FlowChief Connect (FC_Connect)

Highlights & Benefits

• Firewall-friendly (push principle): The station actively establishes the connection. No open ports on the system, no static IPs required – a decisive advantage for your IT security.

• Conversion of standard PLCs into remote control stations: Utilise existing or commercially available hardware (Siemens, Phoenix Contact, Wago, Beckhoff, etc.) without expensive special hardware.

• Gapless data history: Integrated buffering of data on the control system in the event of connection interruptions (up to 20 days). As soon as the connection is re-established, data is delivered with the correct time stamp.

• Maximum security: End-to-end encrypted transmission (TLS) and VPN compatibility protect your critical infrastructure data.

• Cost-optimised transmission: Event-driven transmission (push) instead of polling minimises the data volume.

• Flexibility in transmission: Whether 4G/5G, LTE-M, 450MHz, SHDSL or classic network/intranet – FlowChief Connect adapts to the infrastructure.

• Simple engineering: Pre-built libraries drastically reduce the amount of programming required on the controller.

FlowChief Edge Controller

• For users who prefer an out-of-the-box solution, the FlowChief Edge Controller is available.

• All-in-one solution: Industrial controller with pre-installed Connect runtime environment.

• Zero-touch deployment (ZTD): No local PLC programming or engineering software required.

• Flexible field connection: Direct acquisition via onboard I/Os (digital, analogue, counters) and via Modbus TCP, including intelligent pre-processing and buffering of data.

• Over-the-air configuration: Complete parameterisation is conveniently carried out directly from the control system – configuration changes are transferred to the device at runtime.

• Ideal for: Efficient retrofit measures, self-sufficient data collectors or systems without existing PLC infrastructure.

Typical areas of application for FlowChief Connect

• Water/wastewater: Seamless monitoring of elevated tanks, pumping stations and storm water overflow basins (RSB) – even with unstable mobile phone coverage.

• Energy: Networking of decentralised generators (PV parks, wind), local network stations and smart metering for critical infrastructures.

• Infrastructure: Reliable data acquisition for traffic engineering (tunnels), environmental levels and digital neighbourhood management.

• Industry: Energy management and process data acquisition. Integrated buffering and time stamping guarantee correct balances (e.g. for ISO 50001).

• Plant and mechanical engineering (OEM): Global remote service, condition monitoring and standardised connection of series machines to IoT clouds.