Feature

Getting real data from old machines: How IO-Link is finally making legacy digitisation work

Factories across the country will be familiar with the smart manufacturing paradox. Management wants real-time overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), to know why line three keeps stopping, and predictive maintenance alerts before something breaks – but much of the equipment doing the work predates smartphones.

07/01/2026 16:32:59

The machinery itself is often mechanically sound, reliable, and doing the job for which it was built perfectly well. Yet, it is digitally silent. Older PLCs do not have spare input/output (I/O) capacity, and many lack Ethernet altogether. Some plants no longer have the original source code, and, even when they do, nobody wants to touch working logic. One incorrect edit, and you are explaining to the operations manager why a validated line just went down.

So, you're stuck. The data everyone wants is locked inside machines nobody dares modify, an impasse that has defined legacy plant modernisation for years.

IO-Link, combined with capable edge devices, is changing that. This quiet yet rapid evolution means it is now possible to extract meaningful intelligence from legacy equipment – without going anywhere near the original PLC code.

Read the full article in DPA's January 2026 issue

Written By Sophia Bell

Sophia Bell is the Group Editor of DPA, Connectivity, and PBSI. She joined the team in 2020 as Assistant Editor after achieving a First-Class Honours BA in English Literature and Film Studies from the University of East Anglia. In her current role, she leads the editorial strategy, driving digital growth and ensuring each title continues to deliver trusted, relevant insight for engineering and manufacturing professionals.