The Bottom Line
How we migrated a major automotive manufacturer to cloud-based UEM — without slowing down production.
An Ohio-based automotive parts manufacturer was migrating to a new manufacturing execution system (MES). This is the software backbone that drives their entire production process. The problem: their existing device management setup was misconfigured, and if anything went wrong during the rollout, the only option was to physically touch all 400 devices at their primary facility. By hand. During production. On factory floors that run 24 hours a day.
We proposed something the client had long been putting off: migrate their device management to the cloud and build a deployment architecture that would eliminate the need to hand-touch devices entirely.
On go-live day, we provided full 24-hour on-site support. The migration went off without a hitch. And when the client found a few minor problems days later, we resolved them remotely with no site visit and no production interruption.
The client is now on a multi-year UEM contract with us and is preparing for a 500+ managed PC deployment across their remaining facilities.
The Client
This is the same Ohio-based automotive parts manufacturer featured in our lifecycle management case study, Run It ’Till the Wheels Fall Off — a four-facility operation producing metal stampings and welded assemblies for major automotive brands.
We’d already been working with this client for years, managing device procurement, building custom hardware configurations and running extended maintenance plans that kept their equipment operational far beyond typical lifecycles. That track record is what earned us the trust to take on a much bigger challenge.
The operation runs 24 hours a day. Every device on the production floor has to work, every shift. When devices go down, production goes down. And when production goes down, supply commitments to their automotive customers are at risk.
/ T H E C H A L L E N G E
The Challenge
The client decided to migrate to a new manufacturing execution system (MES), instituting a major upgrade to the software platform that manages every step of their production process, from raw material intake through welding, assembly, storage and shipment.
The MES migration required deploying tablets at the end of every production line and having the ability to push updates, change configurations and recover quickly if something went wrong during the rollout.
The problem was their existing device management platform. The client had a system in place, but it was configured incorrectly. Under the existing setup, if a bad software package was pushed to the devices, every unit would need to be touched individually to fix the problem. At their primary facility alone, they were dealing with 400 devices, all requiring manual intervention, during production, with workers writing everything down on paper.
For a 24-hour operation with zero tolerance for downtime, that wasn’t a plan. It was a disaster waiting to happen.
There was also a cultural hurdle. This client had always operated as a completely self-contained system. No outside internet access. No external partners inside their infrastructure. Everything stayed internal. Migrating to cloud-based device management meant opening up their environment for the first time. This was a significant step for a company that had always worked in a walled garden.
What We Did
We earned the client’s confidence through several months of discussion and planning, ultimately proposing a full migration to cloud-based Unified Endpoint Management (UEM).
We built a resilient deployment architecture.
Our UEM team designed a system that loaded every application version onto every device. User profiles determined which screens and functions each worker could see based on their role and facility. A receiving worker saw receiving screens. A picker saw picking screens. A worker at a different facility saw what was relevant to that location. Everything was already on every device — the profiles just controlled visibility.
The practical impact of this architecture was enormous: if the system went down, every device still had everything it needed on board. No re-pushing packages. No scrambling to hand-touch hundreds of units. No production stoppage. This architecture was totally revolutionary to the client.
We delivered a flawless go-live.
The MES migration went live on a Saturday morning. We provided full 24-hour on-site support. The devices were pushed over to the new system and everything ran. No issues. No interruptions. Production continued uninterrupted through the entire migration.
We resolved post-launch issues remotely.
A few days after go-live, the client found some issues that needed adjustment. Under the old setup, this would have meant another round of physically touching every device. Instead, we resolved the problems remotely by transferring devices to the correct configuration with the flip of a switch. No site visit required. No production impact.
The Outcome
With TRG’s UEM service, the client now has something they’ve never had before: the ability to manage, update and troubleshoot every device across their primary facility without touching a single one. For an operation that runs 24 hours a day with zero margin for downtime, that’s a fundamental shift in how technology is managed on the floor.
As for the MES migration itself, the project went live without disruption to a single production line. Now, as the client prepares to roll out an additional 500 PCs on the production floor, they have a proven deployment architecture and a scalable management model.
The Big Picture
A manufacturing execution system migration in a 24-hour operation is about as high-stakes as it gets. If the devices go down, production stops. If production stops, supply commitments to some of the biggest names in automotive are at risk.
This client needed more than a vendor who could ship tablets and sell licenses. They needed a partner who could design a device management architecture to account for everything that could go wrong, then make sure it didn’t.
That’s the difference between a technology vendor and a managed services partner. And for any operation where uptime is everything, it’s a difference that matters.
/ F A Q
Frequently asked questions.
What is Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) in a manufacturing setting?
UEM is a centralized, cloud-based way to manage, update and troubleshoot every device across a facility — handhelds, tablets, scanners and PCs — without touching them individually. On a 24-hour production floor, it means a device problem can be fixed remotely instead of requiring a worker to physically handle every unit during a shift.
How do you migrate factory devices to a new MES without production downtime?
The key is a resilient deployment architecture. We loaded every application version onto every device and used user profiles to control which screens each worker sees based on role and facility. Because everything already lives on each device, a system interruption requires no re-pushing of packages — so the MES go-live ran with full 24-hour on-site support and zero stopped lines.
What happens if a bad software update is pushed to factory devices?
Under the client’s old, misconfigured setup, a bad package meant physically touching all 400 devices to fix it. With the new UEM architecture, devices already carry every needed configuration, so issues are resolved remotely by switching devices to the correct profile — no site visit and no production impact.
Can a 24-hour manufacturing operation move device management to the cloud?
Yes. This manufacturer had always run as a self-contained, walled-garden environment with no outside access. After several months of planning, we migrated them to cloud-based UEM, delivered a zero-downtime MES go-live, and the client is now on a multi-year UEM contract preparing for a 500+ PC deployment.
/ T H E C A S E I N O N E L I N E
A 24-hour automotive plant migrated to a new MES with zero downtime — because we built device management that never needs a hand-touch.
/ B Y T H E N U M B E R S
400 devices migrated. 0 production lines stopped. 24 hours of on-site support on go-live day. 500+ PCs queued for the next phase.
/ T H E A R C H I T E C T U R E
Every app version loaded on every device. User profiles control what each worker sees. If the system drops, nothing needs re-pushing.
/ T H E T A K E A W A Y
The difference between a vendor who ships tablets and a partner who designs for everything that can go wrong — then makes sure it doesn’t.