Red Lion Controls Launches the FlexEdge Intelligent Edge Automation Platform

Author photo: Craig Resnick
ByCraig Resnick
Category:
Company and Product News

Red Lion Controls launched the FlexEdge Intelligent Edge Automation Platform.  This system is designed to bring additional versatility to edge computing and be more user-friendly, which helps to make productivity and efficiency gains from digital transformation initiatives more accessible with point-and-click functionality.  FlexEdge’s modular architecture and intuitive-designed software helps to enable quicker, more straightforward customization and deployment to a wide number of applications without compromising rugged, more reliable operation.  The platform carries several certifications that make it suited for oil and gas, water wastewater, maritime, hazardous location, and factory automation applications.

Engineered for industrial customers with diverse needs who want to connect systems and process data at the edge, FlexEdge’s modular architecture has a variety of wireless and wired communication options.  This variety of options makes it a more easily configured communication gateway that connects with industrial communication equipment from a wide number of manufacturers and communication protocols.  Compared to fixed-function devices that require customers to learn many products or systems with fixed chassis that take up additional space, FlexEdge offers a form factor and platform that adapts and scales as application needs change.  It’s available with more advanced networking functionality and automation features, including protocol conversion; virtual HMIs; a web server with Bootstrap, JavaScript and CSS; data, security and event logging; and cloud connectivity.

With FlexEdge, customers can connect new and existing devices, helping to reduce overall downtime and allowing for more frictionless, future-proof scalability at higher levels for edge computing.  This flexibility allows the selection of one platform for many edge requirements, so customers can focus more on business efficiency and have an easier time choosing the right combination of products for their application.

For automation engineers, Red Lion’s FlexEdge offers a single platform that can solve many challenges while decreasing the number of deployed devices to help reduce application complexity.  For networking engineers, it’s a more robust, industrial-grade networking gateway deployable as a wired or cellular solution to more securely connect different networks through its networking functionality.  With multiple isolated serial ports, Ethernet, optional Wi-Fi and cellular communication sleds, optional field-installable I/O, and a certified, rugged enclosure, FlexEdge helps to ensure more optimal operation in most industrial environments with demanding requirements.

Craig Resnick, ARC Advisory Group, commented, “As companies continue with their digital transformation and IT/OT convergence journeys, they seek an intelligent automation solution that will enable them to more seamlessly connect to both new and legacy equipment.  Red Lion has introduced a new platform that enables users to collect the required data necessary from both IT and OT to better optimize decision making and further maximize their investment in digital transformation.  This scalable solution is designed to provide off-the-shelf plug-and-play connectivity to a wide range of networks, assets, generations of equipment, and protocols”.

 

 

Engage with ARC Advisory Group

Representative End User Clients
Representative Automation Clients
Representative Software Clients