CEO · iGromi
Víctor Ruz
Automation and Robotics Engineer (Universidad Andrés Bello, 2012). More than twelve years in robotics and industrial automation. Founder and CEO of iGromi, where he connects machines, systems and plant people with secure industrial AI.
Technical blog
Published Articles (79)
Artificial Intelligence
Anthropic's MHS: How AI Learns to Understand Machines
The Model Hardware Standard gives AI agents one way to discover a device, learn what it measures and what it allows, and send it commands. What it is, what it does not cover yet and what it means for a plant in Chile.
Comparisons
Industrial AI Companies in Chile: 2026 Comparison
Ten companies offering artificial intelligence for plants in Chile, compared by what they do, where the data comes from and where it runs. Checked on their official websites in November 2026.
Industrial Connectivity
Node-RED for Industry: Read PLCs and Publish to MQTT
What Node-RED is, how plants use it to read PLCs over Modbus or OPC UA and publish to MQTT, and the practices that keep a test flow from ending up in production with no backup.
Industrial Connectivity
What Is an HMI? HMI vs SCADA vs PLC Explained
What an industrial HMI is, what types exist, how it differs from SCADA and from a PLC, and how to design a screen an operator understands in two seconds.
Occupational Health and Safety
DS 594 Checklist in Excel, Article by Article (Chile)
What Chile's Supreme Decree 594 requires, section by section and article by article: restrooms, ventilation, fire extinguishers, noise and cold. Includes an Excel checklist with owner and deadline.
Occupational Health and Safety
Chile DS 44 IPER Matrix in Excel: Plant Example
What Chile's Supreme Decree 44 has required since February 2025: the IPER matrix, the preventive work program, IRL, risk map and FUF inspection form. With an IPER matrix in Excel using the ISP method.
Occupational Health and Safety
Annual Toolbox Talk Schedule: 20 Topics and Attendance Log
20 five-minute safety talks for a food or manufacturing plant, how to deliver them and a spreadsheet to schedule them and record attendance.
Occupational Health and Safety
Joint Safety Committee Minutes and Action Log (Excel)
How Chile's joint health and safety committee (comité paritario) is formed under DS 44, how often it meets and how to track its agreements and inspections. With meeting minutes and an agreements log in Excel.
Artificial Intelligence
Local AI With PLC and SCADA Data: Architecture and Limits
How to get a language model running inside the plant to answer questions with PLC and SCADA data: the five-layer architecture, the hardware it needs, which models fit, why AI must not write to the PLC and how to start in a month.
IT/OT Integration
Integrate Machine Data With SAP Without Changing the PLC
The four ways to get the production counted on the line into SAP without touching the PLC program: which data goes in (production order confirmation or goods movement), through which interface, how often and what to validate before SAP accepts it.
Food & Beverage
HACCP in Mexico: NOM-251, COFEPRIS, SENASICA and FDA Rules
When HACCP is mandatory in Mexico, what records NOM-251-SSA1-2009 requires, what changes in TIF plants and in plants exporting to the US under FSMA 204, and what can be automated. Includes the "HACCP temperature log" spreadsheet.
Food & Beverage
Food Plant Traceability: HACCP, BRCGS and FSMA 204 Records
What traceability is, which records HACCP, BRCGS and the US FSMA 204 rule ask for, which ones can be automated and which ones are still a person's decision.
Food & Beverage
Cold Room Temperature Monitoring: What an Audit Asks For
Data logger or continuous monitoring, where to place the sensors, how to calibrate them and which alarms to configure for HACCP and BRCGS. Includes the "HACCP temperature log" Excel spreadsheet, with corrective actions and calibration.
Industrial IoT
Industrial Telemetry: What It Is and When to Use LoRa
What telemetry is, its parts, how Wi-Fi, cellular, LoRa and cable compare for transmitting plant data, how it differs from SCADA, and what to ask before installing it.
Energy & Sustainability
Chile's Energy Efficiency Law 21.305: What Plants Must Do
Who must report energy use under Chile's Energy Efficiency Law, what an energy-management-capable consumer (CCGE) is, what the energy management system requires, what fines apply and what you need to measure to report.
Machine Vision
Industrial PC for Machine Vision: How to Choose One
What sets an industrial PC apart from an office one, when a GPU or a Jetson module makes sense, what happens to heat inside a closed enclosure and what to ask before you buy.
Comparisons
OEE Software in Chile: 5 Options Compared
Excel spreadsheet, TEEPTRAK, Fabrico, Siemens Insights Hub or iGromi: how each one captures the data, where it runs, what it publishes and when each option makes sense in a Chilean plant.
Productivity
Why Your Production Count Doesn't Match the ERP
The four reasons what you produced does not match what the ERP says, how to measure the gap in a week, and how to close it by counting on the line with the cameras and sensors the plant already has.
Artificial Intelligence
ChatGPT With Plant Data: What Chile's Law 21.719 Allows
Yes, you can use ChatGPT or DeepSeek with plant information, but the law looks at what data leaves and where it goes. What counts as personal data in a plant, what changes with a business account and three rules for using AI without exposing yourself.
Artificial Intelligence
Industrial Knowledge Management With AI
Why a plant's knowledge walks out with the shift, how to capture, structure and verify it, and how AI turns it into a memory that people and agents can query without giving up human control.
Artificial Intelligence
What Is Physical AI and What It Still Needs to Reach the Plant Floor
Physical AI perceives, reasons and acts on the real world. What sets it apart from generative AI, why plants have data but no context, and what infrastructure a model needs to understand a factory without putting it at risk.
Maintenance
Preventive Maintenance: What It Is and How to Implement It
What preventive maintenance is, how to set frequencies without copying the manufacturer's manual, which indicators measure it and when it makes sense to move to predictive. With an Excel template.
Maintenance
Types of Industrial Maintenance: 2026 Guide + Excel Plan
Corrective, preventive, predictive and proactive: what each type of maintenance is, when it makes sense, how to combine them by asset criticality, and an Excel template to build the plan.
Maintenance
Industrial Reliability: MTBF, MTTR and Availability Formulas
What reliability is, how it differs from availability and maintainability, the MTBF, MTTR and availability formulas with a worked example, the bathtub curve, and how to improve reliability with data instead of intuition.
Predictive Maintenance
How to Structure a Preventive Maintenance Program
A poorly designed preventive maintenance program causes almost as much downtime as having none at all. We break down the 5 components every program needs, and why the final step — closing the loop with real data — is the one almost nobody implements.
Predictive Maintenance
Best Predictive Maintenance Software 2026: CMMS vs Edge AI Compared
We compare the categories of predictive maintenance software available in 2026 — from cloud CMMS platforms to Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) architectures with Edge AI — and why latency matters more than you think.
Comparisons
Fracttal and Tractian Alternatives: Which One Fits Your Plant
Fracttal manages maintenance and Tractian monitors machine condition. What each one does, when it makes sense, and what to use if what doesn't add up is production.
MES Software
MES Integrators (Mexico): Why Paying for Rockwell or Aveva Licenses is Destroying your ROI
If you're looking for integrators like MES Automation in Mexico, prepare for the hidden costs of 'Tag' licensing. We compare classic SCADA integrations vs iGromi's Open-Edge system.
Hardware & Edge
Connecting Siemens PLC to the Cloud (AWS/Azure) vs Edge Computing
Discover the most efficient way to connect your Siemens S7-1200 or S7-1500 PLC to the cloud. We compare the hidden costs of AWS/Azure versus local Edge AI processing with iGromi OS.
Productivity & OEE
Free OEE Calculation Excel Template (2026) + How to Use It
Looking to download a free OEE Excel template? We explain how to use it, but also why filling out spreadsheets by hand is making you lose money without you noticing.
Hardware & Edge
Allen-Bradley 100-C09G200: Specs, Coil Voltage and What Replaces It
Complete specs for the 100-C09G200 contactor: coil voltage, contact configuration and equivalent models. Which parts replace it, its current lifecycle status, and how to tell when yours is about to fail before it stops the line.
Hardware & Edge
How to Monitor an Allen-Bradley 100-C09G200 Contactor Before It Fails
A contactor gives no warning before it fails: it welds, it overheats, it stops the line. How to instrument the 100-C09G200 to catch contact wear before the shutdown, without rewiring the panel.
Industry 4.0 & Automation
MES Software: How to Automate OEE Without Operators Typing It In
Discover the technical architecture of a modern MES Software, why managing OEE in Excel destroys your factory's profitability, and how IoT and Edge Computing are leading the industrial digital transformation in 2026.
Artificial Intelligence
Autonomous AI Agents: What They Are and What They Can Do in a Plant
What an autonomous AI agent is, the five levels of autonomy in a plant, and why it should never write to the PLC.
Maintenance
The Ultimate Guide to TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) for 2026
Tired of maintenance just putting out fires? Discover how to implement the 8 pillars of TPM step by step and achieve Zero Breakdowns in your industrial plant.
Technology
MQTT for Plant Engineers: The Modern Industrial Protocol
Leave heavyweight protocols behind. Learn why MQTT is the language of industrial IoT and how to deploy it between your PLCs and the cloud.
OT Hardware
From Arduino to Industrial PLC: How to Scale Prototypes to Real Production
Blinking an Arduino is easy. Keeping it running 24/7 in a foundry is another story. Discover the critical path from prototype to industrial cabinet.
![Ransomware in the Plant: Anatomy of an OT Cyberattack (and How to Survive) [2026]](/images/blog/industrial-ransomware-screen.webp)
Cybersecurity
Ransomware in the Plant: Anatomy of an OT Cyberattack (and How to Survive) [2026]
Your HMI is red. The line is stopped. They demand 50 BTC. Discover how hackers enter industrial networks and the 5-step response plan.
![Automated Quality Control: Computer Vision Guide for Defect Detection [2026]](/images/blog/automated-visual-inspection-conveyor.webp)
Artificial Intelligence
Automated Quality Control: Computer Vision Guide for Defect Detection [2026]
Do your inspectors get tired? AI doesn't. Discover how to implement a Computer Vision system to detect defects at 1,000 ppm with a model trained on images from your own line.
Integration
MQTT vs OPC UA: The Ultimate IIoT Protocol Guide
Is OPC UA the standard? Yes, the standard for crashing your network. Discover why MQTT + Sparkplug B is the true future of agile industrial integration.
Artificial Intelligence
Industrial AI Hardware Guide: Which GPU Do I Need? [Excel Calculator]
Stop guessing if you need a Jetson Nano or an RTX 4090. Download our Hardware Calculator and size your Computer Vision project without overspending.
![Industrial Energy Savings: How IoT Detects 'Phantom Loads' [Free ISO 50001 Excel Template]](/images/landings/dashboard-iot.webp)
Industrial IoT
Industrial Energy Savings: How IoT Detects 'Phantom Loads' [Free ISO 50001 Excel Template]
Your electricity bill is an autopsy: it arrives when the victim is already dead. Discover how real-time monitoring detects night waste and lowers your bill by 15%. Includes ROI Calculator.
![Acoustic AI: How to Listen to Motor Faults Before They Vibrate [2026 Guide]](/images/blog/ia-acustica-predictivo.webp)
Artificial Intelligence
Acoustic AI: How to Listen to Motor Faults Before They Vibrate [2026 Guide]
Are your vibration sensors too expensive? Discover how Acoustic AI uses $5 USD microphones to detect damaged bearings weeks before catastrophic failure.
Practical Resources
Free Preventive Maintenance Plan Excel Template [2026] + Step-by-Step Guide
Download our Master Industrial Maintenance Template. Stop fighting with messy spreadsheets and start organizing your assets today.
Industrial Hardware
Arduino Computer Vision: What It Can Do (and Where It Breaks)
How far an Arduino or ESP32-CAM really goes in computer vision: real setup, shutter and EMI limits, and when industrial hardware is worth it.
Comparisons
iGromi vs Ignition: Universal SCADA vs Specialized AI
Ignition is the world's best SCADA. But for Computer Vision and complex OEE, you need a specialized tool. Discover why integrating them (via MQTT) is the winning strategy.
Technology
Automatic Product Counting with Computer Vision: 2026 Guide
Still counting boxes by hand? Industrial computer vision reduces counting error; at Grupo Proa we measured 99% against manual counts. Technical implementation guide.
Tutorials
What Is OEE and How to Calculate It (+ Free Excel Template)
Calculate your OEE instantly. Download our free and customizable OEE Excel template. Optimize your production and eliminate inefficiencies.
Comparisons
iGromi vs Rockwell FactoryTalk: An MES for Mid-Sized Plants vs the Giant
FactoryTalk is the best-selling MES in the world. It also costs a fortune. Can iGromi compete? A no-nonsense technical comparison for mid-sized plants.
Comparisons
iGromi vs Siemens Opcenter: German MES vs Chilean MES in 2026
Opcenter (formerly SIMATIC IT) is Siemens' MES. Robust, complex and very expensive. When is it worth the price? An honest technical comparison.
Comparisons
iGromi vs SAP ME: A Lean MES vs the ERP Monster (2026)
SAP ME (Manufacturing Execution) promises seamless integration with your manufacturing ERP system. At what cost? A technical comparison for plants that already run (or are evaluating) SAP.
Business
The Hidden Cost of the Cloud: AWS/Azure vs Edge in a Real Plant
Sending terabytes of raw data to the cloud is financial suicide. Industrial edge computing cuts data ingestion, storage and egress costs by up to 90%.
Maintenance
Predictive vs Preventive Maintenance: Analysis and Costs
Still replacing parts 'just in case'? Compare preventive vs predictive maintenance using vibration analysis and IoT to cut costs.
Strategy
Why Do 70% of IoT Projects Fail in Latin America?
Technology isn't the problem. Choosing the right industrial IoT platform, the lack of strategy and endless pilots are what really kill innovation in Latin America.
Technology
SCADA vs IIoT: Complementary or Rivals?
We break down the key differences between traditional SCADA systems and a modern industrial IoT platform. Is it time to replace your SCADA?
Energy & Sustainability
Industrial Energy Efficiency: How to Cut Your Power Bill with IoT
Is your electricity bill a 'fixed cost'? It isn't. Learn how an IoT production monitoring system cuts consumption 15-20% by eliminating demand peaks and phantom loads.
Machine Vision
Computer Vision in Industry: Real Uses and How to Start
What computer vision is, what it does in a plant (counting, inspection, safety), what it takes to implement, and why your existing camera may be enough.
Technology
What Is iGromi OS? An Industrial Operating System
iGromi OS runs at the edge, next to the machines, and keeps working without internet. Protocols, containers and low-code logic in one industrial OS.
Lean Manufacturing
Jidoka 4.0: Lean Manufacturing Meets the IoT
Lean isn't the enemy of technology. How to digitize jidoka, andon, poka-yoke and kanban so the line stops automatically when a defect appears.
Strategy
IT vs OT: How to Bring Two Worlds Together
IT wants security and patches. The plant wants the machine to never stop. How to align two opposing cultures with a hybrid team and a Purdue DMZ.
Productivity
The 7 Wastes of Lean: Plant Examples and a Free Excel
The 7 wastes of Lean Manufacturing (muda) with plant-floor examples, the 8th waste almost nobody measures and a free Excel audit template.
Productivity
A 30-Day Plan to Double Your Plant's Productivity
You don't need six months or expensive consultants. A week-by-week plan to measure, analyze, act and sustain real productivity gains in one month.
Productivity
Micro-Stops: The Silent Killer of Your Productivity
Those 30-second stops nobody logs add up to 2-3 hours a day. How to detect micro-stops on your line and the 6 strategies to eliminate them.
Productivity
SMED: How to Cut Changeovers from 2 Hours to 15 Minutes
The Japanese method for product changeovers in a fraction of today's time: separate internal and external work, convert, then streamline.
Productivity
5S Methodology: The Foundation of Operational Excellence
You can't run advanced processes in a chaotic environment. 5S isn't cleaning: it's discipline and visible standards. The five steps, explained.
Productivity
Kaizen: Small Daily Improvements That Transform Results
Don't wait for the perfect six-month project. A hundred small improvements beat one giant change: the Kaizen principles and how to make them stick.
Productivity
Find Your Bottleneck: Theory of Constraints in Practice
Improving everything improves nothing. The Theory of Constraints, its 5 focusing steps and Drum-Buffer-Rope show exactly where to focus.
Productivity
Production KPIs: 10 Metrics with Formulas and a Free Excel
The ten production KPIs that tell you whether the shift won or lost, with formulas, the mistake that inflates weekly OEE and a free spreadsheet.
Plant Strategy
CMMS Software for Manufacturing: How to Choose Beyond Excel
Excel and 1990s CMMS share one flaw: they depend on people typing data after the failure. How to evaluate a CMMS for manufacturing with edge AI.
IIoT Connectivity
How to Connect a PLC to the Cloud Without Port Forwarding
The secure architecture for sending PLC data to AWS or Azure without exposing your OT network to ransomware: edge gateway, MQTT and outbound-only links.
OT Hardware
How to Build an Arduino Data Logger (and Why Not in a Plant)
Step by step: a DIY Arduino data logger for sensors, and the risks of bringing hobby hardware into a 24 V industrial panel.
Machine Vision
How Machine Vision Is Applied in Manufacturing (YOLOv8)
How modern factories use standard IP cameras and YOLOv8 models for quality control and part counting without expensive proprietary hardware.
Cybersecurity
iGromi OS vs AWS IoT: Is Your Industrial AI Zero-Trust?
Stop shipping raw plant data to the cloud. How on-site processing with iGromi avoids AWS variable costs and shrinks your plant's ransomware exposure.
IIoT Connectivity
Edge Computing for Industrial Network Automation
How edge computing filters plant telemetry before it reaches the cloud, translates PLC protocols and adds a security barrier between OT and IT.
IIoT Connectivity
Industrial IoT Monitoring: Sensors, Dashboards, Latency
The three layers of industrial IoT monitoring: sensor and PLC data acquisition, edge filtering, and a live plant dashboard everyone can read.
Production Control
Tulip Alternative: iGromi MES with Offline Architecture
Why cloud dependence in frontline operations creates latency and production stoppages, and how iGromi's local-first edge AI keeps the line running.
Plant Strategy
Lean Manufacturing Guide: From the 7 Wastes to Edge AI
The core Lean Manufacturing concepts (5S, Jidoka, TPM) and how industrial AI is eliminating the newest waste on the plant floor: wasted data.
Regulation
Chile's Law 21.719: What Changes December 1 for Plants
From December 1, plant cameras and fingerprint clocks handle biometric data under Chile's Law 21.719. What the Agency requires and how to use AI on site.
Hardware & Edge
Delta DVP-14SS2 PLC Specs and What to Check Before Replacing
Verified DVP-14SS2 specs: I/O, power supply and communication ports, plus what to confirm before you quote a replacement unit.