It’s been some three decades since the Purdue model first formalized the seven-layer pyramid for “computer-integrated manufacturing." While the model’s intent was primarily functional, form often follows function, and the intervening decades have left us with complex strata and siloes of isolated data that is difficult to integrate and contextualize. Peter Zornio, chief technology officer for Emerson’s Automation Solutions business, joins Keith Larson to discuss a new vision of a flatter, software-based architecture for process automation that democratizes data and enables optimization without all the former hurdles.