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Most people who start a systems integrator expect to keep doing the engineering. Dylan DuFresne explains why that stops being true inside two years.
Ask ten people what a systems integrator is and you get ten answers, so Dylan DuFresne starts from first principles: a third party that connects systems which used to sit isolated. The market then splits in two. One is the generalist who has seen a hundred platforms across a thousand facilities and knows how they behave together. The other is the specialist who lives inside one or two stacks. If you know what you are building, hire the specialist. If you are still deciding, the generalist saves you money.
Abelara exists because of a pattern Dylan hit repeatedly during more than a decade inside other integrators. By the time a client calls, the platform is chosen, the budget is set, and the outcome is locked in, even when that platform cannot deliver it. His answer was to move upstream into architecture, change management, and business process work with VPs and C suite sponsors. His first question is always why. Why this site, why this machine, why this platform, and what outcome is attached to it.
With no clear scope of work, Abelara declines to bid or sells the consulting engagement that produces one. When scope is fuzzy but workable he prices it all in and writes explicit exclusions and assumptions up front. His test before a proposal is one question: what does done look like. A striking number of buyers cannot answer it. He also corrects an instinct: a $200 sensor may beat a $30,000 camera technically and still be the wrong call, because the expensive option is a known quantity and carries less risk.
Scaling gets treated as line balancing applied to a company. Find the bottleneck, find the gap in skills or availability, and staff it. Each hire moves the constraint somewhere new, and the hardest part is emotional: letting go of work you enjoy and are good at. On AI, Dylan predicts integration goes back to being integration. A generation of integrators drifted into custom coding, with companies of 400 and 500 people building MES and SCADA stacks from scratch, and he expects code generation to strip that work away. Writing a tool that pulls PLC data to the cloud is easy. Running it reliably and securely 24/7 for a year is not.
About Dylan DuFresne
Dylan DuFresne is co founder and lead architect at Abelara, a manufacturing transformation firm that works with plants as coach, consultant, and integrator. He spent more than a decade inside systems integrators covering robotics, PLCs, SCADA, HMI, recipe management, and ERP integration before starting Abelara with co founder Glenn. He also wrote The Phantom Pallet, a manufacturing fable about data, trust, and transformation.
https://abelara.com
Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
4:30 What a systems integrator actually is
9:00 Why Dylan and Glenn started Abelara
14:00 Following the customer or picking platforms first
20:00 Consulting versus integration work
25:00 Why integrators get brought in too late
32:00 The $30,000 camera and business trade offs
36:30 Scope of work and what does done look like
43:20 Handing projects to the team and subcontractors
52:10 First hires, bottlenecks, and forecasting
57:40 AI and the future of systems integration
1:05:40 Predictions, career advice, and books
References
The Phantom Pallet by Dylan DuFresne: https://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Pallet-Manufacturing-Fable-Transformation-ebook/dp/B0GGYCK5PR
Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre by Keith Johnstone: https://www.amazon.com/Impro-Improvisation-Theatre-Keith-Johnstone/dp/041346430X
About Your Hosts
Vladimir Romanov is a co-host of The Manufacturing Hub Podcast and the founder of Joltek, an independent manufacturing and industrial automation consulting firm specializing in modernization strategy, digital transformation, and workforce development. Joltek works with manufacturers and investors to de-risk modernization and build the internal capability to sustain results.
Connect with Vlad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladromanov/
Want to go deeper? Vlad and the team at Joltek have covered related topics here:
System Integrators: https://www.joltek.com/blog/system-integrators
Consulting, Upskilling, and Systems Integration: https://www.joltek.com/blog/humble-beginnings-consulting-upskilling-systems-integration
Dave Griffith is a co-host of The Manufacturing Hub Podcast and founder of Capelin Solutions, an industrial automation firm helping manufacturers adopt smart manufacturing technology. He brings 15 years of experience in industrial automation and digital transformation.
Connect with Dave: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davegriffith23/
Subscribe to Manufacturing Hub: https://www.manufacturinghub.live
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/manufacturing-hub-network
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ManufacturingHub
Ask ten people what a systems integrator is and you get ten answers, so Dylan DuFresne starts from first principles: a third party that connects systems which used to sit isolated. The market then splits in two. One is the generalist who has seen a hundred platforms across a thousand facilities and knows how they behave together. The other is the specialist who lives inside one or two stacks. If you know what you are building, hire the specialist. If you are still deciding, the generalist saves you money.
Abelara exists because of a pattern Dylan hit repeatedly during more than a decade inside other integrators. By the time a client calls, the platform is chosen, the budget is set, and the outcome is locked in, even when that platform cannot deliver it. His answer was to move upstream into architecture, change management, and business process work with VPs and C suite sponsors. His first question is always why. Why this site, why this machine, why this platform, and what outcome is attached to it.
With no clear scope of work, Abelara declines to bid or sells the consulting engagement that produces one. When scope is fuzzy but workable he prices it all in and writes explicit exclusions and assumptions up front. His test before a proposal is one question: what does done look like. A striking number of buyers cannot answer it. He also corrects an instinct: a $200 sensor may beat a $30,000 camera technically and still be the wrong call, because the expensive option is a known quantity and carries less risk.
Scaling gets treated as line balancing applied to a company. Find the bottleneck, find the gap in skills or availability, and staff it. Each hire moves the constraint somewhere new, and the hardest part is emotional: letting go of work you enjoy and are good at. On AI, Dylan predicts integration goes back to being integration. A generation of integrators drifted into custom coding, with companies of 400 and 500 people building MES and SCADA stacks from scratch, and he expects code generation to strip that work away. Writing a tool that pulls PLC data to the cloud is easy. Running it reliably and securely 24/7 for a year is not.
About Dylan DuFresne
Dylan DuFresne is co founder and lead architect at Abelara, a manufacturing transformation firm that works with plants as coach, consultant, and integrator. He spent more than a decade inside systems integrators covering robotics, PLCs, SCADA, HMI, recipe management, and ERP integration before starting Abelara with co founder Glenn. He also wrote The Phantom Pallet, a manufacturing fable about data, trust, and transformation.
https://abelara.com
Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
4:30 What a systems integrator actually is
9:00 Why Dylan and Glenn started Abelara
14:00 Following the customer or picking platforms first
20:00 Consulting versus integration work
25:00 Why integrators get brought in too late
32:00 The $30,000 camera and business trade offs
36:30 Scope of work and what does done look like
43:20 Handing projects to the team and subcontractors
52:10 First hires, bottlenecks, and forecasting
57:40 AI and the future of systems integration
1:05:40 Predictions, career advice, and books
References
The Phantom Pallet by Dylan DuFresne: https://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Pallet-Manufacturing-Fable-Transformation-ebook/dp/B0GGYCK5PR
Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre by Keith Johnstone: https://www.amazon.com/Impro-Improvisation-Theatre-Keith-Johnstone/dp/041346430X
About Your Hosts
Vladimir Romanov is a co-host of The Manufacturing Hub Podcast and the founder of Joltek, an independent manufacturing and industrial automation consulting firm specializing in modernization strategy, digital transformation, and workforce development. Joltek works with manufacturers and investors to de-risk modernization and build the internal capability to sustain results.
Connect with Vlad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladromanov/
Want to go deeper? Vlad and the team at Joltek have covered related topics here:
System Integrators: https://www.joltek.com/blog/system-integrators
Consulting, Upskilling, and Systems Integration: https://www.joltek.com/blog/humble-beginnings-consulting-upskilling-systems-integration
Dave Griffith is a co-host of The Manufacturing Hub Podcast and founder of Capelin Solutions, an industrial automation firm helping manufacturers adopt smart manufacturing technology. He brings 15 years of experience in industrial automation and digital transformation.
Connect with Dave: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davegriffith23/
Subscribe to Manufacturing Hub: https://www.manufacturinghub.live
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/manufacturing-hub-network
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ManufacturingHub
Creators and Guests
What is Manufacturing Hub?
We bring you manufacturing news, insights, discuss opportunities, and cutting edge technologies. Our goal is to inform, educate, and inspire leaders and workers in manufacturing, automation, and related fields.