that needs to make its way out of production levels and go up into Levels 2 and 3. ISA-95 plays an important role, too, by defining certain functions within a manufacturing system from a Level 3 standpoint in terms of integrating the business system with the plant floor. It shows how you send down to the plant floor what it is you want to make, and it helps you do performance tracking back up.” Van Dyke also notes that although Figure B doesn’t show PackML or PackTags, they’re crucial because they provide the definitions and machine states that permit operational commands to go down and operational responses to go back up.

Increased capacity utilization is among the business benefits that packaged goods manufacturers can expect to gain by bringing standards-based integration to their companies, a point made by Van Dyke in his PAF presentation.

“In general, we see that the industry average in terms of how much an asset is fully producing product is in the range of 30 percent to 40 percent,” said Van Dyke. “A world-class manufacturer should be in the 70 percent to 80 percent range.”

One final observation on OPW comes from Keith Campbell, a well-known manufacturing consultant with more than 30 years of experience. In his June 25 “On The Edge” blog,
Campbell writes that a reader has asked him if the PackML guidelines are anything more than a marketing ploy. Noting that the leadership of the OPW resides in the hands of senior level people at well-known packaged goods companies, he answers the question in this way: “This is not about a marketing ploy, but about how to drive cost out and bring productivity into the supply chain by making automation simple and reliable.” He concludes: “I believe that there is substantial value in this standards work for packagers and machinery builders alike. We should all be paying close attention, or better yet, participating.”

To see the accompanying sidebar to this story - "The Connect and Pack Message" - please visit www.automationworld.com/view-3489

To see the accompanying sidebar to this story - "OMAC Demo at Pack Expo Las Vegas" - please visit www.automationworld.com/view-3488 

For more information, search keywords “ OMAC,” “PackML” and “ PackTags” at www.automationworld.com, or at www.packworld.com.