OPC Member Press Releases

Kepware's Communication Platform Answers Automation Industry's Call for Improved Security and Interoperability
Press Release from: Kepware Technologies, on June 18, 2013
RELEASE: Portland, ME, June 18, 2013 — A defense-in-depth security policy can minimize both malicious and unintentional mistakes that may cause downtime or impact safety. Today, Kepware Technologies, a software development company focused on communications for automation, released KEPServerEX® V5.12 — the latest edition of its flagship communications platform designed to help meet industry security requirements and increase interoperability with modern OPC UA standards. "At Kepware, we're constantly adapting to address the evolving needs of our customers," said Tony Paine, President and CEO of Kepware Technologies. "Based on customer input, the ability to provide high levels of security and interoperability through modern standards such as OPC UA are of growing importance, so we have responded to these priorities in our latest KEPServerEX release." With its new Security Policies Plug-In and updated User Manager settings, KEPServerEX V5.12 leverages user authentication in OPC UA to help ensure that only intended users receive access to the server runtime through trusted client applications. Administrators can provide broad access permissions at the group level or restrict read, write, or browse access for more granular control at the object level. "While security is a major concern for any company reliant on automation, it is truly paramount for those in the Power industry, as the consequences of inadequate access controls can quickly escalate beyond just a business disruption," said Lars Ole Christoffersen of Denmark's leading energy company, DONG (Dansk Olie og Naturgas) Energy. "We are confident that with KEPServerEX V5.12's new Security Policies Plug-In, we will be able to streamline operations and increase safety by ensuring that the right people have access to the right information and controls." "OPC UA standards represent a major step for interoperability and security in the Automation industry," according to Craig Resnick, Vice President of Consulting at ARC Advisory Group. "While adoption remains at an early stage, technology based on OPC UA standards, such as KEPServerEX V5.12, will empower more organizations to invest in secure industrial device communications solutions, ensuring that their plants and factories will be safer and more productive." KEPServerEX V5.12 also includes two new Allen-Bradley Micro800 Serial and Ethernet drivers. Additional enhancements have been made to more than 20 of Kepware's drivers, including the DataLogger Plug-In, the Siemens TCP/IP Ethernet Driver, and the DNP Master Serial and Ethernet drivers. For more information, please visit Kepware Technologies online or contact a representative at (207) 775-1660 or sales@kepware.com. ABOUT KEPWARE TECHNOLOGIES: Kepware Technologies, established in 1995, develops a wide range of communication and interoperability software solutions for the Automation industry. Our flexible and scalable solutions help connect, manage, monitor, and control diverse automation devices and software applications. Our industry-endorsed software solutions improve operations and decision-making throughout all levels of an organization. Kepware Technologies' mission is to be your standard for connectivity by developing Advanced Communications for Automation. ... [Full Story]

The OPC Foundation and Wibu-Systems speak the same language
Press Release from: Wibu-Systems AG, on June 11, 2013
As industrial automation systems become more complex, Sally Ward-Foxton of Electronic Specifier asks how do we make sure that all the machines can talk to each other in a secure and reliable way ... [Full Story]

Cirrus Enlists Kepware Technology to Help Major Beef Producer Streamline Logistics
Press Release from: Kepware Technologies, on June 6, 2013
RELEASE: Portland, ME, June 6, 2013 — Kepware Technologies, a software development company focused on communications for automation, today announced its successful implementation with Cirrus Tech, Inc. The companies joined forces to streamline the industrial automation, warehousing, and logistics processes for one of the nation's top beef producers. Challenged with effectively routing several thousand boxes of meat per hour, this major Kansas beef producer sought help to ensure efficient production from multiple plants and confirm that its meat automatically moves from the warehouse to the retail location without human intervention. With the industrial automation process as a top priority, a solution had to provide routing direction within seconds from the point of data flow. Any miscommunications would cause significant delays in routing and overloading, slowing conveyor belts and creating negative revenue impacts. The beef producer required a solution that can read 20,000 tags from 10 PLCs every three seconds. Its previous system was draining nearly 80 percent of CPU time and slowing the process. For Cirrus to help, it had to offer an automation solution that provides routing direction within seconds. Kepware's KEPServerEX® offered the right capabilities for the job. Specifically engineered to connect disparate devices and applications, KEPServerEX easily manages, monitors, and controls diverse automation devices and software applications through a robust platform that supports an array of open standards. Kepware's OPC Drivers offer the broadest set of support and remove the burden of learning new communications protocols and applications. "Anytime we introduced a new piece of equipment, it required an entirely new PLC," said Bob Harris, Founder, Cirrus Tech, Inc. "We don't have the time to write a new driver, which could easily take eight weeks in development and testing. Since Kepware has such broad support and flexibility, it took the responsibility off of our shoulders." Since teaming with Kepware, Cirrus helped the plant pull data from dozens of PLCs and equipment, analyze the detail, and send direction back to the system controllers. The combined Kepware and Cirrus automation system easily filters information and provides direction within two seconds. Cirrus now uses Kepware as its communications platform for industrial automation for all customer deployments. "Now that we've experienced Kepware, we wouldn't go anywhere else," Harris concluded. For additional information about the implementation, please read the complete Cirrus Tech case study here. ABOUT KEPWARE TECHNOLOGIES: Kepware Technologies, established in 1995, develops a wide range of communication and interoperability software solutions for the Automation industry. Our flexible and scalable solutions help connect, manage, monitor, and control diverse automation devices and software applications. Our industry-endorsed software solutions improve operations and decision-making throughout all levels of an organization. Kepware Technologies' mission is to be your standard for connectivity by developing Advanced Communications for Automation. ... [Full Story]

SIGIT Fuels Electronic Flow Measurement With Kepware
Press Release from: Kepware Technologies, on April 24, 2013
RELEASE: Portland, ME, April 24, 2013 — Kepware Technologies, a software development company focused on communications for automation, announced today that SIGIT Automation Inc. is solving its connectivity and communications challenges with Kepware's communications platform. KEPServerEX® will serve as the backbone to SIGIT's e-SCADA™ solution, delivering historical Electronic Flow Measurement (EFM) data to its custody transfer accounting systems. View the complete case study here. SIGIT is a privately-owned Controls and Automation company founded in 2004 that serves the Petroleum and Energy industries. They provide a complete range of electrical, instrumentation, and regulatory services, including electrical design and drafting, instrumentation and programming, project management, and field services. As a vendor-neutral company, SIGIT delivers solutions that are designed to meet customer-specific automation and control challenges. "Our business is all about supporting customers with process-oriented methods for managing and measuring their complex petroleum, natural gas, and pipeline installation processes," said Sandy Munro, the General Manager of SIGIT Automation. "As a dedicated services company, we're helping customers manage a multitude of projects at one time. This means advanced communications across all our projects." SIGIT initially solved its database and communication challenges through an array of different in-house systems. Their inconsistencies created several critical problems: they did not comply with Canadian government regulations, they were unable to create secure connections, and they required a highly manual process for mapping and manipulating key drivers and connections. To make matters more complicated, SIGIT's customers use flow computers, Remote Terminal Units (RTU), and devices from various manufacturers, which increases the number of applications that users had to learn, manage, and maintain. "There were simply too many moving parts," stated Munro. "With little or no real-time visibility, we felt customer projects were at risk. Kepware gives us the data access and management necessary to ensure the successful completion of our customers' challenging petroleum and energy deployments. This creates levels of efficiency and cost-savings we didn't think possible," he concluded. ... [Full Story]

Kepware Technologies Announces Partnership with EnerSys Corporation
Press Release from: Kepware Technologies, on April 10, 2013
RELEASE: Portland, ME, April 10, 2013 — Kepware Technologies, a software development company focused on communications for automation, announced today that it has established a partnership with Houston, Texas–based EnerSys Corporation (EnerSys). Under the agreement, EnerSys is approved to promote, distribute, and sell licenses for Kepware's flagship product KEPServerEX® v5 Communications Platform, including all Electronic Flow Measurement (EFM) related products, as well as its LinkMaster and RedundancyMaster® solutions. "EnerSys has deep domain expertise in the Oil and Gas sector, particularly in pipeline management, making them an ideal partner for us as we continue to develop products for this key market," said Tony Paine, president and CEO of Kepware Technologies. "In field operations, custody transfer management, supervisory control and data acquisition, information systems, and systems development, EnerSys has a record of innovation and success that makes them a go—to source for Energy companies." Kepware established the partnership with EnerSys to better meet the growing demand for enterprise platform solutions for industrial automation applications in the Oil and Gas industry. With its proven record of helping energy companies establish centralized communications to connect disparate assets and devices, EnerSys is a logical choice to help Kepware meet this need. "By focusing on specific business operations, we understand the unique requirements of major energy companies and can determine and implement the best possible solutions for their operations," said Russel Treat, president of EnerSys. "Kepware offers flexible, scalable, and reliable connectivity solutions to help companies achieve greater efficiencies and profitability. Partnering with a technology leader like Kepware adds significant capability for EnerSys as we continue to serve our customers." ... [Full Story]

Wibu-Systems supports the standardization committee through its membership to the OPC Foundation
Press Release from: Wibu-Systems AG, on April 9, 2013
In December 2012 Wibu-Systems AG joined the OPC Foundation as a new active member. This is part of the strategy meant at delivering added value to the automation industry through Wibu-Systems security solutions. The unique values that Wibu-Systems bring to the table are: product and IP protection, protection from tampering and reverse-engineering, as well as business enablement and logistic simplification by means of flexible licensing models based on function driven software modules. ... [Full Story]

Kepware's EFM Exporter Software Gains Third-Party Validation
Press Release from: Kepware Technologies, on April 2, 2013
RELEASE: Portland, ME, April 2, 2013 — Kepware Technologies, a software development company focused on communications for automation, announced today that its flagship product KEPServerEX v5 has passed the functionality testing conducted in March by an internationally recognized, independent research laboratory located in San Antonio, TX. The testing focused on KEPServerEX v5's EFM Exporter functionality, which collects gas measurement custody transfer data from industry-leading flow computers and exports it into the specialized formats used in common industry measurement accounting solutions. "The accuracy of measurement data collection is critical in the Oil and Gas Industry because it is tied to major revenue for multiple stakeholders," said Tony Paine, president and CEO of Kepware Technologies. "Passing this test is a significant milestone for us, as it provides relevant Third-Party validation of applicability of KEPServerEX for critical custody transfer natural gas applications." The Oil and Gas Industry uses the Electronic Flow Measurement (EFM) data calculated and stored in flow computers as the commercial basis for the measurement of volume and energy: EFM data is the foundation of its financial transactions. KEPServerEX's EFM Exporter polls the flow computers for EFM data on user-defined intervals, and collects transactions involving the transportation of physical substances from one operator to another through a scheduled polling mechanism. It then prepares export files formatted for direct import into common industry accounting solutions or data editing software platforms. "KEPServerEX v5 is the next generation of Kepware's communications technology, and represents more than a decade of development," said Steve Sponseller, Product Manager at Kepware Technologies. "Independent laboratory validation confirms that KEPServerEX's EFM solution is suitable for the collection of EFM data and the delivery of that data to office measurement accounting systems. (In accordance with the requirements expressed in the American Petroleum Institute's Manual of Petroleum Measurement Standards; specifically, Chapter 21 - Flow Measurement using Electronic Flow Computers, Section 1 Electronic Gas Flow Measurement [API MPMS 21.1]). It also demonstrates Kepware's commitment to support the Energy Industry as it moves forward." ... [Full Story]

OPCFailover 2-2 released
Press Release from: Jemmac Software Ltd., on March 27, 2013
OPCFailover is a simple and effective way of increasing the availability of data to your business benefiting OPC Client applications. OPCFailover delivers redundancy without proxy servers, avoiding the complexities they incur. ... [Full Story]