"We are working to expand our open and freely available standard to keep pace with the changing demands of the connected world in the areas of process, hybrid and factory automation. The necessary initiatives have been approved by the Board to drive the vision for the future of FDT technology," said Glenn Schulz, Managing Director of the FDT Group.

Specifically, the FDT Group presented the 'FDT/IIoT Server' (FITS) for mobile applications as well as cloud and fog enterprise solutions. FITS is intended to support the previous FDT investments with extended business logic (Frame + DTM), clear interfaces and software components (Common Components). In addition, the server allows the technology to be implemented independently of the operating system and supports today's automation architectures. Furthermore, the 'FDT/OPC UA Annex', which describes the mapping of the FDT model to the OPC UA information model, has been released. This makes it possible to establish a company-wide connection from the sensor to the cloud. System manufacturers can implement this annex in the FDT/FRAME. Manufacturers with an FDT/FRAME in their control system, asset management system, PLC system or other applications can integrate an OPC UA server that can be accessed by any OPC UA client. In addition, the release of the Annex for the Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) of the ODVA was announced. The protocol, which is independent of the transmission, is used for Ethernet/IP, Devicenet, Componet and Controlnet.

The FDT Group also presented the revision of its mission and media presence, including the new slogan 'Connecting the Intelligent Enterprise'. The FDT Group's goal is to realize IIoT through an ecosystem of automation manufacturers that support interoperability, IT security and mobile applications for the adaptive manufacturing plants of the future. This includes modernizing the identity as a community of companies and providing new information, such as the expanded website, for the global automation market. The press conference was also attended by the presidents of the OPC Foundation and the ODVA to reaffirm their close cooperation with the FDT Group.

At the FDT Group booth in hall 2, booth 550, more than 20 companies will showcase their FDT applications. There will also be a joint demo by the FDT Group and the OPC Foundation showing the integration of OPC UA in an FDT/FRAME and visualizing access using an OPC UA client on a mobile device.