ANDREI CAZACU
OT Fractional Architect
ANDREI CAZACU
About me
I'm Andrei Cazacu, OT Architect. I work with manufacturers who've committed to digitalization and need someone who can own the architecture, drive the delivery, and make it stick across the business.17 years. 7 industries.
FMCG Production · FMCG R&D · Pharma · Automotive · Oil & Gas · Warehouse Automation · IntralogisticsMost digitalization programmes start with ambition and end with a pilot that never scaled.Not because the technology failed.Because no one owned the architecture end-to-end, the layer where shop floor meets IT, where vendor promises meet operational reality, where a 3-year roadmap meets a plant manager who needs results this quarter.That's the gap I close.
I come in as a Fractional or Contract OT Architect, senior-level strategic and technical leadership, engaged at the point where it matters most.I've deployed MES across multiple production lines at Unilever, contributing to improvement in OEE. I led the IIoT architecture across global R&D pilot plants at Mondelez, standardising sites across parallel Siemens and Rockwell estates. And I built automation systems that scaled from prototype to production at Ocado.I don't consult from a distance.I work inside your programme with your engineers, your IT team, your leadership until the architecture is sound and the delivery is moving.Assessments run on site.
Delivery runs remote.
EU · UK · US.Most engagements start with an assessment. Where they go next depends on what it finds.SERVICESThree ways to engage:① OT Estate Assessment
4 weeks · On site · Fixed priceFor manufacturers who suspect their OT stack is holding them back but aren't sure where to focus.I run this as a productised assessment under Digital Factory Services. Fixed scope, fixed price, four weeks from kickoff to readout.It scores every site in your estate on two axes, what's implemented, and what's actually adopted and measures the distance between them. That gap is where investment stops returning value.Details and pricing: https://digitalfactoryservices.carrd.co/② Fractional OT Architect
3–12 months · Part-time embedded · Remote + travel when needed.For organisations that need senior OT architecture leadership without a full-time hire.I work as part of your team, owning the OT architecture layer, aligning IT and operational stakeholders, guiding vendor selection, and ensuring delivery decisions are made with the full picture in view.Typical engagements cover: IIoT platform design, MES scoping and rollout, IT/OT convergence strategy, cloud and edge integration, and multi-site standardisation.The model that gives you architecture thinking at fractional cost.③ Programme Recovery
Engagement-based · Mobilisation within 2 weeksFor leadership teams whose OT or MES programme has stalled over budget, behind schedule, or simply not delivering what was promised.I come in, diagnose what broke and why, reset the architecture and delivery model, and stay until the programme is back on track and your team can own it going forward.No politics. No blame. Just a clear path forward.Built for the conversations that need to happen before a board escalation.Most recovery engagements continue into retained architecture ownership once the programme is stable.
Andrei Cazacu
Why Work With Me?
CLIENTS
Mondelez · Unilever · Ocado · Renault · Powder Systems · AIDA Engineering
The gap in most OT programmes isn't technical skill.It's someone who can hold the architecture and the business case at the same time.I've worked at every layer of industrial digitalization, PLC code to cloud architecture, commissioning floor to CAPEX justification.I know what vendors oversell, where integrators cut corners, and how to build a roadmap that survives contact with a real factory.What that means in practice:
Your programme moves faster because decisions get made with confidence, not committee.Your vendors are held to a standard.Your internal team builds capability alongside delivery, not dependency on the next consultant.And when I leave, the architecture is yours: documented, transferable, and built to scale.Mondelez · Unilever · Ocado · Renault · Powder Systems · AIDA Engineering
Manufacturing Lens
MANUFACTURING LENSReshoring, tariffs, supply chain fragility, the strategic case for manufacturing has never been stronger. Most factories still can't act on it, because the digital foundation isn't there.I write about that distance: what the macro picture demands of manufacturers, why smart factory programmes stall between pilot and scale, and what actually transfers between industries that most architects never see because they've only worked in one.Seventeen years across FMCG, pharma, automotive and oil and gas. Written for the engineers and manufacturing IT leaders who have to make the strategy real.
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Andrei Cazacu
CONTACT
I work with a small number of clients at any one time.If your programme is stalled, your OT architecture needs senior ownership, or you're planning a digitalization investment and want it done right the first time, this is the right conversation to have early.On site for assessments. Remote for delivery. EU · UK · US.