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Real-Time Supply Chain With Apache Kafka in the Food and Retail Industry

The supply chain in the food and retail industry is complex, error-prone, and slow. This article explores real-world deployments across the end-to-end supply chain powered by data streaming with Apache Kafka to improve business processes with real-time services. The examples include manufacturing, logistics, stores, delivery, restaurants, and other parts of the food and retail business. Case studies include Walmart, Albertsons, Instacart, Domino's Pizza, Migros, and more.

The Supply Chain in the Food and Retail Industry

The food industry is a complex, global network of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food consumed by the world's population. It is far beyond the following simplified visualization :-)

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OPC-UA, MQTT, and Apache Kafka: The Trinity of Data Streaming in IoT

In the IoT world, MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport protocol) and OPC-UA (OPC Unified Architecture) have established themselves as open and platform-independent standards for data exchange in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0 use cases. Data streaming with Apache Kafka is the data hub for integrating and processing massive volumes of data at any scale in real-time. This article explores the relationship between Kafka and the IoT protocols, when to use which technology, and why sometimes HTTP/REST is the better choice. The conclusion explores real-world case studies from Audi and BMW.

Industry 4.0: Data Streaming Platforms Increase Overall Plant Effectiveness and Connect Equipment

Machine data must be transformed and made available across the enterprise as soon as it is generated to extract the most value from the data. As a result, operations can avoid critical failures and increase the effectiveness of their overall plant.

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Apache Kafka Landscape for Automotive and Manufacturing

Before the Covid pandemic, I had the pleasure of visiting "Motor City" Detroit in November 2019. I met with several automotive companies, suppliers, startups, and cloud providers to discuss use cases and architectures around Apache Kafka. A lot has happened. Since then, I have also met several OEMs and suppliers in Europe and Asia. As I finally go back to Detroit this January 2022 to meet customers again, I thought it would be a good time to update the status quo of event streaming and Apache Kafka in the automotive and manufacturing industry.

Today, in 2022, Apache Kafka is the central nervous system of many applications in various areas related to the automotive and manufacturing industry for processing analytical and transactional data in motion across edge, hybrid, and multi-cloud deployments. This article explores the automotive event streaming landscape, including connected vehicles, smart manufacturing, supply chain optimization, aftersales, mobility services, and innovative new business models.

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Apache Kafka for Smart Grid, Utilities and Energy Production

The energy industry is changing from system-centric to smaller-scale and distributed smart grids and microgrids. A smart grid requires a flexible, scalable, elastic, and reliable cloud-native infrastructure for real-time data integration and processing. This post explores use cases, architectures, and real-world deployments of event streaming with Apache Kafka in the energy industry to implement a smart grid and real-time end-to-end integration.

Smart Grid - The Energy Production and Distribution of the Future

The energy sector includes corporations that primarily are in the business of producing or supplying energy such as fossil fuels or renewables.