Manufacturing Reinvented: The ET-IT-OT Convergence Imperative for North American Industry
October 1, 2025
2:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM CT / 11:00 AM PT / 7:00 PM GMT
Duration: 60 minutes
Sponsor: Hitachi Digital Services
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Summary
The convergence of Engineering Technology (ET), Information Technology (IT), and Operational Technology (OT) is no longer just a technical integration—it is a competitive necessity. For North American manufacturers, this unified approach is delivering measurable business impact: faster time to market, reduced downtime, optimized supply chains, smarter use of resources, and the ability to customize products at scale.
In this dynamic session, a panel of industry leaders and experts from Hitachi Digital Services, Pratt & Whitney, Toyota, and ISG will explore how ET IT OT convergence is transforming products, factories, assets, and operations, enabling manufacturers to:
- Accelerate innovation cycles and respond rapidly to shifting market demands
- Increase operational agility and resilience in the face of disruption
- Reduce costs and waste through predictive maintenance and process optimization
- Enhance product quality and consistency with real-time data insights
- Unlock new revenue streams with data-driven, service-based business models
Rather than focusing on individual technologies, this conversation will offer a strategic, forward-looking view of:
- What ET IT OT convergence truly means in practice
- Breakthrough trends and opportunities shaping the future of manufacturing
- The organizational and cultural enablers that turn technology into transformation
Speakers
Sankar Natarajan | Senior Director & Global Head - Digital PLM, Smart Manufacturing & Operations | Hitachi Digital Services
With over 20 years of experience, Sankar Natarajan is a recognized thought leader in engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain transformation. He drives large-scale digital innovation across products, operations, and sustainability for global enterprises. His work blends design thinking, AI, and emerging technologies to deliver measurable business impact. Sankar partners with organizations to shape outcome-driven strategies that elevate performance, compliance, and environmental responsibility.
Chris Crotts | General Manager - Manufacturing Data & Technology Enablement | Toyota Motor North America
Chris Crotts has worked in automotive for 23 years, and with Toyota for 20 of those years.
In Manufacturing at Toyota, he was responsible for 500+ applications across 14 North American sites including Canada and Mexico. Business customers include Engineering, Production, Quality, Logistics, and Admin functions within each location. In 2005, he began is career by establishing the first end-to-end manufacturing quality platform and integrations with many key global systems.
During Toyota’s HQ move to Plano, TX in 2015, he took a new role in Data platforms and was the planning lead for $157m Data Center migration from Torrance, CA and Erlanger, KY. After OneToyota was established in 2016, He moved on to lead the first sales and manufacturing Enterprise Data teams. There he spent 6 years building Toyota's first North American Data Lakes and expanding advanced analytics into Vehicle Engineering, Corporate Quality, Manufacturing and Sales & Marketing divisions. He also worked with Compliance leads to establish Toyota’s first privacy programs across all customer data.
He is currently responsible for the Manufacturing Data and Technology Enablement teams at Toyota North America leading the Manufacturing Digital Transformation since 2023. He is now building the Toyota North America’s first Manufacturing Digital Platform with Industrial IOT, domain-centric data teams to begin including new AI technologies and automation.
Nick Drucker | Director of Architecture, Strategy & Innovation | Pratt & Whitney - An RTX Business
Nick Drucker is the Director of Digital Technologies for Architecture, Strategy, and Innovation at Pratt & Whitney. In this role, Mr. Drucker is responsible for leading the architecture for the company, developing and implementing the digital strategy, and serving as the digital lead for the Model Based Enterprise (MBE) program. He ensures the standardization of Pratt & Whitney's approach to architecture and technology implementation in alignment with the company's digital strategy. Additionally, he plays a crucial role in fostering robust innovation capabilities and driving the delivery of innovative products, with a particular focus on the MBE program.
Before joining Pratt & Whitney, Mr. Drucker held several senior leadership positions at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and its subsidiary Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS). His responsibilities there included developing the corporate centers of excellence for advanced technologies, creating and leading the advanced analytics and data management organization, and overseeing the development and leadership of modeling and simulation-based capabilities across HII’s product and service portfolio.
Mr. Drucker holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Christopher Newport University and a master's degree in Modeling and Simulation from Old Dominion University.
John Lytle | Industrial Manufacturing Lead | ISG
John has 40+ years of providing global enterprises with practical, yet strategic vision to drive meaningful change through complex programs, which extend business value through the effective use of today’s exploding Digital capabilities. John is a senior leader for many multinational enterprises in Capital Goods manufacturing.
John leads the North American Industrial Manufacturing segment for ISG and is regarded as a global thought leader, regularly advising on emerging technologies and operating model changes to drive innovation.
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