December 2023

President’s Welcome – Dec 2023

This time my greeting does not start with a thoughtful look at crazy things happening in the world of standardization -but with something unexpectedly very pleasant. In preparing for the SPS trade fair, we noticed that the first OPC UA workgroup meeting was held on 3-7 November 2003 and that we were, therefore, celebrating 20 years of OPC UA standardization. We quickly bought confetti cannons and had a lot of fun at the OPC Foundation booth. Actually, come to think of it, it was crazy!

Mike Bryant Retires as Secretary of the OPC Foundation

In light of Mr. Bryant’s upcoming retirement at the end of the year, the OPC Foundation would like to thank Mike Bryant for his outstanding 22 years in his role as Secretary of the OPC Foundation.

Compliance Corner – December 2023

This year we saw several accomplishments. We made 3 releases of the Compliance Test Tool (CTT). OPC UA FX testing made big strides. We have also released new or enhanced testing for companion specifications including MDIS, PA-DIM and Weighing. Finally, we completed audits of all accredited certification test labs of the OPC Foundation.

Field Level Communications Corner – Dec 2023

Over 40 participants have participated in the kick-off meeting of a new working group to develop an I/O Device Profile for OPC UA. Finally, the FLC Initiative will start phase 2 of the project at the beginning of 2024 with a focus on Controller-to-Device (C2D).

Digital Product Passport (DPP) and Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)

This year at SPS 2023, the OPC Foundation, together with CESMII and the Digital Twin Consortium showcased an EU Digital Product Passport (DPP) prototype, containing a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) Smart Manufacturing Profile based on OPC UA.

Unlocking the Power of OPC-UA

Utthunga unveils an exclusive preview of the pre-released version of the book, “Unblocking The Power of OPC UA,” authored by a quartet of distinguished experts renowned in the OPC UA domain.

SDK now with OPC UA Pub/Sub via MQTT

The OPC UA C++ SDK from Softing Industrial has received a major update and now supports OPC UA Pub/Sub via MQTT. The new implementation supports both the widely used MQTT version 3.x and the new version 5.0. The OPC UA C++ SDK is available for Windows, Linux, and VxWorks.

OPC UA Integration with JSON Data Formats

Off-the-shelf solutions have emerged that help manage data acquired from OT systems via OPC and visually transform it into JSON files that seamlessly interface with destination systems like REST Web services, thereby harnessing the benefits of this powerful data format with out the risks and long-term costs of custom code.

Matrikon – Product News Q4 2023

News this month from Matrikon includes: cross-firewall communications via UA Reverse Connect; how CP-Chem tackled enterprise-wide OT data visibility using OPC UA and Matrikon Data Broker; forthcoming embedded Flex (eFlex) SDK for powering eTSN and UA FX implementations; plus a new user community forum.

Digital Transformation Platform for Smart Factory

TAKEBISHI offers powerful DX (Digital Transformation) solutions for smart factories via OPC servers that provide connectivity with a wide range of devices and services. This article focuses primarily on their new and refined OPC server: DeviceXPlorer OPC Server Version 7.