A new specification on the path towards Industry 4.0

The CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA), in association with the OPC Foundation, has announced an OPC UA companion specification for the CLPA’s new “CSP+ for Machine” technology to further ease the implementation of Industry 4.0 type applications.
CSP+ for Machine is an extension of the CLPA’s existing “CSP+” (Control & Communication System Profile) that provides easy network configuration and maintenance by offering profiles that describe each device on a CC-Link IE or CC-Link network. CSP+ technology has been established for some time and provides easy drag and drop network configuration from CSP+ files provided by CLPA partner vendors, allowing convenient device libraries to be created. This new announcement takes the technology one step further by essentially allowing whole machines to be treated in the same way, meaning that complex systems can now be dealt with as if they are a single device. Hence complexity will be significantly reduced, and the task of obtaining vital process data will be greatly simplified.