Saima Systems at Advanced Factories 2026: the new phase of Industry 4.0 begins in the network

At this year’s event, Saima Systems presented its solution to help industrial companies build secure, scalable networks designed for distributed environments, with SAIWALL Secure SD-WAN at its core. The company also showcased SAIMA CPC, its platform for the deployment, configuration, and centralized management of network infrastructures, and SAIWALL SIEM Connector. In this case, a module that facilitates network integration with SIEM platforms to enhance visibility and threat response.

The trade show demonstrated that the new phase of Industry 4.0, which is currently taking shape, is no longer understood solely in terms of automation, machinery, or data. It is understood as a connected ecosystem that enables everything within the company to operate with security, continuity, and control.

The 2026 edition closed with 34,657 trade visitors, 758 exhibiting companies and 1,697 innovations presented, with particular emphasis on IT/OT integration —the connection between corporate information systems, Information Technology, and industrial operational systems, Operational Technology—, cybersecurity and energy efficiency.

Advanced Factories 2026 has confirmed a trend already evident in many industrial companies: digital transformation is no longer a collection of isolated technology projects but has evolved into a comprehensive operational architecture.

The connected factory integrates sensors, machinery, cloud applications, remote sites, logistics centers, suppliers, mobile users, control systems, real-time data, and cybersecurity platforms. In this new landscape, industrial competitiveness depends as much on the ability to automate processes as on the ability to connect, protect, and manage this entire ecosystem.

One of the major challenges of this new era is the integration of IT and OT. In other words, the connection between:

• Corporate information systems: applications, servers, the cloud, data, users, and business systems.
• Industrial operating systems: machinery, sensors, PLCs, SCADA systems, robots, or plant equipment.

For years, these two environments operated separately, but Industry 4.0 requires them to be connected so that plant information can be transformed into useful data for decision-making, automation, predictive maintenance, or continuous improvement.

At the trade show, the discussion once again centered on technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, industrial IoT, computer vision, the cloud, IT/OT integration, and cybersecurity. But they all share the same need: a network infrastructure capable of reliably supporting them.

At Advanced Factories 2026, Ignacio Marco, Sales Director and Co-Founder of Saima Systems, highlighted a key concept for the connected industry: automation, artificial intelligence, and industrial cybersecurity require a network infrastructure that is ready, secure, and under control.

This observation ties into one of the major challenges facing industrial companies today: maintaining control over their communications, data, suppliers, and technological infrastructure.

In an increasingly distributed environment—with plants, offices, warehouses, remote users, and cloud services—the network is no longer an invisible layer but has become a strategic component of digital sovereignty.

Saima Systems attended Advanced Factories 2026 with a proposal focused on helping industrial companies deploy more secure, flexible, and efficient networks. At the trade show, the company presented its SAIWALL Secure SD-WAN platform, a proprietary technology solution that combines connectivity, cybersecurity, and centralized management to build secure and scalable enterprise networks.

Saima Systems’ presence at the fair addressed three major needs of the connected industry.

1. The first is stable connectivity in complex environments. Industrial companies increasingly operate with distributed offices, production plants, logistics centers, cloud services, and remote teams. This requires networks capable of maintaining operational continuity even in the face of incidents, traffic changes, or growth needs.
2. The second is cybersecurity integrated at the network level. Protecting the connected industry cannot rely solely on tools added at the end of the process. The network must provide visibility, control, segmentation, responsiveness, and integration with the organization’s security systems.
3. The third is centralized and automated management. The complexity of distributed infrastructures demands solutions that enable the network to be deployed, configured, monitored, and adapted in an agile manner, reducing response times and facilitating daily operations.

In this context, SAIWALL Secure SD-WAN enables industrial companies to address one of their main challenges: building a secure, scalable, and manageable corporate network without being constrained by rigid architectures or a single connectivity provider.

For an industrial company, this translates into very concrete benefits: 

• Greater operational continuity
• Greater capacity to connect plants, offices, logistics centers, and remote users under a single network policy
• Greater visibility into traffic
• Greater agility to adapt the network to new projects involving automation, the cloud, industrial IoT, or artificial intelligence.
   

Alongside SAIWALL Secure SD-WAN, Saima Systems introduced SAIMA CPC, a platform designed to deploy, configure, and manage network infrastructures centrally and in real time. In distributed industrial environments, the ability to automate and simplify network management becomes a key differentiator.

The company also showcased SAIWALL SIEM Connector, a module that facilitates network integration with SIEM platforms. This connection enhances visibility into security events, improves threat detection, and paves the way for more coordinated cybersecurity management.

The three solutions follow the same logic: the network can no longer be managed as a passive infrastructure. It must be observable, automatable, and connected to the rest of the company’s security and operational systems.

Advanced Factories 2026 has highlighted an industry that is becoming increasingly digital, automated, and intelligent. But this evolution can only take place if there is a network infrastructure capable of supporting it. For this reason, connectivity can no longer be viewed merely as a technical support function. In the new Industry 4.0, the network enables the connection of plants, offices, users, devices, data, and applications under common criteria of security, continuity, and control.

Furthermore, to comply with the NIS2 Directive, a European regulation that strengthens cybersecurity and risk management obligations in critical sectors, having a visible, protected, and governable network infrastructure becomes a strategic requirement for the company. Saima Systems’ participation in Advanced Factories 2026 reinforces this idea: advanced industry needs secure, scalable networks that are ready to support its growth.

Because the new Industry 4.0 starts with the network.