OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is the information exchange standard for secure, reliable, manufacturer- and platform-independent industrial communications. It enables data exchange between products from different manufacturers and across operating systems. The OPC UA standard is based on specifications that were developed in close cooperation between manufacturers, users, research institutes and consortia, in order to enable consistent information exchange in heterogeneous systems.
Download this OPC Foundation updated brochure that provides an overview of IoT, M2M (Machine to Machine) and Industrie 4.0 data interoperability requirements. It illustrates solutions, technical details, and implementations based on OPC UA:
OPC UA for Cloud Initiative
As OPC UA is communication-protocol-independent, additional mappings to established communication protocol standards needed to be added to the specification for OPC UA PubSub, namely UDP for Field Level communication and MQTT for Cloud communication.
Major cloud suppliers, AWS, Google Cloud, IBM, Microsoft Azure, Siemens Mindsphere, SAP and Alibaba Cloud, committed to support OPC UA (PubSub over MQTT).
OPC UA Cloud Initiative from OPC Foundation
Cloud-related activities within the OPC Foundation:
1 – UA Cloud Library
Repository for OPC UA based information models (IMs): UA Cloud Library the world’s largest library of standardized IMs for the automation industry.
Upload, store, search, download IMs from uacloudlibrary.opcfoundation.org
2 – Industrial Cloud Federation
Cloud to Cloud standardized communication leveraging OPC UA technology.
Stakeholders involved: Service providers, Plant Operators, Field Level Asset Providers, Cloud Providers.
3 – DataSpace with Connectors
DataSpaces are an abstraction in data management that aims to solve problems encountered in data integration systems.
OPC UA over MQTT guarantee access to standardized information.
4 – Asset –> Edge –> Cloud
Standardized communication: major cloud suppliers, Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Siemens, SAP and Alibaba, committed to support OPC UA (PubSub over MQTT).
Field to Cloud / Cloud to Field
5 – OPC UA via REST Interface
Applications outside of the OPC UA ecosystem like Digital Twins, DataSpaces and the Metaverse can now access this information in a standardized way.
Allows Filetransfer: OPC UA is already equipped with session-less services via RESTful interfaces.
OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is the information exchange standard for secure, reliable, manufacturer- and platform-independent industrial communications. It enables data exchange between products from different manufacturers and across operating systems. The OPC UA standard is based on specifications that were developed in close cooperation between manufacturers, users, research institutes and consortia, in order to enable consistent information exchange in heterogeneous systems.
Download this OPC Foundation updated brochure that provides an overview of IoT, M2M (Machine to Machine) and Industrie 4.0 data interoperability requirements. It illustrates solutions, technical details, and implementations based on OPC UA:
OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is the information exchange standard for secure, reliable, manufacturer- and platform-independent industrial communications. It enables data exchange between products from different manufacturers and across operating systems. The OPC UA standard is based on specifications that were developed in close cooperation between manufacturers, users, research institutes and consortia, in order to enable consistent information exchange in heterogeneous systems.
Download this OPC Foundation updated brochure that provides an overview of IoT, M2M (Machine to Machine) and Industrie 4.0 data interoperability requirements. It illustrates solutions, technical details, and implementations based on OPC UA:
POMS's continual investments in MES Research and Development results in an MES solution that is flexible, easy to learn, and does not require customization. In fact, none of our customers use a customized solution today!
POMSnet Aquila is a web-based manufacturing execution system (MES) crafted for Life Sciences manufacturing. Created using Microsoft .NET technology & HTML5, POMSnet is 100% web-based providing customers with an easy-to-learn interface that can be deployed and maintained cost effectively.
POMSnet Aquila includes recipe and specification management, materials management, equipment management, production order management, recipe execution, electronic batch records, and device history. POMSnet implements best practices and business logic for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Execution Systems. By providing a full set of specifications and authoring tools and implementing the system from the ground up using Microsoft .NET, POMS has created the next generation of MES systems on state-of-the-art technology.
POMSnet Aquila 2022.1 release is available now by contacting INLEAN.
POMS Corporation releases POMSnet Falcon 2021.2 MES Dashboard and Analytics.
POMS Corporation unveils a game changer in MES Dashboards & Batch Records for Pharma, Biotech, and Cell and Gene manufacturers. POMSnet Falcon swoops in and shatters the paradigm of electronic batch record visualization with a stunning original design. Go faster and see farther with POMSnet Falcon.
POMSnet Falcon is perched to become the GMP facility standard for dashboards, reports, & analytics. Customers are flocking to install the data warehouse to aggregate batch record data across multiple geographies and provide a single point of access. POMS’s Software R&D team worked day and night for months to completely overhaul the outdated industry-standard PDF electronic batch record flat file. This tireless work has resulted in a data warehouse enabling pharma, biotech, and cell & gene therapy manufacturers to instantly access global batch record data and release products in real-time faster than any other product on the market.
“We listened to our customers tell us they wanted more utility and value from an MES investment,” said Krishna Venkataraman, VP of Research and Development at POMS. “The team really thought out-of-the-box to develop a seamless data warehouse as a one-stop-shop for all GMP Data.”
POMS life science customers use POMSnet Aquila MES to manage end-to-end GMP commercial and clinical manufacturing operations. POMSnet Falcon aggregates GMP data from multiple instances of POMSnet Aquila through a single UI allowing users instant access to a massive amount of process data at any site running POMSnet Aquila MES. GMP manufacturers can enable best practice Review-By-Exception for product release, to deliver therapies to patients using POMSnet Falcon. Data Analytics seamlessly present production operations in easy-to-view tables, graphs, and presentations. POMSnet Falcon is a Visually Stunning and intuitive dashboard that tells the whole story of contextualized data right in front of your eyes. Customers are in love with the fast access to Process Data and Genealogy of products, materials, equipment, and events. Manufacturing and Quality personnel no longer need to dissect PDF file batch records for information. With POMSnet Falcon all manufacturing data is packaged into curated tabs to deliver an interactive and reinvented electronic batch record command center.
POMSnet Aquila MES helps pharmaceutical manufacturing, biotech, cell & gene therapy, nutrition, and medical device companies run efficient paperless operations while meeting the highest GMP compliance requirements of government agencies. Traditionally, life science companies manually record and document production activities by producing high volumes of highly regulated paper and manual production data batch records. With POMSnet Aquila the manufacturing workflow is digital, computer guided, and controlled by the manufacturing execution system to enforce regulatory requirements, implement best practices, and ensure adherence to cGMP guidelines.
POMS Corporation, based out of Washington DC, is an MES software provider that counts five of the world’s ten largest pharmaceutical companies among its clients.
POMSnet Falcon 2021.2 release is available now by contacting INLEAN.
The OPC Foundation publishes a series of interviews with experts, market leaders and think tanks in communication, automation and industrial IT to highlight the benefits and the potential of the OPC UA technology for end users, system integrators, operators in the world of industrial IoT.
Download the ebook edition to learn more about Companion Specifications, the importance of OPC UA for business software, protecting against hacker/malware attacks, how to get started with OPC UA, and more:
POMSnet Aquila EBR/MES software major release delivers the best of customer requests in Pharma. Combining 60+ new features across the Electronic Batch Record software suite, POMSnet Aquila EBR/MES sets a new bar for MES software.
POMS Corporation unveils POMSnet Aquila 2020.1.0 EBR/MES: the next generation of master batch record (MBR) software enabling pharma, biotech, medical device and cell & gene therapy manufacturers to implement FDA-compliant paperless manufacturing workflows for batch records and product release. POMSnet Aquila is an industry-leading, cloud-enabled HTML5 manufacturing execution system. This release provides enhanced user experience by leveraging HTML5 technologies for the most comprehensive commercial off the shelf (COTS) MES product available to the life sciences industry. Specification Management gives a powerful boost to recipe authors by enabling High Speed Data Entry for MES recipe authors to view all recipe versions and edit all specifications from one screen with intuitive HTML5 native functionality. Aquila MES further enhances IIOT and Pharma 4.0 for life science manufacturers with visual and dynamic workflow Behaviors that provide real-time animation on electronic batch record displays with shop-floor camera feeds to stream real-time live operations and videos on demand. The release includes Native Biometric Authentication support for the industry-leading Nymi biometrics band, which reduces electronic signatures by 10-15 seconds saving manufacturers 66% time spent on logins and e-signatures.
POMSnet Aquila EBR/MES helps pharmaceutical manufacturing, biotech, cell & gene therapy, nutrition and medical device companies run efficient paperless operations while meeting the highest good manufacturing practices GMP compliance requirements of government agencies. Traditionally, life science companies manually record and document production activities with highly regulated paper and manual production data batch records. With POMSnet Aquila, the manufacturing workflow is digital, computer-guided and controlled by the manufacturing execution system to enforce regulatory requirements and best practices are implemented and cGMP followed.
POMS Corporation, based out of Washington, D.C., is an MES software provider that counts five of the world's 10 largest pharmaceutical companies among its clients.
INLEAN Engineering, based in Barcelona, Spain, is a POMS partner and solutions provider of full lifecycle MES projects based on POMS products and its onsite integration in South Europe pharmaceutical companies.
POMSnet Aquila 2020.1.0 release is available now by contacting INLEAN.
Round table InfoPLC++, 14/2/2018. The technologies advance and the possibilities of deploying digital architectures to go a step beyond the plant operations does not depend so much on the available solutions, but on the possibility of finding a definitive fit to the relationship between the vision of IT and OT, both technologically and culturally. Digitization necessarily involves facilitating the meeting between both worlds, and in this sense, proposals such as OPC-UA stand out as interesting alternatives to connect both worlds in a robust manner, as an essential basis for Industry 4.0 that from all sectors are expected.
In the meeting on technological perspectives for 2018, InfoPLC ++ brought together four experts who contributed their vision in relation to whether this year will be the definitive takeoff of the digital industry. Participants included Fernando Álvarez, account manager of Vester Business, distributor of Matrikon OPC Europe; David Badia, CEO of InLean; Pere Tuset, academic director of the Master in Industry 4.0 in the Studies of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications (EIMT), and senior researcher of the WiNe group (Wireless Networks) in the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), both of the Open University of Catalonia ( UOC); Jaume Rey, CEO of Nexiona and Xavier Pi, member of the 4.0 Industry Commission of the Enginyers de Catalunya and member of the Editorial Board of InfoPLC ++. The objective: to reveal the technological trends that will set the tone for the industry in 2018, and among them, to delve into the possibilities that OPC-UA opens up for the digitalization of plants.
Fernando Álvarez started the debate by explaining that although the company has been working on the connection between transactional and plant data for more than 20 years, it is now that the need is more flagrant. For this reason, the classic OPC has evolved towards the OPC-UA "which allows both worlds to be integrated in a more natural and safe way". SDK solutions, development software for servers and OPC-UA clients are already available in the market, not only on Windows, but also on other operating systems such as Linux. "It is in this way that Matrikon is concentrating its expectations for 2018," Álvarez explained, confirming that the industry is highly interested in solving the IT / OT gap in order to begin to redesign itself as a digital environment.
David Badia, CEO of Inlean, agrees with Fernando Álvarez that the proposal of OPC-UA is not new, however, it is not until recently that it begins to be demanded as a real alternative for industrial control. "OPC-UA will set a trend in the coming years, not only can it stand as an alternative communication for the OT world, but it wants to cover the middle segment, between IT / OT, where now there is nobody able to give an answer".
The truth is that this evolution is a process, will 2018 be the year of unstoppable convergence? Asked Xavier Pi, moderator of the table. For Badia, if until now we had seen the consolidation of protocols based on IP and Ethernet, now inevitably we have to talk about the treatment that will be given to the data that circulate: real-time, historical data, alarms … "The work of organizations such as the OPC Foundation to incorporate not only a communication of 'flat' data, but also with some added value that in the case of vertical technologies for communications in sectors such as packaging, will be key ".
In his opinion, the combination of open technology capabilities offered by OPC-UA with the proposal of more specific solutions for certain industries with very particular demands is critical: "it allows to unite two worlds, very implemented systems -Profibus, Modbus, ProfiNet, DeviceNet ….- that fulfill very specific communications features with reliability and security in a local environment, with the most open communication needs that come from the world of IP protocols with the Internet behind ". Among the most consolidated 'companion' user specifications are those of industrial segments such as instrumentation, embedded devices, packaging, intelligent buildings (BACnet), or just published, such as the one that connects with OML's PackML. This ability to respond to very specific vertical segments is what would allow OPC-UA to emerge as the reference protocol for Industry 4.0.
