If you’ve scrolled past a dozen posts about Industry 5.0, you’re not alone. My conversation with Travis Cox, Chief Technology Evangelist at Inductive Automation (makers of Ignition), starts with a reality check:
“We’re not even close to really fulfilling Industry 4.0… I don’t even know if everybody’s still on Industry 3.”
That line landed. Because behind the buzzwords are real factories, real constraints—and real people learning how to make machines talk, learn, and work with us, not replace us. Here’s the plain-English tour Travis gave us of where manufacturing is right now, why culture (not tech) is the biggest bottleneck, and how education is quietly closing the skills gap.
Travis’s Origin Story: From 19-Year-Old Hire to “Tech Evangelist”
Inductive Automation’s software business launched in 2003—day one of Ignition as a product company. Travis joined at 19, working on real integration projects before the shift to a full software focus. Two decades later, he’s seen the OT world pick up tools the IT world took for granted: SQL, HTML, open standards. The pandemic and renewed Industry 4.0 efforts didn’t invent modernization, but they accelerated it.
“We were the young company who said we’re going to change how people think of software… and leverage modern technologies.”
How Factories Talk (No Jargon Required)
Start small, think layers. Travis broke it down so anyone could follow:
- PLC (Programmable Logic Controller): the machine’s brain. It reads sensors and controls motion, safety, speed—everything the equipment does.
- HMI (Human-Machine Interface): the local screen next to a machine. Operators can see status, change setpoints, and keep running even if the network is down.
- SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition): the control room view of the whole factory. It pulls data from many machines into a single pane—alarms, historical data, trends—so people can see what’s happening everywhere, not just at one panel.
If HMI is your car’s dashboard, SCADA is air traffic control for the plant.
“SCADA is the idea of bringing disparate systems together so you can see everything in one view and get insights.”
Ignition sits on top as a development platform to build these kinds of HMI/SCADA and even MES applications—vendor-agnostic, designed to move data in and out without walling you in.
The Dinosaur That Learned to Dance (For Real)
Need proof that “industrial software” isn’t just tanks and conveyors? Travis told my favorite story of the episode: Creature Technology (Australia) used Ignition to choreograph animatronic dinosaurs—like Blue from Jurassic World—by creating drag-and-drop motion logic that deploys to the creature’s PLC.
“They used Ignition to program all the movements… then it runs independently and does all the motions you expect.”
If a T-Rex can run on standards-based control tech, your packaging line can, too.
The Real Bottleneck Isn’t Technology—It’s Culture
Plenty of shops still run with whiteboards and clipboards. The reason isn’t ignorance; it’s risk. Leaders worry a digital project could fail and make things worse. Travis’s prescription:
- Set the tone from the top. Define business outcomes, not tech for tech’s sake.
- Take it piece by piece. Win one area; show value; move to the next.
- Normalize small failures. The wins compound.
“Change is hard… but once people feel the benefit, that win propels more change.”
How We Close the Skills Gap (Hint: Teach)
This is where Travis lights up. Inductive Automation now supports ~270 educational institutions worldwide with free licensing and curriculum—not just Ignition training, but “how SCADA works,” from PLC design through deployment. They also encourage hardware partners and integrators to mentor students so labs use current gear, not museum pieces.
“Education has been a huge passion of my career… not just how to use Ignition, but where the industry is moving and what culture changes need to happen.”
On campus and on the shop floor, the goal is the same: hands-on mechatronics (robots, CNC, Arduino), critical thinking, and troubleshooting. Those are the superpowers in modern manufacturing.
Why Open Standards Matter (and Why 4.0 Is Speeding Up)
Travis pointed to the larger movement around vendor-agnostic architectures and standard data models. In the U.S., groups like SES-MI (Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Institute, funded by DOE) are pushing best practices for digital infrastructure, data modeling, and interoperability. The direction of travel is clear:
- Fewer proprietary dead-ends
- More shared standards
- Faster time from shop floor data to business decisions (and AI)
That shift is why Travis thinks we’re finally seeing real acceleration in Industry 4.0—even if we’re not all there yet.
So… What Does a “Technology Evangelist” Actually Do?
Travis’s day job is part teacher, part translator:
- He meets execs to show how the right OT foundation unlocks cloud, analytics, and AI.
- He publishes thought leadership and shares success stories across the community.
- He connects dots between integrators, educators, and manufacturers so people can adopt faster, with fewer risks.
“Technology is amazing, but we have to help people see how to apply it.”
The Next Generation of Industrial Jobs
Today’s operators and engineers aren’t staring at dusty terminals—they’re working with touchscreens, augmented guidance, data feedback loops, and increasingly AI-assisted tools. The most valuable skill? Learning how to learn—because the problems are changing (think supply chain complexity) and the tools are evolving.
“The most important skill is troubleshooting and critical thinking—figuring out how to apply all this to ever-changing problem statements.”
Where We Go From Here
Is Industry 5.0 interesting? Sure. But Travis’s challenge is more useful: Finish 4.0 first.
Get the foundation right—open standards, interoperable data, secure networks, and people who can troubleshoot across IT/OT. Win one line, then one cell, then one site. Teach, mentor, and make the work visible so newcomers see what’s possible.
“We started by showing the art of the possible. Now it’s expected.”
Watch the Episode & Join the Conversation
This post barely scratches the surface—Jurassic robots were just the appetizer. Catch the full conversation with Travis Cox on Manufacturing Runs The World (YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts). If you’re an engineer, integrator, educator, or just Ignition-curious, drop your questions in the comments and tell us:
What’s the smallest win you could ship in the next 30 days to move your plant toward true 4.0?
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