Thred Cloud

Peter Blake and Team New Zealand might not look like manufacturing thinkers at first glance, but the way they won the America’s Cup is pure manufacturing wisdom.

For years industrial software has trended toward “bigger”: bigger platforms, bigger implementations, bigger budgets. The assumed fix for interoperability was always the same—replace everything or standardize on a single vendor.

Blake didn’t win by outspending rivals. He won by asking a clearer, tougher question.

Their campaign revolved around one deceptively simple test that guided every decision, every trade-off, every design: does it make the boat go faster?

That same test matters in manufacturing today. On 4 August, Thred joined CESMII and the Manufacturing Leadership Council for Scaling Smart Manufacturing: The Interoperability Forum — a free virtual event focused on a stubborn, familiar problem. We demonstrated live alongside leaders from GE Appliances, General Mills, Toyota North America and a host of tech providers.

Watch below to see why Sir Peter Blake’s approach has more to teach us about interoperability than you’d think.