OPC UA moves into international forming technology

Blechexpo OPC UA moves into international forming technology

2023-11-09 Source: VDW 2 min Reading Time

Umati, the joint connectivity initiative of VDW and VDMA, was also be present at Blechexpo 2023. And it had some interesting news to report.

The Umati team presented the latest development of OPC UA for machine tools for the first time at Blechexpo in Stuttgart, the international trade fair for metalworking. More precisely, it is the new Companion Specification OPC 40503 UA for Metal Forming. A joint multinational working group has also developed a new standard that is specifically designed for the needs of metal forming technology, according to the statement. The new standard references the OPC 40501-1 UA for Machine Tools specification and is aimed at the following use cases, among others:

Provision of OPC UA for machine tools as well as use cases using the Machine Tools Facets;

Access to repetitive forming data and cyclical monitoring;

Access to characteristic forming positions plus cyclical monitoring;

Provision of information on tool-specific parameters for metal forming;

Provision of process values from functional work units in connection with the forming process;

Cyclical monitoring of specific job parameters;

Cyclical monitoring for forming-specific information;

Notification when certain forming conditions prevail during processing.

Networking forming systems more simply and uniformly

A total of twelve companies and associations were involved in the working group — Aida, Amada, AP&T Group, Fanuc, Japan Forming Machinery Association, Komatsu, Mitsubishi Electric, Muratec, Osterwalder, Schuler Group, SMS Group and Trumpf. Domenico Iacovelli, CEO Schuler Group and Member of the Executive Board Andritz Group, comments on the significance of the development: “The standardisation of interfaces is the foundation for efficient autonomisation of production plants. Schuler was happy to take on the leadership of the working group and to contribute its know-how and experience to advance the standardisation of forming lines together with the VDW.” Those involved now expect the different interfaces to be standardised and reduced so that forming systems can be connected to Level 2 or Level 3 systems. This will increase efficiency for the machine suppliers as well as for the Level 2 and Level 3 software manufacturers, they say. In future, Schuler intends to equip all systems with a gateway that fulfils the OPC UA Companion Specification for Metal Forming.

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