Deloitte. (2025, May 1). 2025 Smart Manufacturing and Operations Survey. https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/manufacturing/2025-smart-manufacturing-survey.html 
This report is a current benchmark on smart manufacturing adoption, budgets, and scaling obstacles. It analyzes results from 600 U.S. manufacturing leaders, covering investment focus, data readiness, talent, cybersecurity, and value realization. Two points matter for the Improve pillar: investment is climbing while skills/data remain gating, and quickwin pilots that scale outperform bigbang transformations. 

Fernandez-Viagas, V., Ruiz, R., & Mula, J. (2022). Exploring the benefits of scheduling with advanced and real-time information integration in Industry 4.0: A computational study. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 171, 108424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2022.108424 
This paper provides empirical evidence for constraint-aware, information-rich scheduling. Through computational experiments, it compares static plans to schedules that incorporate fresh shopfloor signals under variability. The lessons for continual improvement are that live data and explicit constraint modeling improve service levels and reduce firefighting. 

Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (2003). Guidance for Industry—Part 11, Electronic Records; Electronic Signatures—Scope and Application. https://www.fda.gov/media/75414/download 
This guidance underpins MES/eDHR programs where electronic records and signatures must withstand audits. It clarifies the scope of 21 CFR Part 11 and expectations for risk-based validation, audit trails, and security. Practically, it argues for aligning validation to risk and ensuring the integrity/traceability of regulated records. 

International Organization for Standardization (ISO). (2022). ISO/IEC 27001:2022—Information security management systems—Requirements. https://www.iso.org/standard/27001 
This standard defines the ISMS requirements relevant to hosting/managed cloud and on-prem MoM environments. It details risk-based controls and continuous improvement practices, aligning with ISO 27002. Adopting 27001 supports defensible governance for backups/DR, access, and monitoring in runstate operations. 

International Society of Automation (ISA). (2025). ANSI/ISA95.00.012025 (IEC 622641 Mod): EnterpriseControl System Integration—Part 1: Models and Terminology. https://www.isa.org/products/ansi-isa-95-00-01-2025-iec-62264-1-mod-enterprise 
ISA95 supplies the layered model and vocabulary that connect enterprise systems with manufacturing operations. Part 1 defines objects and information exchanges used to map products, materials, equipment, personnel, and events across Levels 3–4. Using this common language reduces integration rework and accelerates delivery across MES/APS/IIoT. 

McKinsey & Company. (2025, March 11). Powering productivity: Operations insights for 2025. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/powering-productivity-operations-insights-for-2025 
This research summarizes where operations leaders are capturing value and why some transformations sustain results. It synthesizes survey and case evidence on workflow redesign, governance, and capability building across industries. For improvement, two implications stand out: leadership accountability and ongoing skills development drive durable outcomes, and live data shortens the path from detection to decision. 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). (2010; updated 2021). SP 80034 Rev.1—Contingency Planning Guide for Federal Information Systems. https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/34/r1/upd1/final 
This guide structures backup/DR planning and testing—the backbone of reliable runstate operations. It explains contingency planning lifecycles, roles, and exercises, and ties them to business impact. Two practical takeaways are to document and test recoverability and to set RTO/RPO aligned to the criticality of each system. 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). (2020). SP 80053 Rev.5—Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and Organizations. https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-53r5.pdf 
This catalog provides tailorable security and privacy controls for enterprise and OT adjacent systems that support MoM. It lays out control families for governance, access, monitoring, and resilience, and maps to risk management frameworks. Implementing a rightsized 80053 baseline makes security part of day-to-day operations, not a bolt-on. 

Pinedo, M. L. (2022). Scheduling: Theory, Algorithms, and Systems (6th ed.). Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-05921-6 
Pinedo’s text is the standard foundation for APS and constraint-aware scheduling used in modern MoM stacks. It spans single-machine through jobshop and reentrant flows, with heuristics, algorithms, and system design tradeoffs. The enduring lessons are that constraint-aware methods beat naive rules under variability and that implementation detail and data quality matter as much as the algorithms. 

Prosci. (2023, May 26). Best Practices in Change Management—Research highlights. https://www.prosci.com/blog/change-management-best-practices 
Prosci’s multiyear research links strong change practices to project success rates. The summary highlights adoption enablers, roles, and the value of integrating change management with project management. For improvement, it reinforces that behavior change, communications, and sponsorship are the multipliers that keep benefits from fading after go-live.