AI Edge for PLCs and Industrial Monitoring

A manufacturing company needed to improve visibility into machine-level data and reduce unplanned downtime. Existing HMIs were limited to basic visualization and lacked the ability to process and transform real-time PLC data effectively.

The customer required a solution to collect and standardize signals such as temperature, vibration, pressure, and OEE. Low-latency local processing, an intuitive operator interface, and seamless integration with a scalable IoT platform were essential.

The customer also needed to transform heterogeneous PLC signals into standardized and structured data formats that could be consistently used across dashboards, analytics, and cloud services.

SECO implemented an AI-enabled industrial HMI based on Modular Vision. Designed as a plug-and-play system, it allows direct connection to existing PLCs without requiring any modifications to the customer’s infrastructure.

An industrial application layer ingests raw data from the PLC, standardizes and structures it, and prepares it for distribution and real-time visualization directly at the edge. The processed data is then published via MQTT, enabling seamless integration with the Clea framework for data orchestration, visualization, and advanced analytics.

Running as a container, the application delivers real-time insights through an interactive dashboard on the HMI. Through Clea, data is orchestrated, managed, and made available across devices and systems, while AI algorithms can be applied locally on structured data streams for anomaly detection and predictive diagnostics, without relying on cloud connectivity.

The solution transformed the HMI into an intelligent edge system for real-time monitoring and analysis. By enabling real-time data transformation and standardized data pipelines directly at the edge, the solution ensures consistent and reliable data across systems. Operators gained immediate access to actionable insights, improving responsiveness on the factory floor.

Predictive maintenance reduced unexpected failures and optimized maintenance activities. With Clea, you get data orchestration, scalability, and lifecycle management. It provides a scalable, future-ready foundation for AI-driven industrial applications across machines, lines, and fleets.