Glossary · Automation fundamentals, platforms and components
Interoperability
German: Interoperabilität
In engineering and IT, interoperability is the ability of systems or components from different sources to exchange information and use it correctly, based on shared protocols, data models and semantics.
- Automation components
In one sentence
Interoperability is the ability of systems from different vendors to exchange information and use it correctly via shared protocols and semantics.
Example
Thanks to a shared OPC UA companion specification, an MES reads the state of injection molding machines from three different manufacturers without custom drivers.
Explained in context
Context cards connect this term with others to answer one question. Also in British English and German.
How it applies
- Engineering: Interoperability works on several layers: physical connection, protocol, data format and meaning. Standards such as OPC UA companion specifications, Module Type Package (MTP) or AutomationML address the higher layers.
- Commissioning: Interoperability claims are verified with the actual device versions; conformance tests and plugfests help.
- Documentation: State which standards, profiles and versions a product supports and which optional features are implemented. Shared terminology and metadata, for example via iiRDS, extend interoperability to documentation itself.
Interoperability vs. compatibility
Compatibility often means that components can work together, for example fit the same connector or run the same software version. Interoperability goes further: exchanged information is understood the same way on both sides. A common Protocol (communication) without a common Data model gives connectivity, not interoperability.