Connected Shopfloor

In this presentation, Rui Baptista, CEO of WEDRONE, details the company's strategic journey to modernize industrial operations and move away from manual processes.The session focuses on the transition from paper-based management to a fully connected digital ecosystem dedicated to producing complex aluminum components for automotive industry leaders such as Porsche, Bentley and Volkswagen.Throughout the video, Baptista explores the five-step roadmap WEDRONE utilized to implement digitalization, starting from the identification of core goals like increasing productivity and reducing costs to the detailed mapping of melting, casting, and machining sectors.The presentation also covers the successful integration between the company's ERP system and the proGrow platform, enabling the automation of tasks such as label printing and ensuring data flows transparently across all levels of the organization, from shopfloor tablets to mobile devices for management.Rui concludes the presentation with a vision of utilizing collected data to generate insights for increasingly precise and proactive quality control and maintenance.

In this episode of the Connected Shopfloor Podcast, Marco Tschan talks with Francisco Duarte, professor at the University of Minho and affiliated researcher at CCG. They share essential advice for engineering students, explore shopfloor innovation, and discuss the technologies transforming the industry.The conversation highlights the importance of staying curious, questioning assumptions, critically evaluating information, and actively engaging with your education and experiences. They also discuss how AI is shaping engineering practice, the value of diverse perspectives, developing problem-solving skills for real-world challenges and building strong networks to support career growth.

On October 23, 2025, at the Connected Shopfloor Summit 2025, Ricardo Tschan Carvalho, COO at proGrow, moderated a roundtable discussion on Artificial Industry or Industrial Intelligence? with industry leaders Filipe Silva, COO at Coloplast, Pedro Maia, COO at Ferral - José Luís & Co. Ltd, and Gonçalo Barata da Rocha, COO at MCF & Palsystems.The discussion explored the critical intersection of AI and digitalization with human resources innovation and competitiveness, highlighting how companies can leverage technology to enhance operational efficiency, drive innovation and empower their workforce.The session offers practical insights and real-world examples from leading COOs on how industrial intelligence, both human and artificial, is shaping the future of manufacturing and mobility.If you’re interested in leadership, manufacturing transformation, or the future of industrial teams, this session is a must-watch.

Are We Prepared to Go 5.0?In the second episode of Season 2, we sit down with Oscar Sroor, Senior Manager of Business Transformation & Continuous Improvement at STERIS, to explore what truly drives progress in a world accelerating toward Industry 5.0.From continuous improvement to cultural adaptation, Oscar shares how people, culture, and mindset shape transformation long before automation enters the scene.Because at the heart of Industry 5.0 lies a simple truth: technology evolves fast, but humans are the starting line.A conversation about change, resilience, and the human factor behind every real improvement.

Are we truly prepared to rethink how we lead our industrial teams?In this opening session of the Connected Shopfloor Summit 2025, Ignacio delivers a powerful message: technology alone doesn’t transform factories, people do.This talk dives into the mindset, clarity and leadership needed to drive real change on the shopfloor. It’s not just about data or digital tools, but about inspiring ownership, action and continuous improvement across operations.If you’re interested in leadership, manufacturing transformation, or the future of industrial teams, this session is a must-watch.