"A key challenge for the successful implementation of Industry 4.0 is the provision and analysis of production data. For plant manufacturers, operators and IT administrators, the key question is how and where they can store and analyze large volumes of data securely and cost-effectively. This is where we come in with our solution," says Andreas Röck, Product Manager Data Integration at Softing Industrial.

With the 'dataFEED OPC Suite', Softing combines OPC server and middleware in a compact software solution. The new 'MQTT Connector' is now intended to enable the integration of automation devices via publisher functionality in IoT cloud applications such as 'IBM Bluemix Cloud'. Maximum security during data transmission is guaranteed by encryption using SSL/TSL. According to Röck, the MQTT gateway enables both existing and new controllers to be easily integrated into IoT environments - including components without MQTT support, such as Siemens, B&R and Rockwell controllers.

When asked why Softing has chosen MQTT in particular in view of the variety of IoT protocols, Röck replies: "Of all IoT protocols, MQTT has the highest growth rates and is now supported by all major cloud providers such as Microsoft, Amazon, IBM and General Electric. At the same time, the number of applications available for connecting automation devices has risen sharply; Beckhoff, for example, has integrated the protocol into its control system." Last but not least, MQTT has the advantage over the other protocols that it is very lean, simple and extremely high-performance. Nevertheless, Softing is already working on integrating other IoT protocols such as HTTP REST into its 'dataFEED OPC Suite' in addition to MQTT over the course of the next year.