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Connecting PLCs to Various Software Packages with OPC UA

    Multi-vendor installations of secure production systems corresponding to the international standard OPC UA are spreading. This article introduces an example of the OPC UA products that are used in these systems and the various software packages to which they can be securely and easily connected.

    Efficient OPC UA applications with TwinCAT

      A fundamental challenge of Industrie 4.0 and IIoT applications is the secure, standardized exchange of data and information between devices, machines and services – even across industries. OPC UA is the industry standard for manufacturer- and platform-independent communication and it can be used extremely efficiently with TwinCAT software from Beckhoff.

      Using OPC UA to Bridge the Gap to Your ERP

        What are the biggest communication gaps between production environments and ERP systems? Five areas in production are particularly affected that slow down production processes and increase both error rates and workload. How can OPC UA bridge these gaps? Software Toolbox explains how their tools fit.

        Gathering Data from Various Devices and Vendors via OPC UA

          One of the big challenges that customers are facing today is how to collect, visualize, and analyze production data scattered through a production site and utilize it to improve productivity. A mixture of old and new devices, and various networks and vendors’ products makes it difficult. Takebishi offers solutions based on OPC UA to meet these challenges.

          On the Power of OPC: An Interview with ICONICS

            In this interview, Raymond Van der Tas, ICONICS Solution Sales Supervisor, explains the many ways the company has leveraged OPC to deliver its substantial features and benefits to users for a competitive advantage.

            Matrikon – Product News Q1 2022

              Matrikon offers two whitepapers regarding OPC Classic. The first discusses security in general and the second discusses the changes coming to DCOM security in 2023. Also Matrikon FLEX v5 supports OPC UA PubSub over MQTT.

              President’s Welcome – December 2021

                A warm welcome to you all,
                I have done it. Did you too? Were you also mistaken? Since April 2020 with the first wave here in Germany, we live from quarter to quarter in the hope that everything will soon be over. “In 2021, everything will get better again” -was the hope at the end of 2020. Not that the virus will dissipate, but life will be again so that we humans can handle it, with the vaccine and all of our behavior. One year later and despite the impression of the cancelled SPS fair, that same hope exists again: “In 2022, everything will be better!”

                General Assembly Meeting & Board of Directors Election Results

                  Each year the membership elects Board Members to serve a two-year term; staggered to elect half of the seats per election. In August a nomination request was sent to the membership for the five (5) seats up for election. Now concluded, we congratulate and welcome the directors, with a look towards working together in the coming years.

                  OPC UA, MQTT, and Information Interoperability

                    In earlier times, OPC learned a hard lesson that tying a spec to a particular wire protocol leads to obsolescence as technologies evolve. This is why OPC UA has a layered architecture, which makes it possible to create mappings for any number of transports like JSON HTTP or UA TCP for Client/Server models and MQTT or UA UDP for Pub/Sub models.

                    OPC UA Field Level Communications (FLC) News

                      Three years after its launch, the OPC Foundation’s Field Level Communications (FLC) initiative has completed the OPC UA FX (Field eXchange) specifications. In addition, a multi-vendor demo with controllers and network infrastructure components from 20 companies has been realized.