Managing Automation - May 2008 - (Page 12)

FREE E-NEWSLETTERS SUBSRIBE NOW! news managingautomation.com maonline Go online for daily news updates in perspective The first test lab, which took six months to build, opened in Germany in February. Two additional labs, in Japan and North America, will follow over the next year, Burke said. Each lab will be outfitted with certified OPC products handpicked by the foundation to serve as the baseline for interoperability testing. One of the first products certified and selected as a technology against which others will be tested is Kepware Technologies’ KEPServerEX, which allows communication between equipment and control systems. KEPServerEX supports more than 130 protocols, connects to thousands of devices, and has set the standard in support of OPC for Data Access (OPC DA). The existing labs will provide backwardcompatibility testing for the current OPC specifications, such as OPC DA, OPC Alarms & Events (OPC A&E), and OPC Data eXchange (OPC DX). Products for the emerging standard, OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA), are just starting to roll out — for example, Kepware and Iconics in April were among the first to announce OPC UA products. The real pain point for end users, however, resides in their installed bases, which is where the focus will be. End users are not expected to go to the lab; rather, vendors will be responsible for scheduling a time in Germany to gain formal certification. In addition to Kepware, the OPC Foundation has identified about 15 vendors that will contribute hardware and software to the lab and maintain their products. “We have to have a baseline,” Burke said. “Some of the vendors in the lab do have competitive products, but, for most part, there is a spectrum of products [that covers] OPC’s different functional areas on both the client and the server side.” According to Roy Kok, Kepware’s vice president of marketing and sales, the products in the lab are tested for normal and abnormal behavior, enduring everything from installation through operation, and they undergo stress tests, such as disconnecting equipment and making sure communication is recovered and errors are recorded. “The strategy is to guarantee plug-and-play and seamless interoperability with timeless durability,” Burke said, describing a model that is similar to plugging a digital camera into a USB port on a laptop. Regardless of the vendor, it just works. “That’s where we want to get with OPC.” — Stephanie Neil Alliances, Executive Appointments, Mergers & Acquisitions, Products Transform your business through technology FREE Newsletters include: • MA Daily News Alert Hot off the press news exclusives written by MA Editorial • MA Membership Alert within hours or minutes whether the problem is fixed, versus weeks or months.” Kubiak has a background in the manufacturing and energy sectors, having worked for a systems integrator, as well as Wonderware, where he was global business manager. He was a sales director at Encorp, Inc., a provider of network technology and infrastructure management products for the distributed energy market, and vice president of sales at Envenergy, Inc., which provides hardware, software, and networking equipment for energy and facility management. Prior to joining Incuity, Kubiak co-founded TriA Solutions, a Chicago-based provider of data management tools for acquiring, analyzing, and acting on data collected from disparate sources throughout the enterprise. “My background is primarily in software, but I’ve pretty much covered the gamut of discrete manufacturing and building energy management, so I’ve got a broad enough background to go after some of these markets” at Incuity, Kubiak said. “My focus right now will be on working with Dave on a marketing approach, and prepping the CEM product from a sales perspective. Once we feel we’ve got a sustainable product and sales channel, then we’ll move on to the next [vertical] initiative. My goal is to go after as many vertical markets sequentially as possible.” “I just realized I might never actually be able to claim any of the successes of my efforts, though,” Kubiak added, “because it’ll be on to the next thing.” — D.H. The latest industry research, products, news and web events Compete in the new global economy for years to come • Progressive Manufacturer • Viewpoint FOUNDATION INTENSIFIES OPC STANDARD TESTING he OPC Foundation just got serious about certification. The organization’s mission to create seamless connectivity between factory floor hardware and software has been marred by an informal certification process that has resulted in many so-called “OPC-compliant” products that haven’t been tested properly. Unfortunately, it’s the end users who pay the price for half-baked solutions that must be reconfigured after the fact. No more. From now on, any vendor claiming “OPC Compliance Certified” must put its product through a rigorous weeklong test at an OPC lab, said Tom Burke, the OPC Foundation’s president and executive director. Provocative and inspirational, features the opinion columns in print with exclusives online T Sign Up Today at: MANAGINGAUTOMATION.COM /NEWSLETTERS ® http://managingautomation.com http://MANAGINGAUTOMATION.COM/newsletters

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - May 2008

Managing Automation - May 2008 Contents Take 1 Award-Winning Shoe-Maker Otabo Alters Course, Shifts Production to China IBM Partners with Universities for Cloud Computing Getting Noise in Production Under Control Incuity Embarks on a Vertical Market Strategy Foundation Intensifies OPC Standard Testing Mailbox Notes PM Roundtable Cover Story: The Business of Going Green Special Report: Night and Day Delivering on Promises Finding the Right Fit for Wireless Driving RFID Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - May 2008

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