In the digital production world, machines from different manufacturers must be able to communicate with each other. This requires uniform standards - so-called OPC UA Companion Specifications - in the development of which the VDMA is significantly involved. Together with the OPC Foundation working group "Process Air Extraction and Filtration Systems - PAEFS", the VDMA working group "OPC UA Air Pollution Control" has now developed an OPC UA information model for process air extraction and filtration systems (PAEFS). It maps universal manufacturer-independent interfaces based on OPC UA.
The standardized interface is used to exchange data between process air extraction and filtration systems, to upstream machines, supporting systems such as technical ventilation and conveyor systems, and also to higher-level manufacturing systems such as Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). "With this information model, we are taking a big step toward our goal of interoperability for production information from the store floor to the cloud," says Benjamin Wirth, chairman of the OPC UA Air Pollution Control Working Group.