Part 1 of this companion specification describes an interface that provides access to asset management and condition monitoring data of motion device systems. Based on the provided data the following use cases are supported:

1. Supervision: With the provided data by the companion specification the crane system can be supervised and monitored. Functional analysis of individual crane systems within the factory ground is possible. During production phase the companion specification provides data about the operational and safety states as well as process data.
2. Condition monitoring: Condition monitoring is the process of determining the condition of machinery while in operation, in order to identify a significant change which is indicative of a developing fault. This is a major component of Predictive Maintenance where the maintenance is scheduled to shorten the downtime. The typical parameters needed for condition monitoring like motor temperature, load, on time are provided by the companion specification for cranes.
3. Asset management: The companion specification for cranes provides detailed information of the main electrical and mechanical parts like part number, brand name, serial number etc. With these data an effective maintenance is possible because the technician knows in advance which parts need to be changed and can be prepared.
4. Limitation from external system: The companion specification for cranes provides an interface which can be used by external systems to request limitations to the operation of the crane, for purposes such as making the crane operating area safer for humans and other machines. The external system can be a wearable device on a person, another moving machine such as a lift truck or a stationary machine, such as an extruder or a paper machine. The restrictions can be speed restrictions, where the external system requests the crane to reduce its speed when certain conditions are met. In addition, the external systems could use the interface to request that the crane does not enter a zone within the crane operating area at all. It is notable that all functional safety responsibility still lies with the crane control system when using the companion specification for this purpose.

Figure 6 shows the communication structure with OPC UA.

Figure 6 – Communication structure with OPC UA for Cranes and Hoists

Figure 7 describes the semantic self-description with OPC UA for Cranes and Hoists.

Figure 7 – OPC UA for Cranes and Hoists describes the semantic self-description