A new report highlights a major perception-reality gap in factory connectivity: 77% of manufacturers call their operations “connected,” but only about 40% actually meet that bar. Consequences include late detection of quality issues (more than 4 in 10), stark mismatches between executive and shop-floor views—especially around data integration—and limited cross-functional feedback, with 39% reporting weak loops between design, manufacturing, and quality. The upshot: siloed data and fragmented processes are undermining end-to-end visibility and closed-loop quality.