What is CB Digital Factory?

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CB Digital Factory is the key to industrial digital transformation: An end-to-end solution, combining reliable shop floor connectivity with flexible and safe data integration into any software.

The future-proof Industrial IoT middleware that brings agility into any Industry 4.0 initiative – avoiding a maze of point-to-point connections, simplifying integration challenges and allowing you to take advantage of new technology effortlessly.

Placing useful information in the hands of decision-makers when and where they need it has never been this easy.

Why is our approach different?

We're the one-stop shop for all your industrial transformation challenges.

CB Digital Factory does much more than collect machine and sensor data and dump it on a data lake - where it sits collecting dust. We make sure that data works for you and integrate it directly into any software you use - where decisions are made in real time. And the best part is, we empower you and your team to tackle these integration projects yourselves. All you need to know are basic SQL commands and CB Digital Factory will make you an integration hero.

Unlike other software vendors, we are not interested in having your data on our cloud. CB Digital Factory is deployed in your own contained environment, so that your production data never leaves your company’s secure environment.

We believe that in today’s ever-changing world, companies need to be flexible and agile enough to take advantage of new technology quickly. And our vision for CB Digital Factory reflects exactly this. Get every machine you own to talk to any software you use, manufacturing software or business software, past or future.

Who is CB Digital Factory for?

CB Digital Factory has a wide range of possible applications. Whether you are an Manufacturing Software Developer, a Machine Manufacturer or a Manufacturing Company trying to take the first steps into the Industry 4.0 world, we have the solution to take you to the next level.

  • Develop new manufacturing software with shop floor connectivity features
  • Easily embed shop floor connectivity features into your existing manufacturing software
  • Keep working in the programming language you are used to (C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python and any other)
  • Stay focused on software development and not on studying automation manuals
  • Guarantee a high-security level for your manufacturing software by integrating machine data through APIs
  • Expand your current software integrations using out-of-the-box connectors to most important business software applications;

How does it work?

CB Digital Factory collects data from the shop floor and displays it in any software you want in a secure way.

Data that is in the controller or field device’s native communication protocol is first converted into the vendor-independent OPC UA format.

CB Digital Factory, built on Connect Bridge, our state-of-the-art integration platform, then interprets and translates OPC UA so you can get the data into your applications.

Moreover, CB Digital Factory also allows you to write into a controller, effectively enabling M2M communication.

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Machine Connectivity

CB Digital Factory can connect to any device with an integrated OPC UA Server.

But what about the legacy field devices, that do not have an integrated OPC UA Server, and often still talk over serial fieldbuses?

At Connecting Software we know that factory devices and machines are expected to have a lifespan of decades. That is why we partnered with the industry’s leading shop floor connectivity platforms to collect machine and sensor data from the vast majority of hardware in the field.

This allows CB Digital Factory to combine multiple controller and field device’s drivers (from different protocols) into a single point of entry for all information.

Click here for the full list of Supported Devices from our shop floor connectivity partners.

Communication with CB Digital Factory is done via OPC UA, the de facto interoperability standard for Industry 4.0.

Using OPC UA’s server-client architecture, with our partner’s solutions as the OPC UA Server and CB Digital Factory as the OPC UA Client, this architecture allows you to have unified data from the shop floor that is ready to be used in your existing software.

Software Connectivity

CB Digital Factory provides unified data to your software applications. It is powered by Connect Bridge, our innovative integration platform.

CB Digital Factory works as an industrial IoT middleware, converting simple SQL language into the necessary complex OPC UA calls.

We read all the 3151 pages of the OPC UA standard, so you would not have to, and mapped all OPC UA’s functionalities into SQL.

You can now stay in your programming language and just focus on what data you want to obtain from your shop floor by writing SQL queries into your application to access it - CB Digital Factory does all the back-end heavy lifting for you.

Whether it’s for a CMMS, MES, CRM, ERP, OEE Software, database or even Excel, CB Digital Factory can do it all, eliminating the need to maintain multiple disparate solutions for shop floor connectivity.

Additionally, you can directly integrate machine data into your business software applications by using our pre-built connectors to most important business software applications.

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Need more convincing?

  • A – Z: CB Digital Factory is not limited to just collecting data or just using data from a source for a specific purpose. We go the extra mile. We collect the data, we integrate it in any software you want it and we also support writing back to the controllers. While everyone is still busy talking about a data lake we are building the bridge that goes over it.
  • Boundless: Integrate shop floor data with ANY software from the past 40 years.
  • Future-proof: Smooth integration with any software you use in the future.
  • Legacy-friendly: Make any legacy devices OPC UA enabled and get them online.
  • Scalable: Our solution is an industrial IoT middleware that enables you to start small and scale fast.
  • Secure: Your data never leaves your secured environment, ever.
  • Simple: Straightforward, web-based configuration.
  • Familiar: Stay in your programming language (C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python and any other).
  • Empowering: Complete your shop floor data integration projects with your own team.
  • Flexible: We know your goals and your digital transformation roadmap are not the same as everyone else’s. Our solution is designed to accommodate a multitude of use cases and goals.
  • Tried and tested: CB Digital Factory is based on Connect Bridge, our integration platform with over a decade of development and more than 1000 clients worldwide.
  • Cost-effective: Unbeatable and flexible pricing.

Watch a live product demo

DEMO 1: Integrating Shop Floor data in Business Software using a middleware solution

Demo video - Integrating shop floor data in business software using a middleware solution
Demo video - automatic report generation on SharePoint with Blockchain sealing

DEMO 2: Produce Sealed Machine Reports That No One Can Falsify

DEMO 3: How to Generate Automatic Shop Floor Alerts in Microsoft Exchange and Dynamics

Demo video - Integrating shop floor data in business software using a middleware solution

Now is the time for your company to go into smart manufacturing. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) can turn from a buzzword to a solution to your problem, in a cost-effective way.

Deployment options

Security is at the heart of everything we do at Connecting Software.

That’s why unlike other vendors, who want all your data first in the cloud, CB Digital Factory needs to be deployed in your own contained environment, either on a virtual or an on-premises machine.

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Secure dataline to cloud applications

You can deploy CB Digital Factory in your shopfloor, and open a secure dataline to applications you have running on the cloud. Do most processing at the edge, so that you only send to the cloud the data you really need.

Multiple sites deploy using VPN

Deploy CB Digital Factory accross multiple sites and connect them all through secure VPN connections. Now you can visualize the data from all different factories, all without leaving the HQ.

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Blockchain Sealing

Unleash the power of your IIoT solution by using blockchain technology. Ensure trust in your data from clients, partners, and regulators. The possibilities are endless.

We leverage this technology for you so you don’t need to invest any resources into learning and creating blockchain apps.

Many organizations look for a solution to prove the integrity and authenticity of documents and processes, ensuring trust to their business, in a fast and cost-effective way – unlike traditional methods which are slow and manual, demanding a lot of resources and interrupting the workflow.

CB Blockchain Seal is an up-to-date solution to the issues of data compliance, storage and auditability. Our add-on allows working from a familiar environment like SharePoint, or your CRM and sealing documents for audit or proof of data integrity and authenticity with one click.

Through CB Digital Factory, we enable communication between machines and standard business applications on everybody’s desktops as if they “speak” the same language. By using our Blockchain sealing technology together with CB Digital Factory, you can prove every step of your manufacturing processes or even produce sealed machine reports which are impossible to falsify – as frequently as your production needs dictate. Thus, you will have an irrefutable proof that nobody interfered in the production process, or that temperature, raw materials, other features, and components were in this particular state, or with deviations;

Go the extra mile with Blockchain

LEARN MORE

Supported devices

We support connectivity to PLCs, RTUs, IOs, Field Devices and other Controllers from all major brands like Siemens, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Allen Bradley, Mitsubishi Electric, Omron, Fuji Electric, Beckhoff, ABB, and many others.

Rockwell

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  • Rockwell CompactLogix Series
  • Rockwell ControlLogix Series
  • Rockwell FlexLogix Series
  • Rockwell MicroLogix Series

Siemens

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  • Siemens S5 Series
  • Siemens S7-200 Series
  • Siemens S7-300 Series
  • Siemens S7-400 Series
  • Siemens S7-1200 Series
  • Siemens S7-1500 Series

Schneider Electric

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  • Modicon M221 Series
  • Modicon M241 Series
  • Modicon M251 Series
  • Modicon M258 Series
  • Modicon M262 Series
  • Modicon MC80 Series
  • Modicon M340 Series

Mitsubishi Electric

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  • Mitsubishi A Series
  • Mitsubishi C64 CNC Controller
  • Mitsubishi FX Series
  • Mitsubishi iQ Series
  • Mitsubishi L Series
  • Mitsubishi Q Series

Allen-Bradley

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  • Allen-Bradley CompactLogix Series
  • Allen-Bradley ControlLogix Series
  • Allen-Bradley FlexLogix Series
  • Allen-Bradley MicroLogix Series

Beckhoff

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  • Beckhoff BC9xxx Coupler Controller
  • Beckhoff BX9xxx Coupler Controller
  • Beckhoff TwinCAT PLC
  • Beckhoff BC7300
  • Beckhoff BLR-CM

CODESYS

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  • CODESYS V2.3 Ethernet over ARTI
  • CODESYS V2.3 via Gateway
  • CODESYS V3 over ARTI
  • CODESYS V3 over Gateway

Contrex

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  • Contrex CX-1000 series (w/ Binary Data-Link Protocol)
  • Contrex M-Cut (w/ 8-byte protocol)
  • Contrex M-Drive (w/ 8-byte protocol)

Eaton

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  • Cutler-Hammer D50
  • Cutler-Hammer D300
  • Eaton ELC Series Controllers
  • Eaton ELC-PA
  • Eaton ELC-PB
  • Eaton ELC-PC

Fanuc

Mitsubishi Electric
  • FANUC Series 0i
  • FANUC Series 15i
  • FANUC Series 16i
  • FANUC Series 18i
  • FANUC Series 21i
  • FANUC Series 30i

Fuji Electric

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  • Fuji Electric NB Series
  • Fuji Electric NJ
  • Fuji Electric NS
  • Fuji Electric NB0
  • Fuji Electric NB1
  • Fuji Electric NB2

GE Fanuc

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  • GE Fanuc 90-30 Series
  • GE Fanuc 90-70 Series
  • GE Fanuc PACSystem RX Series
  • GE Fanuc Series Five
  • GE Fanuc Series Six
  • GE Fanuc Versamax

Hilscher

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  • Hilscher CIF
  • Hilscher CIF 50-DNM (DeviceNet Master)
  • Hilscher CIF 50-DNS (DeviceNet Slave)
  • Hilscher CIF 50-DPS (Profibus Slave)

Honeywell

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  • Honeywell HC 900
  • Honeywell MasterLogic
  • Honeywell RC500 RTU
  • Honeywell UDC Series
  • Honeywell HC 900
  • Honeywell Herculine Smart Actuators

Idec

Mitsubishi Electric
  • Idec Fa2j
  • Idec Fa3s
  • Idec Micro Series
  • Idec OpenNet Controller
  • Idec Fa2
  • Idec Fa2j

Intelligent Actuator

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  • IA Super SEL Controller Series
  • IA X-Sel Controllers
  • IA Super SEL Controllers (Type E & G)
  • IA X-Sel Controllers

Keyence

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  • KEYENCE KV Series
  • KEYENCE KV-1000
  • KEYENCE KV-3000
  • KEYENCE KV-5000
  • KEYENCE KV-5500
  • KEYENCE KV-700
  • KEYENCE KV-7300

Krauss Maffei

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  • Krauss Maffei MC4

Mettler Toledo

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  • Mettler Toledo IND Series
  • Mettler Toledo Jaguar/
  • JagXtreme
  • Mettler Toledo Lynx
  • Mettler Toledo IND131/331

Omron

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  • OMRON C1000
  • OMRON C200
  • OMRON C200H
  • OMRON C20H
  • OMRON C500
  • OMRON CJ1G
  • OMRON CJ1G-H

Opto 22

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  • Opto 22 SNAP PAC R Series
  • Opto 22 SNAP PAC S Series
  • Opto 22 SNAP-LCE
  • Opto 22 E1 Brain Board
  • Opto 22 E2 Brain Board

Scanivalve

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  • Scanivalve DSA3200
  • Scanivalve DTS3250

Telemecanique

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  • Telemecanique TSX 07
  • Telemecanique TSX 17
  • Telemecanique TSX 37
  • Telemecanique TSX 47
  • Telemecanique TSX 57
  • Telemecanique Large Frame

Toshiba

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  • Toshiba T1 Series
  • Toshiba T2 Series
  • Toshiba T3 Series
  • Toshiba EX100
  • Toshiba EX200
  • Toshiba S2 via Ethernet option/card

Toyoda

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  • Toyopuc PC10 Series
  • Toyopuc PC2 Series
  • Toyopuc PC3 Series
  • Toyoda PC10G
  • Toyoda PC2 Series
  • Toyoda PC3

Trumpf

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  • Trumpf TruDiode
  • Trumpf TruDisk
  • Trumpf TruLaser Cell 7040
  • Trumpf TruMark 6030
  • Trumpf TruMicro 2000
  • Trumpf TruMicro Mark

Yaskawa

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  • Yaskawa CP Series
  • Yaskawa MP 900 Series
  • Yaskawa MP 920 Series
  • Yaskawa MP 2000 Series
  • Yaskawa CP Series Controllers

Yokogawa

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  • Yokogawa DA100 Series
  • Yokogawa DC100 Series
  • Yokogawa DR131
  • Yokogawa DX102
  • Yokogawa HR2400

Others

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