Software: Logic controllers, in-rack servers to get OPC-UA connectivity

Combining the flexibility of OPC-UA standards with enterprise connectivity, and security management, could soon be possible with deviceWISE 2.0 from ILS Technology LLC.

By Control Engineering Staff August 9, 2007

Combining the flexibility of OPC-UA standards with enterprise connectivity, and security management, could soon be possible with deviceWISE 2.0 from ILS Technology LLC . According to John Keever, executive vice president and CTO for ILS Technology,DBLQ%% 

“Industries in every manufacturing sector are discovering that one of the most efficient and effective ways to improve operational efficiency is to transport data from the plant floor to the enterprise in real-time,” said Craig Resnick, Research Director, ARC Advisory Group. “Standing in the way of achieving this connectivity is the inability of devices in the plant to connect to the enterprise and send data directly to the IT applications used by management. The OPC-UA standard resolves this issue of interoperability between the plant floor and the enterprise, and ILS Technology is well-positioned with its deviceWISE platform to benefit from the strong market trend of manufacturers rapidly adopting this standard.”

Said Thomas Burke, president of the OPC Foundation, said,“ILS Technology’s deviseWISE platform is targeted to be one of the first products on the market to offer OPC-UA compliance and we welcome the company’s pioneering spirit as we work cooperatively to make this standard a widely-accepted automation-to-IT interface.”

In February 2007, ILS Technology announced a joint development agreement with Mitsubishi Electric Corp. in which Mitsubishi will use deviceWISE 2.0 to expand the capabilities of its Q Series PLCs. “Mitsubishi Electric partners with best-in-class companies to enhance its automation offerings and reinforce its leadership position in the global market,” said Yuji Watanabe, senior manager for Mitsubishi Electric. “The opportunity to work with ILS Technology represents our on-going effort to assess the most innovative technologies available and explore ways to bring these enhancements to business leaders around the world.”

Added Fred Yentz, chief operating officer of ILS Technology, “Mitsubishi Electric understands the end customer benefits of establishing enterprise-to-automation connectivity in real-time.” deviceWISE 2.0’s modularity and system-independent framework enables enterprises of all sizes to adapt to new standards and technologies without disrupting operations or requiring expensive network overhauls.

The platform links logic controllers, RFID readers and other intelligent devices in a network to send and receive data with both upstream and in peer systems supporting numerous enterprise messaging and broker systems, Web service SOA platforms, and many relational database server offerings including Oracle, IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase.

Control Engineering News Desk