From Frustration to Performance: Proven IoT/MES Architectures

At our startup, we hear the same frustration over and over: many clients need to rethink their IT/OT architecture—or build a new one from the ground up. Performance is often poor because the existing design lacks redundancy, isn’t scalable, or simply wasn’t built with growth in mind.

We apply two main patterns that make sense, depending on whether you want to stay local or go to the cloud.

🏭 Local / On-Premises

In this setup, everything runs inside the factory walls.

• Machines and PLCs send data to an OPC UA server (e.g. Kepware).
• ThingWorx (or similar) provides visualization, dashboards, and APIs.
• The MES system (e.g., FactoryTalk MES, Sepasoft MES, or a custom solution) consumes contextualized data to manage production, track orders, and record genealogy.
• An optional historian or SQL/time-series database stores raw signals and events.

Flow: Machines → Kepware → ThingWorx → MES → back down to machines with work orders and recipes.

This works great when you want tight control, no external dependencies, and low latency.

☁️ Cloud / IoT with Azure

If you’re ready for a cloud approach, the flow changes a bit.

• Machines expose data via OPC UA.
• The Azure IoT Edge Connector picks it up and publishes to the cloud using MQTT/HTTPS.
• Azure IoT Hub / Event Hubs handle ingestion and routing.
• A cloud-based MES system (for example, SAP Digital Manufacturing) consumes the data for scheduling, quality, and production tracking.
• Telemetry and batches can also be routed to Azure Data Lake or for analytics.

Flow: Machines → IoT Edge Connector → Azure IoT Hub → Cloud MES → back down with orders, instructions, and acknowledgments.

This model shines when you need scalability, global integration, or advanced analytics on top of production data.

🌍 Our Take

We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all. Some factories will always prefer local control, others need the reach and flexibility of the cloud. What matters is choosing the right stack for your environment—and making sure data flows both ways: up for visibility, and down for control.

📩 Contact us

If you’re looking to improve your IT/OT architecture or explore IoT/MES integration, we’d be happy to share our experience and help you design the right solution.

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