Resources
Browse our ever-expanding library of useful articles, case studies, videos, webinars, and more.
Featured
What Happened At ICC 2024?
Take a look back at some of the amazing things that happened at ICC 2024, including the groundbreaking Ignition 8.3 reveal, remarkable community sessions, exciting Build-a-Thon, and much more — including a look ahead at ICC 2025.
2 min video
UNS: Unified Namespace
Digital Transformation is all about data, and companies will only achieve this goal if they manage their data differently than in the past. A Unified Namespace (UNS) is the architectural foundation of successful Digital Transformation initiatives because it enables you to make data accessible from your entire enterprise to a single database.
7 min read
Inductive Automation Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
This document outlines information on Ignition versioning, release schedule, security/vulnerability fixes, and an overview of our Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) including Quality Assurance (QA) processes.
1 min read
What Is A System Integrator?
Whether you call them “control system integrators,” “systems integrators,” “system integrators,” or just “integrators,” these technology professionals combine different hardware, software, and communication protocols to create an automation system for their customers, and they are becoming increasingly important with the rising adoption of new automation technologies.
8 min read
Architecting Success With Scalable System Design
Learn about six common Ignition architectures, how to customize architectures, and the Ignition Architecture Builder, a powerful resource with tools that help you create, share, and track your architectures in a single project. Additionally, we will discuss Ignition's capabilities beyond traditional SCADA architectures, showcasing its ability to accommodate unique applications with third-party modules, database services, and more.
55 min video
Rock Quarry Implements Ignition to Improve Visibility, Safety & Decision-Making
George Reed, with the help of Factory Technologies, was looking to further automate the processes at its quarries and make Ignition an organization-wide standard.
9 min video
The Making Of World-Class Control Systems
This webinar will be a great opportunity to delve into some amazing projects and get inspiration for your own work. By learning from these examples, you can hone your innovation skills to attain greater success in your controls solutions, improve your business results, and truly make your mark on the industrial automation industry.
59 min video
UNS: Unified Namespace
Digital Transformation is all about data, and companies will only achieve this goal if they manage their data differently than in the past. A Unified Namespace (UNS) is the architectural foundation of successful Digital Transformation initiatives because it enables you to make data accessible from your entire enterprise to a single database.
7 min read
Unifying OT & IT Through Seamless Interoperability
On August 29, discover how you can bridge the OT/IT gap through open standard technologies and Ignition’s unlimited connections. You’ll learn how Ignition’s OPC UA Module enables you to break down barriers to connectivity, with drivers for nearly any PLC.
54 min video
Design Like A Pro: 25+ Tips For Lightning-Fast Development
Join industrial automation experts as they share their top tips and tricks for developing applications amazingly fast (and without compromising quality). You’ll learn about functions in the Ignition designer that shorten a project’s timeline, how to speed up scripting, time-saving techniques for using the Ignition gateway, and a whole lot more.
56 min video
Assembling The Puzzle Pieces Of Digital Transformation
In this webinar, you will see how to build a scalable system for SCADA, MES, IIoT, and Digital Transformation, step by step. Experts from Inductive Automation, Cirrus Link Solutions, Sepasoft, Opto 22, and 4IR Solutions will explain how their respective software and hardware components fit together to create a seamless automation ecosystem within an Ignition Hub and Spoke Architecture.
61 min video
Integrator Roundtable: Building A Successful & Sustainable Future In Manufacturing
This integrator roundtable will be packed with practical, first-hand advice on sowing the seeds of tomorrow’s success in today’s economy. Some of the best integrators across a wide range of industries will share insights on achieving great leadership, actionable tips to finding incredible talent, and what it really takes to create a company culture that cultivates success. They’ll also discuss building sustainable systems, recent challenges in integration, and emerging technologies in industrial automation. Don’t miss it!
54 min video
Iron Foundry Gains Competitive Edge & Increases Efficiency with Innovative Technology
With help from Artek, Ferroloy implemented Ignition to digitally transform their disconnected foundry through efficient data collection and analysis while integrating the new system with existing software and specialized machinery.
11 min video
Accelerating The Journey From Edge To Cloud To Results
In this webinar, find out how an integrated and proven set of technologies can make the edge-to-cloud journey much faster and easier. Industry experts will explain how to drive successful business outcomes through tools like unified namespace (UNS), digital twins, data lakes, KPI visualization frameworks for OEE and other metrics, and a lot more.
60 min video
Boost PLC & Device Interoperability With New Drivers
On March 28, learn how to remove the limits of what you can connect your system to. You’ll discover how Ignition makes it a breeze to improve PLC connectivity. You’ll get up to speed on the new DNP3, IEC 61850, Mitsubishi, and Micro800 drivers for Ignition. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to ask any questions related to the drivers or interoperability at large.
60 min video
What Is MES?
Simply put, a MES system is used to monitor and manage work-in-process on the factory floor, covering resource scheduling, production workflows, recipe management, traceability, inventory, quality assurance, document control, and more. A successful implementation of MES software will not only improve efficiency, but make manufacturers into better businesses.
4 min read
How Digital Transformation Starts With SCADA
In today's rapidly evolving industrial landscape, we cannot overstate the significance of a robust and modern Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. SCADA systems are at the heart of operational technology (OT), where we find most of the data needed for Digital Transformation. Ignition SCADA bridges the gap between OT and information technology (IT), facilitating the seamless flow of data essential for monitoring, control, decision-making, and much more.
57 min video
Water Utility Implements Ignition System to Improve Efficiency, Compliance, and Reporting
California American Water found that the SCADA system at its Monterey facility was struggling to maintain the high standards required of a water utility in a “hydraulically challenged” area and chose Flexware to replace its legacy SCADA system with Ignition.
10 min video
NERC CIP Best Practices with Inductive Automation and Ignition
This guide addresses best practices for using Ignition and working with software vendors in a CIP-compliant way, with recommendations based on specific CIP standards.
1 min read
Empower Innovation With Unlimited Licensing
Discover the pure magic of an unlimited licensing model in this webinar, with examples of real-world projects that benefited tremendously from having unlimited tags, clients, screens, devices, and more, for one single, astonishingly affordable price.
55 min video
Build-A-Thon
The conference is guaranteed to go out with a bang as the Build-a-Thon closes out ICC once again. Join us for the conclusion of the ultimate Ignition challenge, where the final two teams compete for the glory of developing the most elevated Ignition solutions and being crowned Build-a-Thon champions. Who will wear the orange winner’s blazer after the votes are all counted? There’s only one way to find out, so stick around to catch the competitive spirit and enjoy an unforgettable music performance from IA’s Department of Funk that you’ll be humming for weeks!
76 min video
Technical Keynote
Developing industry-defining software is no easy task, but someone has to do it. Join our Development team as they highlight recent improvements and upgrades, current developments, and a behind-the-scenes peek at the future of Ignition before answering questions directly from the Ignition community.
60 min video
From LinkedIn Connections to Community Leaders: The Automation Ladies Experience
What happens when two passionate ladies in industrial automation meet on LinkedIn and decide to create a podcast? Magic. And growth, lots of growth. Dive into the journey of the Automation Ladies podcast and how it has become an engine for both business growth and network expansion. Nikki and Ali will unpack how amplifying your voice online can have real-world business benefits. If you want to grow your customer base, attract top-tier suppliers, or strengthen your community, this talk should have some actionable takeaways on the power of creating an authentic personal brand by sharing your journey with the world.
46 min video
An Overview of Ignition’s MongoDB Connector Module
Earlier this year, we introduced a connector module that allows an Ignition Gateway to integrate with MongoDB. This session provides an overview of MongoDB, outlines the connector module's capabilities, and demonstrates how you can most effectively leverage it to elevate the functionality of your existing deployments.
42 min video
Hitting a Home Run with Ignition
Ignition is not limited to industrial applications alone; its powerful features extend to use cases of all kinds. From its intuitive design features to its robust scripting capabilities, you can harness the full potential of its flexible architecture and rich tool-set to create innovative solutions in non-industrial automation development. Witness this potential firsthand through a baseball scoring and statistics app developed entirely in Perspective, while providing examples of how tags, persistence, scripting, and views can be utilized in a non-industrial setting. Our goal is to inspire others to elevate their lives and hobbies in new creative ways with Ignition.
45 min video
The OG Perspective: 10+ Years of Ignition Wisdom and Beyond
In this session, we'll explore more than a decade of experience with Ignition, sharing valuable insights as a long-time member of the Ignition community. We'll take a practical look at how Ignition has evolved and its role in modern manufacturing, including topics like MES, OEE, AI, and more. It's an opportunity to gain practical knowledge and understand the journey from the early days to today's automation landscape.
42 min video
Rising to the Challenge - Adventures in System Conversion
The folks at Flexware are no strangers to a challenge. When the opportunity to convert a large system over to Ignition arose, they took it head on. Join them in this session where they'll talk about the project and share their lessons learned, talk about custom tools, and describe their thought process.
41 min video
Learning Ignition Fundamentals
Whether you're new to Ignition or just want a refresher, this session is made for all. The Inductive Automation Training team covers all the basic knowledge and fundamental features you need to get started with Ignition.
45 min video
Integrator Panel
Which new innovations will prove vital for future success and which flash-in-the-pan trends are destined to be forgotten by ICC 2024? During this panel discussion, some of the Ignition community's most successful integration professionals share how they are responding to emerging technologies and techniques that are driving the evolution of the automation landscape.
44 min video
Using Keycloak with Ignition
Keycloak is an open-source Identity and Access Management solution for adding authentication to applications or services. With Ignition, Keycloak functions as an Identity Provider to authenticate users and define roles to access client/session views.
10 min read
Tyson’s Smart Factory Journey
This session provides an overview of how Tyson has standardized operations with Ignition as a SCADA platform, highlighting and detailing how consistent data and dashboards allow for faster implementations. The talk will also include best practices that Tyson has developed, and will identify some of the key integrations that have helped simplify and streamline data collection processes.
28 min video
Don’t Get Lost in the Cloud: Tips & Tricks for Successful Ignition Deployment and Management
With the release of Cloud Edition, it's never been easier to get Ignition running in the cloud. But are you ready for it? From security concerns to misconfigurations, there are plenty of pitfalls to stumble upon when managing applications in the cloud. But fear not, as help is on the way. Join the experts from 4IR in this session where they'll provide helpful tips and tricks for deploying and managing Ignition in the cloud.
45 min video
Elevate Your OT Data Securely to the Cloud
Ignition Cloud Edition! Awesome! But wait… How can I possibly connect my PLCs or I/O systems to the cloud? Won’t that jeopardize them? And require heavy IT involvement? What’s the payoff? In this session, we’ll discuss how to use Ignition Edge and Ignition Cloud Edition together to quickly create scalable, high-performance, cybersecure architectures for democratizing your OT system’s data. Whether in brownfield or greenfield environments, you’ll unlock the power of edge-to-cloud hybrid architectures that are cost-effective, easy to manage, cybersecure, and deliver more value to your organization.
45 min video
What Is The Ignition Effect?
"The Ignition Effect” is not just about technology, but how Ignition creates a ripple effect that reshapes systems and sparks solutions. This series offers a panoramic view of the transformative power of Ignition told by the people who use it every day. Watch these videos to witness the impact Ignition has on its community and explore what it can do for you!
7 min video
We Love Ignition. But Can it REALLY Scale?
Can it REALLY scale? This is a question we have received for the last 10 years. Delve into the realm of enterprise Ignition rollouts with industry insights from the lens of an enterprise integrator. Uncover the strategies and best practices that accelerate the implementation and ensure the long-term sustainability of Ignition. Don’t just believe us – hear it firsthand from a guest appearance with one of our enterprise end users.
42 min video
Deployment Patterns for Ignition on Kubernetes
Kevin Collins returns to ICC for a demonstration of how to harness the combined power of Ignition and Kubernetes. This session offers an in-depth look at methods for effectively automating deployment, scaling, and managing containerized Ignition applications.
59 min video
Data Centers: How DCIM Improves Your Daily Operations
In this webinar, experts from Inductive Automation and ATS Global will look at those common requirements and present how an open data center infrastructure management (DCIM) solution based on Ignition can help you to comply, and maybe even change the public opinion about Data Centers in the long term. We’ll also present a new Ignition demo for data centers.
46 min video
Separating Design From Development - Using Design Tools with Ignition
Building screens in Ignition is a breeze, but did you know you can design screens even faster by mocking them up using a design tool? Join us for this session as we talk about the benefits of moving the design process outside of a development platform. We'll cover topics such as design vs. development, UI vs. UX, benefits of using design tools, and an introduction to the design tool Figma.
43 min video
Ignition Exchange Resource Showcase
Since the Ignition Exchange’s introduction in 2019, members of the Ignition community have contributed hundreds of resources ranging from pre-built templates, tools, and scripts to Ignition-powered retro arcade games — all available for free. Discover the full potential of the Ignition Exchange as we highlight some of its most valuable assets, including a handpicked sampling of the top Exchange resources developed by IA engineers.
41 min video
Ignition Diagnostics and Troubleshooting Basics
Ignition offers numerous built-in tools for gathering diagnostic information about the health of your system. This session offers an overview of these tools and explains how our Support Division leverages this information during the troubleshooting process. By the end of this session, fixing problems will feel like shooting code in a barrel.
46 min video
Introduction to Automated Testing of Perspective Projects
Learn the most effective ways for leveraging automated testing to safeguard your development-to-production process. This session will start by outlining how the core tenets of testing apply to automated testing, leading directly into best practices for verifying that your Perspective project development is production-ready.
38 min video
Industry Panel: ICC 2023
61 min video
I4.0 Accelerator for Driving Edge to Cloud Business Outcomes
Come and learn with Cirrus Link and Snowflake what your data has to say. Snowflake, Inductive Automation & Cirrus Link have partnered to provide Data Cloud Solutions. With Ignition UDTs, MQTT, and Sparkplug, discover how easy it is to leverage Snowflake’s platform to gain derived data insights immediately through native AI tooling. Learn about the impact of the recent partnership of NVIDIA and Snowflake. See how this disrupting technology, in conjunction with Ignition, will elevate and simplify your journey to data insights.
49 min video
Sepasoft MES Orchestration for Digital Transformation
Manufacturing workflows are required to execute critical processes the right way – every time. The correct tasks must be carried out in the correct order, with the correct materials, approvals, quality checks, and accurate records, especially in regulated industries (e.g., 21 CFR Part 11). This objective, and true Digital Transformation, can only be accomplished with a platform that is integrated, agile, low-code, and feature-rich. Join us for a demonstration of our various MES offerings to showcase Sepasoft’s orchestrated workflow solution.
43 min video
What's That in the Sky? An Intro to Ignition in the Cloud
Is it a bird? A plane? No, it’s Ignition! There’s enough buzz around deploying Ignition in the cloud, you’d think it would give your system super powers. But does a cloud deployment align with your organization’s grounded, realistic objectives? In this session, we’ll introduce cloud deployment concepts, discuss which architectures and scenarios benefit the most from cloud-based integration, and share real-world Ignition use cases.
46 min video
Main Keynote: Elevating Automation
Let's kick off the 2023 Ignition Community Conference on a high note. Join Inductive Automation's leadership team as they reflect on the past year, look toward the future, and give you a bird's-eye view of our growing company, ever-evolving industry, and thriving Ignition community. This is ICC, elevated!
98 min video
New Possibilities at the Edge
As industrial organizations do more at the edge of the network, important new questions are arising. What is the relationship between edge systems and centralized systems? What can you do at the edge that you couldn’t do before? How can you use the edge with the cloud effectively?
47 min video
Global Collaboration Helps Steel Manufacturer Implement Centralized Control Room
The main purpose of Uddeholm, a Voestalpine company, is to manufacture high-quality industrial steel tools, applying best practices for an efficient use of resources and a sustainable development. This strategy has led Uddeholm to become the world’s leading steel tool manufacturer with more than 350 years of innovation and presence in more than 90 countries.
5 min video
Glass Company Increases Profitability With True-North Metrics
HMI Glass was facing numerous challenges impacting profitability, leading to reduced earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) since 2018. The scope of the project was to utilize intelligent manufacturing data to implement a lean management model and drive cultural transformation. The success of the project was tied to fees based on performance and utilized a gainshare model based on a cost of poor-quality improvement.
10 min video
Real-Time Data & Custom Drivers Allow Power Supplier to Anticipate Demand
First Gen is one of the oldest and largest conglomerates in the Philippines that has an interest in power generation and power distribution. While Energy Development Corporation is a diversified renewable energy company, both are under the First Philippine Holdings Corporation – A Lopez Group of Companies, who constantly strive to meet the needs of its customers. In June 2021, the Enhanced Wholesale Electricity Spot Market Design Operations (EWDO) was launched. This officially started the new regulations for shortening of the dispatch interval: instead of a per-hour basis, it was transitioned to a five-minute interval. First Gen and Energy Development Corporation (EDC) have adapted the five-minute interval in their Central Dispatch Operations (CDO). This new regulation was addressed by installing multiple Ignition gateways for faster data monitoring, collection, and secured control of power generation across more than 30+ power plants (and counting). Controtek developed customized drivers to get the real-time dispatch setpoints from the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) to meet the demands of the operations and compliance with the new regulation of the EWDO.
12 min video
Digital Troubleshooting Guide Boosts Chemical Company's Efficiency
Cooley Group has a corporate Manufacturing 4.0/Digital Transformation initiative that it is implementing using the Ignition platform. RoviSys was brought on to help guide Cooley Group on this journey and develop the functionalities it needed in a templatized way that promotes scalability and supportability. Cooley Group requested the use of Ignition to develop a Digital Troubleshooting Guide that operators could use to help resolve downtime events impacting their OEE. For this project, RoviSys implemented a creative solution that gave Cooley Group exactly what it asked for, yet made it easy for it to build and configure on its own within the Ignition designer.
3 min video
Water Utility Seamlessly Transitions Operating Systems and Speeds Development
Design and develop a new treatment plant HMI to replace WinCC and condense third-party applications into one platform.
9 min video
Reliable Data Supports Cleaner Energy Initiative For 50 Sites
One of South Jersey Industries’ (SJI) key initiatives is to deliver on its commitment to provide cleaner energy. The generation of renewable natural gas facilities at dairy farms is a key production commitment for SJI. A modular production facility is required at each farm site, near the raw materials. The speed of deployment and number of sites involved demands the establishment of a universal architecture and platform for the integration of control and enterprise systems at the company. In addition, the distributed nature of the system and criticality to the energy infrastructure demand the highest level of security and reliability. Finally, SJI requires that all these sites be centrally monitored from an enterprise SCADA system that will also historize data for financial and regulatory reporting. The central importance of reliable data for continual operational financial justification proves the common Digital Transformation adage that “data is the new gas.” SJI Industries tasked Automated Control Concepts (ACC) to build a foundation for the application of key control and information technologies and systems that will allow the organization to realize world-class Digital Transformation and create a secure data pipeline. In doing so, SJI would be able to provide users at all levels of the organization with access to control system information. Through the strategic application of industrial information technologies, significant benefits are realized in the following areas: reliability, availability, visibility, and security. ACC successfully built and deployed this operational technology stack on Inductive Automation’s Ignition platform, which let ACC establish a scalable architecture to support plants/sites of varying sizes and complexity. The integration of data from the site’s control level, through various secure (DMZ) network layers to the corporate core network and cloud providers, has been addressed.
10 min video
Enterprise SCADA Gives New Zealand Meat Producer Standardized Control
Tamaki Control implemented a new Ignition Perspective standards framework for ANZCO Foods. This framework replaced unsupported SCADA systems and enabled new automation projects and ERP API integration solutions across its 10 manufacturing and processing sites in New Zealand. The project involved upgrading or installing Ignition 8.1 at each site and connecting them on the Gateway Network through an enterprise architecture with the Enterprise Administration Module. The result is a cohesive and efficient system that has positioned ANZCO Foods for continued success.
10 min video
New Control System Improves Safety And Compliance For Pharmaceutical Company
Initially, Zendal approached Optomation Systems to tackle their needs for monitoring unmanned storage units holding pharmaceutical final products for their customers. When Optomation introduced Ignition, it rapidly evolved into a larger project with a broader scope to encompass the data acquisition of varied equipment, process control and supervision, alarm notification, data historization, and automatic report generation. The main objective of the project was to implement a system that acts as a data repository for the information collected from the dedicated equipment in the different production areas and auxiliary services, both to satisfy regulatory requirements and prove compliance with CDMO obligations to customers. In addition, the system integrated new production areas into the system and expanded functionality to include control and supervision of several processes. Field devices and sensors are connected to controllers that execute automated sequences, and from Ignition, operators have full access to the operation, just like a traditional SCADA system.
10 min video
Defying Ordinary: A Deep Dive Into Unique Automation Projects
Every year, Inductive Automation shines a spotlight on modern marvels in industrial automation at the Discover Gallery, but there’s a whole lot more to these projects than we could ever capture in the showcase. In light of that, we’re diving deeper into some of this year’s most novel Ignition projects.
48 min video
Expanding Connectivity with Ignition’s Mitsubishi Driver
We are continually expanding Ignition’s capabilities, adding new features, updates, and drivers. With the release of Ignition 8.1.31 this month, Ignition’s new Mitsubishi Driver now adds the MELSEC-F devices to its growing list of compatible MELSEC series, including the iQ-R, iQ-F (FX5U), Q, and L series. This latest addition is more than just an increase in compatibility, it’s a step toward making the Ignition platform more effective globally.
46 min video
Ignition Community Live: Elevate Your Experience at ICC 2023
The Ignition Community Conference (ICC) is coming up and it has plenty of new additions for future attendees to catch up on. At this special ICC preview, learn about the expanded options for viewing and participating including the ICC Livestream, the all-new Table Talks, and much more. Plus, get a sneak peak at perennial ICC favorites like the Keynotes, the Build-a-Thon, Exchange Challenge, the Discover Gallery, Workshops, and more.
44 min video
What Is a Panel PC?
Most people are familiar with PCs (Personal Computers), but far fewer understand the difference between a retail PC and a panel PC. Whereas PCs are typically found in offices, panel PCs are specialized units designed to be used on or near machines in industrial environments like plant floors or remote sites. Panel PCs are built specifically to run HMI/SCADA software that allows operators to monitor and control processes in virtually every industry, including food & beverage, oil & gas, automotive, water & wastewater, and many more.
4 min read
Design Like a Pro: Exceptional Industry-Specific HMIs
When it comes to designing an HMI, there are a few basic concepts to keep in mind, but no one-size-fits-all solution. Every screen will be unique, with functionality and requirements particular to the needs of its operators, and the more specialized the use, the more critical those differences are. So what makes an HMI excel in an industry setting?
58 min video
How’d You Get Here with Kevin McClusky: A Professional Journey
In this new segment of How’d You Get Here, Kevin McClusky chats with Arnell J. Ignacio to discuss Kevin’s professional journey. They talk about Kevin’s early experiences at Inductive Automation to where he currently is now. Kevin also shares insight of the early days at Inductive Automation, what makes IA such a unique place, his journey at Inductive Automation, and much more. We also get a peek into Kevin’s interests and what he is excited about.
50 min episode
Ditch Data Silos: Create a Unified Namespace with Ignition UDTs & MQTT
Data management can sometimes seem like the Wild West, with the chaos caused by inconsistent conventions for naming and organizing data. The current manual and point-to-point data entry methods used in the manufacturing industry result in inefficient operations, difficulty scaling, and dreaded data silos that make it hard for people to share information.
56 min video
How’d You Get Here with Paul Scott: A Professional Journey
In this new installment of How’d You Get Here, Paul Scott sits down with Arnell J. Ignacio to take a trip back in time to explore Paul’s professional journey. They talk about Paul’s early experiences at Inductive Automation to where he currently is now. Paul also shares insight about what it is like to work at Inductive Automation, what makes IA such a unique place, her journey at Inductive Automation, and much more. We also get a peek into Paul’s interests and what he sees for the future.
43 min episode
Ignition Community Live: Ignition Cloud Edition
Hotly anticipated since it was first teased at ICC 2022, Ignition Cloud Edition combines the power of Ignition with the convenience of the cloud. Join some of our Ignition experts as they answer questions from the Ignition community, and explain the best uses for Cloud Edition as well as how it compares to the standard Ignition platform.
66 min video