Native PLC Communication & Why OPC-UA Is Wasting Your CPU

Every IIoT project starts the same way: you need data out of a PLC. The standard answer is OPC-UA — but what if that protocol is overloading your PLCs, eating bandwidth, and costing you thousands in upsized hardware?

In this episode, Christofer Dutz — creator of Apache PLC4X and CEO of ToddySoft GmbH — joins Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes to explain why speaking the native tongue of your PLCs is faster, cheaper, and more efficient than wrapping everything in OPC-UA. Chris shares how PLC4X pulled 2,600 data points every 200 milliseconds at just 2–3% CPU overhead — compared to OPC-UA choking at 200 data points every two seconds on the same hardware.

The conversation covers the origin of PLC4X (a "JDBC for industrial automation"), the not-invented-here syndrome that created today's protocol mess, why open-source adoption in OT is still painfully slow, the role of Apache IoTDB as a time-series storage engine handling 1.5 billion insertions per second, and Chris's new commercial venture ToddySoft — bringing production-grade Rust-based drivers to platforms like Inductive Automation's Ignition.

Whether you're an automation engineer drowning in protocol adapters or an IT architect trying to bridge the OT gap, this episode is packed with practical insight from someone who has spent a decade making PLCs talk.

Connect with Christofer on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/christoferdutz

Connect with Phil on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/phil-seboa

Connect with Ed on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ed-fuentes

Sign up for the Unplugged newsletter: unpluggediiot.com/newsletter

Learn more about ToddySoft: toddysoft.com

Learn more about Apache PLC4X: plc4x.apache.org