Schneider Electric is calling downtime an architecture problem instead of a maintenance problem and has some interesting stats to back up this argument: 30 percent of maintenance activities require vendor-specific support Nearly one quarter of facilities experience 10 to 24 hours of full production stoppage every month For large manufacturers, unplanned downtime costs around $75,000 per hour Open, software-defined automation reduces that drag by simplifying architectures and removing vendor lock-in. I spoke with Marta Asack, senior vice president power products, Schneider Electric, on the importance of automation capabilities in motor management as well as how industrial motors management is reshaping operations to data-driven solutions that reduce downtime and boost efficiency. Stay tuned for extended coverage of this in PTE.