The negotiations surrounding the topic of 'TSN plus OPC UA' are still secret. Since the Hannover Messe trade fair in April, Siemens, Rockwell Automation and the Shaper group of companies have been playing poker over whether the automation industry will agree on a future communication standard TSN plus OPC UA - from the sensor to the cloud. The pivotal point of the negotiations: Do they agree to select the OPC Foundation as the point of contact for all necessary work on such a communication standard?

As a reminder, the OPC Foundation - or Siemens - initially showed no interest in taking on this role. However, this changed after the ODVA - or Rockwell Automation -signaled that it wanted to take on this task. And so Siemens (OPC group), Rockwell Automation (ODVA group) and the Shapers have been in intensive negotiations since April on how this standardization path can be taken.

We had originally hoped that this poker game would come to an end by the TSN/A Conference on September 26. Thomas Burke, President of the OPC Foundation, was actually going to let the cat out of the bag there! But it remained an announcement: "There will be a big announcement very soon!"

And Stefan Hoppe, Vice President of the OPC Foundation, also practiced secrecy when asked on October 24: "We have some really great news at our press conference on the first day of the SPS IPC Drives trade fair." - We can only interpret 'soft' factors: On the one hand, the relaxed grin that can now be seen among the secret-keepers ... and the clear statement from an important shaper player: Stefan Schönegger from B&R said at his company's pre-press conference on October 18: "We as B&R have made our decision in favor of the OPC Foundation - only this organization provides the necessary framework for a global IoT standard for the industry."
So will we experience a sensation at SPS IPC Drives? If the major players in automation were to come to an agreement now, the shapers would really have managed to provide a decisive impetus for the end of the fieldbus war that has been smouldering for 30 years!

Would you like to get the latest information on this topic at SPS IPC Drives? The "TSN and OPC UA in industry" session at the Automation 4.0 Summit accompanying the trade fair will provide the latest update.