Softing Industrial Automation announces the launch of edgeNode Portainer, a rugged industrial edge device designed to simplify the deployment, management, and updating of industrial edge applications.
edgeNode Portainer combines Softing’s expertise in industrial connectivity, OT/IT integration, and security with Portainer.io’s intuitive platform for managing containerized software modules. This integrated offering lowers the entry barrier for implementing innovative IIoT solutions and empowers organizations to operate industrial edge environments at a large scale.
Centralized Container Lifecycle Management
Portainer is an open-source management toolset that allows OT and IT teams to deploy, manage, and monitor containerized applications easily. It supports automated and manual workflows and can be used for both large-scale industrial deployments and individual device configuration.
edgeNode Portainer leverages the Portainer platform to provide centralized lifecycle management for edge applications. Users can deploy Docker containers or stacks, push updates, manage configurations, and perform rollbacks across an entire fleet of devices out of the box. This includes Softing’s edgeConnector Docker containers, which can be seamlessly used with edgeNode Portainer and enable secure connectivity to Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Modbus TCP, SINUMERIK, and FANUC controllers via OPC UA and MQTT.
“Portainer was created to make container management simple, scalable, and accessible. Seeing our platform integrated into a purpose-built industrial device like edgeNode Portainer is an exciting step forward. Softing Industrial brings decades of expertise in industrial connectivity and OT environments. This collaboration ensures that users can confidently run containerized workloads at the edge – securely, efficiently, without additional installations, and with the reliability industry demands.” – Tobias Mühlnikel, Head of Industrial and IoT Business Unit at Portainer.io.
Industrial-Grade Design for Reliable Shopfloor Operation
edgeNode Portainer features a compact DIN-rail form factor and operates reliably in extended temperature ranges. Users can flexibly deploy components for machine connectivity from Softing Industrial, from third-party providers, or a combination of both. The device supports on-premises and outbound-only communication, enabling reliable operation even under restrictive firewall policies.
Advanced Cybersecurity and Compliance
edgeNode Portainer was developed in accordance with Softing Industrial's secure development processes, which align with IEC 62443. It offers robust cybersecurity with rapid updates, transparent versioning, and patching. These features help manufacturers build secure, scalable industrial architectures.
“edgeNode Portainer brings the simplicity of cloud-native container management to the industrial shopfloor,” says Abel Jimenez, Product Manager Industrial IoT at Softing Industrial. “It reduces operational effort, accelerates digitalization, and forms a secure foundation for scalable OT/IT integration.”
edgeNode Portainer is available immediately worldwide.
