Case USA25: How a Manufacturing Giant mistook Asset Digitization as Enterprise Architecture Transformation

Overview:

This case is part of our 100 US diagnostics showing tech-led asset projects misbranded as EA reform.

Machines received IoT sensors, predictive maintenance dashboards lit up, and cycle time reporting improved — but enterprise anatomy linking production, quality, supply chain, and service was never built.

P1–P6 Insight Preview: 

Asset digitization improved operational monitoring (P6 tech) and components (P4), but lacked manufacturing strategy alignment (P1) and process coherence (P2).

System behaviors (P3) stayed plant-specific; business ops (P6) still managed downtime in isolation.

Role Disconnects:

1. CEO: “We’re now a smart factory” — but not a smart enterprise.
   

2. CIO: “We can track every machine” — but systems don’t optimize together.
   

3. Sales Head: “We promise higher uptime” — but orders still miss deadlines.
   

4. Chief EA: We’ve digitized assets, not architecture.
   

5. Head of Plant Operations: I see failures faster, but I still coordinate fixes by phone.

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