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by Stephanie Neil, MA Editorial Staff
Posted on Sunday, August 24, 2008 2:00:00 AM Sign Up to receive Daily News Alerts in your E-mail Inbox    | Abstract: | The Organization for Manufacturing Automation and Control (OMAC) intends to be the organization that will shape how the industry, as a whole, applies standards, and how manufacturers use technology in the future. |
| Keywords: | OMAC, Open Modular Architecture Control, Organization for Manufacturing Automation and Control |
OMAC may have a new name, but not an entirely new objective. The organization, dubbed the Open Modular Architecture Control (OMAC) Users' Group when formed in 1994, was established as a way for manufacturers - primarily in the automotive industry - to find ways to drive down the cost of automation via PC-based control. Through the years, the goal has moved more toward driving technology standards across discrete and process industries.
That mission remains under the new nomenclature, the Organization for Manufacturing Automation and Control (OMAC). And while the direction remains intact, the organization said the name change is the first step toward expanding its scope.
"The name change is aimed at better aligning what we are really trying to do," said David Bauman, OMAC's technical director. The Open Modular Architecture Control moniker was too closely tied to hardware, he said. "We are more about trying to drive industry standards ... and how they should evolve ... so [manufacturers] can pick and choose what they want to use, and more easily interchange things. It also helps drive competition."
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