February 2017

President’s Welcome

2016 was a outstanding year with all the new collaborations and extensions to the OPC UA technology. 2017 will significantly exceed the success of 2016! OPC UA technology development is well underway for the publish/subscribe architecture which will further extend information integration and system wide interoperability from the embedded world to the enterprise. From an event perspective, the OPC Foundation is hosting many of its own events and participating in a multitude of tradeshows internationally.
We’ve expanded the newsletter program from four newsletters in 2016 to doing six newsletters in 2017 because of the volume of information and making sure that we are providing the latest and greatest timely information. Thanks again for taking time out of your busy day to read this edition of the OPC Foundation OPC connect newsletter.

OPC Foundation News Update

The OPC Foundation membership really is a diverse set of companies developing products and/or services for many different domains and vertical markets. Corporate members that are Class A members are recognized here that have joined since November 1, 2016.
Also, the OPC Foundation is proud to announce the availability of our new European Certification Test Lab.
Finally, the next OPC interoperability workshop is scheduled for the week of April 24th, 2017 in Phoenix, AZ.

Tying Information Modeling to Asset-based Control, Analysis, and Visualization

Information Modeling is a useful way to plan for the collaboration involved in the design, implementation, and operation of systems. It can be utilized in various applications from large-scale manufacturing operations to building automation and energy management. The models are typically created and edited via 3D design and drafting tools. Information Modeling also provides for quick and easy project collaboration and interaction.

Top 10 Considerations when Implementing OPC UA

Those who deploy the OPC Unified Architecture (UA) will be able to better leverage plant floor to enterprise communications as a vehicle to participate in IIoT applications. The goal for OPC is to be a standard for interoperability for moving information vertically through the enterprise of multi-vendor systems as well as providing interoperability between devices on different industrial networks from different vendors.

Case Study: Benninger Automation

Benninger Automation forms part of the Swiss Benninger Group which has been the textile industry‘s leading partner across the globe for more than one hundred and fifty years. While developing “certon,” Benninger Automation has focused closely on usability features. As one example, no programming knowledge is required to configure certon for the local data logging environment. The data logging itself is handled by the certonLOG module. This software is installed on a host PC and collects data from the connected sources via an OPC UA client. The mechanisms used in the OPC UA communication standard not only safeguard the actual exchange of data but also ensure that it is transferred securely.

Analyzing OPC UA Communications with Wireshark

As more and more companies are making the switch to OPC UA, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to view OPC UA communications. One of the easiest ways we’ve found here at Software Toolbox to analyze the communication between an OPC UA client and server is to use Wireshark. What follows is a tutorial.

Smart Factory Application Integration based on OPC-UA

LG CNS has been providing factory operation consulting and services for various industries including electric / electronic, semiconductor, automobile, medical, pharmaceutical, shipbuilding / heavy industry, construction / machinery, health, clothing, and logistics for the past 20 years. With OPC UA, LG CNS can develop products that are ultimately going to be deployed to extend across facility control and the MES domain via a standardized and consistent approach for smart factories. It will be used in the integrated engineering business by providing device modeling and meta information exchange function on the server side, as well as basic data collection, monitoring, analysis and control functions on the client side.

Why should I choose OPC UA?

When it comes to implementing IIoT and Industry 4.0 technology, OPC UA is considered to be the ideal communication protocol. In fact, it’s hard to imagine the future of these solutions without it. But what’s really behind all the hype? Click here for an overview.

OPC UA – A Complete Solution for IIoT Communications

We are Ocean Data Systems, makers of Dream Report – the “Industrial” solution for reports and dashboards. When selecting interfaces for secure connectivity to data sources across the internet, our first choice for Dream Report was OPC UA.

OPC Foundation Collaborations Update

The OPEN-SCS Working Group (OPEN-SCS) is partnered with the OPC Foundation to develop an open source standard in the Packaging Serialization Global Name Registry and an associated set of subscription-based work products.
With the companion specification for Auto ID devices, the OPC Foundation has shown how important it is to use a standardized technology for secure communication in an industrial environment.
A release candidate for the OPC UA — IEC 61850 companion specification document is planned for Q2 2017, as work continues harmonizing these two widespread industrial standards.