OPC UA easily connects the shop floor to the top floor in a semantic and standardized way. It provides proven technology that is essential to Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and enterprise connectivity, and can possibly be standardized for a whole industry segment or company via companion specifications.

If you are interested in being challenged to fundamentally rethink how an enterprise-wide Data Access system should be architected, you have come to the right place. Matthew Parris, Senior Manager, Advanced Manufacturing – Test Systems for GE Appliances, shares his experiences and ideas for moving ahead.

Major IoT vendors including AWS, Google Cloud, IBM, Microsoft, SAP and SIEMENS leverage secure, standardized information exchange in edge-to-cloud applications based on OPC UA.

The OPC Foundation continues to forge ahead with technology advancements. Recent highlights include the launch of the UA Cloud Library developed in conjunction with CESMII and completion of the second release candidate for the OPC UA FX (Field eXchange) specifications that is part of the FLC initiative.

The OPC UA (IEC 62541) framework with the extensions for field exchange (OPC UA FX) specified by the FLC Initiative, in combination with underlying communication technologies such as APL, TSN and 5G, offers a complete, open, standardized and interoperable solution.

The need for edge computing means more connected devices that interact with the real-world based on the data they receive. As computing power becomes pervasive, so does the need for security to address increased cyber risk. Only relying on firewalls is no longer effective with converged IT and OT networks.

Middleware offers possibility of seamless and secure data transfer based on OPC UA. Data transfer plays an especially important role in the integration of the production and management domains, with the large number of variables, heterogeneous interfaces, rights management, and specific security requirements being just some of the key challenges faced…

An OPC UA companion specification for CIP to OPC UA Gateways is based on assumptions that the cloud interface will use an OPC UA information model; it will use OPC UA transport mechanisms (MQTT, AMQP or HTTPS) and the cloud interface will use OPC UA defined cybersecurity roles, authentication and…

Exposing EtherNet/IP object via OPC UA Information model provides new technology for EtherNet/IP devices in the process automation. Mapping of CIP objects like Identity, Assembly to OPC UA Information Model will enable standard OPC UA Services to access the objects defining devices in a vendor-neutral way.

Use of a gateway along with OPC UA and MQTT, can provide access to S7 controller machine tool data. This allows important spindle and axis data, such as torque and power consumption, to be read out, processed and become available for condition monitoring, predictive maintenance, and data logging or analysis…