PORTO, Portugal, 17th December, 2025 – Critical Manufacturing, the Manufacturing Operations Platform company making Industry 4.0 a reality, today announced a new partnership with Canonical that combines Critical Manufacturing’s advanced Manufacturing Execution System (MES) expertise with Canonical’s trusted cloud infrastructure technologies. Together, the companies will help manufacturers move towards cloud native manufacturing platforms that scale smoothly and meet industrial security expectations.

Manufacturers across industries are pushing forward with digitalization, but many still struggle with practical hurdles. Production systems often need to run across different environments, grow alongside business demands and deliver real-time visibility without adding complexity or risk. Scaling manufacturing software across sites, supporting modern deployment models and staying aligned with security standards remain common challenges.

Through this partnership, Critical Manufacturing and Canonical aim to remove those obstacles by offering a unified approach. Canonical provides a secure, enterprise-grade Kubernetes platform, Canonical Kubernetes. These technologies integrate with Critical Manufacturing MES and enable flexible deployment across cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments. This gives manufacturers the freedom to choose the infrastructure model that fits their operations, without forcing trade-offs in stability or control.

“This partnership brings together two platforms that manufacturers rely on to modernize operations,” said Mark Lewis, VP Application Services at Canonical. “By validating Critical Manufacturing MES on Canonical Kubernetes, we are creating a strong foundation for manufacturers looking for secure, scalable deployment options across cloud, hybrid, or on-premises environments.”

The collaboration also allows Critical Manufacturing to broaden its deployment options for customers already using Canonical products. By working with Canonical’s Kubernetes and securely designed Linux environments, Critical Manufacturing can shorten ramp-up time and lower entry barriers for manufacturers moving to cloud-native execution platforms, while remaining competitive in environments where Canonical is already established.
Will Trogdon, VP Partner Ecosystem at Critical Manufacturing, said, “Driven by a shared ambition to accelerate cloud-native manufacturing, we partnered with Canonical to offer a seamless, secure, and scalable way to deploy Critical Manufacturing MES in the environments that suit their operations.”

For customers, the partnership delivers a combined platform that supports secure and reliable manufacturing 1/2 execution at scale. Manufacturers gain more alternatives for cloud, hybrid, and on-premises deployments, supporting operational flexibility and overall lower total cost of ownership over time. Customers will also benefit from access to Canonical’s wider ecosystem of certified infrastructure providers as they expand or standardize deployments globally.

Canonical noted that the partnership will allow Critical Manufacturing to test and validate its products with Canonical Kubernetes, with the goal of addressing a shared market vertical together.

José Pedro Silva, R&D Director at Critical Manufacturing, added, “This collaboration supports a practical path to connected manufacturing execution. Canonical Kubernetes gives our customers a reliable infrastructure layer that complements the flexibility of our MES, especially as they expand across sites and adopt new digital capabilities.”

The partnership applies across manufacturing industries and supports organizations at different stages of digital maturity. By combining Critical Manufacturing MES with Canonical’s cloud infrastructure technologies, both companies plan to help manufacturers build more responsive and secure production environments that grow with their needs.

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