The development of numerous OPC UA Companion Specifications for mechanical and plant engineering is progressing. They enable open interface standards between machines, devices and software based on OPC UA and are being expanded into the Global Production Language under the leadership of the VDMA. Almost 50 such specifications have already been published or are currently being developed. However, when it comes to putting them into practice, it is clear that future-proof technologies such as OPC UA first have to establish themselves on the market when it comes to converting data exchange via existing interfaces or systems to new, open standards. This applies in particular to the operational and machine data acquisition (PDA or MDA) established in the automotive industry. In most cases, internal customer standards are used here, which stands in the way of comprehensive standardization.

Comprehensive standardization

The new extension of the OPC UA for Machine Tools Companion Specification addresses this dilemma. After the first version addressed the global monitoring of the machine status of machine tools, the next step with version 1.01.1 is to record important operating data and key performance indicators (KPIs). The update is now available on the umati website: https://umati.org/ua4mt.
The update includes almost all parameters that are currently used in standard PDA/MDA systems in the KPI extension. This makes it possible to use the inventory data in an OPC UA ecosystem through simple mapping - or vice versa for a transitional period. Current initiatives such as the automotive network "Catena-X" are pointing the way towards integrative, platform-based ecosystems that will replace proprietary installations in the medium term.

The next steps

Dr. Alexander Broos: "We want to update our umati demonstrator to pub/sub technology in the fourth quarter of 2022."

© VDW

Now that this milestone has been reached, Dr. Alexander Broos, Head of the Research and Technology department at the VDW, already has his sights firmly set on the next steps: "We have set ourselves the goal of updating our umati demonstrator to so-called pub/sub technology in the fourth quarter of 2022. This will further simplify the connection of machines and software and also significantly increase the added value of the interfaces for cloud devices." In addition, the upcoming further developments are in the areas of energy monitoring, job management and machine tending: all three are currently being developed in the context of harmonization via the OPC UA for machinery working group with the VDMA. An independent working group for additive manufacturing is also to be established in the coming months. A new subgroup of the existing machine tool group has also been set up for forming technology.