Virtual PLCs in practice: How vPLCs make production systems more flexible and scalable

The event will take place on June 24, 2026 in Augsburg and is aimed at specialists and managers from industry, mechanical engineering and automation who want to further develop their production and data infrastructures.

András Somogyi, IoT Developer at Magna Body & Chassis Hungary, will provide a particularly practical insight into the possibilities of virtual control technology. In his presentation "Virtual PLCs: from advanced data extraction & publishing to replacing shopfloor PLCs", he will show how virtual PLCs (vPLCs) are already being used productively in industrial environments - and the benefits that result.

Using specific applications from production, Somogyi explains how vPLCs can be used to replace traditional edge devices. This can significantly reduce hardware, software and implementation costs. Data is collected directly via the line controllers using ProfiNET RT, while pre-processing, aggregation and data provision take place on central IT systems. The result is higher data density, better scalability and more flexible provision via software updates.

The presentation will also focus on the topics of availability and cybersecurity. By operating on redundant IT platforms, virtual control systems can be managed more easily and operated more securely than distributed individual devices. At the same time, the presentation will show how modern security concepts and industrial communication protocols enable the reliable use of virtual systems in production environments.

Somogyi will also provide an outlook on the use of IEC 61508-SIL3-certified virtual safety controllers, which open up new possibilities for controlling complete production systems. The presentation is aimed in particular at companies that want to modernize their automation architecture and make it more software-based and scalable.

To the speaker

András Somogyi is an IoT Developer at Magna Body & Chassis Hungary and has many years of experience in the fields of industrial automation, IIoT and software development. He has worked with technologies and platforms from leading automation providers such as ABB, Siemens, Beckhoff, Allen-Bradley, KUKA and CODESYS. In addition to his electrical engineering background, he specifically expanded his expertise to include IT and web technologies as well as modern IoT architectures. Today, he combines classic automation with scalable virtual systems and uses powerful IT platforms for data-driven process optimization and machine learning applications in production.