OPC UA solves the fundamental interoperability problem in manufacturing: how do you get data out of machines made by different vendors, running different protocols, without building a custom integration for each one?
An OPC UA server runs on (or alongside) industrial equipment and exposes all machine data through a standardised address space — a hierarchical namespace of typed data nodes. An OPC UA client (like Shopfloor Copilot's OPC Studio) connects to the server, browses the namespace to discover available data points, and subscribes to the nodes it needs for production monitoring.
| Dimension | OPC Classic (DA/HDA/A&E) | OPC UA (IEC 62541) |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Windows only (requires DCOM) | Platform-independent (Linux, Windows, embedded, cloud) |
| Security | DCOM-based (weak, firewall-hostile) | X.509 certificates, message signing, encryption |
| Information model | Limited (real-time values only) | Rich type system, inheritance, complex objects |
| Transport | DCOM/RPC | UA/TCP (port 4840), HTTPS, WebSockets, AMQP, MQTT |
| Standard | OPC Foundation (proprietary) | IEC 62541 (international standard) |
ns=2;i=5001)Connect your OPC UA machines → Shopfloor Copilot's OPC Explorer browses your OPC UA server namespace live — see all available data nodes in the UI.
See OPC UA Explorer →OPC UA (Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture, IEC 62541) is the standard for secure, platform-independent industrial machine-to-machine communication. It enables PLCs, robots, sensors, and equipment from different manufacturers to communicate with MES, SCADA, and cloud platforms via a standardised, typed data model.
OPC Classic was Windows-only and relied on DCOM — insecure and firewall-hostile. OPC UA is platform-independent, uses X.509 security, has a rich information model, and is standardised as IEC 62541. It is the mandatory protocol for Industry 4.0 and IIOT deployments.
OPC UA uses TCP port 4840 by default (UA/TCP binary protocol). URL format: opc.tcp://[hostname]:4840. HTTPS and WebSocket transports also available. Port is configurable — vendors often use custom ports.
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