Blog
Short and clear: practical notes on control, optimization and digitalization.
From Tribal Knowledge to Scalable Automation: Why Deployment Toolchains Are the Real Productivity Unlock
Many manufacturers don't lose time because the control algorithm is too hard. They lose time because the path from expert knowledge to deployed engineering is too manual. Deployment toolchains fix that — and Siemens, Beckhoff, Rockwell, and MathWorks are already proving it.
Neural Networks in Industrial Control: How Many Are Actually Running?
The 'industrial AI revolution' is real — but most of it is analytics, not control. This article counts the confirmed neural-network controllers operating in closed loop on real production assets, explains why that number is small, and identifies who the genuine candidates are.
5 Signs Your Control Loops Are Costing You Money Right Now
Most process plants quietly lose 5–15% of potential throughput and energy efficiency through poorly tuned control loops. Here are the five symptoms to look for — and what each one costs.
How to Decide if APC Is Worth It: A 15-Minute Self-Assessment
Before spending on a consultant or a commercial APC platform, run through this checklist. It identifies whether your process has the prerequisites for advanced control — and which gaps to fix first.
Soft Sensor vs. Hard Sensor: When to Use Which
A practical decision framework for choosing between physical analyzers and model-based virtual sensors — with cost ranges, lag times, and the hybrid approach most plants miss.
Something Happened to APC in August 2025 — Google Trends Knows It
Google Trends shows a 5–10× synchronized jump in searches for advanced process control, soft sensor, digital twin, and Kalman filter in August 2025. Here is the timeline that likely explains it — and I want to hear what you observed.
Turning 10 Years of Paragliding Data Into Actionable Flight Intelligence
How I built a data pipeline to analyze a decade of XContest cross-country flights across 63 countries, revealing the best places and seasons to fly XC.
MPC in 5 Minutes
Why Model Predictive Control delivers robust quality and how it can transform your process operations.