About IP67.IO
A practical look at simpler control systems and machine connectivity.
I'm Colin...
I’ve been working in controls and industrial automation for more than thirty years. Long enough to remember relay logic, and when pushing a "jog button" was considered automation. I’ve designed control systems, commissioned machines, stood on factory floors at ungodly hours, and watched a lot of really capable people struggle with control architectures that were far more complex than they needed to be.
That frustration is what led to IP67.IO.
This website exists because I still see many machines being wired using decades-old IP20 methods, even though there are easier, faster, and more reliable IP67 alternatives readily available.
If you're a machine builder, an engineer, or a
maintenance leader who has ever looked at a control
system and thought, "There has to be a better way to wire this," you're exactly who I built this website for.
Where IP67.IO Came From
Most machine electrical problems don’t start with bad code or failed sensors - They start with outdated wiring methods.
Methods built around centralized electrical panels, dense rows of terminal blocks, and long home-run wiring. Approaches that made sense decades ago, but haven’t kept pace with how modern machines are expected to be built, installed, and maintained today.
I’ve watched skilled electricians lose hours tracing faults through layers of terminals and panel wiring. I’ve seen downtime blamed on people when the real issue was an out-of-date control architecture. And I’ve seen how much calmer, faster, and more resilient machines become when control and connectivity are moved out of the panel and onto the machine.
Those experiences are what inspired me to write about the real benefits of decentralized, IP67-based control systems.
What IP67.IO Is About
IP67.IO exists to challenge “the way we’ve always done it” without turning it into a shouting match.
Here, I write about the unglamorous parts of automation that matter the most:
- Why centralized control panels became the default, and why that logic is finally breaking down under modern demands.
- How wiring decisions quietly drive MTTR, downtime, and stress, long after commissioning is finished
- Why serviceability beats clever design every single time, especially when the pressure is on.
- How decentralized architectures reduce the reliance on tribal knowledge and make machines easier to support with fewer skilled hands.
- And why fewer parts, fewer terminations, and clearer layouts always win in the long run.
If you’re curious about designing machines that are easier to build, easier to troubleshoot, and easier to live with, you’re in the right place.
Who This Site is For
This site is for the people responsible for making machines work, not just on day one, but for years afterward. If wiring, control architecture, and serviceability are part of your world, the conversations here are meant for you.
Controls Designers
You’ll find practical insight into how early design decisions around wiring and architecture shape everything that follows. The focus here is on designing machines that are easier to build, easier to support, and less fragile over time, without adding unnecessary complexity.
Controls Engineers
Dive into control architectures, wiring approaches, and connectivity decisions that actually hold up in the real world. You'll get experience-driven perspectives on reducing control system complexity and improving serviceability using modern IP67 decentralized systems.
Machine Builders
IP67.IO looks at how machines are wired from a build and install perspective, not just how they look on a drawing. The goal is to share ideas that help you build faster, reduce install time, and deliver machines that are easier for your customers to maintain long after commissioning.
Maintenance Teams
You’ll find articles and discussions focused on making control systems easier to troubleshoot and faster to recover when something goes wrong. The emphasis is on wiring and control designs that reduce guesswork, shorten fault-finding time, and make life easier at 2 a.m. on a Friday.
Technical Leaders
This site explores how control system architecture decisions impact OEE, skilled labour, and long-term support costs. Expect clear, experience-based insights into building systems that fit today’s operational realities, not wiring philosophies carried forward from decades ago.
Students & Apprentices
IP67.IO is a place to learn how modern machines can be wired and supported outside of the classroom. You’ll find practical explanations, real-world examples, and insights that help bridge the gap between theory and what actually happens on the factory floor.
A Nod to Rockwell - "Norman Rockwell, That Is"
You’ll notice a Norman Rockwell influence throughout this site. That’s intentional.
Rockwell didn’t paint technology. He painted people. People mid-task. People focused on their work. Small moments that said something bigger about how things were actually done - That’s what resonated with me.
In automation, we spend a lot of time talking about systems, platforms, and specifications. What we don’t talk about enough are the people who have to live with those decisions years later. The technician troubleshooting an intermittent fault during commissioning. The project manager receiving a controls spec that could have been written in 1950. The maintenance team trying to keep a line running with limited time and limited manpower.
The artwork on IP67.io reflects that perspective: honest work, real environments, and the quiet responsibility that comes with designing systems others have to live with.
That’s the spirit I’m borrowing from Rockwell, and why it felt like the right visual language for IP67.IO.