Our story
Built by people who've been on the floor
We spent years building software for manufacturers — and years frustrated by the gap between what MES platforms promised and what they actually delivered on the shop floor.
The conventional wisdom in industrial software was that manufacturing was too complex, too varied, and too legacy-entrenched to build software that was both powerful and fast to deploy. You either got a tier-1 enterprise suite with an 18-month implementation and a team of consultants, or you got a lightweight point solution that covered one problem and left the rest.
We thought that was wrong. Modern cloud-native architecture, edge computing, and a decade of progress in data infrastructure should make it possible to build an MES that deploys in days, costs a fraction of the legacy alternatives, and covers the full surface area of what manufacturers actually need — OEE, quality, traceability, work instructions, and connectivity in one system.
That's Qontiv.
Why we built it this way
We made a few explicit choices that define how Qontiv is different:
- Edge-first connectivity. We ship an edge gateway that connects directly to machines via OPC-UA and MQTT. No middleware. No separate SCADA purchase. Most customers connect their first machine in under 2 hours.
- No separate modules to buy. OEE, SPC, work instructions, scheduling, and genealogy are all in the base product. We don't charge for add-ons that should be table stakes.
- Real data, real time. Every metric you see in Qontiv reflects what's happening now or what happened in a specific recorded event. No overnight batch jobs. No "OEE is calculated at shift close."
- Designed for regulated manufacturing. Manufacturers working toward IATF 16949 §8.5.6, ISO 13485 §8.5.2, FDA QMSR §820.100, or AS9100 Rev D §10.2 need specific capabilities: immutable audit trails, electronic signatures with identity binding per 21 CFR Part 11 §11.50, CAPA with effectiveness verification, and complete lot genealogy. We built these in from day one, not as afterthoughts — and Qontiv is designed to be compatible with your certification, not to claim it.
Where we're headed
We're pre-production and deliberately building with early customers who will shape the product. If you're a manufacturer who wants a system that actually reflects how your floor works — rather than forcing your floor to adapt to how a 1990s enterprise system was designed — we want to talk.
Ready to see Qontiv in your environment?
A 30-minute walkthrough with your equipment and your data.