Achieving a 10% Productivity Surge in One Month: A Real-World IoT Automation Success Story

Manufacturing customers are already gaining insight from IoT data by securely connecting machines and sensors. One example of this is the Israel-based manufacturer Lordan.

Lordan is a manufacturer of thermal‑engineering heating and cooling systems and has a global reputation for delivering high‑quality custom‑made designs.

Their Challenge

Lordan needed a manufacturing automation system that could identify bottlenecks, reduce downtime and waste, and improve overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). They required real‑time visibility of throughput and mission‑critical data directly from the production floor, eliminating reliance on periodic assessments.

What they wanted was a window into production that would allow them to address inefficiencies in real time—a system providing end‑to‑end visibility.

The Results Were Immediate

Within the first month, Lordan achieved:

• More than 600 labor hours saved per month through workforce optimization
• Immediate identification of material‑flow bottlenecks, enabling mid‑shift adjustments
• Direct cost savings realized within weeks of deployment

Amir Aloni, CEO of Leadermes.com, explained why security was a top priority.

Lordan implemented the following solution:

• Cisco converged industrial infrastructure, delivering a highly reliable, intelligent, and secure fixed/mobile connectivity platform within the plant
• Wi‑Fi‑enabled, non‑disruptive PLCs and sensors on each machine, collecting essential production data

• Cisco FOG computing nodes powering the LeaderMES application, enabling local data collation, analytics, and secure transmission to the LeaderMES cloud service. FOG provides edge‑level processing and real‑time insights.

• The cloud service delivers a manufacturing operations management platform with online data analysis, live visibility, and proactive alarms & alerts.

The Cisco AS Solution Validation team approached the use case with three key building blocks:

• R&D that addresses current customer needs while reducing floor OPEX and driving productivity gains
• Leveraging Cisco’s IoT product portfolio to accelerate deployment
• A dedicated day‑2 support package via Advanced Services to ensure continuous improvement

All of this is enabled by Cisco’s Connected Factory architecture. View the full case study here.