From Site Survey to First Work-Order Outcome

Do we need to expose our network to the internet?

No. The edge gateway is cellular-first. Nothing routes through the customer's IT firewall by default. Optional Tailscale mesh VPN if remote support is needed.

What if our equipment isn't on the supported list?

We support Sparkplug B, MQTT, OPC UA, Modbus TCP/RTU, EtherNet/IP, MTConnect, and LoRaWAN out of the box — covers ~95% of installed manufacturing equipment. For unusual protocols, the integrator builds a small Node-RED bridge.

How much does the survey cost?

The integrator typically charges a flat survey fee. Flowstate doesn't charge a setup fee — pricing is purely per-machine subscription.

Does the hub touch our PLCs?

Read-only by default. The hub subscribes to data via the protocol stack. Write paths require explicit operator authority gates and an audit log entry per command.

What's the network footprint?

10.0.100.0/24 air-gapped OT network behind the hub. Only the LTE radio talks to the public internet — nothing touches the customer's IT network.

Can we use our own edge hardware?

Yes. The stack is Docker-Compose. Any 8GB+ x86 box with Linux and a stable network connection runs the same image. We document the canonical hardware so integrators can quote a known-good config; we don't require it.

What if the data looks wrong?

Often the issue is unit conversion (rpm vs Hz, °C vs °F). The integrator validates each metric against a known-good reading on the line and adjusts in the Functional namespace. No customer engineer time required.

How fast does data update?

Sparkplug Report-by-Exception means data publishes whenever it changes — typically sub-second on running machines. The dashboard polls every 1-5 seconds depending on density preference.

Where does the data live?

Raw events in Convex (Sparkplug B record table). Aggregated metrics in InfluxDB Cloud (90-day retention). Both are tenant-isolated to your enterprise.

How does the AI know which work to recommend?

The recommendation engine joins the alert with asset context (equipment class, last maintenance, FMEA RPN) plus the standards knowledge base (ISO 10816 thresholds, ISA-18.2 priority matrix). It generates the CADET text from a deterministic template — not free-form LLM output.

Can operators override the AI?

Yes. Every recommendation has Acknowledge, Dismiss-with-reason, and Modify. Dismissals feed the learning loop — the system gets less false-positive over time.

What if we already use a CMMS?

Outbound webhooks push work orders to your CMMS (Maximo, Fiix, eMaint, UpKeep) on creation. Status updates can flow back via inbound webhook or polling. Two-way sync keeps both systems consistent.

Who owns the data?

The customer. Always. Flowstate stores tenant-isolated data per organization. On termination, customers get a full data export (Convex JSON + InfluxDB CSV) and the system de-provisions cleanly.

What happens at month 12?

Hardware ownership transfers to the customer. Subscription continues monthly with no commitment. Integrator keeps earning commission as long as the customer is active.

How are upgrades handled?

Cloud platform updates are zero-downtime, deployed by Flowstate. Edge stack updates are managed by the integrator on a schedule the customer controls — typically monthly off-shift maintenance windows.