Does FlowFuse work with Ignition?

Yes. Ignition is the SCADA we see most often alongside FlowFuse. Teams use FlowFuse to move data from Ignition to MES, ERP, historians, and the cloud, to connect devices Ignition has no native driver for and pass that data back to it, and to run the same applications across plants, including plants that don't run Ignition. Ignition keeps the HMI, the alarms, and control.

Is FlowFuse an Ignition alternative?

It can be, but that's not where we start. Most software vendors want you to standardize on their platform. We'd rather you keep the Ignition system your controls team spent years building and validating, and build what it doesn't cover around it. If you do want to move off Ignition, at one site or across all of them, we're happy to talk about that too. Talk to our team and we'll plan the migration at your pace.

How does Ignition integration work with FlowFuse?

The right path depends on how your Gateways are set up. Common options are Ignition's OPC UA server, MQTT and Sparkplug B, the SQL databases Ignition logs to, and REST endpoints. Where you need data Ignition doesn't collect, FlowFuse also connects to PLCs directly over protocols such as S7, EtherNet/IP, and Modbus. The same options apply to most other SCADA platforms.

What should we build in Ignition, and what in FlowFuse?

Keep HMI screens, alarms, and supervisory control in Ignition, where your controls team already manages them. Build in FlowFuse when the work crosses into IT or the cloud, needs a device Ignition can't reach, runs the same way across many sites, or uses AI. Many teams make that split one application at a time.

How does FlowFuse use AI?

FlowFuse Expert, the AI built into the platform, builds flows from a plain-language description, explains flows your team inherited, writes custom code, and answers questions about what's running on the floor. Every change waits for your approval. You can also connect the AI agents your company already uses, such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, or Claude, or a local model so nothing leaves your network. Agents reach only the teams you allow, and every action is logged.

Will this disrupt our SCADA or plant operations?

No. A gradual evaluation can start with one application on one line, reading data only, while the SCADA keeps running the process. Write-back is added only when your team approves it. FlowFuse can also take load off the SCADA by subscribing to data it already publishes rather than polling PLCs a second time, and by handling high-volume data and reporting work.

What is FlowFuse built on?

FlowFuse is built on Node-RED, the open-source, low-code platform widely used in industrial automation. FlowFuse adds what production use requires: built-in AI, team collaboration, version control, deployment pipelines, role-based access, audit logs, and management of applications across sites.

Keep your SCADA. Make it work with everything else.

Your SCADA runs the process. FlowFuse extends its capabilities with applications that connect equipment, bring production data into live dashboards, automate alerts, and share information with MES, ERP, and cloud systems. Keep your existing SCADA in place while giving your team more ways to use plant data.

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Diagram: your SCADA keeps running the process with HMI, alarms and supervisory control, next to IT systems such as MES, ERP, the cloud and a UNS. FlowFuse sits between them and the shop floor: it reads tags, alarms and history from the SCADA and sends back device data and approved writes, sends production data to IT systems and receives orders and requests, and connects PLCs, machines, sensors, serial devices and legacy systems. Apps built with FlowFuse, such as alarm escalation, OEE dashboards, shift reports, device integration, MES and ERP sync, operator apps, downtime tracking and energy monitoring, are deployed to every plant

SCADA integration without touching the core.

FlowFuse connects to SCADA platforms over the interfaces they already expose: OPC UA, MQTT and Sparkplug B, SQL databases, and REST APIs. Read tags and history from the SCADA instead of polling the same PLCs twice, decide which system owns each value, and control any write-back to the process.

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Your SCADA + FlowFuse are better together

Your SCADA runs the process, and it should stay that way. Most software vendors want you to rip and replace. We don't. Here's how the work splits.

Role
Your SCADA
Supervisory control, HMI screens, and alarms for the process
FlowFuse
The application layer around it: integrations, operator apps, and site-specific workflows
Data
Your SCADA
Real-time tags, alarms, and process history
FlowFuse
Data from the devices and systems SCADA doesn't reach, plus SCADA data shaped and routed to MES, ERP, the cloud, and your UNS
Changes
Your SCADA
Owned by controls engineering, under your validation process
FlowFuse
Built and changed by your own team, with AI, and approved before going live
Deployment
Your SCADA
Per your vendor's architecture and licensing
FlowFuse
Hosted and edge instances managed from one platform, across every site
AI
Your SCADA
Varies by vendor
FlowFuse
FlowFuse Expert (our built-in AI) plus MCP integration with the agents your company already approved, scoped by team and logged

Area	Your SCADA	FlowFuse
Role	Supervisory control, HMI screens, and alarms for the process	The application layer around it: integrations, operator apps, and site-specific workflows
Data	Real-time tags, alarms, and process history	Data from the devices and systems SCADA doesn't reach, plus SCADA data shaped and routed to MES, ERP, the cloud, and your UNS
Changes	Owned by controls engineering, under your validation process	Built and changed by your own team, with AI, and approved before going live
Deployment	Per your vendor's architecture and licensing	Hosted and edge instances managed from one platform, across every site
AI	Varies by vendor	FlowFuse Expert (our built-in AI) plus MCP integration with the agents your company already approved, scoped by team and logged

Capabilities vary by SCADA vendor, edition, licensed modules, and configuration.

Don't replace your SCADA. Build around it.

There's always a device the SCADA has no driver for, a report someone exports to Excel every morning, or a request for plant data that lands in an already-full controls backlog. We work with your team to build those as applications around the SCADA, so its core stays stable, and your team can run and extend them across every plant.

A FlowFuse flow reading PLC and Modbus data and publishing it to production topics

Connect what the SCADA can't

Bring in data from legacy devices, serial equipment, and systems without a native driver over Modbus, OPC UA, MQTT, Sparkplug B, REST, and more. Then route it to the SCADA, the MES, or the cloud in the format each one expects.

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A FlowFuse OEE dashboard showing OEE, performance, availability and quality gauges, a downtime summary, production counts, the top underperforming machines, recent downtime events and a daily OEE trend

Take reporting and analytics off the SCADA

Run OEE, downtime, and shift reports outside your SCADA, keeping analytics workloads separate from control. Give production, maintenance, and management teams access to live dashboards without relying on control-room screens or manual exports.

See how FlowFuse Dashboard works

Describe it, and AI builds it with you

Tell FlowFuse Expert what the plant needs, such as an MES handover screen or a UNS topic mapping, and it builds the application on your workspace, hosted or edge, so a small team doesn't wait on the controls backlog. Or connect the agent your company has already approved, such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, or Claude. Nothing changes until your team approves it.

Learn about FlowFuse AI and see how it builds apps

Alerts that never fail silent

Keep alarms in your SCADA and build notification and escalation workflows around them. Send alerts through supported channels, such as email and SMS, and escalate when no one acknowledges so critical events are less likely to go unnoticed.

Build your notification workflow

FlowFuse home screen showing hosted and remote instances for packaging line monitoring, OEE and predictive maintenance apps

Build once, run at every plant

Build an application once, then deploy it across lines and plants from one place. Use deployment pipelines to promote changes from development to production, and version control to track application changes.

Explore the FlowFuse platform

From real conversations

What operations teams say about building around SCADA

From discovery calls with manufacturing and utility teams, shared anonymously.

“There are many cases where the SCADA system is just not what it's meant for. Especially when you're dealing with high data throughput, very heavy data.”

Manufacturing manager

Global packaging manufacturer

01/03

Built for Enterprise Manufacturing

FlowFuse is SOC 2 Type I and Type II certified, with role-based access control, single sign-on, audit logging, and air-gapped, self-hosted deployment options, built for the security and compliance requirements of large-scale manufacturing organizations.

Review our security and compliance details

SOC 2 Type II

Single Sign-On

Audit Logs

Role-Based Access Control

Air-Gapped / Self-Hosted Deployment