This white paper explains why smart factories are accelerating and why building them is hard, citing disruption, inflation, talent gaps, supply bottlenecks, cost pressure, and cyberattacks as key headwinds. It frames smart manufacturing as a fast-growing market (global smart manufacturing valued at $254.24B in 2022, projected 14.9% CAGR through 2030) and highlights common Industry 4.0 focus areas (page 4 shows robotics/automation and data analytics leading). It then positions Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing as an open, secure platform that connects people, assets, workflows, and business processes to provide end-to-end visibility, planning and optimization, safer operations, stronger security, and resilience. The approach centers on outcomes: empowering the workforce with role-based lear

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