Umati - universal machine tool interface - is to be the name of the future standard. The progress of the project can now be tracked on the Internet.

The demo applications, which were on display at AMB in Stuttgart, were developed by a core team of eight machine tool suppliers together with major German control system manufacturers. Within a year, they determined over 100 parameters that served as the basis for the development of the joint interface. The working group was also able to define 21 use cases for the new standard interface for machine tools based on the OPC UA open communication protocol.

The companies involved in the initiative integrated an appropriately configured OPC server into their respective machine control systems and were then able to "connect to the respective communication partner and exchange data in a very short time", says Jürgen Prokop, Chairman of the VDW. Until now, it was a very time-consuming and costly process to have machines from different manufacturers communicate with each other in a production line.

The first connections to different control systems for vertical turning, rotary transfer, gear milling and grinding machines as well as for a complete turning/milling machining center were on display in Stuttgart. "With these applications, we want to demonstrate that our solution can be used to implement robust systems in which data exchange on machine tools works," explained the VDW Chairman.

Internationalization is making good progress

Launched as a purely German working group, international cooperation was the aim of the initiative from the outset. Talks are now underway with the US sister association AMT, particularly with regard to its open interface MTConnect. The extent to which parts of this can be adopted in Umati or whether the two standards can be harmonized in the long term is currently being examined. Japan, China and South Korea have also already signaled their interest in the new standard.

Last but not least, the VDW has been a member of the OPC Foundation, the sponsor of OPC UA, since June of this year. "At the turn of the year, we will set up a Joint Working Group with the OPC Foundation for our activities," announced Prokop. "From then on, the international machine tool community will be able to participate in the revision and dissemination of our standard."

600th OPC Foundation member

The OPC Foundation is currently enjoying 'record membership growth', as Stefan Hoppe, Vice President of the OPC Foundation, puts it. He sees the driving force behind this trend in the broad popularity of Industry 4.0 and IIoT and the central role of OPC UA in all applications that require open and secure data interoperability. In September, the OPC Foundation welcomed VW as its 600th member.