Kubernetes 101
What Kubernetes is, what problems it solves, and how it is composed and start using it.
Small, open, reversible
Mathieu Sabatier
Lead tech and architect for manufacturing systems. Co-founder and CTO at Start-Alpha. Unified namespaces, edge apps delivered HA, observability and models optimised for the GPU on the line — shipped to production.
10+sites in a UNS backbone architecture
100+hosts under performance-optimised observability
10+planners and operations users using the tool in production
What I work on
Six areas where I build, and where I have opinions worth arguing about.
UNS at the edge
UNS, MQTT, OPC-UA, S7, NATS, Kafka, i3X and MCP — and the data contracts that make any of it mean something.
Fleet management
k3s fleets across a hundred sites: GitOps, offline-first reconciliation, commissioning, and handing the keys over.
Selected work
Client engagements, anonymised.
CAC40 industrial groupConfidential
Multi-sector manufacturing
Design and first proof of value for a unified namespace backbone spanning more than one hundred sites worldwide, including the reference architecture and modelling layer.
CAC40 process manufacturerConfidential
Manufacturing — critical process
Observability, unified namespace and optimisation delivery across an edge estate supporting a critical manufacturing process, plus end-to-end delivery of a multi-plant planning and scheduling tool.
CAC40 car manufacturerConfidential
Greenfield Electric Vehicle components
Launched integration platform foundations and defined the target architecture for the OT-to-MES-to-Cloud integration layer.
Writing
Notes from systems that had to work.
How I work
What an engagement usually looks like.
Three things, usually in combination. Architecture and technical direction for OT/IT integration — unified namespaces, data contracts, edge platforms. Hands-on delivery, where I build and ship the system rather than hand over a deck. And technical advisory for teams who have already decided what to build and want the approach pressure-tested.
Both, and I prefer engagements where advice is backed by delivery. The architectures I trust most are the ones I have had to operate. If you only need a review, that is fine too — but I will tell you what I would build.
Thirty minutes, no deck. You describe the system and the constraint you are stuck on; I tell you whether I think I can help and what I would look at first. If it is not a fit I will usually know within that call and say so.
How I work
Four ideas that shape which projects I take on and how I build them.
- 01
Small, open, reversible
The plant already works. Whatever I add should fit the hardware that is there, run on standards anyone can read, and be removable by the team that comes after me.
- 02
Standards outlive vendors
MQTT, OPC UA, OpenTelemetry. Building on a standard is slower at the start and cheaper over the life of the system. Where a proprietary layer stays, it is a decision, not a default.
- 03
Product engineer, not ticket taker
Scope, feasibility and what not to build are part of the job. I would rather work out the problem with the people running the line than implement a specification written without them.
- 04
Observability is a requirement
Healthy metrics on either side of an invisible hop tell you nothing. From sensor to model to screen, I trace the full path before deciding what to optimise.
Working on something in this space?
If you are building a data backbone, an edge platform, or a planning system that has to survive contact with a plant, I would like to hear about it.