Frankfurt am Main, Nuremberg, 28 November 2018.
umati (universal machine tool interface) moves one step ahead towards becoming
a generally accepted standard. VDW, the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association
and the OPC Foundation establish a so-called Joint Working Group. Interested
parties are cordially invited to participate with immediate effect. "The group will
start its work in January 2019", reports Dr. Alexander Broos, project manager
for umati at the VDW at a press conference of the OPC Foundation at the
SPS IPC DRIVES trade fair in Nuremberg. "Interested members of the OPC
Foundation, the VDW or affiliated associations who want to cooperate in the
joint development of umati towards a so-called Companion Specification of the
OPC Foundation are welcome to contact us", Broos continued. In this way, the
VDW wants to ensure that the worldwide needs of customers and machine
tool manufacturers are included in the standard. This increases the acceptance
of umati as a globally accepted connectivity standard.
As common with international standards, a draft of umati is presented to the
(professional) public for inspection, feedback, and comments. After a deadline,
the comments received will be incorporated to the greatest possible extent,
such that a final standard can be adopted. In contrast to classical standardization
organizations, OPC UA also includes configuration files that facilitate the
setup of so-called OPC servers, which need to be implemented in the machine
and then handle the actual communication.
Proof of concept recognized with great interest
umati passed a first crucial test in a showcase during the AMB 2018
tradeshow in Stuttgart/Germany. 15 machines from nine manufacturers with
five control platforms were connected to numerous communication partners.
Exchange of data was based on an extract of the first parameter set that had
been jointly defined up to then. The participating companies report that setting
up the communication network took between eight and 16 hours.
"The next important milestone for umati is the presentation of a more extensive
showcase at EMO Hannover 2019. At the world's leading trade fair for
metalworking we want to present a significantly larger number of international
partners participating in umati", Broos from VDW announces. To this end, the
VDW is engaged in intensive discussions with the most important market partners
all over the world. In addition to the planned collaboration with companies,
the VDW is working closely with its sister associations in Europe, the
USA, Japan, China, South Korea, and others.
Further information is available on the Internet at www.umati.info.
Parties interested in collaboration, please contact us at [email protected].
Germany 
