Defense and aerospace manufacturing operates in a world with zero margin for error. Every misplaced tool, every minute of unplanned downtime, and every compliance gap can cascade into delays measured in weeks or months — with real consequences for mission readiness and the bottom line.
And yet, the vast majority of shop floor data remains locked inside legacy systems and aging equipment that can’t communicate with modern platforms.
In the Season 3 premiere of Out of Thinaer, host Beverly sat down with Alex Jackson, Senior Account Manager on AWS’s Public Sector Industry Domain Partner team, and Roman Chancellor, Specialized Account Executive at Siemens covering the Mendix product line, to discuss how the Connected Everywhere solution is helping defense manufacturers close that gap — fast.
The Problem: A 70% Visibility Gap
For many manufacturers in the defense industrial base, roughly 70% of their operational environment is invisible to leadership at any given time. CNC machines that have been running for decades do their job well, but they weren’t built to connect to a network or transmit real-time data. The result is an operational picture that’s stitched together from end-of-day reports reviewed the next morning.
“The challenge is being made aware of a problem that was a problem yesterday,” Alex explained. “It’s not helpful today in almost any scenario.”
Operators spend 5–10% of their workday simply hunting for tools and materials. Equipment failures go undetected until the line stops. And when organizations try to build software to solve these problems, the traditional development cycle takes so long that by the time the application is delivered, the original need has already shifted.
The Solution: Connect, Build, Scale
Connected Everywhere is a joint solution from Thinaer, Siemens Mendix, and AWS, structured around three pillars:
Connect (Thinaer): Thinaer deploys hardware-agnostic IoT sensors across the shop floor to capture real-time data from machinery, tools, environmental conditions, and assets. Critically, this doesn’t require ripping out existing equipment or sensor infrastructure. If a facility already has RFID or other monitoring in place, Thinaer integrates with it and fills the gaps — often deploying in days. Existing sensors and hardware can be ingested into the same dashboards alongside net-new data, creating a comprehensive operational picture without a massive rip-and-replace.
Build (Siemens Mendix): Once that clean, real-time data stream is flowing, Mendix provides a visual full-stack development environment that allows teams to build mission-grade applications dramatically faster than traditional coding. Roman described seeing applications delivered up to 10x faster with 70% fewer development resources. Engineers on the shop floor can collaborate directly with IT to prototype solutions in days rather than waiting months for a development team to cycle through requirements.
Scale (AWS): AWS provides the infrastructure to move from pilot to production without architectural constraints. For defense customers, this includes GovCloud regions that are physically isolated and staffed exclusively by US citizens on US soil — meeting the strictest compliance requirements. And because AWS scales on demand, customers only pay for what they use, making it financially agile as programs ramp up or down.
Real Results, Not Hypotheticals
The conversation didn’t stay theoretical. Roman shared that across deployments, the team has seen cumulative ROI exceeding $30 million for large enterprise customers, with $5 million per year in cost recovery and 20–30% factory performance gains.
Alex emphasized that the pilot process itself delivers value. Using AWS’s “working backwards” methodology, the team identifies a high-impact problem statement and delivers measurable insights in six to eight weeks — using the customer’s own data, not a polished demo environment.
“Even if we stopped right here, we’ve learned something that we should adjust in our operations that is going to enhance our outcomes,” Alex said. “Usually once you’ve done that, you would like to get more of that.”
The AI Readiness Factor
Both guests pointed to a critical downstream benefit: the clean, real-time data foundation that Connected Everywhere establishes is exactly what’s needed to power AI and machine learning models. Roman described how the solution enables a shift from reactive to proactive operations — where a predictive maintenance alert from Thinaer sensors can trigger a workflow in Mendix that checks ERP inventory for spare parts and initiates a supply chain order, all before a machine fails.
For defense organizations navigating the early stages of AI adoption — often starting in less sensitive areas like finance before moving to the shop floor — this data foundation is what makes the transition possible and lower-risk.
Getting Started Without Waiting
Perhaps the most compelling theme of the conversation was this: you don’t have to finish your enterprise-wide IT transformation before you start improving operations.
Alex described working with large defense customers who have accumulated multiple core systems through years of acquisitions. The conventional wisdom is to consolidate everything first, then innovate. But because Mendix can integrate with multiple ERPs, PLMs, and MES platforms simultaneously, and because Thinaer works alongside existing sensor infrastructure, teams can run modernization efforts in parallel — delivering quick wins while the longer transformation continues.
“So many times we know these transformations are needed,” Alex said. “But it feels daunting because we think our environment is too complex. That just is not the truth anymore.”
Roman put it simply: “You’re not alone in this journey. We’re all in it together.”
Next Steps
If your organization is exploring how to modernize defense manufacturing operations — whether you’re dealing with legacy equipment, visibility gaps, compliance requirements, or the pressure to adopt AI — the Connected Everywhere solution offers a low-risk starting point with fast, measurable results.
Reach out to Thinaer, Siemens Mendix, or AWS to start the conversation, or listen to the full episode of Out of Thinaer for the complete discussion.
Watch the full episode: