EXHIBITION REVIEW | K2022
Above: Kühmann: “It’s important that all machines speak the same language to one another”
communicate with one another. This is achieved using a ‘global language’ such as OPC UA. At the show, around 40 companies from eight countries were running an OPC UA demonstration project, involving 85 machines. Each had an OPC UA logo and a QR code that visitors could scan with their smartphones. From here, they were taken to the UMATI internet platform, where they could see live data from each machine. “For greater clarity, we installed a large dashboard in the VDMA Dome – where visitors could navigate each individual machine to see defined data,” he said. The most important factor, he said, is for “all machines to speak the same language and use the same system”. OPC UA implementation has already happened
for core machinery such as injection moulding and extrusion – and is now being extended to areas such as particle foaming and ancillaries, he said. “This includes temperature control units and hot runner units, or liquid silicone metering,” he said. “This is the horizontal level. Machines next to each other in a production hall can communicate with each other.”
Another strand is vertical networking to the MES system that centrally processes a factory’s data. And now the material flow is also included. Also at K2022, a new Material Supply System interface – OPC 40086-1 – was presented. This is a ‘Release Candidate’ – meaning it is conceptually ready but can still be added to and adapted. However, he said that many processors are still cautious about OPC UA applications. “They are worried that their data will not be handled carefully – and even that their competitors may gain access to it.” Part of the problem is that these data platforms have only been offered by individual companies or small consortia – which users do not trust. For this reason, VDMA is trying to establish a trustworthy, neutral platform that anybody can use. VDMA is part of the Manufacturing-X project , launched by the German government, which he says aims to do that. “It is important that we establish such a platform. Otherwise, we run the risk of big data providers taking over the whole thing – which is something no one in the industry wants,” he said. �
http://vdma.org/plastics
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IMAGE: VDMA
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