OPC Foundation and FieldComm Group collaboration paves the way
for adoption of a harmonized, OPC UA based, information model
for process automation devices via PA-DIM Standard.
Scottsdale, AZ – February 5th, 2019 – The OPC Foundation is pleased to announce its endorsement of the Process Automation Device Information Model (PA-DIM) standard published by the FieldComm Group. Developed in part with the OPC Foundation, the PA-DIM standard implemented on an OPC UA platform harmonizes device information models and delivers true device communication protocol independence to users and vendors alike.
Process Automation Device Information Model Enables Protocol Independent Solutions
Announced at the 2018 ARC Forum, OPC Foundation and FieldComm Group presented their joint vision for creating a protocol independent, process automation device information model (PA-DIM) specification based on the industrial interoperability standard OPC UA. PROFIBUS/PROFINET International is now participating in this vision which is supported by NAMUR as part of their Open Architecture (NOA) initiative.
Ted Masters explains, “The goal of PA-DIM, when used alongside registered products that support FieldComm Group’s FDI technology (Field Device Integration), is to simplify field device integration to systems and clouds by standardizing on a single information model that supports the many field device protocols used in process automation including HART, FOUNDATION Fieldbus, ISA100.11a, PROFIBUS PA, and WirelessHART.”
“Using an OPC UA based PA-DIM implementation with FDI products will enable end users to dramatically reduce time to market for advanced analytics, big-data, and enterprise cloud solutions that often rely on information from thousands of geographically dispersed field devices that use multiple process automation protocols,” added Stefan Hoppe, President and Executive Director, OPC Foundation.
As a sign of the importance of harmonizing information models for superior device integration using a secure, protocol independent platform like OPC UA; additional organizations continue to join this collaboration. Examples include NAMUR, PROFIBUS/PROFINET International and Open Process Automation Forum. The OPC Foundation is engaged with each of these organizations and looks forward to helping drive ever broader collaboration within the device integration space.
About the OPC Foundation
Since 1996, the OPC Foundation has facilitated the development and adoption of the OPC information exchange standards. As both advocate and custodian of these specifications, the Foundation’s mission is to help industry vendors, end-users, and software developers maintain interoperability in their manufacturing and automation assets. The OPC Foundation is dedicated to providing the best specifications, technology, process and certification to achieve multivendor, multiplatform, secure, reliable interoperability for moving data and information from the embedded world to the enterprise cloud. The Foundation serves over 640 members worldwide in the Industrial Automation, IT, IoT, IIoT, M2M, Industrie 4.0, Building Automation, machine tools, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, and Smart Energy sectors.
For more information, please visit https://opcfoundation.org.
For more information, contact:
Stefan Hoppe
President and Executive Director
OPC Foundation
Stefan.Hoppe@OPCfoundation.org
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