Flow is used in a wide range of industries
- Food and beverage
- Consumer packaged goods
- Mining
- Metal processing
- Oil & Gas
- Utilities
- Renewable energy
- Healthcare
Flow Collaborates to Get the Job Done
Flow was born out of the frustration of users integrating data manually, with spreadsheets, and custom code and eventually running into the limitations of those systems.
- Collect data simultaneously from multiple disparate data sources
- Data is indexed, aggregated, and structured in Flow and results stored in the Flow database, ready for further use
- Calculation engine uses aggregated data stored in Flow to create additional KPIs and store those in flow. Data can be rolled up and contextualized by production and other events.
- Visualize, Notify, and Collaborate via charts and dashboards
- Notify via Flow Mobile email, SMS, Slack, etc.
- Integrate with ERP, BI, cloud, MQTT, and more.
Flexible historical data sources
- OPC HDA Historians
- OPC UA Historians
- Aveva (Wonderware) Historian
- Aveva Insight (Wonderware Online)
- Aveva (Wonderware) InTouch Local History (*.lgh files)
- Ignition Historian
- Canary Historian
- Microsoft SQL Server
- Microsoft Excel
- Oracle
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- InfluxDB
- Telegraf (buffer)
- MQTT (buffer)
- OPC UA (buffer)
Flexible Cloud Choices
Data sources
- RESTful web services
- Metering Online cloud energy system
- Apache Kafka
Upstream Integration
- MQTT - Sparkplug B, Custom, or Flow topic and payload definitions
- With Sparkplug B, the Flow model namespace is automatically made available for any client that can consume Sparkplug B definitions.
- Apache Kafka
- Azure Event Hub
- Microsoft SQL
- MySQL
- PostgresSQL
- CSV File Streaming
- AWS Kinesis Data Stream
- Amazon Timestream
- Canary Historian
Because not everything can be automated and things can still go wrong!
We know that you have important data that you just can't get to through digital integration yet. Flow enables you to create measures that are sourced through a brower-based spreadsheet like user interface, and later convert those measures to automated data collection.
Manual data entry is also be used for authenticated, commented, audit-logged update of automatically collected data, when things go wrong at the data source.
Making sense of raw data
The Flow Calculations engine, the measures you create using it, the events and flexible production schedules/shifts that provide context, is where the power of Flow lives.
Aggregations, automatically performed at the levels you want as time passes - hourly, shiftly, daily, weekly, quarterly, and annually - ensure the right data is already there when someone needs it. No waiting to reach back to historians and databases when you want an answer!
Calculations using the same common functions found in a spreadsheet along with user defined functions, including calculations that combine measures, give your data meaning.
Learn more in our video training
No need to wait to build up a data set - Backfill!
Flow is able to deliver fast value because as long as your historical data sources - historians, databases, etc - have the data for your time range of interest, Flow can backfill it's aggregated and calculated data at configuration time or any time in the future. And when you backfill, the system keeps on working while the backfill runs as the Flow Engine works in the background at a pace you control.
This means you could build a set of Flow measures, and quickly have data going back days, weeks, months, or more, which is helpful in validating your results, but also providing the instant ability to compare this week to last, this month to last, this month to same month a year ago, and more.
Flow also automatically backfills measures that depend on other measures when those measures change. Through Flow's data versioning you'll be able to know that the values were updated and why.
Lastly, if a historical data source is offline, and then comes back, Flow will automatically "catch up" on the collection measure and all dependent measures.
Who did it?
A big challenge with spreadsheet models is when users change something. You don't know who did it, when they did it, unless they remember to leave a comment. And if they break the model in the spreadsheet then what?
With Flow, through it's Active Directory Integration and user permissions, there is accountability on all configuration changes and manual data entry.
If a measure or event value is updated through backfilling, or configuration change, you'll be able to see past versions of the data, even revert back to those past versions if you have sufficient permissions.
If the person making a change leaves a comment you'll have that as well.
Extensive visual dashboards for Flow Data and more
Flow supports a wide range of types of tables, charts, widgets, gauges, and more. When you build a visual report in Flow, you can then combine those into a dashboard page, and then combine dashboard pages into dashboard loops, keeping everyone informed.
Staying together as a team
To keep your team working together, all using the single version of the truth that you build, Flow offers these capabilities to deliver data, dashboards and more.
- Email notifications
- Slack
- UNC file drop
- BulkSMS
- Twilio
- Microsoft Teams
Integrated collaboration with other systems
Once you've configured your Flow system, you'll have some great aggregated, meaningful data in your measures and reports. We're sure you will want to share that with other systems, so Flow has built in Data Consumers that automatically deliver calculated results to others without programming or integration middleware.
- ERP
- SQL
- BI (Business Intelligence)
- Machine Learning
- Cloud (multiple options)
- Other Flow systems in a tiered architecture
Scale your configuration with management templates
Many applications have multiple instances of the same type of metric, KPI, or other measure. To enforce standards and aid in rapid time to value deployment, Flow supports templates for measures, metrics, and folders, for use within a single Flow application and across multiple sites.
Templates can be locked to help enforce standards and roll out updates, even between sites. In multi-tiered applications you can designate a Flow system to be the "Template Server" to support your standards efforts.
Templates can be derived from other templates and thus linked so that derived templates can be synchronized with their parent template when there are changes.
Ready for distributed organizations and teams
Flow is ready for companies with multiple sites, the need for roll-up of information and the potential complexities that brings. Managed templates help enforce standards and provide configuration scalability.
Unlimited users, reports, charts, dashboards, data source types, data consumer integration types, and notification messages empower all to be "in the know" as required.
Windows Integrated Security
Flow's information portal supports http: and https: as well as TLS connections between the Flow Configuration app and Flow Application server.
Flow security integrates with Active Directory and enables you to limit usage at two levels and provides an audit trail of configuration changes.
- Restrict configuration functionality by user and group
- Secure forms, reports, and dashboards by user and group
Flow Training and Resource Manual
The Flow Training and Resource Manual provides 30 step-by-step hands on tutorials to guide you through installation, building a basic system, building basic reports, sending notifications and more. DOWNLOAD YOUR GUIDE
We initially used Flow for energy and water reporting but it has since grown and is being used for multiple KPIs across our breweries. No scripting experience required. Drag, drop and select what you want! It has removed the need for specialist development and has delivered an agile solution.
You have built Excel into an automation platform.
Flow enables one to react quickly when things start to get out of control
