The goal of the conference was to share information on how the PackML unit/machine Implementation Guidelines from OMAC can reduce time and costs of integration of equipment. See the upcoming July issue ofPACKAGING WORLDfor conference coverage, but in the meantime here are a few observations from John Kowal, an attendee at the conference. Director of Business Development at B&R and a long-time stakeholder in and advocate of all things PackML, Kowal thinks that PackML and OPC UA really fit well together, as do MTConnect and OPC UA (MTConnect is a manufacturing technical standard to retrieve process information from numerically controlled machine tools: www.mtconnect.org).
“Essentially,” notes Kowal, “PackML and MTConnect define data communications standards while OPC UA defines a common communications standard that had long been a missing link. OPC UA has enjoyed a wave of adoption because it offers interoperability all the way from machine to cloud. This is essential for IIoT to take hold. We are also calling out these standards in the Industrial Internet Consortium’s Smart Factory Task Group (www.iiconsortium.org/vertical-markets/manufacturing.htm).”
Another important aspect of the Copenhagen meeting, says Kowal, was the announcement of OMAC's new Operational Technology Advisory Forum, an opportunity for end users to participate in OMAC activities on a limited level at no cost. OT Advisors can participate in committees and provide feedback alongside full corporate members who can also hold leadership positions and have voting rights. One of the Copenhagen conference attendees, notes Kowal, joined up immediately for the forum. http://omac.org/membership/operational-technology-advisory-forum/
In terms of OMAC's future direction, a straw poll was held, with network and integration topics receiving an overwhelming response. The OMAC Packaging Workgroup will conduct a formal survey in the near future.
“The Copenhagen conference was special because it marks the growing adoption of these standards across European machine builders and end users,”concludes Kowal. “Asia is next!”
