By Deane Horn

A renowned American multinational food giant specializing in confectionary, food, and beverage products sought to connect multiple PLC platforms to four applications:

  • Shoplogix OEE application running on AWS,
  • Scheider applications for energy management,
  • Infinity QS for quality management, and
  • MES system for product labeling to reduce CAPEX (capital expenditures) from local on-premise solutions.

The food giant has 150 locations globally and mix of Rockwell, Siemens, and other PLC types. 

Four applications were defined at the start with plans to roll out machine connectivity at all locations.

System integrators prepared dataFEED OPC Suite components, including dataFEED OPC Tunnel, from Softing for connection to the various PLC types and cloud applications. 

Implementation by system integrators was simplified since dataFEED offers the same machine connectivity across multiple applications and locations, is a future proof architecture based on OPC and OPC UA standards, and requires no changes to the automation network or PLCs.

Reaping the Benefits of PLC to Cloud Application Connectivity is often Easier Said Than Done

Solving this data communications challenge requires integrating operations technologies (OT) — such as programmable logic controllers (PLC) and machine sensors — with information technologies (IT) like powerful business applications and servers.

However, this IT/OT integration can quickly become a hassle, requiring personnel to manually code, configure, and connect the data routes from source to destination.

And, relying on legacy equipment, multiple industrial protocols, or non-compatible network standards only exacerbates the challenge.

Softing’s dataFEED OPC Suite offers a solution via a wide range of convenient tools that facilitate easy data communication between machines, servers, and applications.

Here is an overview of how dataFEED OPC Suite makes IT/OT integration easy. 

Single Platform, Multiple Tools

Softing’s dataFEED OPC Suite provides a software platform that consolidates several tools to make IT/OT data integration simple, easy, and fast.

dataFEED allows communication between OPC Classic and OPC UA networks within a single product. More than a gateway between the two standards, dataFEED OPC Suite also enables OPC network cloud connectivity, sending data via MQTT or REST.

As an all-in-one data integration solution, dataFEED offers an easy platform for users to retrieve, store, and transfer process data to cloud-based applications for analysis.

Developed with customer usability in mind, it’s compatible with controllers from over 25 leading PLC manufacturers and a wide range of OPC servers and databases.

Here are the core dataFEED OPC Suite components:

  • OPC Server — Siemens, Modbus, B&R, Rockwell, and Mitsubishi
  • OPC Tunnel — OPC Classic and OPC UA
  • OPC Data Handler
  • OPC Organizer — OPC Classic and OPC UA
  • MindSphere Connector
  • MQTT Connector
  • REST Connector
All-in-One Solution for OPC Communication and IoT Cloud Connectivity

Simplified Access and Storage

Softing’s dataFEED OPC Suite is non-invasive to control programs, providing read-and-write access to the controllers of leading manufacturers without modifying the control program.

This functionality saves costs, as even non-OPC UA-compatible controllers or OPC Classic components can be integrated with OPC UA solutions. As a result, you avoid expensive upgrades. 

For simple storage, you can also easily transfer production data into NoSQL big data storage solutions like MongoDB.

This communications gateway is secure, featuring SSL/TLS support with included certificates.

Easy Setup

Using the software platform is easy. It features a modern, intuitive graphical user interface, enabling you to configure OPC communication with speed. This software suite also includes helpful setup wizards and drag-and-drop support to make configuration even more hassle-free.

These features enable you to distribute automated systems with OPC Classic and OPC UA Servers both effectively and efficiently.

Download the Trial

Try out the free 72-hour runtime trial version of dataFEED OPC Suite to see how it can improve and optimize your IIoT network.

Deane Horn is Director of Marketing for the Industrial Automation Connectivity Solutions and Network Testing Solutions businesses for Softing. Deane was previously with Emerson as Product Line Manager for the Online Machinery Health Monitoring Systems.  He has authored papers for over 10 magazines and holds 6 patents on connectivity and vibration monitoring systems. 

This content is sponsored by Softing.