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The Lion’s Den

Protocol Conversion Gives Factories An Edge To Stay Ahead Business leaders understand that the thoughtful integration of technology is key to acquiring and maintaining a competitive advantage. Only by staying ahead of the technology curve can a company stay in business. Accomplishing this in the Digital Era means leveraging automation solutions that decrease costs, enhance…

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The Lion’s Den

Key takeaways

01

Protocol Conversion Gives Factories An Edge To Stay Ahead Business leaders understand that the thoughtful integration of technology is key to acquiring and maintaining a competitive advantage.

02

Only by staying ahead of the technology curve can a company stay in business.

03

Accomplishing this in the Digital Era means leveraging automation solutions that decrease costs, enhance…

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Protocol Conversion Gives Factories An Edge To Stay Ahead

Business leaders understand that the thoughtful integration of technology is key to acquiring and maintaining a competitive advantage. Only by staying ahead of the technology curve can a company stay in business. Accomplishing this in the Digital Era means leveraging automation solutions that decrease costs, enhance efficiencies, and maximize productivity. Manufacturers that wish to remain competitive must adopt digitization and automation across their operations, or risk being outperformed by rivals who invest in the technology.

A 2017 PriceWaterhouseCoopers survey of industrial companies titled Digital Factories 2020: Shaping the Future of Manufacturing found that 6% of polled companies had already fully digitized their factories, 85% responded that they use digitization widely, and 41% are using some standalone digital solution at their facility. Utilizing innovative technologies is a must for industrial organizations, but integrating these solutions can represent a significant capital investment. Even more challenging is the brisk evolution of technology which threatens to render solutions (equipment, operations, systems, etc.) outdated after they’re implemented, limiting ROI. How does a company enhance operations and keep pace with accelerating technological change in a way that is cost-effective? The solution: protocol conversion.

Protocol conversion involves connecting existing assets so that they communicate with one another, allowing a company to get the most out of their legacy equipment. While older machines may not have been designed for interoperability, protocol conversion can unite the assets and upgrade both their controls and motion to improve their manufacturing and management capabilities. Protocol conversion enables industrial machines to aggregate data in order to drive optimization. The data that is compiled can be monitored and analyzed to generate actionable insights, predict maintenance interventions, and minimize equipment downtime. By connecting legacy equipment for interoperability and utilizing Industrial Internet of Things-enabled technologies to upgrade or retrofit factory devices, companies can avoid having to rip and replace assets, promoting a fast ROI.

With over forty years of experience, Red Lion Controls is a global leader in communication, monitoring and control for industrial automation and networking. We provide proven resources for optimizing existing factory infrastructure through automation and M2M technology. Our solutions for protocol conversion can improve industrial operations using a balanced and flexible approach that is cost-effective. We facilitate a seamless transition from a traditional factory to an advanced network infrastructure, all with minimal downtime. Visit us here to learn more about our industrial automation products that can help your organization stay competitive.

Visit us at www.redlion.net to learn more

Read more at redlion.net

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More Industrial IoT Insights

Toyota estimates up to 1 trillion yen a year for factory automation from 2028

Toyota estimates up to 1 trillion yen a year for factory automation from 2028

Toyota told investors factory automation could cost about 1 trillion yen ($6.4 billion) a year from 2028 across Toyota, group companies and major suppliers, CNBC reported. Toyota also said it could take roughly 400,000 robots. The company has not committed to the spending or said how long it would run, CNBC reported.

  • 011 trillion yen ($6.4 billion) per year estimated spending on factory automation starting 2028
  • 02About 400,000 robots needed across Toyota, group companies and major suppliers including replacements and new installations
  • 03Automation scope covers industrial robots, automated material handling, and future human-robot collaboration on factory floors

Sep 23, 2026

Flexxbotics claims 125% capacity gains by turning factory data into governed actions

Flexxbotics claims 125% capacity gains by turning factory data into governed actions

Flexxbotics says its platform turns production signals into authorized actions. It cited a 125% capacity increase at PMI and an 89% downtime reduction at EIS. For multi-site operators, the question is which actions can run autonomously and which require human approval.

  • 01The most concrete benchmark in Flexxbotics’ IMTS release is outcome-based: PMI’s reported 125% capacity increase and EIS’s 89% downtime reduction set a high bar for any closed-loop automation business case (Design News).
  • 02Flexxbotics is selling governance as much as analytics: teams predefine where the platform may act, which responses are authorized, and when human-in-the-loop approval is required (WhatTheyThink).
  • 03Protocol-level connectivity is central to deployment scope, with “Transformers” described as supporting bi-directional communication across more than 1,000 makes and models, a practical proxy for how much brownfield equipment can be brought into a closed loop without rip-and-replace (WhatTheyThink).

Sep 23, 2026

In-machine CNC fire suppression: Stat-X vs Firetrace

In-machine CNC fire suppression: Stat-X vs Firetrace

Modern Machine Shop describes Fireaway’s Stat-X as an electrically actuated, potassium-based aerosol generator mounted inside a CNC enclosure and triggered by a separate electronic sensor. A 2025 trade article describes the same two detection approaches—electronic point detection and heat-sensitive tubing—while widening the spec to include mist extraction, fire dampers and pressure relief. For shops running oil coolant, Schwarzenbach writes that many corporate insurance policies mandate installed and regularly maintained suppression.

  • 01A system designed to extinguish a fire inside the machine costs a small percentage of a CNC’s price, per Modern Machine Shop, so the comparison is against major fire damage or rebuilding—not the option’s sticker price.
  • 02Detection inside a machine tool comes down to two methods, heat-rupturing pressurized tubing or electronic heat and flame sensors, and Modern Machine Shop described a version of each in its 2009 and 2011 articles; what 2025 guidance adds is mist extraction, fire dampers and pressure-relief flaps in the same specification.
  • 03For shops running CNC machines on oil coolant, many corporate insurers require suppression to be installed and maintained, which turns a purchasing option into a policy condition and a maintenance audit item.

Sep 18, 2026

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