An open framework for manufacturing data
UMDA is a free, vendor-neutral framework for turning scattered manufacturing data into a single, trusted foundation for analytics and AI. It connects your data into a governed knowledge graph on open standards, with no rip-and-replace and no lock-in.
Architecture benefits
What a unified, standards-driven data foundation delivers across the enterprise.
Unified data, no more silos
Breaks down barriers between systems, making all manufacturing data accessible and actionable across the enterprise.
Real-time insights
Enables instant visibility into operations, supporting faster, data-driven decisions at every level.
Seamless integration
Connects legacy equipment, modern platforms, and cloud solutions in a standardized fashion.
Scalable and future-proof
Adapts easily as business demands grow, supporting new technologies and evolving requirements.
Foundation for AI and analytics
Provides the structured, high-quality data needed to unlock advanced analytics, machine learning, and emerging AI.
Accelerates digital transformation
Simplifies the path from pilot projects to enterprise-wide adoption, helping manufacturers innovate and stay competitive.
Why it matters
Most plants don't have a data problem. They have a context problem. The signals already exist, but they're trapped in separate systems that don't share a vocabulary or a clock.
UMDA fixes this by adding context where data is born. A raw vibration reading becomes "Pump P-12, Line 5, trending past its limit," and the alert reaches the line lead before the pump fails. And because the outcome flows back into the loop, the next catch comes even earlier.
Explore the frameworkBuild once. Reuse across sites.
Most manufacturing data programs pay for the same work repeatedly. Each plant reconnects its systems, rebuilds context, and adapts every analytics solution to local data.
UMDA turns those one-off efforts into reusable enterprise assets. Common models, governed namespaces, data products, and deployment patterns allow each successful integration and use case to make the next one faster and less expensive.
Use-case-led delivery pays full price for every pattern, so its cost line never bends. Foundation-led delivery starts higher, because the first pattern carries the shared layers, then flattens as each new pattern borrows them. The lines cross before the third pattern; the shaded gap after that is the compounding return.
The economics, drawn: from UMDA Applied, the whitepaper on seven buildable patterns.
Lower integration cost
Connect local systems once to governed contracts rather than separately to every application.
Faster use-case deployment
Give analytics and AI consistent data without rebuilding context for every project.
Cross-site reuse
Move successful solutions to additional plants by remapping sources rather than rewriting the solution.
Reduced technology risk
Preserve existing systems while reducing dependence on proprietary interfaces and isolated platforms.
Explore the architecture
Start with the big picture, then go as deep as you need.
Overview
What UMDA is, its core principles, and the questions it answers.
Read the overview →Framework
The six interoperating layers, from edge intelligence to AI agents.
See the layers →Implementation
A 15-step path across five phases, from data vision to scaled AI.
Plan your rollout →Tools
Design your namespace, data model, and AI agents in the browser, with a standards crosswalk and reference library alongside.
Open the tools →Free · 5 minutes · private
How AI-ready is your manufacturing data?
Answer a quick set of questions to see where your data architecture stands against the UMDA framework. You'll get an overall maturity level, category scores, a readiness quadrant, and the UMDA layers to focus on next. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing is stored or sent.
Start the self-assessmentNew · a strategy game · play in your browser
Built to Scale: the UMDA simulator
Lead a manufacturer's data and AI transformation across the six UMDA layers. Build the foundation right and reach a fully autonomous, AI-driven network, or chase quick wins and watch the technical debt catch up. A few minutes, no sign-up.
Play the simulationUMDA is open. Put it to work.
The framework is free to adopt and built on open standards. Explore it, apply it to your own operations, and help shape where it goes next.
- Vendor-neutral and free to use
- Works with the systems you already own