Three new partners, a palletizer on an Allen-Bradley PLC, and secure remote access to your legacy PLCs on demand.

If you're heading to the Ignition Community Conference next week, block out Wednesday morning at 9:00 a.m. The ACME Dynamite factory we brought to Automate has grown since May, and ICC is your chance to see it live.

Quick refresher: ACME is a fictional dynamite plant built by real automation companies to answer a practical question: what happens when you pick the best tool for each layer instead of buying one vendor's whole stack?

Two lines batch and discharge product following ISA-88. Line 1 runs a well-tuned loop, Line 2 is deliberately untuned, and the trends show you what good tuning is worth. Everything on the screen is live. Go look: op22.co/acme.

Since our earlier post, we've added three partners and three new pieces of plant. You'll want to check it out.

A maintenance release: a few enhancements, one security patch, an updated Java runtime, current Ignition and Cirrus Link versions, and some bug fixes.

If you use or plan to use groov hardware, you’ll want to be aware of this small but important firmware release.

Firmware 4.1.3 handles upkeep and a few small enhancements: a web server security patch, current Ignition and Cirrus Link versions, and fixes for hostname registration, backup restores, and USB port control.

It’s available for every groov EPIC and groov RIO device ever shipped!

Here's what's in it and what each item means for your application.

See what happens when you stop asking one platform to do everything.

You want the best controllers, I/O, SCADA software, MES, & cloud infrastructure—not whatever comes bundled together. The catch has always been getting them to talk. Mix vendors and you're staring at custom drivers, brittle middleware, and a cloud project that stalls because nothing speaks the same language.

But open standards changed that. When every layer speaks MQTT Sparkplug and OPC UA, best-of-breed pieces snap together simply instead of fighting each other. You pick the best tool for each job, and they still run as one system.

You don't have to take our word for it. Five companies built a factory to prove it, and you can see it right now.

Last month's water-utility attacks hit exposed PLCs. Here's how to tell if yours is one, and how to take it offline for good.

Somewhere in your plant or remote infrastructure, a controller might be reachable from the public internet right now.

Someone probably set up remote access years ago so they wouldn't have to drive an hour out to a remote site every time it needed a look.

Nobody circled back. For a long time, that felt harmless. Last month, it stopped feeling that way.

The 4.1 groov firmware release is now available and offers more control, greater security, and fewer barriers.

If you use, or plan to use, groov hardware, this update improves what you can do without adding hardware, software licenses, or external tools.

And it’s available for every groov EPIC and groov RIO device ever shipped!

Firmware 4.1.0 adds key features: network segmentation on groov RIO, serial integration inside CODESYS without licensing, and API-driven fleet management tools.

Here is what changed, and why each change is worth your attention. 

New document outlines how groov products are being used in 21 CFR Part 11 approved applications.

If you work in pharmaceutical or biotech manufacturing, you’ve probably had to think about 21 CFR Part 11, the FDA regulation that governs electronic records and electronic signatures.

Most of the Part 11 requirements live in supervisory systems like SCADA, MES, and historians. But those systems depend on one thing: reliable, traceable data from the equipment layer.

That’s where Opto 22’s groov platforms come in.

New Who's groovin' video series lets you preview a variety of industrial application challenges and solutions.

When you’re working through a control or monitoring problem, it helps to see how someone else already solved something similar.

That's the idea behind a new short video series called Who's groovin'.

Get a sneak peek.

Watch recorded conference sessions for FREE and learn how to connect your systems with Node-RED.

Included in groov EPIC and groov RIO is Node-RED, an open-source software program that allows you to wire together devices, databases, cloud applications, and APIs (application programming interfaces) using simple logic flows.

Node-RED is being used in a wide range of mission-critical applications, from city utilities and semiconductor fabs to manufacturing lines and smart buildings.

Anywhere an engineer needs two systems to talk, Node-RED often shows up. It’s a visual way to move data, trigger actions, and link systems. Due to Node-RED's growing popularity, it's no surprise that last week's Node-RED conference provided some excellent resources and idea exchanges.

Discover the key takeaways from the conference and gain access to the session recordings.

From the release of Ignition 8.3 software to the ProveIt! showcases live on stage, get all the highlights from this year's Ignition Community Conference.

If you’re like many in manufacturing, you’re still facing the same challenges:

Those problems and some solutions were front and center at this year’s Ignition Community Conference.

New live demo provides a practical example of how to set up machine monitoring at your facility.

Whether you're trying to cut energy costs, avoid unplanned downtime, or just get eyes on what's actually happening on the plant floor, real-time machine monitoring gives you the information you need to act. 

If you're looking for a practical example of how to do it—using real equipment, standard protocols, and a system that's running 24/7—try out a new live demo that shows exactly how we’ve set up our own machine monitoring at Opto 22 headquarters in Temecula, California.