Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast

In the final part of our FlowFuse mini-series on Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast, Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes close out with Kristopher Sandoval of FlowFuse on what happens once you can build fast: how do you scale, govern and standardise industrial applications across plants, lines and teams?
Kristopher explains why Expert doesn't replace developers — it removes repetitive setup so engineers can focus on operational problems, business logic, architecture and deployment strategy. We cover scaling via FlowFuse pipelines (build once, roll out to hundreds of devices), granular RBAC that persists across instances and sites, air-gapping and data sovereignty for regulated environments, and the bring-your-own-key/model future. The throughline: without FlowFuse's governance, versioning and standardisation, AI-generated apps just become technical debt.
Chapters:
- 0:00 — Welcome back: the changing role of industrial teams- 1:00 — Expert removes repetitive setup; engineers focus on operational problems- 5:00 — Augmenting vs replacing developers- 9:00 — Enterprise governance: self-hosted, BYOK, guardrails- 12:00 — Scaling across teams and sites with FlowFuse- 15:00 — Advice for closing the application gap today- 17:00 — Learning segment- 18:00 — Closing and outroConnect
- Kristopher Sandoval (FlowFuse): https://www.linkedin.com/in/krsando/
- FlowFuse docs: https://flowfuse.com/docs
- Phil Seboa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-seboa/
- Ed Fuentes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-fuentes-2046121a/

FlowFuse is a proud sponsor of Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast.

For more Info about Flowfuse Expert visit https://flowfuse.com/

#IIoT #NodeRED #FlowFuse #Governance #Scaling #IndustrialAutomation #ITOT

In Part 2 of our FlowFuse mini-series on Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast, Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes get practical with Kristopher Sandoval from FlowFuse. We move from “what is the application gap?” to what it looks like to close it on the shop floor.
Kristopher walks through real operational use cases—OEE dashboards, shift handover workflows, quality validation, and asset monitoring—starting with the operational problem and then showing the working application. We also dig into the technical mechanics: how FlowFuse Expert turns plain-language requirements into Node-RED nodes and flows, updates to the immersive editor in FlowFuse 2.30, and the governance layer (snapshot comparisons, change review, and deployment management) that helps teams keep changes production-ready.
Anchor use cases (agreed with FlowFuse)
OEE: “Build me an OEE dashboard for three production lines with downtime tracking and shift comparison.”
Shift handover: “Create a shift handover workflow where operators log production issues, actions taken, and outstanding risks.”
Quality validation: “Create a workflow that validates production data and alerts operators when thresholds are exceeded.”
Asset monitoring: “Create a dashboard showing machine status, downtime, and maintenance alerts.”
Draft chapters (confirm after split)
0:00 — Welcome back: real operational use cases
1:00 — Shift handover, quality validation, asset monitoring, Modbus-to-UNS
5:00 — From operational problem to working application
9:00 — Technical mechanics: how Expert translates needs into flows
13:00 — Immersive editor improvements in 2.30
16:00 — Governance: snapshot comparisons, change review, deployment
Connect
Kristopher Sandoval (FlowFuse): LinkedIn (TBC)
FlowFuse docs: https://flowfuse.com/docs
Phil Seboa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-seboa/
Ed Fuentes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-fuentes-2046121a/
Disclosure: FlowFuse is a proud sponsor of Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast.
#IIoT #NodeRED #FlowFuse #OEE #ShopFloor #IndustrialAutomation #ITOT

In this first episode of a 3-part FlowFuse mini-series on Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast, hosts Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes sit down with Kristopher Sandoval of FlowFuse to unpack the application gap in industrial operations — the growing distance between how many applications industrial teams need and how fast their developers can build them.
Kristopher explains why so many operational workflows still live in spreadsheets, local scripts and one-off dashboards, and how the Node-RED → FlowFuse → FlowFuse Expert stack is changing the equation. We cover what FlowFuse Expert actually is — an AI co-pilot that builds industrial applications on a Node-RED workspace from a plain-language description — why it's built on MCP (Model Context Protocol) for real industrial context instead of generic LLM guesswork, and how it can compress tasks that once took 10–20 hours down to around an hour, without replacing the operators and OT engineers who know the plant best.
If your team has more ideas than capacity to build them, this episode is about closing that gap.
Chapters 0:00 — Intro and guest welcome
3:00 — The application gap in industrial operations
6:00 — Where workflows live today: spreadsheets, scripts, manual processes
10:00 — Who feels this gap most?
12:00 — From operational need to working application (OEE dashboard)
16:00 — Iterating with Expert and availability
0:00 — Intro and guest welcome
3:00 — The application gap in industrial operations
6:00 — Where workflows live today: spreadsheets, scripts, manual processes
10:00 — Who feels this gap most?
12:00 — From operational need to working application (OEE dashboard)
16:00 — Iterating with Expert and availability
Connect Kristopher Sandoval (FlowFuse): https://www.linkedin.com/in/krsando/
FlowFuse docs: https://flowfuse.com/docs
Phil Seboa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-seboa/
Ed Fuentes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-fuentes-2046121a/
Newsletter Sign up: www.unpluggediiot.com/newsletter
FlowFuse is a proud sponsor of Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast.
#IIoT #NodeRED #FlowFuse #IndustrialAutomation #ITOT #ManufacturingTech #OEE

What does it take for AI to actually deliver on the factory floor? In this episode, we explore why most manufacturing AI pilots never make it to production, and what changes when you get the data architecture right.
Francisco Almada Lobo, CEO and Co-Founder at Critical Manufacturing, joins Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes to discuss MES as the foundation for manufacturing AI, why context beats compute, and what regulated industries need before they can trust AI in production.
Key topics in this episode:
What MES is and why it keeps expanding beyond process control
Why Audi's 100+ AI initiatives failed to scale to production
"Fat events": enriching IoT data with MES context for AI workloads
Design-time AI vs runtime AI in regulated manufacturing
The first FDA warning letter for unauthorized AI use
Why this technology revolution gives no time for adjustment
This episode is proudly made possible by FlowFuse. FlowFuse is the industrial application platform that helps operations, maintenance, and IT teams connect any machine, move data between systems, and scale industrial applications across sites. It is built on Node-RED, with the security and governance you need for real production environments. Learn more at flowfuse.com.
Connect with Francisco on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/falmadalobo
Connect with Phil on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/philseboa
Connect with Ed on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edfuentes
Learn more about Critical Manufacturing: criticalmanufacturing.com
Book mentioned: "Agentic Artificial Intelligence" by Pascal Bonnet

Howard Sachs joins Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes to discuss how de-risking industrial technology, championing sovereign manufacturing, and first-principles leadership are shaping Australia's industrial future.
Key topics in this episode:
Why de-risking matters more than product specifications in industrial sales
How the Dulux Industry 4.0 project succeeded through collaboration and leadership
Australia's sovereign manufacturing challenges and the COVID-19 vaccine push
Pockets of innovation across traditionally conservative industries
Why mentorship from every direction accelerates learning
Connect with Howard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hsachs/
Connect with Phil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philseboa/
Connect with Ed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edfuentes/
Learn more about Universal Automation Solutions: https://universalsystems.com.au

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