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Softing offers extended functionalities for Plant Asset Management

Two product releases from Softing’s smartLink family offer enhanced functionalities for Plant Asset Management and the implementation of Industry 4.0 connectivity in industrial networks.

by Staff Writer
smartLink HW-DP enables access to process, asset, and diagnostic data from PROFIBUS devices and HART devices connected to PROFIBUS remote I/Os, as well as secure export to any system inside and outside the user's own network.

The smartLink product family from Softing enables end customers to use connectivity at the interface between OT and IT efficiently. The products allow simple and scalable integration of device data into plant asset management applications. The new versions of smartLink HW-DP v1.20 and smartLink SW-HT v1.20, which are now available, offer enhanced data transfer and connectivity functionalities.

smartLink HW-DP – Integration of Industry 4.0 applications in PROFIBUS and HART systems
smartLink HW-DP enables access to process, asset, and diagnostic data from PROFIBUS devices and HART devices connected to PROFIBUS remote I/Os, as well as secure export to any system inside and outside the user’s own network. The new version v1.20 now supports providing asset and diagnostic data from field devices via MQTT. This allows easy integration into typical IoT system architectures, such as the Namur Open Architecture (NOA) or the IoT reference architectures of large cloud platforms.

smartLink SW-HT – Data access via Emerson AMS Device Manager and other HART IP-enabled Plant Asset Management applications
smartLink SW-HT allows access to configuration and diagnostic data via Emerson’s AMS Device Manager or other HART IP-enabled Plant Asset Management applications. As the only solution available on the market, smartLink SW-HT has so far supported Schneider Electric M580 controllers and drop I/Os as well as Allen-Bradley controllers and remote I/Os. Version v1.20 now also connects Emerson AMS Device Manager to HART devices connected to R.Stahl IS1+ remote I/O. More and more modern remote IOs are using Ethernet to connect to the controller. smartLink SW-HT considers this trend by providing an Ethernet connection for tunnelling HART commands to remote IOs. As a Docker container, smartLink SW-HT can be managed via Kubernetes-based management platforms or services of the major cloud platforms.

Both new product versions expand the possibilities for end customers to implement open, standards-based, and scalable system architectures with the smartLink product family and to integrate connectivity into ITmanaged edge solutions.