Breaching Boundaries - The folks pushing OMAC and OPC-UA are ready to shift the focus of packaging automation from devices to data

摘要

Las Vegas is no stranger to high-stakes games, but arguably one of the highest-stakes contests of recent times occurred when the OMAC Packaging Workgroup (OPW) and the OPC Foundation teamed up with technology suppliers Acumence, B&R, Beckhoff, Elau, GE Fanuc, Iconics, Kepware, Siemens and Wago for an integrated packaging line demonstration during PackExpo 2007 Oct. 15-18. Years of effort and a fortune in development costs were on the line as the technology vendors who have backed OMAC and OPC's efforts sought to show that packaging-line functions such as control, human-machine interface (HMI), manufacturing execution systems (MES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) could be linked using the OPW Connect-and-Pack guidelines employing OPC (a communications standard) over Ethernet. It was, by all accounts, successful, though interpretations as to the degree of success vary.