Rockwell Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform

Technical Preview

Overview

One client-mode connector, RockwellPlex, for the Plex Connect REST APIs of the Rockwell Automation Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform (Plex MES, ERP and quality). It covers what a broker typically exchanges with Plex on a discrete production line. Read workcenter definitions and their live setup, the status and downtime history, production and scrap records, batches, scheduled jobs, parts, inventory containers, equipment and quality control plans into your Unified Namespace. In the other direction, a PLC state change on the broker can set a workcenter’s status in Plex (downtime), set up the next job, record batch production, add a checksheet with measurements, or scrap a container.

Event	Request	Notes
ListWorkcenters	`GET /production/v1/production-definitions/workcenters?{query}`	Filter by `workcenterCode`, `name`, `workcenterGroup`, `buildingId`, `plcName`, `ipAddress`
GetWorkcenter	`GET /production/v1/production-definitions/workcenters/{workcenter_id}`	One workcenter definition
GetWorkcenterSetup	`GET /production/v1/control/workcenters/{workcenter_id}`	Live setup: current job, part, status
ListWorkcenterStatuses	`GET /production/v1/production-definitions/workcenter-statuses?{query}`	Status ids for `SetWorkcenterStatus`
ListWorkcenterEvents	`GET /production/v1/production-definitions/workcenter-events?{query}`	Event (reason) ids
ListWorkcenterStatusEntries	`GET /production/v1/production-history/workcenter-status-entries?{query}`	Status and downtime history; `beginDate`, `endDate` required
ListProductionEntries	`GET /production/v1/production-history/production-entries?{query}`	Production records; `beginDate`, `endDate` required
ListProductionEntriesSummary	`GET /production/v1/production-history/production-entries-summary?{query}`	Summarised production
ListScrapEntries	`GET /production/v1/production-history/scrap-entries?{query}`	Scrap records; `beginDate`, `endDate` required
ListBatches	`GET /production/v1/control/workcenters/{workcenter_id}/batches?{query}`	Batches on a workcenter
GetNextBatch	`GET /production/v1/control/workcenters/{workcenter_id}/next-batch?{query}`	Next batch to produce
ListJobs	`GET /scheduling/v1/jobs?{query}`	Filter by `jobStatuses`, `partId`, `buildingId`, due dates
GetJob	`GET /scheduling/v1/jobs/{job_id}`	One job
ListJobOperations	`GET /scheduling/v1/jobs/{job_id}/operations?{query}`	Operations of a job; ids for `SetupJob`
ListParts	`GET /mdm/v2/parts?{query}`	Part master data
ListContainers	`GET /inventory/v1/inventory-tracking/containers?{query}`	Inventory containers
ListEquipment	`GET /maintenance/v1/equipment?{query}`	Equipment records
ListControlPlans	`GET /quality/v1/control-plans?{query}`	Quality control plans
GetChecksheet	`GET /quality/v1/checksheets/{checksheet_id}`	One checksheet
SetWorkcenterStatus	`POST /production/v1/control/workcenters/{workcenter_id}/status`	Downtime or running status
SetupJob	`POST /production/v1/control/workcenters/{workcenter_id}/setup-job`	Set up a job operation on a workcenter
RecordBatchProduction	`POST /production/v1/control/workcenters/{workcenter_id}/record-batch-production`	Record produced quantity for a batch
CreateChecksheet	`POST /quality/v1/checksheets`	Add a checksheet with measurements (`201`)
ScrapContainer	`POST /inventory/v1/inventory-control/containers/{serial_no}/scrap`	Scrap quantity from a container (`204`)

Topics are mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/<object>/<verb>; every reply goes to <topic>/response.

Authentication

Every event sends X-Plex-Connect-Api-Key: {api_key}. The key is the Consumer Key of an app you create under My Apps in the Plex Developer Portal, subscribed to the API products this connector uses: Production Operations Management, Job Scheduling, Parts, Inventory Operations Management, Equipment, Control Plans and Checksheet. Access to the portal requires Plex IAM, which your Plex Champion arranges through a support case. Keep the key in a broker secret (suggested PLEX_CONNECT_API_KEY) and map it in with GET SECRET. Requests run against the key’s default tenant (PCN). To work with another PCN, add ADD "X-Plex-Connect-Tenant-Id" "{value.json.tenant_id}" under WITH HEADERS and send tenant_id in the payload. Plex has a test tier at https://test.connect.plex.com, and test and production keys must be different. A missing or wrong key, including a production key used on the test tier, returns 401 with REQUEST_NOT_AUTHENTICATED. An app that is not subscribed to an API product gets 403.

Basic Syntax

DEFINE ROUTE RockwellPlex WITH TYPE REST_API
    ADD REST_API_CONFIG
        WITH BASE_ADDRESS "https://connect.plex.com"
        WITH ENABLE_CLIENT "true"
        WITH USE_SSL "true"
        WITH REQUEST_TIMEOUT '60'
        WITH DEFAULT_CONTENT_TYPE "application/json"
    ADD EVENT ListProductionEntries
        WITH SOURCE_TOPIC "mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/production-entry/list"
        WITH DESTINATION_TOPIC "mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/production-entry/list/response"
        WITH METHOD "GET"
        WITH ENDPOINT "/production/v1/production-history/production-entries?{value.json.query}"
        WITH HEADERS
            ADD "Accept" "application/json"
            ADD "X-Plex-Connect-Api-Key" "{value.json.api_key}"
    ADD EVENT SetWorkcenterStatus
        WITH SOURCE_TOPIC "mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/workcenter-status/set"
        WITH DESTINATION_TOPIC "mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/workcenter-status/set/response"
        WITH METHOD "POST"
        WITH ENDPOINT "/production/v1/control/workcenters/{value.json.workcenter_id}/status"
        WITH HEADERS
            ADD "Accept" "application/json"
            ADD "Content-Type" "application/json"
            ADD "X-Plex-Connect-Api-Key" "{value.json.api_key}"
        WITH BODY "{value.json.body}"

Use https://test.connect.plex.com as BASE_ADDRESS while you develop. The full template, with all 24 events, is RockwellPlexSmartManufacturingPlatformRestApi.lot in the REST API app.

MQTT examples

Request bodies go under body, so control fields like api_key, workcenter_id and query are not sent to Plex. Ids are Plex GUIDs. Find a workcenter by code: publish to mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/workcenter/list:

{
  "api_key": "<Plex Consumer Key>",
  "query": "workcenterCode=PRESS-01"
}

Read this shift’s production: publish to mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/production-entry/list. Plex requires beginDate and endDate, and the query must be URL-encoded:

{
  "api_key": "<Plex Consumer Key>",
  "query": "beginDate=2026-10-05T06:00:00Z&endDate=2026-10-05T14:00:00Z&workcenterId=<workcenter uuid>"
}

Send "query": "" on list events when you do not need filters. Put a workcenter into downtime: look up the status id with workcenter-status/list, then publish to mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/workcenter-status/set:

{
  "api_key": "<Plex Consumer Key>",
  "workcenter_id": "<workcenter uuid>",
  "body": { "workcenterStatusId": "<status uuid>", "workcenterEventId": "<optional reason uuid>" }
}

Record batch production: publish to mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/batch-production/record with "body": { "batchId": "<batch uuid>", "quantity": 12 }. Get the batch id from batch/next or batch/list. Scrap from a container: publish to mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/container/scrap with "serial_no": "<container serial>" and "body": { "scrapReason": "<reason>", "quantity": 1 }. Plex answers 204 with an empty body.

Helper actions

Keep the key in a broker secret, read a workcenter’s live setup every minute, and turn a PLC status change into a Plex workcenter status:

DEFINE ACTION PlexPollWorkcenterStatus
ON EVERY 1 MINUTE DO
    SET "key" WITH GET SECRET "PLEX_CONNECT_API_KEY"
    PUBLISH TOPIC "mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/workcenter-setup/get" WITH { "api_key": {key}, "workcenter_id": "<workcenter uuid>" }

DEFINE ACTION PlexDowntimeFromLine
ON TOPIC "porto/line1/press01/plex-status" DO
    SET "key" WITH GET SECRET "PLEX_CONNECT_API_KEY"
    SET "status" WITH GET JSON "workcenterStatusId" IN PAYLOAD AS STRING
    PUBLISH TOPIC "mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/workcenter-status/set" WITH { "api_key": {key}, "workcenter_id": "<workcenter uuid>", "body": { "workcenterStatusId": {status} } }

Restrict who can publish to mes/rockwell-plex-smart-manufacturing-platform/# with a rule: its payloads carry the API key, and the POST events change production records.

Notes

Errors come back on the response topic: 401 REQUEST_NOT_AUTHENTICATED for a missing or wrong key, 403 when the app is not subscribed to that API product, 404 for an unknown id, 400 with the failing fields for a validation error, and 429 when you hit Plex rate limits.
Plex history endpoints need a date range. Keep ranges short (one shift) and page by time to stay inside rate limits.
Status and event ids differ per tenant. Read workcenter-status/list and workcenter-event/list once and keep the ids in a model or broker configuration.
CreateChecksheet needs operationId, inspectionMode and measurements; take the field names from the control plan (control-plan/list) and the Checksheet API in the Plex portal.
Plex publishes many more APIs (sales orders, purchasing, EDI, accounting, digital work instructions, Plex APM). Add events for them the same way: one ADD EVENT per operation, with the path from the Developer Portal.

Quick Start

Coreflux MQTT Broker

LoT Language

Coreflux HUB

VS Code - LoT Notebooks

Coreflux Portal

Using AI with Coreflux

Product Updates

Rockwell Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform

Overview

Authentication

Basic Syntax

MQTT examples

Helper actions

Notes

​Overview

​Authentication

​Basic Syntax

​MQTT examples

​Helper actions

​Notes

​Related

Overview

Authentication

Basic Syntax

MQTT examples

Helper actions

Notes

Related