70 companies from ten countries have connected 110 machines
and 28 value-added services at EMO Hannover 2019 via the
umati standard interface. "umati is opening up a new chapter
in production," says Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Prokop, Chairman of
the VDW (Verein Deutscher Werkzeugmaschinenhersteller –
German Machine Tool Builders' Association), at the umati
press conference on 16 September 2019 in Hanover. "The
interface enables machine tool manufacturers to fulfill
another Industry 4.0 promise: the simple, fast and secure
exchange of data," continues Prokop. Creating a connection
and providing a uniform language for machines, systems and
software are essential prerequisites for reaping the
benefits of digitalisation in production. The fact that
individual companies no longer have to concern themselves
with the correct functioning of the network interconnection
represents a tremendous step forward.
International acceptance
umati has also already made a strong impression
internationally. Three international consortia from major
machine tool manufacturing countries have joined the
interface: ProdNet from Switzerland, Edgecross from Japan
and NCLink from China. In addition, the machine tool
associations from China, the United Kingdom, Italy, the
Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and Taiwan as well
as the European machine tool association Cecimo are
supporting the project.
"Choosing the OPC UA standard as a basis for the development
of the interface supports international dissemination. It
ensures that umati can be used free of charge worldwide,"
explains Prokop. 90 companies are contributing to the
standardization work in the Joint Working Group together
with the OPC Foundation. The release of Version 1.0 of the
Companion Specification, the next milestone, is planned for
the middle of next year.
Effectiveness of umati
The showcase at EMO Hannover 2019 demonstrates that the
interface is already up and running. Each machine has an OPC
UA server which sends the data to a data hub which has been
set up especially for the trade fair. There, the software
value-added services can access the data via OPC UA clients
and show what added value can be generated from the
resulting data. How the data is coming together can be
experienced via a live dashboard at the umati central
information booth (E24) in Hall 9.
Whether or not umati is successful will ultimately depend on
how customers rate the added value of the interface. For
their part, manufacturers must provide this added value in a
dependable manner. "For this we need reliable partners who
can provide the necessary components such as control
architecture and software components. We will achieve this
through close cooperation with the control manufacturers and,
in future, no doubt also with extensive parts of the supply
chain," says VDW Chairman Prokop.
But until then, the umati working group still has much to do.
Version 1.0 will be the starting signal for launching actual
products. "In the future, the umati brand should represent a
promise: anyone who buys a umati machine and has umati
interface software should be able to get the data flowing
with no difficulty," says Prokop.
In order to achieve similarly extensive distribution to that
of the USB connector in the consumer goods sector, the VDW
is working – in addition to the Companion Specifications –
on establishing a binding specification for the
configuration of communication parameters, defining minimum
requirements for implementation, and developing standardised
test procedures to assess performance. Further aims include
extending the brand's global reach, defining binding
conditions for its use and setting up a viable
organisational structure. "Version 2.0 is already on the
horizon because there are many aspects which have not yet
been tackled, such as production order management on the
machines, or tool management," concludes the VDW Chairman.
Background umati
umati - universal machine tool interface is an industry
initiative of the VDW. It was set up in 2017 by the
companies Chiron, DMG Mori, Emag, Grob, Heller,
Liebherr-Verzahntechnik, Trumpf and United Grinding. Its
goal is to achieve an open standard for data exchange based
on the global interoperability standard OPC UA. It also
defines all necessary framework conditions to ensure
seamless and secure integration of customers' machines and
software. The ultimate goal of the umati brand is to provide
international visibility and support its partners' marketing
and quality assurance efforts. The standardisation
activities of the Joint Working Group set up with the OPC
Foundation are now followed by almost 100 companies all over
the world.
The German machine tool industry ranks among the five
largest specialist groupings in the mechanical engineering
sector. It provides production technology for metalworking
applications in all branches of industry, and makes a
crucial contribution towards innovation and enhanced
productivity in the industrial sector as a whole. Due to its
absolutely key role for industrial production, its
development is an important indicator for the economic
dynamism of the industrial sector as such. In 2018, with
around 73,500 employees (annual average in 2018, companies
with more than 50 employees), the sector produced machines
and services worth 17.1 billion euros.
