Plant digital transformation is currently a prominent trend that holds the promise of revolutionizing our industrial infrastructure by enhancing efficiency and reducing energy consumption in existing plants. However, the reality presents challenges. The older, inefficient plants that are prime candidates for digital transformation were predominantly constructed decades ago, prior to the Internet and the advent of digital networked sensor technologies. Consequently, there is a scarcity of data to fuel advanced smart applications. These plants still heavily rely on manual instruments such as analog gauges and LCD data loggers, requiring plant operators to manually collect the data. To address these challenges, iSpark has developed an innovative software-based sensor solution called Unified (Universal Field Data Reader). This solution leverages technologies like computer vision, machine learning, and edge computing to create non-intrusive overlay solutions. It transforms data from existing non-connected instruments without the need for expensive replacements. Unified can be set up in a day per non-connected instrument! To enable more accurate predictions, it is crucial to collect data more frequently. Analytics can only make predictions and diagnoses when they detect changes in data values. Capturing these changes as soon as possible allows for early predictions. Manually collecting data from numerous positions once a minute or even once an hour is impractical. Automating data collection through overlay sensors is an essential step in the transformation of work processes. Unified can also be used for many other use cases around automated visual inspections (product quality, tank level, asset status deterioration, valve troubleshooting, etc.).