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Jun 02, 2026

From Pilot to Platform: Scaling Smart Manufacturing Across a Global Enterprise

#Thought Leadership #Smart Manufacturing Certified Roadmap Professional #Smart Manufacturing Roadmapping

A case-based framework drawn from Kimberly-Clark’s enterprise-wide digital manufacturing transformation, validated against the CESMII Smart Manufacturing Roadmap Framework.

70% of manufacturers never scale their smart manufacturing pilots. Kimberly-Clark is one of the 28% that did. Their Digital Manufacturing Foundations Program now spans 70+ global sites, 300+ go-lives, and 5,000+ users across the enterprise.

Suraj Sriram, Digital Manufacturing Leader at Kimberly-Clark and a CESMII Certified Smart Manufacturing Roadmap Professional, documented the full journey in a new whitepaper. He maps K-C's approach directly to the CESMII Smart Manufacturing Acceleration Roadmap Framework and draws out a three-pillar methodology other manufacturers can apply.

The core finding: scaling smart manufacturing is not a technology problem. It is a people, process, and data foundations problem.

The whitepaper is available now, free to download.

From Pilot to Platform: Scaling Smart Manufacturing Across a Global Enterprise A case-based framework drawn from Kimberly-Clark’s enterprise-wide digital manufacturing transformation, validated against the CESMII Smart Manufacturing Roadmap Framework.  

About CESMII

CESMII – the Smart Manufacturing Institute – has a total current investment commitment of $201M from Department of Energy funding and public/private partnership contributions, with a mandate to create a more competitive manufacturing environment in the US through advanced sensing, analytics, modeling, control, and platforms. CESMII is one of 17 Manufacturing USA institutes on this mission to increase manufacturing productivity, global competitiveness, and reinvestment by increasing energy productivity, improving economic performance and raising workforce capacity. University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is the program and administrative home of CESMII. For more information about CESMII, its history and Smart Manufacturing, visit cesmii.org.