MatrikonOPC is the world's largest developer and supplier of OPC drivers, clients, applications, tools and utilities. Not to mention, we are also the world's largest training facility for OPC technology.
With a collection of more than 500 OPC products and over 100,000 installations worldwide, MatrikonOPC is the world's largest OPC company. MatrikonOPC is a charter member of the OPC Foundation, and has demonstrated a commitment to developing OPC as the industrial connectivity standard.
MatrikonOPC's international, commercial, and military customer base includes a wide range of companies ranging from process to discrete manufacturers. With offices throughout North America, Australia, Europe and the Middle East, MatrikonOPC's reach is global.
Partners & Resellers of MatrikonOPC
In order to provide complete solutions for our customers, we have formed partnerships with leading technology vendors who offer the most innovative and widely-used products in the industry. Click here to view our list of Partners & Resellers.
MatrikonOPC is a Microsoft gold certified Independent Software Vendor. Gold Certified Partners are required to meet rigorous certification requirements and must prove their expertise in a given solution area by providing real-world customer references. As a Gold Certified Partner, Matrikon has access to the latest Microsoft technology and is provided with the necessary support to implement this technology into our products.
What is OPC?
OLE for Process Control (OPC) is a new technology designed to bridge Windows based applications and process control hardware. It is an open standard that permits a consistent method of accessing field data from plant floor devices. This method remains the same regardless of the type and source of data. Therefore, end users are free to choose the software and hardware that meets their primary production needs, without having to consider the availability of proprietary drivers.
OPC components fit into two categories: OPC clients and OPC servers. A client is typically a data sink -- an application that uses data in some way, such as an MMI or SCADA package. A server is a data source -a device specific program that collects data from a field device, and then makes it available to an OPC client.
A client interacts with a server using a well defined OPC interface. Therefore, any OPC client can communicate with any OPC server, regardless of the type of device the server is designed to collect data from.
OPC is built using Microsoft's OLE technology, which is a well tested and proven foundation. Also, the OPC specification was designed by an open foundation to meet the general needs of industry - not the specific needs of a few software or hardware manufacturers. The specification also provides for a robust evolution of functionality over time, so OPC components can stay on top of the emerging needs of industry.
Traditionally, any time an application required access to a process control device, a custom interface, or driver, was required and needed to be custom written. Because OPC defines a common interface, a server can be written once, then reused by any business, SCADA, MMI, or custom software package. In addition, OPC servers can be easily accessed and controlled from Visual Basic applications, such as Microsoft Excel macros or Microsoft Access applications. OPC clients can be written in any current windows development environment - no special software or toolkits are required.
With OPC, end users are now able to choose from large pool of OPC servers, such as those in Matrikon's OPC Component family, to communicate with their specific devices. They then either develop a client to communicate with the server, or choose a client such as a Matrikon OPC Client for their specific application.
What is MatrikonOPC?
MatrikonOPC is the name given by Matrikon to its OPC compliant components (servers and clients). These products are the culmination of Matrikon's experience with the latest object oriented design techniques, the Microsoft Platform, and over 9 years of experience in the design and implementation of device specific communication drivers.
We have put a great deal of effort into producing the finest OPC components available. Our servers feature the following characteristics:
- Fully compliant with the OPC specification to ensure maximum compatibility
- Multithreaded design for maximum responsiveness to clients
- Innovative optimization used to maximize use of available bandwidth
- Easy installation and configuration
- Dedicated technical support to solve all component related problems
- 30 day money back guarantee
All Matrikon OPC Servers include the Matrikon OPC Explorer, which is a fully compliant OPC client that permits interaction with all installed OPC servers. The Explorer is a versatile tool that can be used to:
- Test any OPC server during installation and configuration
- Confirm any OPC server's compliance with the OPC specification
- Monitor the operation of any running OPC server
- Diagnose OPC server problems