Blog
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MQTT vs OPC UA: Why This Question Never Has a Straight Answer
The question itself is broken.
MQTT moves messages. OPC UA defines meaning. They operate at different layers of the stack. Comparing them is like comparing TCP to JSON.
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Beyond Kepware: Why Modern Industrial Connectivity Demands a Second Look
Kepware isn't chosen, it's assumed. It appears in budgets like line items for electricity or insurance. No one questions it.... -
FlowFuse 2.26: Bringing access-controls to your MCP nodes
With the holiday break sitting in the middle of this release cycle, it's a smaller release than usual this month.... -
What Is a System Integrator? Understanding Manufacturing's Most Misunderstood Role
Most factories don't get built all at once. They evolve. Someone buys a robot in 2018. A conveyor system gets... -
Integrating Git within Node-RED Workflow with FlowFuse
If you've been using Node-RED in production, you already know the pain points. Flows get complex. Teams grow. Someone makes... -
The Node-RED Story: How Visual Programming Escaped the Lab and Conquered Industry
In late 2011, Nick O'Leary was a "plumber" of the digital age. As part of IBM's Emerging Technology Group, he... -
Mean Time to Failure (MTTF): Formula, Calculation, MTTF vs MTBF vs MTTR, and More
When a critical motor bearing assembly fails after just 6 months—half its rated lifespan—maintenance teams face a fundamental question: "How... -
What Is a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller)? What It Does, How It Works, and Where It’s Used
A PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) is an industrial computer that continuously monitors sensors, executes control logic, and operates motors, valves,... -
Node-RED Timer Tutorial: Create Stopwatch and Countdown Timers
Timers are everywhere in industrial automation. You need them to track how long a machine has been running, measure downtime,... -
Five Whys Root Cause Analysis: Definition, Steps & Examples (2026)
The Five Whys is a root cause analysis technique where you ask "why" repeatedly—typically five times—until you identify the underlying... -
What is TEEP? Calculation, Benchmarks & TEEP vs OEE (2026)
Total Effective Equipment Performance (TEEP) is a manufacturing KPI used to understand how much of an equipment investment is actually... -
FlowFuse 2.25: Interacting with MCP Resources in FlowFuse Expert, Improved Update Scheduling, and lots of UI improvements!
This release comes with some big updates for the FlowFuse Expert. -
MQTT vs Kafka: Complete Comparison Guide 2026
Building IoT systems means making hard choices about how messages flow through your infrastructure. Apache Kafka and MQTT couldn't be... -
Node-RED Buffer Parser Guide: Decode Modbus and Industrial Device Data
Legacy industrial devices communicate in bytes. Your temperature sensor doesn't send you {"temp": 23.5} - it sends you [1, 3,... -
Building a Weather Dashboard in Node-RED (2026)
A weather dashboard is honestly the best first project if you're getting into Node-RED. Takes about 10-15 minutes from start... -
How to Access Optimized Data Blocks in TIA Portal (S7-1200/1500)
When working with Siemens S7-1200 and S7-1500 PLCs, you’ll notice that TIA Portal creates optimized data blocks by default. Unlike... -
How to Optimize Industrial Data Communication with Protocol Buffers
You're generating terabytes of sensor data every day. Most of it is waste, I mean.. Not the measurements—those are fine. It's... -
How to Protect Your Factory From Bad Data: A Must-Have Read for IIoT
Bad data quietly corrupts production analytics, triggers false equipment alarms, and causes automation systems to make faulty control decisions. Unlike... -
Store-and-Forward at the Edge: Buffering Production Data During Network Outages
Network outages happen. A fiber cut, a switch failure, or infrastructure maintenance can take your connectivity offline without warning. When...
