To reap the benefits of Industry 4.0, it’s imperative to harness machine and process data for use in enterprise and analytics applications. Doing so unlocks substantial benefits, including predictive maintenance capabilities and plant-wide data access. But capturing this data and delivering it to applications 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.
Softing’s dataFEED OPC Suite provides a software platform that consolidates several tools to make IT/OT data integration simple, easy and fast. Both the Base and Extended Versions allow 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 well as facilitating Industry 4.0 solution integration with existing OPC components and applications.
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 leading manufacturers and a wide range of OPC servers and databases.
Here are the core dataFEED OPC Suite components:
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.
Not only does dataFEED OPC Suite provide an easy pathway to Industry 4.0 solutions, 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.
Try out our free 72-hour runtime trial version of dataFEED OPC Suite to see how it can improve and optimize your IIoT network.
Learn more on our product page.