Project Margo: Leading the Manufacturing Industry Into the Future With Open Source Interoperability

In 2024, Forbes ran an insightful piece on why edge computing is vital for smart manufacturing. The piece highlighted edge computing’s advantages: real-time insights, more efficient operations, lower latency and better processing for massive amounts of data. 

It’s all true, but industrial manufacturers realized that with those benefits came significant problems and a lack of standardization. That’s why the Linux Foundation launched Project Margo in April 2024. Project Margo is leading the manufacturing industry into the future with open source interoperability at scale. Here’s our take on how Project Margo will affect the industrial automation industry, and what SUSE’s role will be.

What is the automation industry’s “edge”?

For decades, industrial manufacturing companies have had to implement their own edge IT ecosystems to keep their supply chains and production lines operating. Nearly every industry has experienced this: automotive, oil and gas, biotech, pharma, discrete manufacturing and more. That’s what “the edge” refers to — the massive, complex edge computing systems to handle all the local data processing for manufacturing companies. 

At the time, these edge implementations were helpful. Companies were taking advantage of the proprietary solutions that existed. Consumer demands pushed manufacturing companies to invest in edge computing in order to achieve real-time processing, reduced latency and operational efficiency. Companies were adapting to the quickly changing demands and creating ad-hoc solutions to manage data overload. 

Manufacturing companies now have extensive experience in edge computing. There’s no doubt that edge computing is the way to optimize factories of the future. However, their homemade systems are becoming difficult to maintain and update, starting to cause widespread issues. 

Top struggles with the edge in industrial manufacturing 

Several years after many companies have implemented their own edge systems, they’re now struggling to maintain them. Many of the systems weren’t built with enough long-term strategy in mind. Now, the edge is fragmented, disparate and riddled with problems. Some of the most pressing issues are:

• Lack of interoperability. Without industry standards, proprietary software systems have no way of communicating with each other. This also makes integration expensive and complicated. 
• Vendor lock-in. Solution vendors with proprietary practices make it difficult to build ecosystems in which all your components integrate easily, are visible and are easy to maintain. If your vendor’s tech roadmap doesn’t align with yours, you can’t evolve with the advent of new technologies and new expectations.
• Slow adaptability. The rapid advancement of AI and IoT mean that modernization is necessary for companies to keep up and stay competitive. Unfortunately, with homemade edge systems, companies are spending more time fixing issues than they are innovating and implementing new technologies. 
• Security risks. Many companies had the mindset of “go fast and break things” as they created and implemented their edge strategies. Now, it’s catching up with them. Managing edge devices across various vendors and ecosystems can be highly complex, and without centralized oversight and standardized safety protocols, you’re at a high risk of data breaches. 

Project Margo: Building the factories of the future

How can the manufacturing industry balance system choices with interoperability? Businesses should own their own ecosystems, with full control to use what fits best for their business, along with being able to monitor and maintain it easily and innovate to meet changing needs. However, AI implementation and interoperability won’t happen at scale unless there’s a widespread open standard. 

Enter Project Margo. The Linux Foundation’s Project Margo brings together enterprises that have a vested interest in building industry-wide standards for interoperability, transparency and control for the industry’s hardware, software and application ecosystems. The idea is that a new open standard initiative for interoperability at the edge of industrial automation ecosystems will empower interoperability among a wide selection of apps and devices. In turn, the wide selection of devices will reduce the need for specialized resources and streamline the deployment, scaling and operation of multi-vendor ecosystems.

SUSE + Project Margo

 SUSE proudly joined Project Margo in Fall 2024. Because of our open source values, we were already aligned with the Margo strategic vision of innovation through interoperability and open source choices. SUSE will contribute our code, engineers and open source strategy to the project. We firmly believe that in industrial manufacturing, as in other industries, an open source strategy drives innovation and is the best way to serve customers. 

Why manufacturing companies will benefit from SUSE + Project Margo

Industrial manufacturing companies and their vendors that adopt open source edge computing will not only contribute to growth in the industry overall, but they’ll also create better solutions for their customers. By using edge standards, companies can reduce downtime, streamline operations and adopt transformative solutions. Modernizing and integrating AI will be easier than ever. 

SUSE Edge is an ideal solution for companies wanting to implement an edge stack that is aligned with Project Margo. If your company wants to modernize operations, improve resiliency and adopt cutting-edge technologies like Generative AI, IIoT and robotics, we have the solution. With SUSE Edge, you get the tools to improve efficiency, adopt new technologies and stay competitive. 

To learn more about how SUSE Edge can revolutionize the manufacturing industry — and your company — schedule a call with a SUSE Edge specialist team today.