The Unified Namespace – how to build one?

The Unified Namespace (UNS) is a logical representation of the production organization, to which devices and applications can connect. This setup allows applications to obtain information about the current state of the manufacturing system at any point in time. The information can be employed to keep operators posted or perform calculations, or it can be stored for later use or analysis.

To make this work, we need a few technical building blocks. First of all, we need a network. We could say that the network is already there; otherwise, our factory wouldn’t be running. Still, we need to mention it because it’s a key element of the UNS architecture. Typically, it’s a TCP/IP network connecting all the architecture parts.