2 weeks Ago By Steve McDowell, Contributor
JGR team owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer, Joe Gibbs looks on in the garage area after an on-track ...
More incident during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 02, 2024 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) Donut production and race car engineering share surprising similarities.
Both operate under intense time pressure where every hour matters, requiring rapid turnaround to minimize delays. These industries need infrastructure that enables innovation, efficiency, and minimal downtime. Krispy Kreme stores produce up to 1,000 dozen donuts hourly, demanding consistent, high-speed operations to meet daily demand.
Similarly, NASCAR's weekly race schedule leaves teams like Joe Gibbs Racing little time to redesign and implement improvements between competitions. IT and industrial automation have traditionally been seperate, but that’s changing. The technologies are converging as industries adopt more intelligent, connected systems.
This integration enables businesses to achieve new levels of operational performance. Modern manufacturing facilities deploy software to collect and analyze real-time data from machines. Through IoT devices, businesses monitor production lines, predict failures, and optimize processes automatically.
Digital twins have become central to this IT-OT convergence. These virtual replicas mirror real-world behavior in real time, allowing businesses to simulate operations before implementing physical changes. Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio an ideal example of digital twin technology for industrial design and control applications.
A digital twin is a real-time, virtual representation of a physical object, like a race car or manufacturing line, that uses data from sensors and software models to simulate, monitor, and optimize performance throughout its lifecycle. At the core of Siemens’ Xcelerator technology is a closed-loop system that continuously synchronizes virtual models with physical counterparts.This approach allows racing teams to simulate aerodynamics and tire wear under various track conditions before physical implementation.
This also allows manufacturers to model production changes virtually, reducing risk without disrupting operations. As digital twins advance, they increasingly leverage AI and machine learning to enable self-optimization. It’s an expanding field, with businesses also exploring integrating AR and VR into the process to provide immersive insights for maintenance and decision-making.
The integration of IT and industrial automation is a critical next-step in building smart, connected factories and more resilient supply chains. By harnessing the power of data, digital twins, and automation, businesses become better equipped to respond to challenges, innovate faster, and drive sustainable growth. It’s also an approach that arrives with challenges.
This is where product lifecycle management solutions like Siemens’ Teamcenter help. The purpose-built solutions provide integrated platforms to streamline workflows and enhance collaboration. Joe Gibbs Racing , one of NASCAR’s top racing organizations, essentially builds a new car for every race.
I talked to Mark Bringle, Technical Sponsorship Director, who explained their process includes designing and fabricating parts using industrial 3D printers, laser cutters, and CNC machines. Missing a deadline could mean forfeiting a race. JGR built its workflows around Siemens' software solutions — NX, Teamcenter, and Solid Edge — to design and optimize components under extreme time constraints.
During the 38-week NASCAR season, JGR’s engineers previously had to wait until returning to headquarters to make adjustments. Now, theyj can design parts immediately at the track using Solid Edge on laptops, then transfer designs to NX for advanced modeling, all integrated through Teamcenter. For JGR, this quick-turnaround is enabled by Teamcenter, which allows files to flow effortlessly between Solid Edge and NX, allowing JGR engineers to work efficiently regardless of their location.
"Teamcenter gives us the digital backbone we need to operate at the speed of racing," Bringle noted. "When you're building what amounts to a new race car every week, having a system that manages our engineering data is essential." Not far from Joe Gibbs Racing, in Charlotte NC, is the world headquarters of Krispy Kreme, a global leader in fresh, high-quality doughnuts.
While doughnuts are its final product, Krispy Kreme also prides itself on being a machine builder, designing and manufacturing its proprietary production equipment in-house. Much like Joe Gibbs Racing, Krispy Kreme relies on Siemens drives, controls, and software. To maintain consistency of its donuts, Krispy Kreme needed to modernize production systems across 600+ global stores.
The company partnered with Think PLC to implement Siemens drives and an automation portal for real-time monitoring, diagnostics, and control. This solution increased precision in donut frying, improving accuracy by 12% while reducing waste and enhancing product consistency. It also improved safety with advanced monitoring systems that automatically stop processes within milliseconds of detecting issues.
Despite operating in entirely different sectors, Krispy Kreme and Joe Gibbs Racing share a reliance on end-to-end industrial automation for flexibility and precision. Both face challenges of time constraints, precision requirements, rapid problem-solving needs, and efficiency demands. Siemens' Xcelerator portfolio integrates design, simulation, production, and data management, helping businesses improve productivity, reduce costs, and maintain high-quality standards.
Competition in this space has intensified as IT-OT convergence accelerates. ABB's Ability platform, Honeywell's Forge, and Emerson's Plantweb offer similar capabilities, while cloud giants like Microsoft and AWS partner with industrial players to enhance connectivity and analytics. Despite this crowded field, Siemens remains competitive with its comprehensive portfolio spanning the entire value chain within a unified data environment.
The convergence of IT and operational technology is accelerating across industries. As industrial processes become increasingly digitized, the walls between IT departments and plant operations are disappearing. Today's systems require the reliability of traditional OT combined with the connectivity and analytics of IT.
Siemens well-positioned to capitalize on this trend, reflected in its recent earnings showing its Digital Industries segment seeing steady growth. In its most recent quarter , Siemens saw its software revenue grow 15% year-over-year, with its EDA software, in particular, growing an impressive 30%. Companies that successfully navigate this convergence gain significant advantages: reduced downtime, improved quality, faster innovation cycles, and enhanced ability to meet changing customer demands.
Krispy Kreme and Joe Gibbs Racing exemplify how organizations can transform operations by integrating physical and digital worlds. Whether racing for a championship or ensuring fresh donuts delight customers worldwide, success increasingly lies where information technology and operational technology converge—with Siemens positioned at this critical intersection..
