RAMPF Production Systems relies extensively on hardware and software from Beckhoff in its high-performance dispensing applications. A new operator interface built on TwinCAT HMI provides them with a universal platform. The open communication via OPC UA ensures that not just Beckhoff controllers but third-party systems can be used with it as well.
OPC UA has been adopted as a recommended standard for Industry 4.0, and the spread of OPC UA is progressing as a global interoperability standard that supports manufacturing and manufacturing DX (digital transformation) in the digital era. Four use-cases are presented describing accomplishments in different industries.
The Institute for High Energy Physics (IFAE) in Barcelona is a world-leading organization in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology research. Learn how OPC UA met their requirements perfectly while also allowing standardization of the communications between different institutes for such a big project.
iZ Systems minimizes equipment footprint and slashes energy requirements 45% for Pactiv by implementing PC-based automation, EtherCAT, and OPC UA.
Intelligent Mud Solutions AS of Norway (IMS) provides continuous real-time analysis of drilling fluids primarily for the oil and gas industry. For IMS customers who do not have access to the OPC UA server locally, PROSYS implemented a solution for publishing OPC UA values to Microsoft Azure and visualizing the data with Power Bi.
With more than 200 Industrial PCs in operation, the 2,150-meter-long Kaisermühlen Tunnel in Vienna shows that modular PC-based control technology from Beckhoff, plus OPC UA linkage at the controller level, make for an optimum automation platform in this environment.
The successful ability to deploy a robust Modular Procedural Automation (MPA) has been demonstrated at Air Liquide’s Ingleside, TX air separation unit. An Emerson DeltaV PK controller acts as the supervisory platform for MPA with an OPC UA interface and is connected to a legacy Foxboro DCS with an OPC DA interface through Cogent DataHub.
“Today there are up to 12 different machine languages in use worldwide, which doesn’t exactly make global networking of plants easy,” says Michael Schweiger, Volkswagen Account & Demand Manager. He is in charge of OPC UA, together with around 30 people working on the topic across all brands in the Volkswagen Group.
For over 100 years, a large global chemicals manufacturer has been leading innovation with gases, technology, and related services used by many industries worldwide. The company’s engineering team began to explore how they could migrate from their traditional method of control to a system of ‘state-based’ control, using OPC UA.