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Every manufacturing engineer knows this scenario: Node-RED's visual programming handles most of your automation needs brilliantly. Connect to PLCs, route data, trigger actions—all with drag-and-drop simplicity, but then you hit the wall. Your machine outputs data in a proprietary format. You need a custom dashboard widget that doesn't exist. You're manually creating test data for hours, or you're trying to understand a complex flow built by someone who left last year.

Leading manufacturers are quietly saving thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars annually with a quality control method that's been proven since the 1920s. The difference today? Modern tools make it simple to implement.

If you’ve ever tried to connect industrial equipment from different vendors, you know how frustrating it can be, a mess of incompatible protocols, proprietary software, and confusing drivers. Your Siemens PLC speaks one language, your Allen-Bradley controller another, and that Modbus sensor? Yet another protocol entirely.

Many factories rely on machines, both new and old, that communicate via traditional serial interfaces such as RS-232, RS-422, or RS-485. These machines remain reliable but can be challenging to integrate with modern systems due to their connectivity style.

A few days ago, I had a conversation with a solution architect about how the lack of integration between the shop floor and business systems often leads to missed opportunities and financial losses. He also mentioned that while many manufacturers want to bridge this gap, they often hesitate — mostly due to concerns about complexity of integration or fear of disrupting existing operations.

This release focuses on speeding time to value with more powerful AI functionality within Node-RED, along with reducing friction for new users while enhancing the experience for existing users through improved Blueprint functionality, comprehensive performance monitoring, and a modernized interface that reflects FlowFuse's evolution.

At FlowFuse, we believe that enterprises deserve access to the best of Node-REDs custom nodes and solutions crafted by recognized experts who bring deep domain knowledge and professional standards to their work. That's why we are thrilled to announce a significant evolution of our ecosystem: FlowFuse Certified Nodes v2.0.

Collecting factory data for your MES is just the first step. If that data isn't properly organized, cleaned, and stored, it's a jumbled mess, leading to missed opportunities and wasted investments. Disorganized information prevents your MES from quickly finding, understanding, and comparing crucial data, directly impacting production, increasing errors, and hindering confident decision-making.

A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is the central control system of a factory. To work properly, it needs a steady stream of real-time data from machines and systems on the factory floor. This data is essential for running operations smoothly. But in most factories, the hardest part is getting this data to the MES.

At FlowFuse, our commitment to the Node-RED community is at the heart of everything we do. That's why we are thrilled to announce our support as a sponsor for Node-RED Con 2025, a free, online conference taking place on Tuesday, November 4, 2025!

The announcement of our latest $7.25 million funding round isn't just a milestone for FlowFuse; it's a catalyst for our mission to revolutionize how industrial data is accessed and used.

It's often a pain to get important data from the factory floor. Things like doing quality checks still rely on old methods like manual notes and slow spreadsheets. This can lead to delays, errors, and a lot of wasted time before anyone can actually use the information. It's especially tough when you need quick feedback from an operator.

Running a factory means constantly pushing for better production. You want to make more products, make them faster, and ensure they're all high quality. But often, the challenge is simply knowing what's actually happening on the factory floor, right now. Is a machine broken? Are we on track with our orders? Is the quality holding up? Getting these answers often involves manual checks, waiting for reports, or just guessing.

This release is focused on improvements that help you manage and optimize the performance of your Node-RED instances and takes an important step in integrating AI with FlowFuse so that you can build applications even more quickly.

A major problem in manufacturing today is when your ERP system isn't getting real-time information from the factory floor. This gap causes big issues, like ordering too much material because inventory numbers are old, or missing important production deadlines. This lack of instant, correct information directly leads to higher costs and lost opportunities for your business.

Automation isn’t just about reacting to events—sometimes it’s about doing things at the right time. In Node-RED, the Inject node is great for triggering flows at set intervals, but it’s limited when you need more control. Cron jobs offer precise scheduling, letting you set up custom times for your tasks. In this guide, we'll show you how to create flexible cron schedules in FlowFuse with Node-RED, so your flows run exactly when needed.