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For business owners and managing directors who notice that their projects reliably work — but somehow never get cheaper.

The Mülheimer Bridge

The Mülheimer Bridge in Cologne. Built in 1951, under renovation since 2018, originally budgeted at 188 million euros — current costs: over 370 million. When the figures became public in 2022, someone publicly asked: “Is the Mülheimer Bridge going to be gold-plated now?”

Mülheimer Brücke, Cologne – during renovation. Photo: © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Understandable reaction. But the real problem is something else: what looks like a saving is often just a deferral. The bill comes — just later, and bigger.

We are not bridge builders. But we know this pattern of thinking.

The Same Pattern. Your Operation.

Imagine a control cabinet manufacturer gets the same machine type on the table for the third time. Every time, the control software is developed from scratch — because the one from the last project isn’t transferable. Every time the same risk, the same startup problems, the same hours. The machine is the same. The effort too. Nobody decided it that way. It just grew that way.

That’s the bridge that gets rebuilt every time.

The opposite of that has a name: software product lines. A shared platform from which different solutions can be assembled — through composition of proven building blocks, not through new development. What has once been developed, tested, and documented is not repeated in the next project. It is taken further.

But Our Machines Are All Different.

True. The process is always different. But the infrastructure beneath it is not.

Sensors, actuators, drives, safety circuits, HMI structure, commissioning routines, diagnostic functions — for the vast majority of machines, these are structurally the same. The process is the variable. The infrastructure beneath it is the constant. And that’s exactly where the leverage lies.

Specifically: our sensor and actuator layer is not programmed — it is configured. In a GUI, you describe your machine: which sensors, which actuators, which interconnections. The layer starts, the interfaces are created automatically, the process task controls and reads from there. No new code. The same logic, new configuration.

An example: a valve is not developed — it is described. Normally open, normally closed, optionally a status signal. What comes along automatically: error validation (did the valve actually open?), performance measurement (how long did it take?) and, over time, a wear prognosis — when will this valve likely need to be replaced? Not because someone programmed that separately. But because the logic is already there.

And before a single line of process logic is written, the technician on site can manually address, test, and validate every sensor and actuator. Valve open, valve closed, motor running, move to position — everything checkable, everything documented. What is normally the most labor-intensive chapter of a commissioning process is already done.

Getting Started Costs No More Than What You Pay Today.

The groundwork has already been done. Our software components are developed, proven, and ready for serial use — designed for reuse from the start. You don’t pay for building a platform. You use one that already exists.

What you get for that is structurally a different decision — without paying structurally more.

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ootb automation GmbH, Cologne

Sources: Mülheimer Brücke – Wikipedia / Köln Mülheim Chronik

Most automation projects begin with the same illusion: the last project was similar — we can adapt it quickly. A few weeks later, it becomes clear that “quickly adapted” actually means “almost rebuilt from scratch”.

This is not a failure of individual engineers. It is a structural problem — and the usual workarounds don’t really solve it.

Industrial robots palletising in a bakery. Photo: KUKA Roboter GmbH / public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The familiar workarounds

Copying and adapting code is the classic approach: it works, somehow, but costs time every single time, and the bugs from the previous project come along for the ride. Libraries are a step forward, but the project itself still needs to be set up, configured, and integrated from scratch — the library takes away part of the work, not the underlying problem. Tools like the TwinCAT Automation Interface automate the creation of project configurations via script, which genuinely saves time in engineering — but the underlying software architecture remains unchanged. The code stays plant-specific, the project stays one-off.

In high-volume production this barely matters, because unit count amortises development effort. In small-batch production it hits the margin directly.

Reusability is not a given — it has to be built in

Software can only be carried over to new projects if it was designed for that from the beginning. That means clear structures, consistent versioning, plant-specific configurability instead of hardcoded adaptations. It also means the first implementation requires a little more care — with the goal that every subsequent one costs significantly less.

That is the investment. The return comes with every follow-on project built on the same foundation.

What this means economically

Less development effort per system. Shorter commissioning times. Fewer errors, because proven components are used instead of logic written from scratch each time. And in the service case: a software base that is traceable and documented — not a grown system only the original developer still understands.

For operators, this means lower lifecycle costs. For integrators, it means competitive pricing alongside higher quality. For both: fewer unpleasant surprises during the project.

Small-batch production pays off — when the software is built for it

The question is not whether automation works in small-batch production. It works wherever the economic conditions are right. The decisive variable is how much development effort each new project consumes.

Companies that use control software designed from the ground up for reusability change this variable fundamentally — not as a one-off project, but as a structural advantage that compounds with every additional system.

That is the model behind ootb automation.

The recent fire at a Berlin power plant has dramatically illustrated how vulnerable our energy infrastructure can be. Thousands of households were suddenly without power, hospitals had to switch to emergency generators, and critical infrastructure facilities faced the challenge of maintaining their operations. This event has triggered an important discussion: municipal utilities and operators of critical infrastructure are currently intensively reviewing the high availability and fail-safety of their systems.

Power plant control room. Photo: © Magnetic Rahim / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

While many companies are only now beginning to address this topic, Flux Master already offers a proven solution for highly available control systems today – with all the advantages of modern automation technology.

Why High Availability is Essential for Critical Infrastructure

Critical infrastructures such as water and energy supply, hospitals, traffic control systems, or production facilities cannot afford to fail. A shutdown not only has economic consequences but can endanger human lives in the worst case. The requirements for modern control systems are therefore clear:

• Redundancy at all levels: Every critical component must be present multiple times
• Automatic fault tolerance: The system must autonomously detect and compensate for failures
• Seamless failover: Operations must not be interrupted when a component fails
• Continuous monitoring: Potential problems must be detected early
• Rapid recovery: After a failure, the system must be fully operational again quickly

The Challenge of Traditional Solutions

Conventional automation systems are often not designed for true high availability. Many solutions offer redundancy at the hardware level but fail at the software implementation. Typical problems include:

Complex Configuration: Setting up redundant systems requires deep specialized knowledge and is error-prone. Often, several days or weeks of engineering effort are necessary to configure redundancy correctly.

Incomplete Redundancy: Many systems offer redundancy for the controller but forget critical components such as databases, visualizations, or communication interfaces. A single point of failure is enough to bring down the entire system.

No Automatic Synchronization: With classic solutions, both systems must be configured identically manually. Changes must be made twice, which is error-prone and increases maintenance costs.

Long Switchover Times: Even with existing redundancy, switching to the backup system often takes several seconds or even minutes – an eternity for critical processes.

Flux Master: High Availability by Design

Flux Master was developed from the ground up with a focus on high availability. Instead of treating redundancy as an afterthought, it is an integral part of the system architecture. This leads to decisive advantages:

Automatic Cluster Formation

Flux Master instances automatically recognize each other on the network and form a highly available cluster without manual configuration. Synchronization occurs automatically in real-time – configuration changes, program updates, or database entries are immediately replicated to all cluster nodes. This eliminates human error and drastically reduces engineering effort.

Complete System Redundancy

Unlike many other solutions, Flux Master offers not only redundant controllers but also:

• Redundant Databases: All process and historical data are automatically replicated across multiple nodes
• Redundant Visualizations: Web interfaces and HMI applications remain available even if a server fails
• Redundant Communication: All fieldbus and protocol connections are mirrored
• Redundant Edge Computing Functions: Data processing and AI algorithms run in parallel on multiple instances

Sub-Second Failover

Flux Master continuously monitors the status of all cluster nodes via a high-performance heartbeat mechanism. If a node fails, the system automatically fails over to a functioning node within milliseconds. This switch is invisible to the user – no restarts, no connection drops, no data loss.

Shared Hardware Connection

A key advantage: both redundant instances use the same EtherCAT IO system. This means the connection to sensors, actuators, and field devices remains intact even if the master instance fails. The failover time is limited to pure software switching – hardware communication continues without interruption.

Investment in the Future

The Berlin power plant outage is a warning but also an opportunity. Companies and authorities that now invest in highly available control systems not only protect themselves against future failures but also position themselves as reliable partners for their customers and citizens.

Flux Master makes high availability affordable and easy to implement. While others are still thinking about redundancy concepts, forward-thinking operators are already using a proven solution that combines high availability, cybersecurity, and modern cloud technology.

Conclusion: Be Prepared Instead of Having to React

The time for reactive action in automation technology is over. Operators of critical infrastructure must act proactively and design their systems for high availability before a failure occurs. Flux Master offers exactly the solution needed for this: mature, tested, and proven in productive use.

While other vendors offer complex and expensive solutions that require months-long implementation projects, Flux Master can be put into operation within a few days. Automatic cluster formation and complete redundancy of all system components make it the first choice for companies that cannot compromise on availability.

ootb automation GmbH is happy to support you in the evaluation and implementation of highly available automation solutions with Flux Master. Our expert team advises you on architecture concepts, conducts feasibility studies, and accompanies you from planning to successful commissioning.

Contact us today to learn how we can take the availability of your critical systems to a new level. Because the best time for high availability is always: now – before the next outage comes.