By combining Red Hat Device Edge and streams for Apache Kafka with Critical Manufacturing’s modern industrial software solutions, manufacturing customers will benefit from a single, unified platform that breaks down the barriers between IT and the shop floor

Red Hat, Inc., the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced a collaboration with Critical Manufacturing to modernize manufacturing operations by integrating Red Hat technologies into the core infrastructure of Critical Manufacturing's standard offering. This expanded collaboration will help further integrate open source solutions with greater automation to deliver streamlined software updates for faster innovation and adoption of smart manufacturing processes.

For over two years, Critical Manufacturing and Red Hat have been working together to pave the way for greater innovation within the industrial sector and deliver solutions to support the deployment of smart manufacturing systems based on open source technology. Through this collaboration, manufacturers will be able to leverage the combination of the Critical Manufacturing's expanded framework for more granular apps and edge solutions with Red Hat's high-performing, edge infrastructure for greater flexibility and scalability and more seamless integration that will deliver smarter operations and automation on the shop floor.

Red Hat Device Edge provides a production-ready infrastructure optimized for edge environments. Red Hat's build of MicroShift, included within Red Hat Device Edge as a lightweight Kubernetes distribution derived from Red Hat Openshift, offers capabilities tailored for small hardware footprints, helping manufacturers run containerized applications efficiently, even in resource-constrained environments. Streams for Apache Kafka adds real-time data streaming capabilities, enabling more seamless communication and data flow across the factory floor, which is critical for quick decision-making. With this collaboration, customers can realize key benefits such as:

Increased operational efficiency - Integrating open source tools will help manufacturers achieve greater agility, tackle operational inefficiencies and support the latest industry 4.0 technologies.
Seamless integration - Merging our technology circumvents long deployment cycles and siloed systems, accelerating time-to-value for manufacturers looking to optimize factory operations.
Reduced downtime - The automatic rollbacks and optimized resource usage will lead to reduced downtime, optimized CPU, memory and network usage and higher productivity.
Red Hat is committed to collaborating with innovative leaders in the industrial automation space to enable a smarter, more efficient production process for manufacturers of all sizes. Today, Red Hat announced Red Hat Device Edge 4.17, aimed at modernizing how businesses handle time-critical workloads in their most remote and distributed locations. This means that new low latency and near-real-time capabilities will help manufacturers meet the growing demand for faster, more reliable response times. This expanded collaboration with Critical Manufacturing will open up a plethora of new use cases that reach industries like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and more - where manufacturing demands require high levels of precision, agility and security.

Supporting Quotes

Shobhan Lakkapragada, senior director, product management, Edge Computing, Red Hat

"Red Hat is excited to extend our collaboration with Critical Manufacturing to bring greater operational efficiency and agility to our customers. Open source software, including solutions such as Red Hat Device Edge, prove time and time again that it's possible to unite IT and OT on the shop floor with a highly dependable platform that delivers more seamless integration. Together, our industry leading solutions will empower manufacturers to drive faster innovation, equipping them with the flexibility needed to stay ahead of evolving industry demands including new edge and AI workloads."

Adélio Fernandes, vice president, Engineering, Critical Manufacturing

"With this collaboration, we'll enable manufacturers to create a unified platform that brings together IT and operational technology, transforming shop floor data into actionable insights. This integration empowers manufacturers to be more agile, connected and efficient in their operations, positioning them for success in a rapidly evolving industrial landscape."