MODEX 2026 felt less like a preview of what comes next and more like a reflection of where many organizations currently stand. Conversations on the show floor focused less on what companies are building and more on what they are trying to fix, extend, or make work at scale.
Connected products are already embedded across these environments. Fleets are deployed, data is flowing, and systems are operating in production. The question now is how those systems perform when they are expected to integrate across the business and support broader operational needs.
For the Mesh Systems team, the event created an opportunity to engage directly in those conversations. Across discussions with product and digital leaders, a consistent pattern emerged. Organizations may be at different stages, but the challenges they are working through are increasingly similar.
The Shift from Building to Operating at Scale
Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) continue to anchor the material handling conversation. Their presence was expected, but the way they are discussed has changed. Most organizations are now focused on how these systems operate within a broader environment.
That environment is rarely uniform. It includes legacy equipment, newer connected assets, and multiple vendors. These systems were not designed together, and that becomes more apparent as fleets expand. Integration becomes ongoing work as teams reconcile data, communication protocols, and workflows.
Managing these systems becomes more complex over time. The challenge is not enabling connectivity. It is ensuring that connected systems operate as part of a cohesive whole.
Platform Decisions Under Pressure
Many organizations are now revisiting earlier platform decisions. Initial IoT efforts were often scoped to a specific product or use case, allowing teams to move quickly and demonstrate value.
As adoption grows, expectations change. Systems are now expected to support multiple products, integrate with enterprise applications, and provide accessible data to customers and partners. Those requirements place new demands on existing architectures.
Limitations around scalability and flexibility become more visible in this phase. As a result, many organizations are evaluating how to modernize or re-platform while maintaining what is already in place.
The Reality of Internal Constraints
Internal teams are also feeling the impact of this shift. Many organizations built capable teams to launch connected solutions and bring them into production.
Once systems are live, the work expands. Teams are responsible for infrastructure, applications, device support, and ongoing integrations. These responsibilities accumulate and do not taper off over time.
This creates pressure to balance new development with operational demands. Progress continues, but it becomes harder to maintain momentum across all areas. The constraint is less about capability and more about capacity.
Data Availability and the Challenge of Action
Access to data is no longer a primary barrier. Connected products are generating large volumes of operational data across the business.
The challenge is using that data consistently. Insights often depend on a limited number of individuals who understand both the systems and the data. As systems scale, this dependency becomes more pronounced.
Organizations are starting to reduce that reliance by embedding logic into workflows and enabling systems to support decision-making more directly. This requires tighter coordination between data, applications, and operations than many environments currently support.
Extending the Conversation Beyond the Show Floor
Mesh Systems hosted a private dinner during the event to bring together product and digital leaders for a more open discussion. The format allowed participants to move beyond surface-level conversations and share how they are approaching these challenges in practice.
The themes were consistent with what we heard throughout the week. Organizations are working through issues related to scaling, integration, and demonstrating measurable outcomes from connected product investments. The specifics vary, but the underlying challenges are shared.
The peer exchange stood out. Leaders at different stages were able to compare approaches and discuss tradeoffs in a candid setting. It reinforced how common these issues have become as systems reach scale.
Where Mesh Systems Fits
The gap emerging in the market is not around connectivity. Most organizations have already addressed that. The challenge is bringing systems together in a way that is sustainable and scalable.
Addressing this requires coordination across devices, data platforms, and workflows. It also requires an approach that accounts for the ongoing nature of these systems.
Mesh Systems supports organizations across the lifecycle of connected products, from initial architecture through production operations and ongoing evolution. This includes integrating across environments, supporting systems in production, and enabling more automated workflows that reduce reliance on manual intervention.
As connected products become more central to operations, expectations continue to increase. Systems need to integrate cleanly, scale reliably, and support decision-making across the business. MODEX 2026 made it clear that meeting those expectations is now the primary challenge many teams are working to solve.
Understand how leading manufacturers are making connected products work at scale with Mesh Systems: