CONTROL & AUTOMATION
COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL
EU AUTOMATION
OPC UA IN THE SMART FACTORY
The story of the Tower of Babel describes a
time where all human beings spoke the same
language. When the Babylonians decided to
build a tower tall enough to reach heaven,
God stepped in and created a multitude of
languages so the builders could no longer
understand each other. The result? The tower
was never completed. Here Sophie Hand, UK
country manager at industrial parts supplier
EU Automation, explains the universal
language of automation equipment - OPC
UA.
A single, unifying language isn’t just useful
when building a tower - it is also beneficial
in industrial automation environments.
If equipment in a facility does not use
the same communication protocol it can
hinder their ability to share information. In
the era of the Industrial Internet of Things
(IIoT), connectivity is essential to remain
competitive, that’s why the Open Platform
Communications Foundation developed a
cross-platform protocol.
THE SMART FACTORY’S
INTERPRETER
The Open Platform Communications Unified
Architecture (OPC UA), is a machine-to-
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machine communication protocol for
industrial automation. OPC UA is open-
source, platform-independent, protocol-
independent and comes with a very rich
extensible data model. Importantly, OPC UA
was designed with cybersecurity in mind
— it is secure by design, with validation,
encryption and authentication already built
in.
Thanks to OPC UA, equipment from
different vendors can communicate,
solving the interoperability pain-point for
manufacturers. As well as vendor-to-vendor
connection between programmable logic
controllers (PLCs), the protocol can connect
supervisory control and data acquisition
(SCADA) systems, manufacturing execution
systems (MES) and enterprise resource
planning (ERP) systems for a vertical view
point of the factory. By connecting to the
cloud, plant managers can remotely access
information to gain an overview of the entire
plant in real-time.
OPC UA offers unified connectivity in a
cost-effective way, because manufacturers
don’t need to alter their existing
machines. The OPC server will convert the
communication protocol of the PLC or other
piece of equipment into the OPC protocol.
Consequently, even small and medium-sized
businesses can now benefit from complete
connectivity in their production processes.
Because of its benefits, OPC UA is already
used by 50 million machines worldwide.
There are numerous benefits to a factory
where all parts and even better, all
systems, can communicate. For example,
manufacturers with cloud-connected
systems can remotely control processes
in the plant, which means there is no
need to travel to a site for simple fixes. If a
component breaks down, the manufacturer
could identify this quickly and order a
replacement component, limiting expensive
downtime.
Communication problems may have
prevented the Tower of Babel from going
ahead, but it doesn’t have to prevent your
smart factory project from being successful.
OPC UA provides an easy and effective way
to get your entire factory talking.
For more information, visit
www.euautomation.com.