PLC data to the cloud via secured MQTT connection

Remi van Wijngaarden

Chief Technology Office

Industrial data still lives inside machines

In many factories, PLCs control critical processes but the data they generate remains trapped inside local systems. Operators inspect machines manually, engineers extract logs after incidents, and management relies on delayed reports to understand performance.

Connecting PLCs to the cloud changes this dynamic. Instead of isolated control systems, machines become part of a shared operational environment where data is available continuously and securely.

Visibility is the first step toward control

When PLC data becomes accessible beyond the machine itself, organizations gain the ability to understand production behaviour in real time. Machine states, process parameters, and events can be monitored continuously instead of reconstructed afterwards.

This enables faster response to deviations, clearer understanding of bottlenecks, and more consistent production outcomes. What used to be hidden inside control cabinets becomes part of operational decision making.

Industrial data requires trusted communication

Connecting operational technology to the cloud is not just a networking exercise. Industrial systems require secure, reliable communication that protects both the process and the data it generates.

Protocols such as MQTT with certificate-based encryption allow machine data to be transmitted securely while maintaining deterministic behaviour at the edge. This ensures that connectivity supports operations instead of introducing risk.

Secure connectivity forms the foundation for any Industrial IoT platform.

How Synadia bridges PLCs and cloud platforms

At Synadia, we design architectures that connect PLCs, sensors, and industrial systems to scalable cloud environments without disrupting existing operations. Our platforms structure machine data, standardize meaning across assets, and enable real-time visibility across factories and sites.

The goal is not simply to transmit data. It is to create an operational data layer where machines, people, and applications share the same view of reality.

When PLC data becomes part of a structured platform, factories gain the ability to continuously understand and improve their processes.

The future of industrial operations starts at the PLC

Every digital factory journey begins with making machine data accessible, secure, and usable. Connecting PLCs to the cloud is not a technical upgrade. It is the step that allows operations to move from isolated automation toward connected intelligence.

What if an operator in the factory no longer has to manually check a machine or discover an error? Does that sound impossible? All this information will be shown via the cloud so you can use the machine to the max. Our team makes it possible!

Current situation

For various companies, we ensure that machines do what we want and preferably that the machines make the overall process run much better. We change it into smart software with the result that the factory will become a smart factory. Our client is able to collect big data and make processes run more efficiently.

Secured MQTT connection

We collect the information from the PLC’s via a fully secured MQTT connection (Message Queue Telemetry Transport). Originally MQTT was used in Telemetry. With this secured connection all collected data can be sent from the machines to the cloud via a TLS certificate. TLS ensures that the data that is sent between the PLC and the cloud is encrypted and made unreadable.

PLC_to_the_cloud_Synadia-web

How we make the impossible?

We are still fully engaged in this project. The link between the PLC’s and the cloud has been finished and the architecture has been determined. By mapping the architecture, we know which data from the PLCs we want to collect in the cloud. For the employees in the factory, we clearly arrange this data in a specially designed portal.

Rick_Synadia

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