This way, the device vendor can provide access to all functionality in the device, yet the display from one device to the next is consistent.”

Berge, a strong supporter of EDDL, notes, “EDDL is not only used to put information on the screen, but is also used by device management software to automatically configure an OPC server to make all data from any device available to external software.”

OPC looks ahead

OPC, the open connectivity standard designed to allow devices and software from disparate vendors to communicate with each other, as well as with higher level systems, has not been seen as a key player in the maintenance arena. “Typically, there has not been a lot of asset data, or maintenance information, that is made available through OPC, but that is changing,” says Jim Luth, technical director of the OPC Foundation, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Luth says the vehicle for this is OPC Unified Architecture (UA). “It’s the next generation of the OPC specification, and it allows much richer data constructs and organization of data, and more complicated types of applications, to make use of OPC.” He sees this aiding communication between devices and asset management systems, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems as well.

Check out a podcast of Automation World Editor in Chief Gary Mintchell interviewing Emerson’s Jonas Berge about EDDL, at www.automationworld.com/podcast-4816