OLE for process control (OPC) for new industrial automation systems

Today´s manufacturing enterprises are looking at advanced distributed object technologies as a means of integrating the islands of automation that currently exist within their worldwide operations. Distributed object technologies allow the seamless exchange of information across plant and enterprise networks. Furthermore, standard approaches, such as OLE for process control (OPC), work to significantly reduce the time, cost, and effort required to write custom interfaces for the hundreds of different intelligent devices and networks in use today. OPC makes it possible to have plug-and-play software and hardware across the spectrum of vendors, devices, software, and systems that manufacturing can easily integrate into corporate-wide automation and business systems