Fuuz Gateway now includes a NATS connector. NATS is a lightweight, open source messaging system that many teams use to move data between applications, services and devices. The new connector lets a Fuuz Gateway publish messages to a NATS server and subscribe to the subjects you choose, so Fuuz can take part in the same message flow as the rest of your operational technology (OT) tools.
Why NATS, and why now
A unified namespace (UNS) is one shared, organized place where the current state of the business is published: equipment, lines, sites and systems, all under a common naming structure. Any application that needs the data subscribes to it instead of wiring a separate connection to every source. Manufacturers building one usually need a messaging layer in the middle, and they usually have tools at the edge already.
NATS is a good fit for that role, and our customers asked for it. We built the connector to support open connectivity: Fuuz should work with the tools you have chosen, not ask you to replace them.
Connecting your OT tools through one namespace
Most plants run more than one edge or OT tool. One handles protocol conversion, another stores history, another sits close to a specific line. With a NATS connector in the Gateway, those tools, including edge platforms such as Litmus, can publish to and read from the same NATS subjects, and Fuuz joins them. The result is a single enterprise UNS that is open to every tool, with Fuuz applications, data flows and the Fuuz data model working from the same live data.
- Subscribe to subjects published by other OT tools and bring that data into Fuuz data flows, screens and records.
- Publish results from Fuuz, such as production counts, quality results, work order status and alerts, so other systems can use them.
- Keep your choices open. Add or swap an edge tool without rebuilding the connections around it.
Who benefits
An open namespace helps any manufacturer or distributor that runs a mix of equipment and software, which is most of them. Automation OEMs can publish machine data from the equipment they ship in a form their customers' systems can use. Tier 1 suppliers can share line and quality data across plants that run different tools. Life science manufacturers can keep a governed, traceable record while their edge systems stay as they are. Food and beverage producers and distributors can connect plant, warehouse and logistics events in one namespace. In each case Fuuz adds the applications and the data model on top, so the namespace turns into execution, quality, warehouse and maintenance work.
“Manufacturers should not have to standardize on one edge tool to get a unified namespace. NATS gives them a simple, open way to bring their OT tools together, and the Fuuz Gateway connector means that data lands where the applications are. We built it to support open connectivity.”
DJ Bensch, Director, Connected Enterprise, Fuuz
Getting started
The NATS connector is part of Fuuz Gateway, with publish and subscribe support. To see how it fits your architecture, talk to our team, or look through the connectors Fuuz supports.