain issues. These recurring challenges have morphed digital transformation from a talking point to an actual implementation. Executives are now directing and funding the initiatives that will drive closing the gap between data and decisions. This also means continuing to close the gap between IT and OT organizations. ThinManager is designed and built to close these gaps. By allowing each of these teams to maintain their respective roles, while providing tools that also allow each team to do the work best suited for their skillset, ThinManager simplifies the orchestration between IT and OT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Page 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Same as page 2, this page immediately reiterates the need for digital transformation, however, it also starts to get more specific about what that means. It states that 34% of respondents say energy, workforce and cyber are their top challenges. ThinManager addresses all three of these issues directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Thin\u00a0Clients on average use much less energy than their industrial PC counterparts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ThinManager\u2019s ability to shadow other terminals, have content follow a person based on their role, and securely share content on mobile devices, helps alleviate the fact that most manufacturers are having to learn how to work with less human capital than in the past.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ThinManager-Ready thin clients, like the ASEM series of industrial computers, do not store information locally and have no local operating system. These two facts make it one of the strongest, most practical cybersecurity solutions available.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Page 6<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continuing the theme of reduced workforce, page 6 of the report points out that reskilling is becoming more of a standard than hiring new workers. This is because the pool of new knowledgeable workers is quite small. ThinManager can make this quest simpler by allowing customers to implement the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>ThinManager allows admins to deploy AppLink. This feature delivers only the applications suited for a particular terminal or role. It automatically hides the local desktop on the thin client and forces users to only work with applications that are specifically assigned.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allow terminal to terminal shadowing so that teams can easily troubleshoot and share information across the plant without having to traverse the entire plant floor when a question arises.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Implement ThinManager add-on solutions like Logix PinPoint that can automatically identify and navigate to the specific code that caused an alarm to trip.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Page 8<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This page simply reenforces the numbers from page 5 of the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Page 9<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This page states the core drivers of digital transformation. It mentions \u201cImprove Quality\u201d, \u201cReduce Costs\u201d, and \u201cReduce Risk\u201d are the three main items. You can refer to the bullet points from page 5 to see that ThinManager readily provides a solution for reducing costs and risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smart manufacturers understand that implementing complimentary technologies can be more effective than tackling problems with singular solutions. ThinManager\u2019s ability to orchestrate the configuration and delivery of visualization assets from the Rockwell Automation portfolio and several third-party solutions, makes it one of the few technologies that can close the gap between disparate hardware and software by allowing them to work harmoniously within the same operational facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Page 11<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While AI has the highest number (46%) on this page, it isn\u2019t the only number to watch. Between 35-40% of respondents also stated that implementing \u201cincreased automation\u201d, \u201cemployee skills and retraining\u201d and \u201csecuring IT\/OT architectures\u201d are almost as important as AI. Again, refer to the bullet points for page 5 and 6 to see how ThinManager speaks directly to these objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Page 14<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The page sets the number that highlights one of modern manufacturing\u2019s greatest challenges. 50% state that repurposing existing workers is necessary to push through their digital transformation plans. This highlights the limited number of true knowledge workers currently available to manufacturers and the fact that the future pool of workers is not large enough, or skilled enough to fill this gap anytime soon. ThinManager allows for less friction between IT and OT so this gap can be more easily closed with existing team members who already have knowledge and experience running your facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Page 15<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This page stresses the alignment of strategy, people, and platforms necessary to move forward with a real digital transformation plan. This is highlighted as being more challenging than a competitive market. ThinManager is designed to orchestrate the configuration and delivery of industrial visualization content to the right person, in the right place, at the right time. ThinManager simplifies securely connecting hardware, software and people\u2014alignment is built in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Page 17<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This page punctuates the report by highlighting 8 steps to drive digital transformation successfully. ThinManager clearly supports items 1-4 and item 8. ThinManager has been proving value, offering a short-term purchase-to-profit schedule, providing scalability and collaboration, and creating ever new ways of making OT teams as productive as possible while satisfying the requirements of modern IT and digital transformation objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information on how ThinManager can help implement your digital transformation initiatives, please consider one of the following options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thinmanager.com\/profile\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/thinmanager.com\/profile\/\">Read the ThinManager Product Profile<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thinmanager.com\/quote\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/thinmanager.com\/quote\/\">Request a ThinManager quote<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/partners.thinmanager.com\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/partners.thinmanager.com\">Consider Video Learning and\/or self-paced ThinManager Training &amp; Certification<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/licensing.thinmanager.com\/DemoCode\/Create\">Download a 30-day demo of ThinManager<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/thinmanager.com\/\">ThinManager.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Modern manufacturers\u2019 most pressing initiatives have been steadily building within Rockwell Automation\u2019s Annual State of Smart Manufacturing report for over a decade. This annual research looks at how smart manufacturing is evolving and provides insights from a wide range of industrial professionals. You can download your own copy here&nbsp;https:\/\/www.rockwellautomation.com\/en-us\/capabilities\/digital-transformation\/state-of-smart-manufacturing. While the annual report\u2019s content applies [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3796,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[255,235],"tags":[113,357,30],"class_list":["post-3791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thin-client-management","category-thinmanager","tag-rockwell-automation","tag-smart-manufacturing","tag-thinmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3791"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3792,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3791\/revisions\/3792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thinmanager.com\/thinclients\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}