Build Once, Ship Anywhere: How Kigen IFPP supports Smart manufacturing

Author

Chris Burke

Chief Technology Officer, Kigen

Why Cellular Integration Must Become Simpler 

In the next generation of smart manufacturing, devices are expected to be born connected—secure, always-on, and globally scalable. 

Yet for many OEMs and device makers, integrating cellular connectivity into their products and manufacturing processes is still more complex than it should be. 

Factories often face technical barriers to  profile loading and provisioning. Managing global SKUs can be a logistical headache. And in many cases, production environments simply aren’t ready to handle modern  eSIM factory provisioning. 

At Kigen, we believe that simplifying cellular adoption is key to unlocking new value in connected products. Recent advancements in eSIM standards and In-Factory Profile Provisioning (IFPP) are making this not just possible, but practical—and now is the time for OEMs to seize the opportunity. 

At Kigen, we believe that simplifying cellular adoption is key to unlocking new value in connected products.

The Challenges in eSIM Manufacturing Today 

Cellular connectivity offers compelling benefits for connected products: global reach, security, and quality of service. But for OEMs moving from R&D to mass production, these benefits are often slowed by operational hurdles: 

• Many factories operate in offline or network-constrained environments, making it difficult to provision eSIMs using conventional over-the-air (OTA) methods. 

• Profile loading and testing often happen late in the process, extending lead times and increasing risk. 

• Managing multiple SKUs and network configurations adds complexity and cost. 

• Battery-constrained and low-power devices introduce additional limitations around profile provisioning. 

As demand for born-connected products grows, these barriers must be addressed to enable true smart manufacturing at scale. 

“At the same time, as we’ve worked closely with our ecosystem on these standards, we’ve identified a critical gap: manufacturing readiness.”

OEM Challenges that guide our technology vision around supporting manufacturing setups in the new eSIM IoT world – an excerpt from my presentation at the IoT Summit at MWC Shanghai 2025.

How New eSIM Standards and IFPP Enable Change

Recent advancements in eSIM technology—including the introduction of GSMA SGP.32—are helping OEMs gain greater flexibility and control over how connectivity is managed. 

At the same time, as we’ve worked closely with our ecosystem on these standards, we’ve identified a critical gap: manufacturing readiness. 

Even with modern eSIM capabilities, many factories still struggle with: 

• Offline and distributed production environments 

• Limited or no access to public networks during device assembly and testing 

• The need for secure, controlled profile delivery within the factory 

This is where In-Factory Profile Provisioning (IFPP) comes in. By enabling secure profile loading during production, IFPP bridges the gap between device development and manufacturing — allowing OEMs to streamline operations and scale their connected product programs with confidence. 

Scaling Smart Manufacturing with IFPP 

Building a Global Single SKU Strategy 

With Kigen’s IFPP trial, OEMs can now achieve a Global Single SKU approach—building one product that can be shipped anywhere, with the right connectivity provisioned at the last stage of manufacturing. 

This simplifies logistics, reduces costs, and eliminates the need for regional variants. More importantly, it gives device makers greater autonomy over how their products connect. 

Accelerating Production with Faster Profile Loading 

By integrating IFPP into production flows, manufacturers can: 

• Reduce profile loading times from weeks or months to minutes 

• Embed secure profile delivery into their existing test and QA processes 

• Ensure devices are fully provisioned and validated before leaving the factory 

For offline or constrained factories, IFPP also enables local profile loading—without requiring persistent online access or complex OTA processes.

Why OEMs Should Act Now 

The Market Opportunity for Connected Devices 

McKinsey estimates that moving beyond core connectivity represents a $700 billion opportunity for the industry. To capture this value, OEMs must move quickly to simplify how their products are connected—and that begins in the factory. 

Simplifying Operations for Long-Term Advantage 

Streamlining manufacturing operations through IFPP helps OEMs: 

• Accelerate time to market for born-connected devices 

• Improve production efficiency and flexibility 

• Gain full control over eSIM provisioning and profile management 

• Support a broader range of connected use cases across consumer devices, IoT modules, and industrial products 

And importantly, by adopting these practices now, OEMs position themselves to lead as smart manufacturing continues to evolve. 

Start Your Journey with Kigen IFPP Trial Kit 

At Kigen, we’re helping device makers and manufacturers simplify the path to smart eSIM manufacturing. Our IFPP Trial Kit offers a proven, practical way to: 

• Integrate profile provisioning into your production flow 

• Support offline and distributed factory environments 

• Optimize profile loading and testing at scale 

• Implement a true Global Single SKU strategy 

At Kigen, we’ve built the IFPP Trial Kit not just for today’s factory realities—but for where the future is headed. It’s engineered to work across all SIM form factors, including the ultra-compact MFF4 (2×2mm²) and deeply integrated iSIMs, occupying only a fraction of a square millimeter within the SoC. It’s ready for consumer, industrial, and automotive-grade deployments, and equipped with over 10 pre-provisioned profiles, network rescue and recovery logic, and native support for terrestrial and non-terrestrial (satellite) networks.

This is technology shaped by real-world insight—from early adopters in smart metering to wearables—and refined to support scaling across distributed factory environments. By starting today, you can transform your manufacturing readiness and ensure your products are positioned to win in the born-connected world. See how already customers have pushed our vision to take secure loading from months to minutes to their advantage.

I hope you’d consider the Kigen IFPP Trial Kit — and take the first step toward scalable, secure, and streamlined smart manufacturing. 

Kigen IFPP trial process

See what to expect with the Kigen in-factory provisioning trial – the process, support and how to plan for your factory’s smart manufacturing outcomes

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Download the research to manufacturing connected products

Cellular eSIM standards mark a pivotal shift on how Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) scale and manage connectivity across sectors.

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Customer case study: Global wearables brand wins with IFPP

Learn how our global wearable customer moved their factory to provision profiles in only 2 mins with iSIM, speeding global expansion with a focus on quality.

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