As a standard for data interoperability, the OPC Foundation facilitates the adoption of OPC technology through collaboration with other international standards organizations. These collaborative efforts provide our members with new opportunities for market expansion and technology integration. See the List of Working Groups for contact information of the chairs to join one of the groups.
- Looking for more information about Joint-Working-Groups (JWG)?
Definition? Criteria’s to create a new group? See here - Looking for the templates for a Companion Specification? See here
- Looking for an OPC UA expert to help? See here
A complete list of active or completed developments can be found here
Overview OPC UA Information Model Activities
See list of joint working groups, companion specifications and liaisons below
| Logo | Vertical market | Teaser |
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Automation | More… SPECTARIS, as an associations active for optics, photonics, analytical and laboratory equipment, is creating “UA for Laboratory Devices – LADS” – an OPC UA Information Model for analytical and laboratory equipment. |
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Automation | More… PLCopen, as an organization active in Industrial Control, is creating a higher efficiency in your application software development and lowering your life-cycle costs. |
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Automation AutoID Supply Chain | More… RFID, but also other AutoID processes, are key technologies for the implementation of the philosophy of industry 4.0. The more important it becomes to integrate these technologies as simple as possible into total solutions. Therefore AIM-D e.V. (Association for Automatic Data Capture, Identification and Mobility), responsible for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, defined standards on the basis of an OPC UA. |
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Automation Asset Management | More… ZVEI, is the association of German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturer’s. Together with VDMA this group transfers the concept of the Industrie4.0 Asset Administration Shell (I4AAS) into the Technology of OPC UA. |
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Automation Harmonization OPC UA for Machinery |
More… The VDMA OPC UA for Machinery is the central harmonization effort in VDMA. Due to the central coordination in the VDMA, it turned out that some interface contents occur across industries. Accordingly, the idea arose to create a basic specification for the entire mechanical and plant engineering industry. This basic specification is called “OPC UA for Machinery”. On the one hand, it is to be used as a basis for existing and emerging companion specifications. On the other hand, machinery or equipment in mechanical engineering can use the contents of the specification if there is not yet a standardized OPC UA interface in their own industry. |
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Automation Plastics and rubber machinery | More… The VDMA EUROMAP group is defining semantic for plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers. |
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Automation Machine Vision | More… The VDMA Machine Vision group is defining the semantic for Machine Vision devices with OPC UA |
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Automation Robotics | More… The VDMA Robotic group is defining the robotics information model with OPC UA |
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Automation Powertrain | More… The VDMA Powertrain group is defining the powertrain information model with OPC UA |
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Automation Weighing |
More… The VDMA Weighing group is defining the information model for weighing instruments/systems with peripherals, automation and other higher-level devices/Systems with OPC UA |
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Automation Woodworking |
More… The EUMABOIS Working Group for WoodWorking Machines (WG WWM) develops an interface for connecting woodworking machines of different manufacturers uniformly to systems for data management/data processing (e.g. ERP, MES, data analysis, …). |
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Automation Casting |
More… The “High Pressure Die Casting (HPDC)” Working Group develops an OPC UA Interface under leadership of CEMAFON and VDMA for casting industry. |
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Automation End-of-Arm-Tools |
More… The “End-of-Arm-Tool (EoAT)” Working Group ” will develop OPC UA information models for different End-of-Arm Tools (EoAT) like grippers, screwdrivers, welding machines, exchange Units and more which can be used in conjunction with a robot or independently. |
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Automation Joining Technologies |
More… The “Industrial Joining Technologies (IJT)” working Group ” defines OPC UA Companion Specification for joining technologies. |
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Automation Surface |
More… The “Surface Technologie Initiative” Working Group ” standardize machine-machine communication for surface technology in order to reduce the integration effort for machines, installations and devices in surface technology. |
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Automation Pumps Vacuum Pumps |
More… The aim of the initiative “Pumps and Vacuum Pumps” is to standardize machine-machine communication for pumps and vacuum pumps |
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Automation Glass Industries |
More… The “OPC Glass Industries Initiative” will develop an OPC UA information model for the communication of glass processing and producing machines |
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Automation Mining Industries |
More… The “OPC Mining Initiative” will develop an OPC UA information model for the communication of mining machinery and equipment |
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Automation Compressed Air Systems |
More… The “Compressed Air Systems (CAS)” Working Group will develop an OPC UA Information Model for the communication of compressed air system components/devices. |
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Automation Fibre and yarn testing devices |
More… The “Fibre and yarn testing devices” Working Group will develop an OPC UA Information Model for the interface to testing instruments for fibers and yarns (Testers) |
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Automation Tobacco |
More… The TMC (Tobacco Machine Communication) working group defined an OPC UA companion specification to harmonizing data exchange and interoperability requirements for the common benefit of both cigarette manufacturers and OEMs. |
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Open-SCS Pharmaceutical |
More… OPEN-SCS (Open Serialization Communication Standard) initiative directly addresses the Healthcare Industry’s Product Serialization Regulation Wave of the next decade. The OPEN-SCS Working Group is partnered with the OPC Foundation to develop an open source standard in the Packaging Serialization Global Name Registry and an associated set of subscription-based work products. |
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Automation CNC | More… An OPC UA information model has been developed within the cooperation of the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association (VDW) and the OPC Foundation, in order to interface and exchange data with CNC systems. |
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Automation CNC | More… Purpose is to develop an OPC UA Information Model for a universal communication interface of machine tools towards “external” communication partners, e.g. MES, ERP, cloud, automation system etc. |
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Automation | More… The MTConnect standard offers a semantic vocabulary for manufacturing equipment to provide structured, contextualized data with no proprietary format. |
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Automation | More… OMAC -the Organization for Machine Automation and Control- was formed to meet this purpose and help manufacturers work together to find new and innovative ways to be successful their production operations. Joint forces between PLCopen, OPCF and the OMAC Packaging Workgroup facilitates a standardized and “off the shelf” PackTag data exchange via OPC UA. |
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Automation Food & Beverage |
More… The Working Group “OPC UA for Weihenstephan Standards” is mapping the existing “Weihenstephan Standards (WS)” to an OPC UA information model. |
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Automation Process Industry | More… FDI (Field Device Integration): FDI technology manages information from intelligent field devices during their entire lifecycle – from configuration, commissioning and diagnostics to calibration, making one-off solutions for different devices obsolete. |
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Automation Process Industry | More… OPC UA for Process Automation Information Model “PA-DIM” (OPC 30081): Specify and maintain OPC UA Information Models for Process Automation Devices initially based on NAMUR Core Parameters according to NE 131 including assignment of semantic identifiers according the IEC Common Data dictionary and/or eCl@ss. Device information can be provided to the enterprise level, e.g. for diagnostics, configuration, condition monitoring, visualization, maintenance etc |
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Automation Process Industry | More… The objective of the DEXPI initiative is to develop and promote a general data exchange standard for the process industry, covering all phases of the lifecycle of a (petrol-)chemical plant, ranging from specification of functional requirements to assets in operation. Currently, the focus of the DEXPI initiative is the exchange of Piping and Instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs) |
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Automation Process Industry | More… FDT is the open standard for industrial automation integration of networks and devices, harnessing IIoT and Industrie 4.0 for enterprise-wide connectivity. |
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Automation Commercial Kitchen Industry | More… HKI is the association of Manufacturers of commercial kitchen equipment and domestic heating and cooking appliances. The OPC UA based standard specifies manufacturer-neutral communication systems and serves as a design basis for communication protocols in commercial kitchen equipment as well as devices in these Networks. |
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Automation Functional Safety | More… Safety over OPC UA based on PROFIsafe |
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Automation Engineering | More… AutomationML (Automation Markup Language) is a neutral data format for the storage and exchange of plant engineering information, which is provided as open standards. Goal of AutomationML is to interconnect the heterogeneous tool landscape of modern engineering tools in their different disciplines, e.g. mechanical plant engineering, electrical design, HMI development, PLC, robot control. |
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Automation Fieldbus | More… EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) |
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Automation Fieldbus | More… Ethernet POWERLINK Standardization Group (EPSG) |
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Automation Fieldbus | More… PROFIBUS – PROFINET International (PI) |
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Automation Fieldbus | More… Sercos International (SI) |
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Automation Fieldbus | More… IO-Link |
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Automation Fieldbus | More coming soon CiA (CAN in Automation) |
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Automation Fieldbus | More… CLPA |
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Building Automation | More… BACnet International encourages the successful use of the BACnet standard in building automation and control networks. The joined working group of BACnet Interest Group in Europe together with OPC Foundation mapped building automation objects into the OPC UA information model. The efforts facilitates the integration between industrial automation and building automation devices and applications. |
| IEC61850 | Electrical substation | More… IEC 61850 is a standard for vendor-agnostic engineering of the configuration of Intelligent Electronic Devices for electrical substation automation systems to be able to communicate with each other. The abstract data models defined in IEC 61850 can be mapped to a number of protocols – like OPC UA |
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Oil and Gas | More coming soon The SLC (Standards Leadership Council) was formed in 2012 by nine standards organizations serving the oil and gas industry to avoid duplication in development projects through collaboration. Its goals are to assist member organizations in determining business value metrics for standards adoption and maintaining financial sustainability. The Council includes Energistics, MIMOSA, Open Geospatial Consortium, OPC Foundation, PIDX International, Pipeline Open Data Standard, POSC Caesar Association, Professional Petroleum Data Management Association and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. |
| Oil and Gas | More coming soon DSATS (Drilling System Automation Technical Section), of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), recommends guidelines to allow open and secure communication between rig control systems, applicable surface and down-hole measurements and authorized third parties. Participating OPC suppliers and end-users are developing a comprehensive roadmap for Drilling Systems Automation that will incorporate best practices, lessons learned, standards and solutions. This roadmap or guideline will identify the objects and corresponding attribute/metadata that span all automation components within a drilling system. OPC UA is the communication protocol for connecting these devices and applications. |
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| Oil and Gas Drilling and Producing |
More… Energistics is a global consortium that facilitates the development, management and adoption of data exchange standards for the upstream oil and gas industry. |
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Oil and Gas | More…
MDIS is an international industry network group whose primary mission is to optimize the Master Control System (MCS) and Distributed Control System (DCS) interface of topside systems in oil and gas production. |
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Standardization | More details coming soon W3C collaborates together with OPC Foundation to standardize semantic information models. |
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Standardization | More… INTERNATIONAL DATA SPACE ASSOCIATIONS (IDSA) stands for secure data exchange between companies in which the data provider is always the owner of that data and still keeps control over the use of their data. |
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Standardization | More… ISA 95 is the international standard for the integration of enterprise and control systems. ISA-95 consists of models and terminology that can be used to determine which information has to be exchanged between systems for sales, finance and logistics and systems for production, maintenance and Quality. |
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Standardization | More… The ISA 100 Wireless information model defines how the information from Objects within wireless field devices and networks compliant to the ISA100 Wireless standard are mapped into OPC UA Objects. |
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Standardization | More… The OpenFog.Consortium is a public-private ecosystem formed to accelerate the adoption of fog computing in order to solve the bandwidth, latency and communications challenges associated with the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, the Tactile Internet and other advanced concepts in the digitized world. |
Contact the OPC Foundation to learn more about these collaborations and the benefits of membership.
