OEE IntelliSuite · PLC Bridge
Connect Your Controllers Directly to Production Data
PLC Bridge places a single service between your plant controllers and Vorne XL boards, delivering live OEE, counts, and states to the PLC while sending commands back — without operators at a terminal.
At a Glance
Everything you need to know about PLC Bridge in 30 seconds.
Solution
Software bridge between PLCs and Vorne XL production monitoring boards
Purpose
Read live OEE, counts and states on the controller; send jobs, reasons and changeovers back
Protocols
EtherNet/IP, OPC UA, Modbus TCP, MQTT Sparkplug B, Mitsubishi SLMP, Beckhoff ADS
Controllers
Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Mitsubishi, Omron, Schneider Electric, Beckhoff TwinCAT
Integration
No add-on instruction or vendor block; your integrator creates standard tags
Best For
Plants automating job starts, reason codes and counts through the existing PLC program
Overview
What Is PLC Bridge?
PLC Bridge is a lightweight service that runs on the plant network between your programmable logic controllers and every Vorne XL board on the floor. Instead of building custom integrations for each controller-board combination, the bridge handles all protocol translation in one place.
The controller reads live production values — job status, part counts, shift data, machine state and OEE — and can write commands back: start a job, set a down reason, trigger a changeover, or inject manual counts. All of this happens through standard tags your integrator already knows how to work with.
Live Production Values
Job, part, shift, count, state and OEE from every board — refreshed continuously on the controller
Bidirectional Commands
Start jobs, set down reasons, run changeovers and inject counts from the PLC program itself
Quality on Every Value
Each reading carries quality metadata so a held or stale value is never mistaken for a fresh one
Command Persistence
If a board is temporarily unreachable, commands are queued and replayed in order once it reconnects
No Add-On Instructions
Your integrator creates standard tags with specified names and types — no vendor blocks to import
V1 and V2 Board Support
Hardware differences between Vorne XL board generations are handled internally — transparent to the PLC
Protocols
Six Protocols, One Bridge
The bridge speaks whichever language your controller already uses. No protocol conversion on the PLC side.
CIP
EtherNet/IP
For Allen-Bradley ControlLogix, CompactLogix and Micro800. Every value lands in a named controller tag, commands travel back through request-acknowledgement pairs. Controller-scope base tags only.
OPC
OPC UA
The bridge runs an OPC UA server that any client can browse, read and write. Ideal for connecting SCADA, historians or MES systems that support standard OPC UA client connections.
Modbus
Modbus TCP
A fixed register map served in either direction. The bridge listens while the PLC polls, or the bridge connects out to a controller that can only act as a server.
MQTT
MQTT Sparkplug B
Standard Sparkplug births, data on change, and death messages. A Sparkplug host discovers the bridge automatically with no additional configuration required.
SLMP
Mitsubishi SLMP
Native MELSEC protocol. The bridge reads and writes device memory directly over SLMP on the CPU’s built-in Ethernet port, eliminating the need for Modbus gateways.
ADS
Beckhoff ADS
Native TwinCAT communication. The bridge addresses variables by symbol name over ADS, placing values directly into the PLC’s own variables rather than a mapped register block.
Compatibility
Supported Controllers
From the most common automation platforms to specialised regional brands, PLC Bridge speaks the native protocol wherever possible.
Rockwell / Allen-Bradley
EtherNet/IP
ControlLogix, CompactLogix and Micro800 series. Named controller tags, no add-on instructions needed.
Siemens
Modbus TCP
S7-1200 and S7-1500 over the CPU’s own PROFINET interface using MB_CLIENT and MB_SERVER.
Mitsubishi Electric
SLMP / MC Protocol
MELSEC iQ-R and iQ-F on the CPU’s built-in Ethernet. Direct device memory access, no gateway needed.
Omron
Modbus TCP
NJ and NX series using ModbusTCPRead and ModbusTCPWrite from the built-in Ethernet port.
Schneider Electric
Modbus TCP
Modicon M241, M251 and M580 with client and server already in the controller firmware.
Beckhoff
ADS
TwinCAT 3 addressed by symbol name over ADS. Part of the runtime — no separate licence needed.
Modern Architecture
Unified Namespace Ready
When your data layer is a broker rather than a controller, PLC Bridge joins it as a Sparkplug B edge node.
- Standard Sparkplug B topic layout — auto-discovered by hosts like Ignition, HiveMQ or Chariot
- Your naming conventions apply: group and edge-node names are configurable to match your namespace structure
- Birth certificates carry the complete model so a host connecting late gets every current value on rebirth
- Quality metadata on every value prevents stale readings from being treated as live data
- Bidirectional: a host writes a command metric and the bridge starts a job, sets a down reason or injects counts
- Plain JSON topic mode available for sites not using the Sparkplug specification
Documentation
Resources & Guides
Detailed documentation for plant teams and system integrators.
User Guide
What PLC Bridge does, how it is deployed, what healthy operation looks like, and what happens to commands when a board goes offline.
Request access →Integrator Guide
The tag model, access control requirements, the tag list to create, and protocol-specific mapping details for every supported controller.
Request access →Product Brochure
A concise overview of PLC Bridge features, supported protocols and controllers, and where it fits in the OEE IntelliSuite platform.
Request access →45-Day Free Trial
Try PLC Bridge on your own network with your own controllers. Full functionality, no credit card, no commitment.
Start your trial →Put Production Data on Your Controller
Tell us which controller and which protocol, and we will walk through the tags it would read, the commands it could send, and what your integrator needs to build.