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Technical decisions and team leadership
You want support with architecture decisions, technical project management or an existing team. Our expertise often leads to roles as CTO, in project management or in technical decision-making. At our clients’ request, we also lead existing teams. We agree our responsibilities together.
Getting data off the shop floor
Machines speak OPC UA, but that alone puts nothing where it is needed. Whether the route runs through an MQTT gateway or straight onto an event bus depends on the plant and on who is going to operate it afterwards.
Turning readings into information
A reading of 192 degrees Celsius means little on its own. A defined range, warning threshold, link to the batch and appropriate aggregation make it actionable. We define these rules with your production team, rather than in isolation.
Connecting old and new
Almost every factory has a system that needs to stay. We connect it rather than bypass it, and agree in advance which system is the source of truth.
The platform it all runs on
Containers, a registry, sign-in, distribution and monitoring: the work behind the scenes that keeps the platform running in its second year. You decide whether it runs in your own server room or in the cloud; not every factory’s systems belong in a provider’s data centre.
Reviewing instead of building
Sometimes you do not need us as the builder but as a second opinion. We read architecture proposals and vendor quotes and tell you what is missing from them.
Two ways to bring us in
Both roles draw on the same knowledge but cost very different amounts.
As a second opinion
You have a proposal, an architecture design or a project in progress and want to know whether it is sound. We review it, raise questions that have not been asked internally and document our findings, including any parts we believe you do not need. The results belong to you, with no obligation to commission implementation from us. This is the smallest engagement and often the most useful.
As technical leadership for a period
Where no one in-house can take responsibility for architecture decisions, we take on the role for an agreed period. We prepare decisions for your management to make, rather than making them without you.
What we use in these environments
Where we take on technical leadership, we are also responsible for the underlying operations. These are the components we use there; this list is intended for your IT team.
Runtime
Tools
Kubernetes on AWS EKS, Helm, Consul for service registration
Running a cluster is not setting one up; it is version upgrades in production, networking trouble on individual nodes, and the question of where persistent data lives when a node disappears.
Distribution and registry
Tools
Artifactory as the registry, migration onto S3, JFrog Xray for scanning
Anyone shipping containers needs a place to trace what each image contains. Migrating an established registry without downtime is a substantial task in its own right.
Security and evidence
Tools
SBOM management, CVE handling in the pipeline, hardened base images with a read-only root filesystem
Manufacturing software runs in environments where someone must be able to document what was delivered. A scanner alone is not enough; its findings must also be addressed.
Sign-in and permissions
Tools
Keycloak, OAuth and OpenID Connect, connection to existing directories
In a factory, permissions depend on the plant, production line and shift. The permission model is rarely a technical problem; the question is who owns it on the business side.
Data flow
Tools
Kafka as the event bus, connection of existing systems, modelling along ISA-95
For a reading from the plant to arrive in a control room, it has to be established on the way which equipment and which order it belongs to.
Large providers assign a fixed team to this work and charge accordingly. We bring as many people as the task needs, sometimes just one. You benefit from lessons learned over years of operation and early advice on which parts you do not need.
Understand your situation. Agree the next steps together.
Tell us what works today and what you would like to change. The first conversation is free and without obligation; afterwards, you receive an initial assessment or possible next steps. You incur costs only when you accept a proposal. For a more detailed business and technical assessment, we agree a separate engagement in advance, with a clear scope and limits on time and cost.
Discuss your project