Fox or hedgehog, Opto 22 expands through IP standards commitment

The saying goes, "The fox knows many things, the hedgehog only one; but what the hedgehog knows, it knows very well."

While automation vendor Opto 22 would no doubt object to its being compared to a hedgehog, the analogy does hold true—to a degree. That's because, following the waves of consolidation that have swept through automation markets over the last decade and a half, Opto 22 is one of very few privately owned automation vendors left.

And while Opto 22 may not have the diverse product lines of comparative giants like Emerson, Rockwell, or GE Fanuc, it does have one thing that it knows very well, and that is fundamental to all its new products: faith in Internet protocols.

In Opto 22's view, the Transport Control Protocol over Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is the true key to networking flexibility, whether on the plant floor, business enterprise, or supply chain. This is so because TCP/IP can bind to many types of physical media—from wire to wireless or LAN to WAN—and, on the other hand, encapsulate virtually any data.

"We've always been about open protocols," says Benson Hougland, director of technical marketing. "But we were alone, and now what we've been saying is being validated in the marketplace."

Thus, while Opto 22's core products are hardware devices that manage input/output (I/O) between plant-floor devices or sensors and manufacturing systems, based on a full range of industrial protocols, widespread recognition of Internet protocols has not only changed that business, but also opened up new worlds for the company.

First is the ability, once "context" has been assigned, of bringing gathered information directly into the business enterprise system. Ranging even further, combining telecommunications with Opto 22 products allows wireless machine-to-machine (what Opto 22 calls M2M) communication, for real-time access, for example, to palletized or tanked material from remote locations.

"The point is that with enough time and money, you could do all these things with PLCs. But why do that, if you don't have to?" asks Hougland.

For its first M2M installations, Opto 22 partnered with mobile communications provider Nokia, but has expanded the communications provider list to include radio manufacturers Motorola, Kyocera, and Sony-Ericcson, and wireless providers AT&T Wireless, Verizon, and Nextel.

In one instance, the German division of pharmaceutical giant Bayer, which supplies chemicals and gases to other drug manufacturers, uses M2M to connect sensors on Bayer's customers' storage tanks to the Bayer corporate network via standard and wireless modems, allowing the real-time connection that leads to good customer service.

"In the past, wireless applications required reengineering of the communications piece. Networking or RF communications would be chosen over cellular because they cost less, but that's no longer the case," says Bob Scheffres, an Opto 22 VP.

Opto 22 recently introduced the latest version of its programming and HMI software, ioProject; a small-footprint industrial controller, SNAP-LCE; and perhaps most interesting, a Linux-based I/O system that supports use of open-source technologies in developing control applications, called SNAP-ARL-ASDS.

So while there's no harm in being a hedgehog, it must be admitted that Opto 22 can as easily be compared to a fox—in the crafty sense—given the rich mix that follows from its singular commitment, and in the lean way it runs its business.

Opto 22 says it's profitable, debt free, and accomplishes all its manufacturing here in the U.S. at its headquarters facility in Temecula, Calif. What's more, during the recent economic downturn, it never laid off a single employee, allowing retention of key intellectual assets.

"We probably wouldn't have been able to do that if we were a publicly owned corporation," says Hougland, "and we're such a lean organization that we haven't had to move our manufacturing offshore."