4 digital transformation use cases in manufacturing with Redpanda

Every CIO in manufacturing is being asked to deliver digital transformation, and asked to do it faster, with fewer resources, and without disrupting operations that can't afford to stop. Agentic AI and real-time data streaming are changing what's possible, but only when the underlying data infrastructure can keep up. Here's how four manufacturers, each solving a different piece of that problem, are getting there with Redpanda.

GlobalFoundries: cutting decision time from hours to seconds

GlobalFoundries (GF) is one of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers, delivering the chips that power automotive, industrial, communications infrastructure, and AI-enabled applications across a global footprint spanning the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

As part of its ongoing digital fab transformation, GF selected Redpanda as a strategic partner to help create a unified, real-time data foundation across its global operations. Together, the companies are connecting manufacturing, engineering, and business systems to improve visibility, responsiveness, and operational efficiency, supporting AI-driven capabilities across the enterprise through the Redpanda Data Platform, with agentic AI management through the Redpanda Agentic Data Plane.

GlobalFoundries' fabs (the fabrication facilities where chips are manufactured) operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, working thousands of wafers (the thin silicon discs that chips are made from) at any given time and shipping billions of units. That's why critical decision-making at the edge is the goal. Watch the clip below to learn how Redpanda made it happen.

Beyond data streaming, Vishal Mehra, GlobalFoundries' SVP and CIO, has played a critical role in implementing agentic AI across the company's operations. One of the key problems they had was a service desk for Organizational Change Management (OCM). They use the Redpanda Agentic Data Plane to bypass and short-circuit the traditional way this was managed, having AI facilitate the process and optimize its cost. It can open tickets automatically for users, and provides a log of all transactions.

WATCH THE FULL STORY: Speed Is the Advantage: Real-Time Data and AI Agents Across Global Manufacturer

Range Energy: running on a quarter of the headcount

Range Energy provides electrification for fleets of trailers. This can reduce diesel fuel use by up to 40%, and eliminate diesel use for refrigerated units, an important consideration given the current price of diesel.

As a company focused on efficiency, Range Energy turned to Redpanda because of the operational advantages and simplicity of Redpanda Streaming. Its fully-managed Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC) deployment model meant Range didn't need to worry about operational and maintenance issues and could focus on what really mattered to them: their data. The solution was easy to implement, they had it up and running in under 30 minutes. Because of the built-in ease-of-use and automation, they could manage it with a quarter of a headcount.

LEARN MORE: Range Energy powers sustainable trucking through seamless data streaming

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies: scaling past Kafka's breaking point

This is a joint venture between Rivian Automotive, an electric vehicle innovator, and Volkswagen, the world’s largest automaker by revenue. Their goal is to transform the automotive experience, everywhere, by advancing the capabilities of software-defined vehicles to create a world where every new vehicle becomes more intelligent, more sustainable and more enjoyable over time.

Rivian's use of self-managed Apache Kafka® was quickly becoming a costly liability as they sought to scale to meet the demands of an automotive partner the size of Volkswagen. They naturally turned to tiered storage for continued scale and affordability.

However, as they prepared for the migration, Rivian discovered a severe hidden bug: a single misconfiguration could take down an entire Kafka cluster. The solution was to instead switch to Redpanda, which was more performant, more resilient, and best of all, more affordable. They carefully tested all production use cases at scale, and Redpanda passed with flying colors.

WATCH THE FULL STORY: A Hidden Bug in Tiered Kafka

Johnson Controls: $1.6 million saved a year

Johnson Controls is a world leader in smart buildings. Located in over 150 countries, and with over 100,000 employees, Johnson Controls offers the world's largest portfolio of building technology, software, and services. It has been in business for over 140 years, yet these days they use cutting-edge AI and data-driven solutions to provide deeper insights into any building's health, sustainability, and performance. Their OpenBlue platform provides a comprehensive suite of connected solutions for multiple industries, including healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums, hotels, and manufacturing.

Using the Redpanda Data Platform, self-managed on Azure, Johnson Controls was able to lower their cost of ownership by $1.6 million annually. Their migration took just 10 weeks from concept to reach production, all without ever disrupting customer operations. They now rely on Redpanda to stream a continuous flow of sensor data from HVAC, lighting, fire, security, and other building management systems to maximize energy savings, reduce maintenance spend, and guide facility improvements.

LEARN MORE: Johnson Controls scales globally, driving the future of autonomous buildings

Now it’s your turn. Ready to get started?

With Redpanda, many leading manufacturing companies are building their future, whether through agentic AI or blazing-fast real-time streaming. All while saving millions over prior solutions, increasing productivity, and meeting their stringent SLAs. You can learn more about these and other success stories on our manufacturing solutions page. And if you have a project in mind, book a demo below to chat with our experts on what you need.