Inside SugarCreek’s IoT-Enabled Smart Factory

The Internet of Things has come to the dinner table. No longer a far-fetched technology trend, the IoT brings real efficiency, productivity and safety to today’s factories and buildings.

Food manufacturer SugarCreek recently gutted a 70,000-square-foot facility and expanded it to more than 400,000 square feet. Along the way, the building received a complete technical upgrade to equip it for the Internet of Things, giving SugarCreek capabilities that were pipe dreams only a few years ago.

<p>John Richardson, Chairman of the Board and CEO, SugarCreek</p>

<p>Ed Rodden, CIO, SugarCreek</p>

<p>Dan Sileo, Vice President of Manufacturing, SugarCreek</p>

<p>Mike Doegnes, Systems Engineer, Cisco</p>

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<li>Employees wear RFID-tagged bump caps, generating workflow productivity data and ensuring their location during emergencies</li>
<li>A network of 260 video cameras allows remote employees and partners to watch operations and assist with maintenance from off-site locations</li>
<li>The new connected technology should increase labor utilization from about 80 percent to well above 90 percent</li>
<li>Once fully operational, the Cambridge City facility will create nearly 400 new jobs in a distressed rural community</li>
</ul>