(Hexagon: North Kingstown, RI) -- Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence business area has announced new research showing a gap between how manufacturers describe their operations and what’s actually happening on the production floor. Most manufacturers consider themselves connected, but responses around feedback loops, quality, and lost time tell a different story.

The State of Manufacturing Report 2026, commissioned by Hexagon and conducted by Dynata*, surveyed 511 professionals working in U.S. manufacturing, from entry-level workers to the C-suite. Three-quarters (77%) describe their operations as fully or mostly connected, and 40% say they’re connected across design, production, quality, and business systems. However, 39% report limited feedback between design, manufacturing, and quality teams, and 67% don’t have data from most systems integrated into a single view.

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