Resources

Retiring the spreadsheet that runs your plant

Most plants run on a spreadsheet somebody built years ago. Here is where it still earns its place, where it costs you, and how to move off it without a big rebuild. The mode40 team · Sep 23, 2026

How to calculate OEE without fooling yourself

The OEE calculation takes thirty seconds. The inputs are where most plants end up with a number better than the shift actually was. Chris Peters · Sep 8, 2026

Three definitions of availability, three different OEE numbers

Overall equipment effectiveness depends on definitions each plant sets locally, and availability is the one they most often define differently. Chris Peters · Sep 5, 2026

Traceability software for manufacturing: what to ask

Every vendor can run a clean mock recall on stage. The question is whether the trace was recorded live or assembled afterward. Rob Ryder · Sep 2, 2026

MES vs ERP: which one knows what happened at 2 a.m.

ERP records the plan and the cost, your MES records the events on the floor, and neither one records why the line stopped. Rob Ryder · Sep 1, 2026

Machine downtime tracking starts with the reason codes

A control system times every stop on its own. The reason is the only field a person fills, and it decides what you can fix. Chris Peters · Aug 29, 2026

What's new

  1. Forecast trends, snapshots, and accuracy

    The forecasting worksheet now shows how demand has moved, lets planners freeze a forecast, and grades that forecast against what actually shipped.

  2. Load to ship in one flow, a deeper ERP sync, and a scheduling agent

    Warehouse teams can plan, pick, stage and ship a load in one flow. The ERP sync now runs both ways across orders, products and inventory policy, and a scheduling agent proposes reschedules for approval.

  3. Drag-and-drop scheduling, and suppliers as real records

    Planners can sequence production orders on a drag-and-drop board by area, line or asset. Suppliers move from free text on purchase orders to a managed record.

  4. Inventory tracked by physical bin

    Inventory can now sit across several physical bins at once, and every consumption, adjustment, receipt and pick goes through an audited transaction.

See all releases

What “practitioner-built” actually means

Everybody in this category says they understand your operation. Here is the test you can run inside a single demo. Chip Martens · Aug 26, 2026

How to run root cause analysis from records

Root cause analysis in manufacturing stalls when the only answer is what one person remembers. Here is how to work from records instead. Chris Peters · Aug 26, 2026

Finite capacity scheduling: why Friday’s plan is wrong by Tuesday

Most plants schedule without their real limits, so Friday's plan stops matching the plant by Tuesday. Finite capacity scheduling plans inside those limits. Cameron Bergen · Aug 25, 2026

What a unified namespace is, and what it is not

A unified namespace is an agreement about names and one place to publish them. It is not something a vendor can hand you. Matthew Joubert · Aug 22, 2026

Historian software: what it records and what it misses

A historian stores what your equipment did, with timestamps nobody edits later, and that record is worth more than any trend drawn on it. Matthew Joubert · Aug 19, 2026

A dashboard is not a decision

Reporting tells you something went wrong, then waits for a human to do the rest. That gap is where the money goes. Tracy Gromniski · Aug 19, 2026

Where we'll be

  • Oct 7 to 9, 2026

    ChainReaction 2026

    Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort, One Grand Cypress Blvd, Orlando, Florida

    SafetyChain's customer summit for food and beverage quality, food safety, and operations leaders. mode40 is a Platinum sponsor, with a main-stage session on Friday, October 9, at 1:00 pm.

    Speaking

  • Oct 20, 2026

    Prairie AI Summit 2026

    The Leaf, Assiniboine Park, 145 The Leaf Way, Winnipeg, Manitoba

    The inaugural Prairie AI Summit, hosted by AccelR8, connecting government, academia, AI companies, and business. mode40 leads a session.

    Speaking

  • Oct 22, 2026

    15th Annual Next Generation Manufacturing Signature Event

    Zoo Atlanta, Savanna Hall, Atlanta, Georgia

    NGM's annual event for Georgia manufacturing executives. Cameron Bergen, CEO of mode40, speaks with Bill Strang, President, Corporate Strategy, eCommerce and After-Sales Consumer Experience at TOTO USA, about where the data behind AI comes from.

    Speaking, the mode40 table

  • Oct 27 to 28, 2026

    Canadian Aerospace Summit 2026

    Fairmont Château Laurier, Ottawa, Ontario

    AIAC's national summit connecting aerospace executives with government.

    Attending

See all events

How to get SCADA data off the plant floor

Pulling SCADA data off the plant floor takes one line, one gateway, a protocol your equipment already speaks, and about forty well-chosen tags. Matthew Joubert · Aug 18, 2026

Statistical process control on live data

The math has not changed since the 1920s, but live data lets you act during the run instead of the next morning. Tracy Gromniski · Aug 15, 2026

The retirement problem nobody budgets for

The most valuable system in your operation is a person, and they just gave notice. Cameron Bergen · Aug 12, 2026

Sovereign AI: who owns what the model learned from you

Hosting is the easy half of sovereign AI, and the harder half is who keeps what the model learned from you. Tracy Gromniski · Aug 12, 2026

What data sovereignty means for Canadian operations

Where the data sits is the easy question. Who can reach it and which government can order it handed over is the harder one. Matthew Joubert · Aug 11, 2026

A digital twin is a working model of your operation

Most digital twin projects in manufacturing buy a 3D render; the operation needs a model that answers what happens if something changes. Tracy Gromniski · Aug 8, 2026

In the press

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