The growth of manufacturing companies is no longer exclusively related to production capacity or cost management skills. In fact, it also depends on the ability to transform operational processes into a continuous, measurable and governable flow, according to the logic of Smart Manufacturing. Increasing manufacturing complexity, the spread of heterogeneous systems and the presence of layered architectures over the years have resulted in a fragmented information ecosystem, where plants dialogue with MES, ERP and vertical platforms with difficulty.
This fragmentation compromises data quality, slows down decisions, and limits the ability to react to changes in demand, critical plant issues, or process inefficiencies. For many companies, it results in long analysis times, retrospective reporting, and a major mismatch between what happens on the line and what reaches management systems.
In this scenario, the need arises for a technology layer capable of orchestrating industrial processes and making the entire information assets coherent.
Bishop fits right in: as an industrial operating system developed in the Regesta context, it provides a single environment for collecting, normalizing, and putting value on data from plants, sensors, applications, and management systems.
The goal is clear: to build an operating model based on reliable, accessible and timely data, finally overcoming the logic of information silos.
Overcoming system fragmentation: why an industrial operating system is needed
Traditional manufacturing industry architectures are the result of successive layers: old MESs, SCADA systems, vertical databases, manual collection tools, and ERPs that are not always up-to-date.
According to a study by theEuropean Industrial Data Space¹, the use of multiple different IT systems within companies has led to the emergence of data silos that prevent smooth business processes. Each element meets specific needs, but rarely dialogues fluidly with the others.
The result is a multiplicity of misaligned, often inconsistent data sources, distributed across different technological and logical levels. This fragmentation manifests itself concretely in daily practices: a study by the Manufacturing Leadership Council²reveals that 70 percent of manufacturers collect data manually, mainly using spreadsheets, and 68 percent continue to use spreadsheets for data analysis. The consequence is a loss of information consistency that propagates throughout the operational chain.
For example, a plant may provide indicators in real time, while the MES processes them on an hourly basis, and the ERP receives them only after the operational documents are closed. It becomes complex for production managers or management to get a unified view. A downtime may be recorded at different times depending on the system, generating delays in corrective actions and subsequent analysis.
An industrial operating system is created to eliminate these gaps. Bishop is an orchestration layer that integrates with the existing one, unifies flows, and enables the construction of a coherent and usable database for operational and strategic decisions: in short, it is not just another vertical application that risks adding complexity without offering real integration.
Bishop as a unifying platform: architecture and principles of operation
To understand how this system operates and what its uniqueness is, it is important to understand its structure more thoroughly. Bishop’s architecture is based on three principles:
- Native integration between the OT and IT worlds: the platform dialogues directly with machines, field systems and management applications, extracting heterogeneous data and transforming it into structured information.
- Normalization and contextualization of data: each piece of information collected is enriched with operational metadata, production contexts, and process information, making it possible to go beyond the logic of simple data collection.
- A Single Business Information Model: Bishop acts as a Single Point of Truth, reducing duplication, inconsistencies and manual reconciliation processes.
From a technical point of view, Bishop behaves like an operating system: it offers communication services, event management, process orchestration, monitoring, logging and data modeling. The various business applications, e.g., MES, ERP, maintenance tools, and quality systems, somehow become user processes that operate on top of this unified layer.
For enterprises, this means building a stable foundation for all subsequent digital evolutions: data analytics, predictive maintenance, simulations, digital twins and decision automation.
Continuous and reliable data: the basis for decision intelligence
Fragmented information assets make any data-driven practice difficult. Bishop solves this problem by building a homogeneous data flow between:
- production departments;
- control and supervisory systems;
- operational and management applications;
- Analysis and reporting tools.
The result is an ecosystem in which data quality is assured by the very process of collection and validation. Information becomes timely, consistent and immediately available to:
- Monitor the efficiency of facilities;
- Analyze deviations and anomalies;
- Feeding predictive models;
- Obtain reliable KPIs for management and management control.
The continuous availability of data also enables the integration of decision intelligence logics, where complex decision-making processes are supported by algorithms, evolutionary rules and indicators updated in real time.
Eliminating silos: an organizational as well as technological transformation
The main effect of adopting an industrial operating system such as Bishop goes far beyond a simple technological evolution. In fact, it also involves organizational and managerial aspects that can change, for the better, the corporate culture of data.
When data become a shared and integral asset, in fact:
- departments speak the same language;
- the causes of inefficiencies emerge more clearly;
- maintenance can work on predictive instead of reactive scenarios;
- planning can be based on information synchronized with the field;
- quality control achieves end-to-end traceability;
- management has accurate and consistent indicators.
The ability to observe what is happening in production at a uniform level of detail generates a major cultural change: departments are no longer isolated compartments and become parts of a single shared operating system.
Scalability and governance: a platform designed to grow with the business
Bishop is designed to adapt to both the most complex industrial settings and more linear production systems. Modularity allows functionality to be introduced incrementally, without disrupting operations. Integration with existing environments reduces the impact on processes and makes it possible to leverage investments already made on MES, ERP or vertical systems.
Data governance becomes simpler: the platform defines roles, authorization flows, and how information is validated and distributed. Every piece of data has a traceable origin, an unambiguous meaning, and a controlled lifecycle.
For companies embarking on paths of growth, production diversification or internationalization, this structure represents an immediate competitive advantage: the replicability of processes and information models accelerates the opening of new plants and the integration of new lines.
Toward a smart and connected industrial model
In short, the introduction of Bishop creates the conditions for a truly connected manufacturing.
Among the most relevant aspects from this point of view are that the industrial operating system enables:
- real-time monitoring;
- Integrated automations between machines and applications;
- Extended predictive analyses;
- Decision-making processes based on reliable data;
- Greater control and responsiveness of the entire internal supply chain.
This approach reduces time, errors, waste and manual activities, freeing up resources for continuous optimization and higher-value operational activities.
The company becomes faster in perceiving variations and reacting, improving quality, operating costs and planning ability. The digital strategy itself can evolve in a faster and more structured way because the data base is stable and scalable.
An operating system to manage the industry in a scalable and efficient way
The digital transformation of manufacturing requires tools capable of bringing order to complexity, connecting heterogeneous systems and enhancing the value of data at every stage of the process. Bishop responds to this need with the role of industrial operating system: an orchestration, integration and intelligence platform that enables companies to finally overcome information silos and base decisions on continuous, reliable and contextualized data.
In a manufacturing environment where speed of reaction is crucial, the availability of a unified information model is a strategic element. Bishop provides this level of continuity, building an environment in which any data becomes knowledge and any information can be immediately transformed into action.
Do you want to know what benefits Bishop can bring to your business?
Contact us for more information and tell our experts about your needs.
Source¹: internationaldataspaces.org
Source²: manufacturingleadershipcouncil.com
