Zelo Industrial Solutions
IN40 UUX — Unified Operations Platform
Manufacturing Operations Monitoring Integrating Production and Maintenance
Version 1.0 | Zelo Industrial Solutions d.o.o.
Executive Summary
Modern manufacturing operations include dozens of interconnected systems — from annealing and pickling lines in metallurgical factories, to equipment maintenance databases and shift scheduling tools. Operators switch between disconnected screens. Engineers export data manually. Managers wait days for reports that should be instant.
Zelo IN40 UUX is a purpose-built Industry 4.0 platform that unifies production monitoring, equipment lifecycle management, process analytics, and operational reporting into a single, secure web application — connected directly to the plant floor via real-time edge-node integration.
This page outlines the technical architecture, capabilities, and deployment model of the platform.
The Problem
Industrial plants face a common set of digitalization challenges:
| Challenge | Impact |
|---|---|
| Fragmented systems | Operators juggle multiple HMI screens, spreadsheets, and legacy applications |
| Delayed visibility | Production reports are compiled manually, often hours or days after events |
| Equipment blind spots | Maintenance history lives in paper logs or disconnected databases |
| No unified access control | Different systems have different user management — or none at all |
| Rigid software | Commercial MES/SCADA platforms are expensive to customize and slow to adapt |
Plants need a solution that is domain-aware, real-time connected, user-friendly, and deployable on-premise without requiring cloud dependencies.
Platform Architecture
IN40 UUX is built on a modern, proven technology stack optimized for industrial environments:
System Architecture
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Web Browser (SPA) │
│ Angular 20 · PrimeNG · Chart.js · XLSX │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
│ HTTPS + JWT (RS256)
┌──────────────────────▼──────────────────────────────────┐
│ Application Server (Node.js) │
│ Express 5 · REST API · RBAC Middleware · Sessions │
├─────────────┬────────────────┬──────────────────────────┤
│ MongoDB │ Oracle DB │ Edge Nodes (ZeroMQ) │
│ (Primary) │ (Legacy) │ (Plant Floor) │
└─────────────┴────────────────┴──────────────────────────┘
Design Principles
- Single-page application — fast, responsive, no page reloads
- RESTful API — clean separation of frontend and backend; API-first design
- On-premise deployment — runs as a self-contained Windows service; no cloud dependency required
- Real-time connectivity — ZeroMQ messaging to edge nodes for live data and equipment control
- Extensible data layer — MongoDB for application data, Oracle integration for legacy production databases
Technology Stack
| Component | Technology | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Frontend | Angular 20 + PrimeNG 20 | Enterprise-grade component library, long-term support |
| Styling | TailwindCSS 4 + SCSS | Rapid UI development with design consistency |
| Charts | Chart.js + zoom/datalabels plugins | Interactive trend visualization with pan & zoom |
| Backend | Node.js + Express 5 | High-throughput async I/O, ideal for real-time data |
| Primary DB | MongoDB (Mongoose ODM) | Flexible schema for plant-specific configurations |
| Legacy DB | Oracle (oracledb driver) | Direct integration with existing production databases |
| Messaging | ZeroMQ | Ultra-low-latency IPC with edge nodes (sub-millisecond) |
| Auth | JWT (RS256) + MongoDB sessions | Stateless API auth with session persistence |
| Export | SheetJS (XLSX) | Native Excel report generation in the browser |
Security Model
Authentication
- RS256 JWT tokens with asymmetric key pairs (private key never leaves the server)
- Token expiry: 15 minutes with automatic session-based refresh
- Session persistence via MongoDB — supports "remember me" across browser restarts
- Account locking — administrators can lock/unlock user accounts instantly
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
The platform implements a three-tier authorization model:
User → Groups → Rights (with Levels)
- Groups represent functional areas (e.g., a production line, equipment management, reporting)
- Rights are granular permissions within each group (e.g.,
reports,trends,shift,sys-management) - Levels are hierarchical:
view→edit→admin
Every API endpoint enforces authorization at the middleware level. The UI dynamically adapts — menus, buttons, and entire modules appear or disappear based on the user's effective permissions.
Audit Trail
All authentication events (sign-in, sign-out, failures, account locks) are logged with timestamps for compliance and forensics.
Functional Modules
1. Production Line Management
Each production line module provides:
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Real-time tracking | Live production status streamed via Server-Sent Events (SSE) |
| Production reports | Coil-level and period-based production and consumption reports |
| Process trends | Interactive time-series charts with zoom, pan, and target overlays |
| Shift scheduling | Configurable shift calendars per line |
| Edge-node configuration | Remote process registration, monitoring, and message routing |
| Process targets | Define and manage target values for process variables |
Equipment specific capabilities:
- Individual coil data drill-down with grain-size analysis
- Steel grade master data management
- Batch target assignment across coil groups
- Oracle DB integration for legacy coil data
2. Equipment Lifecycle Management
A complete equipment management system covering the full lifecycle:
| Entity | Capabilities |
|---|---|
| Types | Catalog of equipment types with specifications |
| Centers | Physical plant locations with service connection configuration |
| Positions | Equipment mounting positions within each center |
| Stock | Spare equipment inventory tracking |
| Resources | Installed equipment instances — tracking position, status, and history |
| Service Logs | Maintenance records with equipment replacement workflows |
Equipment centers connect to plant-floor services via ZeroMQ, enabling real-time equipment status queries and remote operations.
3. Delay Management
A purpose-built module for tracking and analyzing production delays:
- Create, edit, delete delay records with categorization
- Divide a single delay into multiple sub-events
- Join related delays into a single record
- Delay overview — filterable list views (configurable per user group)
- Delay reports — aggregated analysis by category and period
- Reliability reports — equipment and line reliability metrics
4. Reporting & Analytics
| Report Type | Scope |
|---|---|
| Production reports | Per-line, per-period coil output and timing |
| Consumption reports | Material/resource consumption by period |
| Environmental reports | Cross-line consolidated environmental data |
| Trend analysis | Time-series with target and range overlays |
| Consolidated data | Aggregated summaries and chart data by variable, type, and period |
| Excel export | One-click XLSX generation for all report types |
5. Administration
- Complete user management — create, lock/unlock, delete, assign groups and roles
- Group management — define groups with granular access rights
- Role management — template-based role definitions with group associations
- HMI prototypes — configurable screen layouts and menu structures stored in the database
6. Communication Configuration
- OPC and edge-node communication configuration
- Remote process registration and availability checking
- Message router management — subscriptions and receiver configuration
Deployment Model
On-Premise, Self-Contained
IN40 UUX deploys as a single Windows executable containing:
- The application server (Node.js runtime bundled)
- The web frontend (pre-built, served as static files)
- All dependencies
Requirements:
- Windows Server (x64)
- MongoDB instance (local or Atlas)
- Network access to Oracle DB (if legacy integration is needed)
- Network access to ZeroMQ edge nodes
Configuration
A single JSON configuration file defines:
- Server port
- Database connection strings
- ZeroMQ endpoint addresses per production line
- Oracle credentials for legacy data sources
No complex infrastructure. No container orchestration. Deploy, configure, run.
Integration Capabilities
| Integration Point | Protocol | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Edge nodes / PLCs | ZeroMQ (TCP) | Bidirectional |
| Legacy databases | Any SQL / noSQL | Bidirectional |
| Browsers | HTTPS + SSE | Bidirectional |
| Report export | XLSX file | Outbound |
| Session store | MongoDB | Internal |
The ZeroMQ integration layer uses a request/reply pattern with structured message framing ([function, timestamp, JSON payload]), making it straightforward to connect new edge services or adapt existing ones.
Why Zelo IN40 UUX
| Criterion | Commercial MES | Generic Dashboard | IN40 UUX |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain-specific | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Real-time plant floor integration | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Equipment lifecycle management | Partial | ❌ | ✅ |
| Delay management | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| On-premise, no cloud required | Varies | ❌ | ✅ |
| Customization speed | Weeks/months | Days | Hours/days |
| Implementation time | 6–18 months | 1–3 months | 2–6 weeks |
Summary
Zelo IN40 UUX bridges the gap between expensive, rigid commercial MES platforms and generic dashboards that lack industrial connectivity. It delivers real-time production monitoring, equipment lifecycle management, delay analysis, and operational reporting in a single, secure, on-premise web application — purpose-built for metallurgical and continuous-processing plants.
For technical demonstrations, integration assessments, or pilot project discussions, contact Zelo Industrial Solutions d.o.o.