Ryan has spent more than 25 years helping manufacturers turn complex technology into real-world results. He started his career in the automotive industry, working directly with MES applications, legacy systems, lean accelerators, equipment, PLCs, and HMIs. That hands-on experience gave him a practical understanding of how factories really run, a perspective that continues to shape his work today. Now working as a leader in manufacturing technology consulting, Ryan oversees global efforts in digital transformations involving AI and analytics enablement. His work supports some of the most advanced and demanding manufacturing environments in the world, where clear data and smart systems are key to staying competitive. Throughout his career, Ryan has helped companies in industries including pharmaceuticals, food & beverages, industrial products, and discrete manufacturing. He specializes in applying lean manufacturing practices and his knowledge of manufacturing standards to build scalable architectures that connect legacy factory infrastructure with modern platforms in a cohesive, intelligent framework. His technical focus includes IoT enablement, data modeling, contextualized pipelines, governance frameworks, and emerging AI technologies. What drives Ryan is a belief that data should work for the people who use it. He designs and builds architectures that are built to last, easy to maintain, and ready to grow with the evolving needs of modern manufacturing.
""Ryan has written something rare. In this book he presents a pragmatic, scalable, and deeply considered framework for how manufacturing organizations can actually prepare for the future. It's called the Unified Manufacturing Data Architecture, or UMDA. And whether you're starting from scratch, extending an existing UNS, or migrating from legacy systems, this framework stands on its own. Ryan has done something few others have. He's named the blind spots before they become disasters. He's documented patterns that most don't notice until it's too late. And he's offered a path forward that's both visionary and grounded. It is technical where it needs to be but never detached from real-world constraints."" - Jeff Knepper, President, Flow Software