Market and product

Michelin and Rockwell Automation have jointly developed a cloud-based software platform that unifies, contextualizes and displays data from multiple sources, delivering a standardized machine, workshop and plant supervision solution across the company's global operations.

The challenge: a fragmented supervision landscape

Michelin has long invested in modern manufacturing solutions to maintain efficiency, improve quality, cut waste and control costs. But like many large companies that have grown organically over time, its phased plant investments left it with a wide range of machines, technologies and services across its sites.

While these systems all operate within the same integrated plants, differences in protocols, architecture and communication capability make unified management difficult, often forcing reliance on multiple human-machine interfaces (HMIs) and graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that display similar information in very different formats.

According to Xavier Hodasava, standards and IT/OT engineering lead at Michelin, the company set out to implement a standardized, centralized supervision solution that would make workshop and machine monitoring easier and more intuitive for all internal stakeholders - not just engineers working directly on the line.

The visualization solutions previously used in the main control room each had their own screens and interface, with no tool to merge this information together or present it in a unified format that would make it easier to supervise an entire workshop. Michelin needed a system capable of ingesting operational data from multiple sources and delivering the right information, in the right format, to the right people, at the right time - not just locally, but at the plant level and beyond. Equally important was the ability to communicate seamlessly with the company's IT systems, as it works to converge IT and OT (operational technology) data to generate insights across the organization.

The solution: a customized FactoryTalk Optix platform

To create a single source of truth, Michelin worked closely with Rockwell Automation to design, develop and deploy a tailored version of the FactoryTalk Optix visualization and data acquisition platform - a multi-purpose HMI solution combining visualization, industrial IoT (IIoT) connectivity, edge deployment and data management capabilities.

A key part of the partnership is a formal co-development and co-innovation agreement. As an early adopter of FactoryTalk Optix, Michelin's use case and substantial input are helping shape the platform's interoperability and development roadmap, with engineering teams from both companies working together to standardize user interfaces and build a consistent look and feel that can be rolled out globally.

One notable outcome of the collaboration was the development of a native driver/connector for Michelin's Kafka-based messaging system. Since Kafka is widely used in IT as a messaging protocol, this driver is essential for seamless communication with Michelin's IT layer, particularly its enterprise software systems.

Early results

Hodasava said the company set an ambitious roadmap, but effective teamwork between the two companies has led to successful deployment at three plants - two in Spain and one in Italy - which can now monitor in-house-developed workshop equipment running on Rockwell Automation control platforms.

Michelin is also using FactoryTalk Optix to monitor equipment from other manufacturers, such as conveyors and automated guided vehicles (AGVs), thanks to the platform's support for the OPC UA communication standard and its extensive library of third-party drivers.

According to Hodasava, although the rollout is still at an early stage, the company is already responding faster to issues that could cause downtime, spotting anomalies earlier and taking corrective action more quickly thanks to more intuitive insights - improvements that translate directly into better uptime, a critical metric for any manufacturing plant.

What's next

The three pilot plants use a wide range of mixing technologies and control platforms, providing a solid foundation for further testing and development. Hodasava said the company's goal is to deploy FactoryTalk Optix across all Michelin factories, using the current work on mixing systems as a base for a broader global rollout.

FactoryTalk Optix will also be applied in assembly and tire-building workshops, where Michelin engineers will be able to adapt it to each factory's specific process needs while maintaining a consistent look and feel.

Michelin's extensive existing use of Rockwell Automation systems has simplified the development and deployment of the FactoryTalk Optix application. Hodasava emphasized that this was an important consideration, since global integration was always part of the roadmap - allowing the same tool and supervision processes to be extended down to the local HMI level, significantly cutting training time and simplifying deployment. Thanks to its use of smart objects, the software can also serve as an edge gateway, integrating with enterprise platforms for data collection.

Reflecting on the collaboration with Rockwell Automation, Hodasava said both teams shared the same roadmap and goals throughout the project - from the earliest workshops with ASEM, Rockwell's specialist industrial computer and monitor division, through to the factory rollout. Even at this later stage, the two teams continue to work on new features and ideas in regular workshops that also include participation from Michelin's IT colleagues.

Source: OPINION: Why Michelin and Rockwell have worked to develop tailored visualization and data acquisition — Malika Amamra, Manager, Global Accounts, Rockwell Automation, Tire Technology International, May 29, 2026