Open communication standards are beginning to make it easier for glass fabricators to operate mixed-brand production lines.
Historically, fabricators have suffered integration and maintenance challenges managing different proprietary interfaces amongcutting tables, edgers, washers, tempering furnaces and insulating glass (IG) lines from different vendors. To alleviate those headaches, the glass industry has begun to incrementally shift toward open standards to enable interoperability.
The shift is supported by the OPC Unified Architecture (UA) framework, developed and maintained by the OPC Foundation, and industry-specific specifications developed in collaboration with organizations such as the VDMA, commonly referred to as the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association. OPC UA enables equipment and software to exchange information securely and consistently, while the companion specifications establish common data models for specific industries, including flat glass processing.
The benefits of open machine communication are on display at the VDMA Connected Machines exhibit at glasstec 2026, ongoing in Düsseldorf, Germany. The exhibit showcases proven applications, demonstrators and multiple presentation points covering current developments in interoperability. A particular focus of the exhibit is on OPC UA FX, with a multi-vendor demo showing how components from different automation companies work together.
Speaking the Same Language
For glass fabricators, open machine communication means a cutting table, edging machine, tempering furnace and IG production line can converse with the same factory management software, even if they were built by different companies.
Sebastian Friedl, head of interop4X at FVA GmbH, explains that standardized communication allows manufacturers and software developers to establish interfaces once rather than repeatedly developing connections for different equipment. It would also allow software to interpret machine data consistently, even when equipment comes from different suppliers.
Friedl offers a practical example: Two machines might report the same operating condition using different formats. One could use numerical codes, while another uses written descriptions. Without a common standard, software developers must account for those differences when collecting and interpreting production data.
Adoption Challenges
Peter Dixen, chief revenue officer at Synerglass-Soft, notes that adoption of OPC UA remains in its early stages. While some equipment manufacturers and software suppliers have begun implementing the technology, he says the industry has been slow to embrace it.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily gone deep enough,” he says. “People aren’t driving it forward fast enough.”
Dixen explains that, without interoperability, fabricators that use equipment from multiple suppliers require software companies to develop and maintain separate interfaces. Smaller fabricators may decide against integrating their equipment because the expense outweighs the perceived benefits.
Another obstacle is manufacturers’ reluctance to share proprietary machine data. Dixen states that companies must distinguish between information needed for communication and internal production data they want to protect from competitors. Dixen adds that the issue is becoming more significant as factories become digital and the amount of information exchanged among machines grows.
Putting Standards Back to Work
Biesse representatives have seen that digital shift firsthand. In response, it recently unveiled B/On, which Mattia Morri, digital product manager at Biesse, says can connect new and existing machines from different manufacturers. The system uses a software layer to collect data from equipment operating on different communication protocols, normalize the information and make it accessible through OPC UA.
Morri explains that the system can pull information such as machine status, production programs and energy consumption, even when equipment manufacturers use different terminology and data formats. The standardized information can then be used by manufacturing execution systems, enterprise resource planning software and other production management applications.
Dixen remains optimistic about the shift to a universal machine language, noting that interoperability will continue to improve, although he acknowledges that financial incentives and proprietary technology will slow adoption.
“If [manufacturers] don’t want to do it, artificial intelligence will help us do it,” he says.
Be sure to follow USGlassmag.com, USGNN and our social media pages for more glasstec 2026 content. The event runs until Friday.