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The Organization for Machine Automation and Control (OMAC) has released the PackML Implementation Guide – Sustainability, a new resource designed to help automation professionals integrate energy consumption and sustainability tracking into their PackML implementations.
Developed by the OMAC Sustainability Workgroup, the guide introduces a standardized framework for assessing energy consumption at the machine level and aligning those insights with the established PackML “PackTags” interface. The goal: empower manufacturers and OEMs to reduce energy waste, improve efficiency, and align operations with growing sustainability reporting requirements.
“This release marks a major step forward for PackML and the broader automation community,” said Carl Bostrom, OMAC Sustainability Workgroup chair. “By providing engineers with the tools to measure and categorize energy use, we’re helping them design smarter, more efficient systems that contribute directly to global sustainability goals.”
Engineering Sustainability into Machine Automation
The guide extends PackML’s well-known standardization of machine behavior and data into the realm of energy and resource efficiency. It introduces new “Sustainability Tags” that allow machines to record and classify power and energy usage—across states such as productive, standby, or non-productive.
These new data structures and naming conventions provide a consistent foundation for reporting and analysis, allowing machine builders and end users to:
- Gain real-time visibility into power and energy consumption
- Distinguish between productive and wasteful energy states
- Support compliance with regulations like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
- Build toward future integration of greenhouse gas (GHG) and material consumption tracking
The guide also offers practical examples illustrating how these tags can be applied to specific components such as conveyors, glue dispensers, or main power systems to better understand and manage energy usage across packaging lines.
A Collaborative Effort for Industry Progress
The PackML Implementation Guide – Sustainability represents the collective expertise of leading automation companies, including ProMach, Siemens, Arla Foods, Boeing, COPA-DATA, Beckhoff, and others. Through this collaboration, OMAC continues its mission to develop open, standardized approaches that drive efficiency, interoperability, and sustainability in manufacturing.
Get the Guide and Join the Conversation
The guide is available free to OMAC members and can be purchased by non-members via this link.
OMAC invites engineers, integrators, and manufacturers involved in machine automation to join OMAC and participate in shaping future updates to the PackML standard—including upcoming work on greenhouse gas equivalency and material waste tracking.
“By joining OMAC, you’re not just gaining access to resources, you’re contributing to the advancement of sustainable automation practices that benefit the entire industry,” said OMAC Executive Director, Bryan Griffen.
Learn more about OMAC membership and access the guide at https://www.omac.org/membership.
