Most industrial AI projects fail before they produce anything useful. The models are ready, the dashboards look great, and the executive presentation landed. But on the shop floor, nobody can get clean data out of the PLC without calling the vendor. The missing piece is a data foundation.

Alexander Kruger, co-founder and CEO of United Manufacturing Hub (UMH), joins Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes on this episode, powered by PLCnext Technology, to explain why factory AI stalls without the right infrastructure underneath it, why boring technology beats shiny platforms, and how open source tooling is putting data ownership back in the hands of the people who run factories.

Key topics in this episode:

• Why most factory AI projects fail at the data layer before they reach the model layer
• How UMH went from systems integration with McKinsey to building open source data infrastructure
• The five-step process for connecting machines, modeling data, and serving it to applications
• Why Kafka and Postgres beat purpose-built IoT platforms for long-term reliability
• How containers and Kubernetes solve high availability problems OT has wrestled with for years
• The open source bet on forerunner power users who change organizations from within

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• This episode is proudly made possible by PLCnext Technology

  PLCnext Technology is the ecosystem for industrial automation consisting of open hardware, modular engineering software, a global community, and a digital software marketplace.

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  Learn more at:

  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.plcnext-community.net/news/synergy-edge-cloud/⁠⁠⁠

  
  

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  Connect with Alexander on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-krueger/

  Connect with Phil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philseboa/

  Connect with Ed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edfuentes/

  Learn more about United Manufacturing Hub: https://umh.app

Most industrial data projects fail before they start. The data is clean, the tools are connected, and the dashboards look great. But nobody can explain why the production line dropped 12% last Tuesday. The missing piece is human context.

Bob van de Kuilen, CEO and co-founder of Thred, joins Phil Seboa to explain why knowledge graphs fill the gap that the Unified Namespace leaves open, and how pairing them with AI turns weeks of troubleshooting into minutes.

Key topics in this episode:

• Why machine context alone cannot make industrial data meaningful
• How knowledge graphs go beyond UNS to connect cross-functional perspectives
• A hydraulic failure diagnosed in three minutes instead of two weeks
• The knowing-doing gap that keeps factories stuck despite having the right tools
• Why throwing an LLM over raw data without a knowledge graph causes hallucinations

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  ---------------

  This episode is proudly made possible by PLCnext Technology

  PLCnext Technology is the ecosystem for industrial automation consisting of open hardware, modular engineering software, a global community, and a digital software marketplace.

  • 
    

  Learn more at:

  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.plcnext-community.net/news/synergy-edge-cloud/⁠⁠

  
  

  ---------------

  Connect with Bob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-van-de-kuilen-a531403/

  
  

  Connect with Phil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philseboa/

  
  

  Connect with Ed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edfuentes/

  
  

  Learn more about Thred: https://thredcloud.com

Containerization is quietly reshaping how factories deploy and manage software, but most OT teams never asked for it. In this episode powered by PLCnext Technology, we explore why containers matter for manufacturing and how to adopt them without the complexity.

Neil Cresswell, Founder and CEO of Portainer, joins Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes to discuss how his platform went from an IT tool to a factory floor essential, and why the technology behind it should be invisible to the people using it.

Key topics in this episode:

• How Portainer evolved from an IT tool to an industrial platform
• Why containers and Kubernetes are reshaping factory software deployment
• The global manufacturing competition driving modernization
• Real-world use cases from John Deere, precision agriculture, and quality control
• A bottom-up strategy for adopting new technology in your plant

This episode is proudly made possible by PLCnext Technology

PLCnext Technology is the ecosystem for industrial automation consisting of open hardware, modular engineering software, a global community, and a digital software marketplace.

Learn more at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.plcnext-community.net/news/synergy-edge-cloud/⁠

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FlowFuse at Hannover Messe 2026

Discover how FlowFuse empowers you to build, deploy, and scale industrial automation -- your way. Visit FlowFuse at Hall 014, Stand K26 during Hannover Messe (April 20-24, 2026) and experience live demonstrations of FlowFuse connecting the entire industrial stack -- from PLCs on the shop floor to MES, ERP, and cloud services -- enabling real-time industrial connectivity, data integration, and AI-powered operations.

Let's transform industrial data together -- live, integrated, and in real time.

Claim your free pass and learn more: https://flowfuse.com/events/hannover-messe-2026/

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Connect with Neil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncresswell/

Connect with Phil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philseboa/

Connect with Ed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edfuentes/

Learn more about Portainer: https://www.portainer.io

Episode Recap Article: https://unpluggediiot.com/episodes/ep-48-containers-without-complexity-it-tools-factory-floor