Turning Data Into Action
Whether you’re integrating legacy systems or enhancing smart machines, edge devices provide the bridge between your equipment and your Industry 4.0 or IIoT initiatives. Now you can turn your existing equipment into a valuable source of real-time data—without costly overhauls or operational disruptions.
Start small. Add an edge device to a single machine or process, capture critical data, and integrate it into your digital infrastructure. From there, scale as needed, connecting more systems and expanding your monitoring capabilities at your own pace.
Your machines are already working hard—make them work smarter.
Real-world applications
With today’s flexible edge devices, you can create tailored machine monitoring solutions that fit your specific business needs. Here’s how businesses like yours are leveraging edge devices.
Tier 1 Automotive Supplier
A Tier 1 automotive supplier headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, with six facilities across North America, specializes in plastic injection molding. They faced significant challenges integrating real-time data from their diverse array of machinery. Outdated systems relied on 15-minute manual operator updates, leading to delayed insights, errors, and limited visibility into production performance.
As part of their Vision 2030 digital transformation initiative, they sought a scalable, cost-effective solution to unify their machines, regardless of age or manufacturer. By integrating a compact edge device—Opto 22’s groov RIO—they captured critical signals like full-auto status, mold changes, and water flow directly from their injection molding machines.
“groov RIO is simple. You have I/O, plug it in, connect an analog or digital signal, perform some simple configuration, and you are off to the races,” their IT specialist explains. Using groov RIO’s built-in MQTT Sparkplug B client, they now publish live data into their Unified Namespace (UNS), which runs on Inductive Automation®’s Ignition® SCADA hosted in the cloud.
The initial proof of concept quickly scaled to over 100 machines across multiple facilities, enabling them to track performance and availability in real time. “Now we can develop systems that plug into our UNS and make real-time decisions based on live data down to the second,” adds the IT specialist.
Read the case study, Automotive Manufacturer Accelerates Digital Transformation
Ornamental Plant Grower
One of the world’s largest ornamental plant growers, headquartered in Miami, Florida, faced challenges collecting real-time data from diverse equipment like transplanters, robotic systems, conveyors, and irrigation systems.
Traditional PLCs required costly software licenses and specialized expertise, making data access difficult. Recognizing that the lack of live data hindered their ability to optimize operations, their automation manager sought a solution that was simple, scalable, and cost-effective.
By integrating a compact edge device—Opto 22’s groov RIO—into their existing control systems, they collected data across their machinery, used Node-RED dashboards for real-time visualization, and used SQL nodes to store data in a cloud database on Microsoft® Azure®—leveraging tools like Power BI® for advanced analysis and insights to optimize operations.
“We realized that without accurate, real-time data, we couldn’t manage or optimize operations effectively,” the automation manager says. “For under $1,000, copying and pasting code that I already wrote, we can get a new groov RIO deployed in just a few minutes.”
Read the case study, Boosting Productivity with Scalable Monitoring
Oil and Gas Company
A Texas-based oil and gas company headquartered in Fort Worth faced challenges with outdated manual systems at their saltwater disposal sites, leading to inaccurate measurements and costly overflows—at $200,000 apiece.
Their automation engineer integrated Opto 22’s groov RIO edge devices, using both the RIO’s physical I/O connected to level sensors and its built-in Modbus/TCP communication to intelligent pressure sensors.
Describing the edge device as the “Goldilocks solution”—not an expensive panel with unnecessary extras nor a basic PLC lacking the necessary I/O and modern communications—the engineer highlighted its suitability for their IIoT architecture.
Now monitoring tank levels, flow rates, and pump statuses, the groov RIO publishes MQTT Sparkplug B data to their Ignition SCADA system, improving visibility, reducing environmental risks, and saving hundreds of thousands annually.
Read the case study, Replacing Outdated Controls with IIoT Edge Solution
Water District
An irrigation and drainage district serving over 30,000 acres of farmland in Gila Bend, Arizona, struggled with costly downtime and pump failures, with annual repair costs reaching up to $400,000. Limited monitoring capabilities forced technicians to rely on frequent site visits, hindering efficiency and timely responses.
To modernize their operations, the district implemented Opto 22’s groov RIO edge devices. Using Node-RED dashboards for real-time visualization and leveraging their FlowFuse™ infrastructure for secure remote management, they automated the collection of data and critical metrics like pump statuses and water levels to improve monitoring.
“This is easily going to pay for itself,” says the district manager, noting reduced pump failures and an estimated $300,000 in annual savings.
Read the case study, Providing Flexibility and Scalability for SCADA Expansion
OEM Heat Treatment
An OEM manufacturer of heat treatment systems headquartered in Terre Haute, Indiana, faced challenges in monitoring energy consumption for their high-power furnaces, some of which consume up to 350 kVA per hour. Furnaces and other high temperature equipment are often the largest energy consumers in a facility. Precise energy tracking was essential to calculate and understand the operational costs of their systems.
To track energy use, the manufacturer integrated Opto 22’s groov RIO EMU, an IIoT-ready edge device for power and energy monitoring, into their latest furnace designs. The EMU provided real-time energy consumption data, allowing them to calculate the exact energy cost per part produced.
“With energy monitoring, we can calculate in real time how much it costs to heat treat parts, and we can now accurately assign the cost of energy to the production of a particular component,” explains their controls engineer.
This insight enables them to precisely allocate energy costs to specific jobs, refine their pricing models, and identify opportunities to improve furnace efficiency—directly impacting their bottom line.
Read the case study, Heat Treatment OEM Chooses Flexibility, Scalability
Conclusion
These companies followed the exact steps outlined in this white paper: they identified the data they needed, monitored existing signals, added new sensors where necessary, and leveraged existing protocols to collect critical operational data.
Each solution addressed their unique challenges and delivered real results. So what about you? What data will you capture, and how will you use it to take your operations to the next level? The tools are there—now it’s your move.
Explore your options. Talk to an Opto 22 engineer.