Validate Industrial Data Collection Before Hardware Rollout
Buying a hundred devices on a datasheet is how hardware projects go wrong. This program takes the specific devices, protocols and network paths you intend to use, proves the measurements reconcile and the communication recovers from real interruptions, and produces a compatibility matrix you can order against.
Validate my IIoT hardwareTalk to a manufacturing engineerIs this the problem you need to solve?
- A device works on the bench and behaves differently on the shop floor network.
- Register maps from the vendor do not match what the device actually returns.
- Data gaps appear and nobody knows whether it is the device, the network or the gateway.
- A previous rollout stalled because the protocol path was never validated at scale.
Primary buyer: Automation Manager · Energy Manager · IT / OT Manager · Engineering Manager · System Integrator
What this PoC will prove
Recommended pilot scope
- Representative machines and meters covering each device family you plan to buy.
- The required protocol paths: Modbus TCP or RTU, MQTT, RS485, Ethernet, LoRaWAN as applicable.
- Data ingestion into the platform and dashboard verification of the values.
- Deliberate disconnection and recovery tests.
- The security rules the shop-floor network actually enforces.
What will be live during the PoC
How this PoC runs
Durations are typical, not guaranteed. What extends a schedule: missing or incomplete data, security and network approvals, hardware lead times, sample collection, installation access, the production schedule, ERP test access, and the time your team needs to review results.
No unplanned shutdown is expected. Any installation window or controlled interruption is agreed with you in advance and scheduled around production.
How success will be measured
| Metric | How it is defined | Where the number comes from | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measurement reconciliation | Deviation between the device value and the reference instrument or machine display, across the expected range. | Sensor, meter or device data | Technical |
| Packet and data completeness | Share of expected samples received, with gaps attributed to device, network or gateway. | MSF platform data | Technical |
| Latency | Time from measurement to availability in the platform, at the 95th percentile. | MSF platform data | Technical |
| Sampling stability | Consistency of the sampling interval under normal and loaded network conditions. | Sensor, meter or device data | Technical |
| Communication uptime | Availability of each device connection over the validation period. | Sensor, meter or device data | Technical |
| Disconnect recovery | Behaviour after a deliberate disconnection or power cycle: reconnection time and whether buffered data is recovered intact. | Sensor, meter or device data | Technical |
| Protocol compatibility | Which device, firmware and protocol combinations worked, which needed a workaround, and which did not work at all. | Sensor, meter or device data | Technical |
| Installation effort | Hours per device including configuration and commissioning — the basis of the rollout quote. | Observation and user interview | Financial |
Before implementation, MSF and your team agree how each metric is calculated, where the baseline comes from, what data is excluded, and what result supports a rollout decision. This page lists what gets measured; the actual targets belong in the written PoC scope, not in a marketing claim.
What you need to provide
- Protocol maps, register lists and device documentation for everything in scope.
- Network topology, addressing and the security rules that apply on the shop floor.
- Power and installation points, plus access for mounting.
- Expected value ranges and sampling requirements, and the technical contact who owns them.
Who does what
Meta Smart Factory provides
- Discovery workshop and scope facilitation
- Solution configuration for the agreed scope
- Integration and connection work inside that scope
- MSF hardware listed in the proposal
- Training for the pilot users
- The KPI definitions and validation method
- Issue tracking and support during the pilot
- The final result report and rollout design
- Device and gateway configuration with the working register mapping documented.
- A compatibility matrix stating exactly which device, firmware and protocol combinations were proven.
You provide
- A named business owner and a named technical owner
- Timely access to users, the line, machines and approved systems
- An accurate explanation of the process and the master data
- Network, power, mounting and safety access
- ERP, PLC and vendor documentation, plus the experts who know them
- Representative samples or historical data
- Validation that the baseline is fair
- Feedback and the acceptance decision
- A reference instrument or machine display to reconcile measurements against.
- Permission to interrupt the network and power deliberately during recovery testing.
Defined in the written proposal
- Panel PCs, tablets, servers and GPU servers
- Cameras, lenses, lighting and enclosures
- Scanners, printers, RFID readers, meters and sensors
- Travel, installation, freight, import duty and local electrical work
- Whether hardware is rented or purchased
- Whether any PoC fee is credited against a rollout
Commercial terms, hardware ownership, travel, integration scope and any rollout credit are defined in the written PoC proposal. They are not the same for every product, and this page does not promise them.
What you receive at the end
- Compatibility matrix for every device, firmware and protocol combination tested.
- A live data path from device to dashboard.
- Measurement validation against the reference.
- Network and security design for the rollout.
- Device configuration documentation.
- Rollout bill of quantities and recommendation.
Dependencies, exclusions and limits
This PoC depends on
- Device documentation and register maps being available — vendor delays here are the usual schedule risk.
- Network access and firewall rules approved before installation.
Not included in this PoC
- Analytics, dashboards and use-case development beyond verifying the data path.
- Electrical installation beyond device mounting and connection.
The compatibility matrix covers exactly the device, firmware and protocol combinations that were tested. A different firmware revision or a different model in the same family is not covered by it, and the report says so rather than implying the family as a whole was proven.
Go, adjust or stop — the decision gate
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from the Energy Management PoC?
This one proves the hardware and the data path — that the devices you intend to buy work, measure correctly and recover from interruptions. Energy Management uses that data to answer a business question. Sites planning a large meter rollout often run this first.
Can you test devices we already own?
Yes, and it is usually the point. Existing meters and gateways are tested exactly as they are, including their current firmware, because that is the combination the rollout would actually depend on.
Why deliberately disconnect things?
Because shop-floor networks are interrupted regularly and the interesting question is what the device does afterwards. A device that silently loses an hour of data on every reconnection will corrupt every report built on it.
Do you cover LoRaWAN and wireless paths?
Where they are in scope, yes — with the same reconciliation and recovery testing, plus range and interference checks in your building. Wireless makes coverage a measured question rather than an assumed one.
Related products and PoC programs
Request this Proof of Concept
Tell us the scope you have in mind and we will come back with a written PoC plan: what gets connected, what you provide, how success is measured and what the decision at the end looks like.