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In June, EUROMAP and the OPC Foundation’s joint working group published two new parts to the OPC 40082 specification, including 82.3 for LSR dosing systems, with two machinery suppliers—who are also part of the working group—putting them in action at the recent Fakuma (Oct. 12-16; Friedrichshafen, Germany).

At Arburg, an electric Allronder 570 E Golden machine molded four LSR masks, with material fed from a dosing system integrated into the press’s control using OPC UA protocol and applying the Euromap 82.3 standard. Arburg said that applying the new standard means settings can be made, dosing parameters accessed, and a data set can be saved for the metering system and machine from a centralized point.

Wittmann Battenfeld, meanwhile, used a MicroPower 15/10H/10H COMBIMOULD to mold an LSR support ring with a silicone membrane. Here the LSR was fed from cartridges, with metering in microliter quantities. The Nexus-supplied Servomix X1 liquid dosing unit transmitted dosing data to the the MicroPower’s B8 control system thanks to the OPC UA interface (Euromap 82.3).

Another working group member, Elmet, used Fakuma to introduce a new LSR dosing system: the SMARTmix TOP 7000 Pro. Although the new systems press release didn’t specifically mention the new standard, the system’s brochure listed OPC UA/Euromap 82.3 as one of the software options for the unit.