Copa-Data demonstrates modularisation with MTP

As product life cycles are becoming shorter and markets more volatile, the time available for innovation is limited. Modularisation as an interdisciplinary concept of industrial production offers an answer to these challenges, and Copa-Data presented practical examples at the Hannover Messe.

Copa-Data has not only taken on a pioneering role for MTP (Modular Type Package), but the company is also committed to further development – from the vision of simplifying communication between production plants, to the development of a digitalisation solution, to a standardised information model that opens up optimisation potential for almost all industries.

The concept of modularisation with MTP originated in the process industry but is increasingly being adapted for other industrial sectors, with a high degree of automation. With the zenon MTP Suite, the overall process is digitally linked into different components and modules according to the modular principle to form a production plant that can be easily orchestrated.

This not only optimises operational efficiency, but also makes the plant design significantly more flexible. Thereby, providing answers today to the challenges of tomorrow. Those who rely on MTP create a 50 per cent faster time-to-market, for example, through rapid upscaling from laboratory to production.

From special solution to standard

Plug-and-produce brings significant improvements in terms of efficiency and cost savings. A successful best-practice example of a project of this kind, is the laboratory automation of the technology group Merck. Here, the laboratory set-ups are used in a completely modular and digitalised way based on MTP.

At the ZVEI joint stand B 39/2 in Hall 11 at the Hannover Messe, Copa-Data exhibited the zenon MTP Suite, which demonstrates new solutions for the simple creation and modification of plant configurations.

In addition to its use in test setups in the laboratory, the company says MTP offers great added value as an established standard in the entire process industry with its high quality requirements. The MTP Suite makes orchestration possible: it is used to flexibly interconnect equipment and automatically create the control system based on this data.

Data can be validated according to VDI/VDE/NAMUR 2658 and MTP files can be created and edited independently. Furthermore, the connection of existing equipment via an MTP gateway and the configuration of PEA instances can be realised. Companies can thus optimize their own production processes and benefit from the advantages of agile manufacturing in a standard-compliant manner.

“The potential of modular production is far from exhausted. MTP can do much more than we can currently imagine. The application possibilities are almost unlimited if you think in interdisciplinary terms,” says Jürgen Schrödel, managing director of Copa-Data Germany, describing the future of MTP. “A first taste of was shown at the presentations at the Hannover Messe at the ZVEI and PNO stands.”