BERLIN and REDMOND, Wash.,
Feb. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/
-- The Open Manufacturing Platform (OMP) has expanded, with
new steering committee members and new working groups established.
OMP is an alliance founded in 2019 to help manufacturing companies
accelerate innovation at scale through cross-industry
collaboration, knowledge and data sharing as well as access to new
technologies. The OMP was founded under the umbrella of the Joint
Development Foundation, which is part of the Linux Foundation.
Original members The BMW Group and Microsoft
welcome Anheuser-Busch InBev (AbInBev), Bosch
Group and ZF Friedrichshafen AG as
steering committee members. The OMP steering committee has approved
a number of working groups to focus on core areas important to the
industry, including IoT Connectivity, semantic data models,
Industrial IoT reference architecture, and core services for ATS
(autonomous transport systems).
Common approach to industry challenges
The expansion of intelligent manufacturing is driving new
efficiencies and increased productivity, as well as revealing new
challenges. Within the industry, legacy and proprietary systems
have resulted in data silos, making operationwide insight and
transformation daunting. As common challenges across the industry,
they often require a high degree of investment for modest returns
within any one organization. The OMP has been developed to address
this, where manufacturers and their value chains come together to
identify and develop solutions that address these
nondifferentiating problems. It brings together experts across the
manufacturing sector — including discrete and process
manufacturing, transportation and consumer goods, industrial
equipment, and more.
"Our goal is to drive manufacturing innovation at scale,
accelerate time-to-value and drive production efficiencies by
jointly solving mutual challenges, based on an open community
approach. The OMP helps manufacturing companies unlock the
potential of their data, implement industrial solutions faster and
more securely, and benefit from industrial contributions while
preserving their intellectual property (IP) and competitive
advantages, mitigating operational risks and reducing financial
investments," said Jürgen Maidl, Senior Vice President Production
Network and Supply Chain Management at the BMW Group.
Scale innovation through common data models and open
technology standards
The OMP operates under the umbrella of the Joint Development
Foundation (JDF). The JDF is part of the Linux Foundation and
provides the OMP with infrastructure and an organizational
framework to create technical specifications and support open
industry standards. The OMP supports other alliances, including the
OPC Foundation and Plattform Industrie 4.0, and leverages existing
industry standards, open source reference architectures and common
data models.
"Through the open collaboration approach that is the cornerstone
of OMP, manufacturing companies will be able to bring offerings to
market faster, with increased scale and greater efficiency," said
Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice
President Cloud & AI at Microsoft. "Solutions will be published
and shared across the community, regardless of technology, solution
provider or cloud platform."
The heart of OMP: working groups to address common
manufacturing challenges
"Comprised of members from across the manufacturing industry,
the collaboration framework and heart of the OMP are its working
groups. We are very excited to join in a moment where our
manufacturing facilities are becoming increasingly connected, and
we are looking for innovative ways to make use of the treasure
trove of data that is being generated," said Tassilo Festetics,
Global Vice President of Solutions at AB InBev. The OMP initial
first working groups will focus on topics such as IoT Connectivity,
Semantic Data Model, IIoT Reference Architecture and Core Services
for ATS (autonomous transport systems). Initial focus areas
include:
IoT Connectivity: The OMP steering committee will support
industry efforts to connect IoT devices and machines to the cloud.
It is one of the first steps to digitize production lines and
leverage cloud-connected Industrial IoT applications. "Today, it is
all about analytics and predictions but without data no analytics
and without connectivity no data. Modern devices can easily be
connected via the OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA).
Connecting machines and applications to the cloud that have been in
production for decades comes with bigger interoperability
challenges as various standards and interfaces must be addressed to
interconnect these historically developed legacy systems
('brownfield approach'). The working group IoT Connectivity will
focus on providing industrial-grade edge and cloud functionalities
for the integration and management of OPC UA devices in brownfield
environments," said Werner Balandat, Head of Production Management,
ZF Friedrichshafen AG.
Semantic Data Model: Another OMP working group focuses on
semantic data modelling: Machine and manufacturing data are crucial
for industrial companies to optimize production with artificial
intelligence (AI). However, managing data in a common format across
multiple sources with constantly evolving semantics is a real
challenge. "Data is the raw material for Industry 4.0 and a
prerequisite for optimizing production with the help of artificial
intelligence. At OMP, we are developing a semantic model that makes
data understandable and illustrates its relations and dependencies.
Users no longer receive cryptic, incomprehensible numbers and
characters, but production-relevant information including their
context. This semantic data structure ensures improvements along
the entire value chain and makes AI-based business models possible
on a large scale," said Dr.-Ing. Michael
Bolle, Member of the Board of Management, Robert Bosch
GmbH.
OMP will continue to expand as new organizations come on board.
The steering committee encourages manufacturers and suppliers of
all types to join the community.
About Open Manufacturing Platform (OMP):
OMP is a non-profit alliance to help manufacturing companies
accelerate innovation at scale through cross-industry
collaboration, knowledge and data sharing as well as access to new
technologies. The OMP has been founded under the umbrella of the
Joint Development Foundation. The OMP helps businesses unlock the
potential of their data and integrate industrial solutions faster
and more securely while owning their intellectual property,
mitigating operational risks and reducing financial investments by
leveraging industry standards, open source reference architectures,
common data models, and more.
About the BMW Group
With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad,
the BMW Group is the world's leading premium manufacturer of
automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and
mobility services. The BMW Group production network comprises 31
production and assembly facilities in 15 countries; the company has
a global sales network in more than 140 countries. In 2019, the BMW
Group sold over 2,520,000 passenger vehicles and more than 175,000
motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year
2018 was € 9.815 billion on revenues amounting to € 97.480 billion.
As of 31 December 2018, the BMW Group
had a workforce of 134,682 employees. The success of the BMW Group
has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action.
The company has therefore established ecological and social
sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product
responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an
integral part of its strategy. www.bmwgroup.com
About Bosch
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and
services. It employs roughly 403,000 associates worldwide (as of
December 31, 2019). According to
preliminary figures, the company generated sales of 77.9 billion euros in 2019. Its operations are
divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial
Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. As
a leading IoT company, Bosch offers innovative solutions for smart
homes, smart cities, connected mobility, and connected
manufacturing. It uses its expertise in sensor technology,
software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its
customers connected, cross-domain solutions from a single source.
The Bosch Group's strategic objective is to deliver innovations for
a connected life. Bosch improves quality of life worldwide with
products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm. In
short, Bosch creates technology that is "Invented for life." The
Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 440
subsidiary and regional companies in 60 countries. Including sales
and service partners, Bosch's global manufacturing, engineering,
and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. The
basis for the company's future growth is its innovative strength.
At 125 locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 72,000
associates in research and development. The company was set up in
Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861–1942) as "Workshop for
Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering." The special
ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees the
entrepreneurial freedom of the Bosch Group, making it possible for
the company to plan over the long term and to undertake significant
upfront investments in the safeguarding of its future. Ninety-two
percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert
Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The majority of
voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an
industrial trust. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are
carried out by the trust. The remaining shares are held by the
Bosch family and by Robert Bosch GmbH. Additional information is
available online at www.bosch.com, www.iot.bosch.com,
www.bosch-press.com, www.twitter.com/BoschPresse.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables digital
transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an
intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every
organization on the planet to achieve more.
ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF is a global technology company and supplies systems for
passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology,
enabling the next generation of mobility. With its comprehensive
technology portfolio, the company offers integrated solutions for
established vehicle manufacturers, mobility providers and start-up
companies in the fields of transportation and mobility. ZF
continually enhances its systems in the areas of digital
connectivity and automation in order to allow vehicles to see,
think and act. In 2018, ZF achieved sales of €36.9 billion. The
company has a global workforce of 149,000 with approximately 230
locations in 40 countries. ZF invests over six percent of its sales
in research and development annually. For further press information
and photos please visit: www.zf.com
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SOURCE Microsoft Corporation