Independent cross-moulding machine exchange interface released by VDMA and IMM makers

With the Euromap 77 interface, based on OPC UA, the injection moulding machinery manufacturers develop an important precondition for Industry 4.0... 

The VDMA (German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association), has brought together injection moulding machine manufacturers, to release its Euromap 77, a system of data exchange between the IMM and master computers or MES.

At K in 2016, a  demonstrator showed how several machines that were set up in different halls exchanged data with each other. Euromap 77 is based on the communications standard OPC Unified Architecture (OPC-UA), which has been established by the non-commercial OPC foundation and has already been used in many industries as the basis for the communication between machines of different manufacturers.

Jürgen Peters, Head of Software Development at Arburg, said: “The big advantage of OPC UA is that it is manufacturer independent. Also, the competitors amongst each other. OPC UA is a technology that is available to everyone and is not dependent on a control unit manufacturer. This manufacturer independency is a main reason why OPC UA is increasingly becoming the standard of Industry 4.0.”

Harald Weber, leader of the technical Euromap working groups, said: “Transparency is very important to us at this point to gain a broad acceptance amongst the machine manufacturers and the software providers, as well as the users.”

Arburg, Engel, Ferromatik Milacron, Krauss Maffei, Netstal, Negri Bossi, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag and Wittmann Battenfeld all contribute to Euromap.