Siemens and Microsoft Unify Shop Floor and Cloud Data for Next-Gen Manufacturing Intelligence

Siemens Industrial Edge allows manufacturers to deploy and manage workloads and connectivity applications, seamlessly connecting industrial assets to Microsoft Azure

(IN BRIEF) Siemens has enhanced its partnership with Microsoft under its Siemens Xcelerator platform to streamline the integration of operational and information technology in manufacturing. By integrating Siemens Industrial Edge with Microsoft Azure IoT Operations, manufacturers can now enable a smooth data transfer from production lines to the cloud, facilitating real-time analytics through AI and digital twin applications. This integration bridges the traditional gap between IT and OT, allowing data to be captured directly at the source and processed at the edge before being sent to the cloud. The collaboration enables manufacturers to deploy and manage hybrid workloads more efficiently, resulting in improved machine performance, superior product quality, and reduced maintenance requirements. Key executives from both companies highlighted the ease of scaling automation solutions and accelerating the digital transformation of manufacturing through unified data management platforms such as Microsoft Fabric. This innovative approach is set to revolutionize how industrial operations utilize shop floor data for continuous improvement and enhanced operational resilience.

(PRESS RELEASE) NUREMBERG, 20-Mar-2025 — /EuropaWire/ —  Siemens AG (ETR: SIE), announces that it has extended its strategic collaboration with Microsoft as part of its Siemens Xcelerator platform, simplifying the integration of operational technology (OT) with information technology (IT) for manufacturing enterprises. By combining Siemens Industrial Edge with Microsoft Azure IoT Operations, industrial customers can now achieve seamless data flow from the shop floor to the cloud. This convergence allows data collected at the edge to be efficiently processed and analyzed using AI-driven and digital-twin powered solutions, ultimately enhancing machine performance, boosting product quality, and minimizing maintenance downtime.

Historically, many manufacturing environments operated with isolated IT and OT systems, but the new integration leverages edge computing to bridge this divide. Siemens Industrial Edge empowers manufacturers to rapidly deploy and manage applications within their factory environments, ensuring that production data is continuously fed to Azure IoT Operations. This integration is a cornerstone of Microsoft’s adaptive cloud strategy, which unifies on-premises and cloud data, creating a reliable and secure framework for mission-critical production applications. These applications include virtualized control systems, low-latency closed-loop AI, executable digital twins, and production line analytics that collectively drive smarter, more adaptive operations.

Combining Siemens Industrial Edge with Microsoft’s cloud and AI services enables a seamless data flow from production lines to the edge and to the cloud

“Siemens and Microsoft are reducing complexity for industrial customers by easing the burden of integrating and managing infrastructure, data, and applications,” explained Rainer Brehm, CEO Factory Automation at Siemens. “It is now easier to deploy and scale automation solutions across machines, lines, and factories, enabling higher machine performance and reduced maintenance time.” Dayan Rodriguez, Corporate Vice President for Manufacturing and Mobility at Microsoft, added, “Through the Microsoft adaptive cloud approach, manufacturers can now leverage Siemens Industrial Edge with Azure IoT Operations and unify their data with Microsoft Fabric. This marks a significant milestone in our shared journey to accelerate the digital transformation of manufacturing and to develop data-driven applications in hybrid environments faster than ever before.”

This collaboration not only delivers a unified control plane for managing critical OT workloads on the shop floor but also integrates with Azure’s cloud control plane for IT workloads. Together, these technologies enable rapid deployment and management of hybrid workloads across locations, allowing manufacturers to turn raw shop floor data into actionable insights using AI, digital twins, and even generative AI to improve operational efficiency and workforce capabilities.

Siemens Digital Industries (DI) empowers companies of all sizes within the process and discrete manufacturing industries to accelerate their digital and sustainability transformation across the entire value chain. Siemens’ cutting-edge automation and software portfolio revolutionizes the design, realization and optimization of products and production. And with Siemens Xcelerator – the open digital business platform – this process is made even easier, faster, and scalable. Together with our partners and ecosystem, Siemens Digital Industries enables customers to become a sustainable Digital Enterprise. Siemens Digital Industries has a workforce of around 70,000 people worldwide.

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a leading technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, mobility, and healthcare. The company’s purpose is to create technology to transform the everyday, for everyone. By combining the real and the digital worlds, Siemens empowers customers to accelerate their digital and sustainability transformations, making factories more efficient, cities more livable, and transportation more sustainable. Siemens also owns a majority stake in the publicly listed company Siemens Healthineers, a leading global medical technology provider pioneering breakthroughs in healthcare. For everyone. Everywhere. Sustainably.
In fiscal 2024, which ended on September 30, 2024, the Siemens Group generated revenue of €75.9 billion and net income of €9.0 billion. As of September 30, 2024, the company employed around 312,000 people worldwide on the basis of continuing operations. Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com.

Media contact:

Hannah Arnal
Siemens AG
+49 152 22572736
hannah.arnal@siemens.com

SOURCE: Siemens AG