The OMAC Microsoft Manufacturing User Group (MS MUG) hosted the Manufacturing Operations Forum in Redmond, Washington, last week.  For those not familiar with the MS MUG, it was formed in 1999 to address issues that arise when applying Microsoft technology in manufacturing.  It’s mission is to define and resolve these issues, such as version management, system integration, maintenance, and supplier responsibility.  One of the subgroups is MUGOPC, which concentrates on the expanding need to update user issues into OPC standards.

Some of the topics discussed included the results from a recent on-line survey,  and some disappointing, but not unexpected, news on Vista that Dale over at Digital Bond has more details on.

The MUGOPC group also recently conducted surveys of the vendors and end-users asking about their experiences with OPC, and interoperability.  Of the over 650 end-user respondents, nearly 75% had no or only minor OPC problems.   Not too shabby, but of course that number can be improved on.  The OPC Foundation is working on a few things to do just that.   There’s an article in this month’s ControlGlobal OPC Connection column, that goes into more details on OPC Interoperability.  I’d encourage you to take a look, since I know the author.