Connected systems, operational intelligence.
Industry 4.0 is not a technology buzzword — it is a concrete transformation of how industrial systems are designed, operated and optimised. The convergence of IT (Information Technology) and OT (Operational Technology) opens new possibilities: real-time collection of production data, predictive analysis of equipment condition, remote supervision, and continuous optimisation of energy and raw material consumption.
AUTOM Technologies supports its clients in this transformation by designing connected, open and secure industrial architectures. We connect the field (sensors, PLCs, machines) to the upper layers (data platforms, dashboards, ERP) using standardised, interoperable protocols, avoiding proprietary lock-in.
Our Industry 4.0 approach
Embedded IoT and real-time data acquisition
We design embedded IoT systems for real-time data acquisition on industrial equipment: vibration, temperature, pressure, power consumption, flow rates. These systems integrate industrial sensors, IoT gateways (Siemens IoT 2040, Moxa, Advantech), edge computing modules and local connectivity (PROFINET, Modbus, CAN) as well as long-range (4G/5G, LoRaWAN, satellite). Our flagship project — the real-time data acquisition system deployed on over 200 vessels — demonstrates our ability to deliver robust connected solutions in the most demanding environments.
Data processing platforms and IIoT dashboards
Collected data only creates value if it is processed, contextualised and presented to the right people at the right time. We deploy data processing platforms based on open technologies: InfluxDB for time series storage, Node-RED for data flow processing and transformation, Grafana for operational dashboards and KPI visualisation. These open-source solutions offer a high cost/performance ratio and avoid vendor lock-in.
OPC-UA and MQTT — Standardised connectivity
OPC-UA (IEC 62541) and MQTT are the two standards that currently dominate IIoT connectivity. OPC-UA provides secure, structured access to machine data with an integrated information model; MQTT offers efficient lightweight publish/subscribe communication for bandwidth-constrained environments. We deploy OPC-UA servers on PLCs and machines, MQTT brokers (Mosquitto, HiveMQ) for IoT data collection, and MQTT Sparkplug B for semantic data normalisation.
Key technologies
- OPC-UA (IEC 62541) — Standardised, secure machine-to-machine data exchange
- MQTT / Sparkplug B — Lightweight publish/subscribe protocol for IIoT
- InfluxDB / TimescaleDB — Time series databases optimised for industrial data
- Node-RED — Open-source visual data flow programming platform
- Grafana — Industrial KPI and operational monitoring dashboards
- Edge computing — Local data processing to reduce cloud dependency
Flagship project
Real-time data acquisition — 200+ vessels
Design and deployment of an embedded real-time data acquisition solution on a fleet of over 200 vessels: engine, navigation and auxiliary parameters measured and recorded by onboard IoT gateways, data transmitted ashore via satellite and 4G links, centralised processing on an InfluxDB/Grafana platform for predictive maintenance, fuel consumption optimisation and emissions regulatory compliance.
Do you have an Industry 4.0 project?
Whether you want to connect your existing machines, deploy an IoT data acquisition solution or build a production data analytics platform, our team designs open, secure and scalable architectures tailored to your operational constraints.