Jolan De Cock on
The new release of Factry Historian (v7.2) puts usability front and centre. We’ve added features to convert time-series to length-based data, which is especially relevant to industries that produce products by the meter. Furthermore, we introduce customizable MQTT payload formatting for data egress, Parquet file enhancements, and a new event detection method.
Ready to discover what’s new? Let’s dive in.
A major feature of the v7.2 release is the ability to map time series data against physical distance or any other dimension — a significant step forward for companies running continuous processes such as extrusion, paper, plastic and steel processing.
You can now align timestamped measurements with a physical signal, such as meters travelled on a production line. This conversion allows you to view production data not just by time, but also by distance. Imagine measuring the thickness of extruded products like plastic or foam at specific intervals along the line.
Instead of relying solely on timestamps, you can now directly link measurements to a physical location on the article, and answer questions such as: “What was the thickness of the product at exactly 2 metres from the side?” or “Where along the line did we first detect a defect?”.
Factry Historian automatically remaps time series data to align with distance travelled, even when sensors are placed at different points along the line and with buffers in the line. This refined mapping synchronises sensor outputs with physical events, providing deeper insights into production quality and speeding up defect detection.
The new update gives you full control over how your data is structured and shared over MQTT.
In previous versions of Factry Historian, MQTT data outputs followed a fixed format. With Factry Historian v7.2, you can now create templates to structure the payload exactly how you want it. Whether it’s JSON, XML, or another format, you decide what fields to include, how to organise metadata, and how the information is sent to the broker.
This flexibility ensures that your Historian data integrates seamlessly with your Unified Namespace initiatives and other applications, without requiring workarounds or post-processing.
Parquet file exports have been fine-tuned for better flexibility and efficiency. You can now group more measurements into a single Parquet block, reducing the number of files generated and improving data compression. This means your storage is used more efficiently, and your data is more manageable.
While these are incremental refinements, they deliver clear value: less overhead when handling Parquet files and faster performance when working with large datasets.
Factry Historian v7.2 introduces the ability to generate events directly from external databases. Previously, integrating batch events from systems like Siemens Simatic Batch required multiple steps. Now, Historian can pull event data straight from your external batch management system, LIMS, or other databases — streamlining the process and reducing manual configuration.
The v7.2 release includes smaller but impactful improvements that make the Historian platform even more user-friendly:
Usability remains a top priority for our Factry Historian development team. Expect further refinements in upcoming releases, including a gradual UI update that will further centralise key workflows within the Historian interface.
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