Machine, PLC & Device Connectivity
10in6 collects data from new OPC UA controllers, serial-only legacy PLCs, and machines whose only output is a run signal, alongside the scanners, torque tools and vision systems at your stations.
Every plant has at least one machine nobody expects to connect.
A brand-new injection molder with OPC UA built in, sitting on the same floor as a press from 1998 that runs fine but has never shared data with any system. A CNC from a vendor that went out of business fifteen years ago. A conveyor line where the only way to know it's running is to walk over and look.
A modern PLC with a clean network connection and a published OPC UA interface is the easy part. Much of our experience is with the rest: presses and controllers that earlier projects left off the list because they only talk serial or have no network port at all.
If only the easy machines report, your OEE and downtime figures describe part of the floor.
Read-only by default
10in6 listens on the ports your equipment already has. Nothing is written back to the controller and nobody opens the ladder logic, so the machines run exactly as they do today.
How we connect each kind of equipment
Equipment falls into three groups, and each is connected a different way.
Connected over the plant network you already have
Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Mitsubishi, Omron, Beckhoff, and others with standard network interfaces.
Modern PLCs expose data through OPC UA, Ethernet/IP or manufacturer-native protocols. The connection is quick to configure, needs no hardware changes, and collects data from the first commissioning session.
Where a PLC has no OPC UA server, we use the manufacturer's own protocol, such as Rockwell's CIP or Mitsubishi's MC Protocol, which gives the same access.
- OPC UA, preferred for new and recent equipment
- Ethernet/IP for Allen-Bradley and compatible platforms
- Manufacturer-native protocols where OPC UA isn't available
The machines that were never supposed to connect
Older PLCs, serial-only controllers, machines without a network port.
Legacy equipment communicates through Modbus RTU, RS-232 serial, RS-485, or older vendor protocols. Some of it needs a hardware interface: a physical adaptor between the machine's output and the plant network that converts the older signal into one our data collection can read.
We've connected PLCs with no surviving documentation, controllers from vendors that no longer exist, and machines where the only interface was a serial port on the back panel. The method depends on what each machine exposes, and we pick it machine by machine during the site assessment.
- Modbus RTU and Modbus TCP
- RS-232 and RS-485 serial connections
- Hardware-level interfaces for non-standard outputs
- Discrete I/O capture (running signals, cycle signals, fault outputs)
The tools that feed quality and traceability data
Barcode scanners, torque tools, vision systems, coordinate measuring machines.
Peripheral devices don't control machines. They produce the data your quality and traceability records need: scan events, torque results, dimensional measurements, vision pass/fail results. 10in6 captures it at the station and feeds it directly into DQS workflows.
A scan confirms the right part is at the station, the torque controller's actual value is stored with its pass/fail, and CMM measurements go straight into SPC. Each result becomes part of an auditable production record.
- Barcode and 2D scanner integration (USB and serial)
- Torque tool controllers, with actual values captured
- Vision system result integration
- CMM measurement export to SPC and quality records
PLC brands 10in6 connects to
Brands with confirmed connections in the 10in6 customer base:
- Allen-Bradley (Rockwell Automation)
- Siemens
- Mitsubishi Electric
- Omron
- Beckhoff
- Schneider Electric (Modicon)
- ABB
- Fanuc
- Keyence
- Honeywell
- Yokogawa
- Emerson (GE Fanuc / PACSystems)
If yours isn't listed, send us the make and model and we'll check which protocols it supports.
10in6 handles the connections
Your automation engineers don't have to own the data collection layer. Our team sets it up, tests it on your running equipment before go-live, and keeps looking after it once you're live.
- Driver setup and any custom integration code
- Connections updated when a machine is replaced or upgraded
- Kept working through plant network and server changes
What machine connections enable in 10in6
Machine connectivity questions
- Do you modify our PLCs or machines to make the connection work?
- No. We read data from your PLCs using the communication ports and protocols the hardware already has. We don't write to your control system, alter ladder logic, or require access to production programming. The connection is read-only for data collection. If a write-back capability such as recipe delivery is scoped and agreed for the project, it is set up separately and explicitly from the standard data connection.
- What if our PLC brand isn't on the list?
- If it supports a standard protocol (OPC UA, Modbus, Ethernet/IP or similar) or has a documented communication interface, we can evaluate it. Some less common brands take more work up front to confirm the connection method. An unfamiliar brand doesn't rule a machine out; what matters is which interface the PLC exposes, and we confirm that during scoping.
- How do you connect to machines that have no digital interface at all?
- It depends on the machine. Some older equipment has discrete digital outputs (a running signal, a cycle complete signal, a fault output) that we can capture through I/O modules without touching the PLC or control system. For machines with no digital output, we look at whether adding a sensor or hardware interface is practical and worth the cost, and we tell you plainly what's possible and what the effort looks like before anything is scoped.
- Who configures and maintains the connections?
- 10in6. We configure the driver connections, write any custom integration code, and test against your live equipment before go-live. You don't need automation engineers on your side to stand up or maintain the connections. When equipment changes or is replaced, we update the connection.
- How many machines can the system handle?
- We've deployed in small focused cells and in large multi-line facilities with many machines running simultaneously. The platform scales without requiring a separate server for each connection. Exact capacity depends on your network architecture and data polling requirements, which we size in the infrastructure assessment at the start of the project.
- What's the difference between using OPC UA and a vendor-specific driver?
- OPC UA is the modern, manufacturer-neutral standard. It's documented, widely supported, and doesn't require vendor-specific tooling. It's the preferred method for new equipment. Vendor-specific drivers (such as native protocols for Allen-Bradley or Mitsubishi hardware) are used when OPC UA isn't available on the equipment or when the native driver gives better performance or feature coverage for that hardware family. In practice, most modern PLCs support both, and we choose based on what's most reliable for your specific environment.
Send us your equipment list.
New PLCs, old ones with no Ethernet, machines with no PLC at all. One of our engineers will tell you how we'd connect each one and which signals you'd get.