The FDT Group, an independent, international, not-for-profit industry association supporting FDT Technology, today announced it will exhibit, conduct live technology demonstrations and hold a press conference at HANNOVER MESSE 2017, April 24-28, in Hannover, Germany. The organization will describe how the latest developments in its open industrial automation standard are Empowering the Intelligent Enterprise.™
FDT Group is committed to making the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) a reality via a broad ecosystem that spans the process, hybrid and factory automation markets, and involves controls and instrumentation suppliers, end users, standards organizations, etc. – all aimed at promoting interoperability, security and mobility. FDT Group is working with various IIoT initiatives around the world to ensure its architecture meets their requirements.
FDT Group’s exhibit and live industry demonstrations, located in Hall 9, Stand F54, will show how its technology continues to provide innovative solutions for today’s manufacturers, with a truly open and standardized architecture addressing the critical needs of the “Connected World” of the IIoT and Industrie 4.0. The demonstration will feature an FDT integrated beverage application incorporating multiple protocols, vendors and devices, showcasing seamless integration for hybrid batch application environments. Additionally, visitors will learn how FDT serves as the technology for integration of devices into the Industrie 4.0 framework with OPC UA. They will see how device-specific information provided by Device Type Managers™ (DTMs™) is made available within the information layer of the reference architecture model for Industrie 4.0 (RAMI 4.0), where it can be used to integrate field devices into Industrie 4.0 applications.
FDT Group will also conduct a press conference on Tuesday, April 25, at 2:30 pm in Room 17 of the Hannover Convention Center. Presenters will describe the organization’s current global technology initiatives, including FDT IIoT Server (FITS™) prototype use cases, apps connected to FITS to deliver business value, and new OPC UA features amplifying the exchange of device information for Industrie 4.0. In addition, the press conference will include a live, hands-on demo enabling editors to view the implementation of augmented reality with FITS using Microsoft’s HoloLens.
FDT Group Managing Director Glenn Schulz commented, “FDT Group is making significant strides to support the next generation of industrial automation. For example, our FITS solution greatly simplifies the move to IIoT, providing OPC UA integration, web services, mobility, and rich control network interoperability to enhance connectivity and information sharing. FITS can be deployed in a cloud, fog, local server, or stand-alone application depending on the needs of the customer.”
Schulz added, “In our stand at HANNOVER MESSE, we will demonstrate how industrial facility operators can employ FDT Technology to integrate and communicate with different field devices by utilizing an array of DTMs in a single, open engineering environment over multiple communication protocols.”
FDT was built to support a comprehensive, open architecture for the connected world of industrial automation networks and assets. The backbone architecture, standardized independent of industrial automation networks, allows for a comprehensive networking integration model enabling seamless integration mapping to connect intelligent assets relaying device-specific diagnostics data enterprise-wide. The architecture adapts to any field communication protocol that may be needed, and the use of network tunneling allows an FDT/FRAME™ to seamlessly talk through any number of disparate network layers to the end device. All common networks for the process, hybrid and discrete industries are supported by the FDT standard.
Most recently, the FDT standard was written into the Industrie 4.0 and Modular Automation initiatives with the goal of unifying system engineering, configuration and diagnosis. The FDT-OPC UA information model companion specification released at SPS IPC Drives 2016 enhances the configuration of networks and devices, and optimizes the enterprise with access to data without protocol-specific handling. FDT helps put “Big Data” in context and supports better and faster decision-making – reducing critical failures potentially costing millions of dollars.
About FDT Group AISBL
The FDT Group AISBL is an international non-profit corporation consisting of leading worldwide member companies active in industrial automation and manufacturing. The major purpose of the FDT Group is to provide an open standard for enterprise-wide network and asset integration, innovating the way automation architectures connect and communicate sensor to cloud for the process, hybrid and factory automation markets. FDT Technology benefits both manufacturers and end users, with advancements such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industrie 4.0 delivered out-of-the-box – enabling modernized asset integration and access to performance data for visualizing crucial operational problems. Around the world, end users, manufacturers, universities, and research organizations are working together to develop the technology; provide development tools, support, and training; coordinate field trials and demonstrations; and enable product interoperability.
FDT® is a registered trademark of the FDT Group AISBL. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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