B&R is very pleased to announce that Mr. Markus Sandhoefner, Sales Manager with B&R Industrial Automation Corp. in Atlanta, GA has been elected as new technology provider representative to the board of directors of the OMAC Packaging Workgroup (OPW). “With numerous members of the Packaging industry the OMAC plays a vital role with regards to the standardization of technology for innovative packaging solutions. I am excited to further drive this initiative as board member of the OMAC Packaging Workgroup”, says Markus Sandhoefner.

The OMAC (Open Modular Architecture Controls) Users Group was formed in 1994 to create an organization through which end users, OEM’s and technology providers and integrators can work together. Current members of the OPW Executive Committee include Rick VanDyke (Frito Lay), Mike Lamping (P&G) and Garth Basson (SABMiller) on the user side, Colin Warnes (ADCO) and Wolfgang Buchkremer (KHS) from the machine builder side as well as Bill Henderson (Siemens) and Markus Sandhoefner (B&R) as technology provider representatives. The main objective of the OMAC Users Group is to establish open architectures and components that allow “interoperability” in order to provide the end user with the most efficient solution for their machine requirements. The main tasks of the board members of the OPW therefore include the approval of OMAC OPW guidelines, setting targets and strategies as well as defining and reviewing the objectives for the OPW each year. B&R has been supporting the OMAC Users Group especially the OMAC packaging workgroups PackConnect and PackSoft since May 2003. The PackSoft workgroup defines the basic requirements of general motion control needed for packaging applications. In this regard, B&R has integrated PLCopen Function Blocks which are among the main focal points of the PackSoft team. The PackConnect workgroup defines the control and architecture platforms and connectivity requirements for packaging automation systems. According to Markus Sandhoefner, “B&R’s ETHERNET Powerlink technology could greatly contribute to the simplification of communication interfaces between controls, I/O’s, HMI and servo drives. B&R’s decision to open the ETHERNET Powerlink technology to the public enhances the progress of standardization and interoperability for all communication tasks. It is therefore one of my goals as board member of the OMAC packaging workgroup to include Ethernet based deterministic, real-time communication systems in future OMAC guidelines”.

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