The vending and coffee machine industry has chosen OPC UA for standardized, secure information exchange
The European Vending & Coffee Service Association (EVA) and the OPC Foundation have started a new Joint Working Group – the kick-off happened on June 19/20, 2024 in Bergamo, Italy.
The new joint group is called “OPC UA for Vending, Office Coffee Service & Automated Retail Working Group”. The group aims to develop an OPC UA Information Model for the communication between a vending machine, its peripherals, and the company’s information systems. A vending machine must be understood as a self-service machine that dispenses food (including drinks, such as coffee) and non-food products using different dispensing technologies.
Erwin Wetzel, Director General at the European Vending & Coffee Service Association (EVA) says, “In an era where technology seamlessly integrates into every aspect of our lives, the announcement of the joint OPC UA for Vending, Office Coffee Service & Automated Retail Working Group marks a pivotal moment for the vending and automated retail industry. This collaboration, spearheaded by the OPC Foundation and robustly supported by the EVA, signifies a monumental step towards revolutionizing the way vending machines, office coffee service machines, and automated retail systems interact with their peripherals and company information systems.”
Jürgen Göbel, Business Development Director at Ingenico says, “From a vendor perspective, EVA’s collaboration with OPC UA will reduce technical fragmentation in the industry and enable the implementation of new digital services based on a harmonized standard. This reduces the costs of developing and maintaining new services and solutions, for the benefit of operators and consumers.”
“The collaboration with the European Vending & Coffee Service Association (EVA) represents another historic milestone for the OPC Foundation,” said Stefan Hoppe, President of the OPC Foundation. “OPC UA was created by a handful of manufacturers in the process automation space and has become the world’s leading standard for assured semantic interoperability in manufacturing, process, and energy technology. With the creation of this new joint working group, we are bringing this rich ecosystem to the huge world of the vending and coffee machine industry.”
More information and contact here:
- Chairperson: Alessandro Ratti (N-and Group)
- Co-Chairperson & Modeling expert: Dr Wolfgang Mahnke, Unified Automation
- Contact: Erwin Wetzel
- Press release
- Video recording