The Future of the Connected Worker: 2026 Trends and Predictions Shaping Manufacturing

AI will act as a co-pilot - providing real-time insights, predicting downtime, guiding troubleshooting, and automating routine analysis to enhance worker productivity.

It’s an integrated digital environment that unifies tools, data, communication, and skills development—enabling frontline teams to work smarter, safer, and faster.

Agentic AI refers to autonomous AI agents that can plan, simulate, and execute tasks with minimal human intervention—optimizing workflows and supporting decision-making in real time.

Visual Factory 2.0 uses digital dashboards, interactive huddle boards, and live data feeds to enable faster, collaborative, real-time problem-solving across all levels of the plant.

Wearables, mobile devices, and smart sensors give workers instant access to instructions, alerts, and data - strengthening safety, communication, and operational agility.