Articles and News

By Stefan Hoppe, OPC Foundation The Industrial Internet of Things – abbreviated to IIoT and known in Germany as Industrie 4.0 – is a technology trend that is the enabler of the 4th industrial revolution, and is bringing about a transformation in the way we do business.

WoMaster held Cyber Security training for its partners to demonstrate how they can provide a complete protection of IIoT network according to ISASecure - IEC 62443-4-2 from currently existing threats

The integration of KNX into CODESYS will be presented for the first time at "light+building" in 2018. The product offer consists of a configurator for I/O channels, a KNXnet/IP protocol stack in the form of a runtime system component, and a data exchange function with the ETS5 configuration system.

With the 3rd edition of the IEC 61131-3 standard and some additional wishes from the implementers, an update was needed. The final version 1.01 will have the major changes in Table 26 – Mapping IEC 61131-3 elementary datatypes to OPC UA built in datatypes, which in addition contains a new column with a NodeID for each type , and in Table 39 – Numeric Identifiers for IEC 61131-3 defined nodes.

A joint working group between OPC Foundation and FieldComm Group, tasked with developing a protocol independent companion specification for process automation devices, was formed in late 2017.

Softing's toolkits are designed to speed up development of OPC Classic and OPC UA servers. They provide a comprehensive collection of annotated libraries which facilitate the launch of products with OPC functionality.

Aimed at helping industrial manufacturers increase productivity and customer satisfaction, the Forum will define standards for an open, interoperable, secure process automation architecture. The Business Guide expresses the motivation and vision for this architecture as a business imperative for both users and suppliers of industrial control systems.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com The interoperability of process control systems has been a largely philosophical debate, up until this point, but tangible examples of interoperabilty may soon be on their way

By following the simple procedures outlined in the Bedrock SCADA Security Platform Specification, developers can upgrade any OPC UA compliant client into a secure OPC UA channel, across which users can exchange data between plant floor operations and SCADA applications.

After another busy year talking to a wide range of users, suppliers and industry consultants, and attending over 20 industry conferences and related events, I have another year’s worth of informed insights to share on the latest trends that will shape automation in 2018.

CSP+ for Machine is an extension of the CLPA’s existing “CSP+” (Control & Communication System Profile) that provides network configuration and maintenance by offering profiles that describe each device on a CC-Link IE or CC-Link network

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com Taking place from November 2-3 2017, the event put a spotlight on SAP’s IT/OT real-time transaction processing and integration of manufacturing controls and automation for their customers.

CSP+ for Machine is an extension of the CLPA’s existing “CSP+” (Control & Communication System Profile) that provides network configuration and maintenance by offering profiles that describe each device on a CC-Link IE or CC-Link network.

The OPC Foundation published a set of practical guidelines for the secure configuration and use of OPC UA in industry.  This brochure helps readers quickly understand what OPC UA security has to offer and how to best use it. 

Ocean Data Systems is now an Encompass Product Partner and Dream Report is a reference product in the program under the category of “Software Product – Report Generation”.

Miele uses material flow simulation, which will be using OPC UA standards to obtain live data directly from the source. With that feedback into higher level systems can be visualized, optimized and controlled.

Written for busy professionals, this brochure is designed to help readers understand what OPC UA security has to offer and how to best use it.

Prosys OPC and IOTech have agreed that IOTech's Edge Xpert offering will include an optional Prosys OPC UA Java SDK for developing the device services with OPC UA communications.

The partnership is intended to provide OPC UA Toolkits and extended consulting, training and development services to North America.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com A common topic of debate revolves around how process system architectures will be shaped in the future. One architectural vision would enable a shift of focus from process efficiency control to business performance control, with increasing levels of monitoring and control.