How does EMQX support smart manufacturing?

EMQX provides an MQTT messaging backbone for smart manufacturing. Industrial gateways collect equipment data, and EMQX routes messages using the topic structure and payload conventions you define for your Unified Namespace (UNS). MQTT subscriptions and supported integrations make that data available to MES, ERP, analytics, and AI applications.

How do I connect a Siemens S7-1200 PLC to MQTT?

Use a compatible industrial gateway, such as EMQX Neuron, to read Siemens S7 data and publish it over MQTT. Configure the PLC connection, permitted tags, and MQTT destination. Use Sparkplug if your chosen gateway and applications support it.

How can I connect MySQL data with my IIoT platform?

The EMQX MySQL integration writes MQTT data to MySQL through a Sink. To publish database changes back to MQTT, use an application or change data capture pipeline that reads those changes and publishes messages.

How do I send commands from MQTT to a PLC?

Publish an authorized command to a configured MQTT topic. A compatible gateway receives the command, validates the target tag and value, and writes to the PLC using its supported protocol.

How do I build a Unified Namespace with EMQX?

Define MQTT topics and payloads that consistently identify your sites, equipment, and processes. Use EMQX to route these messages, gateways to collect equipment data, and permissions to control which applications can read or write each topic.

EMQX FOR SMART MANUFACTURING

MQTT data backbone for smart manufacturing

Connect factory equipment, unify production data, and bridge OT and IT with EMQX and a Unified Namespace (UNS).

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Data Tags Per Plant: 3.5M+
Devices at EV plant: 7,900+
End-to-end latency at EV plant: <200ms
Production lines at EV plant: 87
Beverage production sites: ~50

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Overview

The data challenge in smart manufacturing

Make production data available to operational technology (OT) systems, IT systems, and AI agents.

Fragmented OT and IT systems

Equipment and control data often remain separate from MES, ERP, and other business systems.

Inconsistent data context

Different names, formats, and access methods make production data harder for applications to interpret and share.

Complex integrations

Separate point-to-point integrations increase the work needed to connect factory data with new systems and cloud services.

Architecture

Unify factory data with MQTT and UNS

Organize factory data in a Unified Namespace that equipment, business systems, and analytics applications can use.

Industrial protocols

Modbus

OPC UA

Sparkplug B

MQTT

BACnet

Edge collection

EMQX Neuron

Data Ingestion

Data Processing

MQTT Bridge

MQTT and Unified Namespace

EMQX Cluster

Unified Namespace (UNS)

site/area/line/asset/tag

EMQX Node 1

Rule Engine

Data Integration

EMQX Node 2

EMQX Node 3

EMQX Node N

Manufacturing systems

Production systems

MES

ERP

SCADA

Operations applications

Maintenance

Quality

Monitoring

Data and Analytics

Apache Kafka

Data lake

BI dashboards

Connect equipment

Use compatible industrial gateways to collect equipment data and publish MQTT messages, with Sparkplug where supported.

Build a Unified Namespace

Use EMQX to route messages through a shared topic structure. Define consistent names and payloads for your sites, equipment, and processes.

Integrate business applications

Deliver production data to MES, ERP, analytics, and other systems through MQTT subscriptions or supported integrations.

Capabilities

Why EMQX for smart manufacturing

Collect, organize, and distribute production data at scale for operational insight and new applications.

Unified Namespace

Structure MQTT topics and payloads around your factory model, using ISA-95 concepts where appropriate.

UNS guide

MES and ERP integration

Connect production data with business applications through supported connectors or application integrations.

Integration guide

Sparkplug support

Use compatible Sparkplug components to exchange industrial payloads and track equipment state.

Sparkplug guide

Industrial connectivity

Use EMQX Neuron or compatible gateways for equipment protocols such as Modbus, OPC UA, Siemens S7, and BACnet.

Connectivity guide

Flexible deployment

Deploy EMQX on supported infrastructure in your data center or cloud, alongside the gateways your equipment needs.

Deployment guide

Data for AI applications

Feed contextualized production data into models for maintenance, quality analysis, and other industrial applications.

HTTP delivery guide

Edge processing

Use edge components to process data near equipment before forwarding selected streams to backend systems.

Edge processing guide

Cloud integration

Route production data to supported databases, Kafka, and cloud services for storage and analysis.

Cloud connectors

Shared MQTT infrastructure

Use a common messaging platform across plants and applications while separating access by topic and client permissions.

Permissions guide

Applications

What you can build for smart manufacturing

Connect manufacturing applications through a unified industrial data platform.

Predictive maintenance

Feed sensor and equipment data into models that identify maintenance needs and potential failure risks.

OEE monitoring

Combine availability, performance, and quality data to track overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and locate bottlenecks.

Quality and traceability

Share production parameters and events with quality systems to investigate deviations and trace product history.

Supply chain visibility

Connect production updates with logistics and business systems for visibility across material and product flows.

Live production monitoring

Supply machine status, cycle times, and events to dashboards and alerting applications.

Connected factory operations

Share MQTT data across equipment and applications through a Unified Namespace for coordinated production workflows.

Customer story

Automotive Manufacturing

An EV manufacturer connected more than 7,900 devices across 87 production lines and seven workshops. The deployment achieved end-to-end latency under 200ms.

Connected devices: 7,900+
Production lines: 87
End-to-end latency: <200ms

Read Case Study

EV automaker intelligent manufacturing customer story

Food & Beverage Manufacturing

A global beverage manufacturer deployed NeuronEX and EMQX ECP across approximately 50 production facilities. The platform unifies equipment data for production visibility and centralized edge management.

Production facilities: ~50