Future of Manufacturing & Industry 2026 (FoMI) is a one-day industrial and technology conference taking place on March 18, 2026 in Portorož, Slovenia, bringing together manufacturing leaders, engineers, innovators, and decision-makers to discuss data-driven transformation in industrial production. The event emphasizes practical strategies for implementing Industrial AI, real-time shopfloor intelligence, digital twins, and end-to-end value-chain transparency to improve operational efficiency and reduce waste. Sessions focus on applying operational technology (OT) data in ways that unlock business value and prepare manufacturing systems for scalable digital transformation.
Speakers include technology experts covering topics such as owning and making industrial data interoperable and AI-ready, deploying AI models beyond pilot phases, and flexible execution across factory and field environments. The program also explores how data integration from IIoT sensors and systems feeds into analytics, quality inspection, and predictive maintenance—core components of modern Industrial IoT architectures. FoMI fosters collaboration with technology providers, startups, and researchers to co-develop solutions tackling manufacturing’s data and automation challenges.
Overall, FoMI 2026 positions data and IIoT at the heart of smart manufacturing, highlighting how connected machines, sensor-generated data streams, and AI can transform traditional production into efficient, flexible, and intelligent industrial ecosystems.