OMAC (Open Modular Architecture Controls) is the North American user association for the promotion of open automation architectures. At the OMAC user group conference in Orlando, USA, Gerd Hoppe from the Beckhoff corporate management was elected as the automation company representative to the board of directors of the Packaging Group. The OMAC Packaging Guidelines lead to more efficiency in the packaging industry.
Beckhoff has been supporting OMAC through its US branch since the late ’90s, most recently through activities in the PackConnect and PackSoft working groups. Gerd Hoppe, who managed Beckhoff USA for the last five years, is now supporting the Beckhoff management at the German head office. His election to the board of directors of the OMAC Packaging Group reinforces Europe's presence within OMAC and vice versa. Gerd Hoppe said: “Within the OMAC Packaging Group, end users and machine and automation manufacturers worldwide currently work hand in hand, because they can see the benefits of open automation architectures. Mutually recognized platforms in the packaging industry are Sercos and Profibus for networks and IEC 61131-3-based control systems. The work is based on the PLCopen motion library and the motion extensions and is carried out in close cooperation with PLCopen. Industry-specific application recommendations provide a common ‘look and feel’, application profiles and variable names. All this creates greater interoperability and transparency of systems and reduces training costs for users”.
OMAC www.omac.org