OMP contributes to COSI 1.0, a new industry standard for machine data in corrugated production

Machines from different manufacturers can now share production, quality, and maintenance data with a company's enterprise systems in one common format, in real time.

That is the promise of COSI 1.0, the Corrugated Standard Interface, which the Association of the German Corrugated Cardboard Industry VDW (Verband der Wellpappen-Industrie e.V.) announced on November 3. VDW says the open standard can raise efficiency through shorter setup times and better maintenance, and it calls COSI the first industry-wide standard of its kind.

Why corrugated needed a common interface

Until now, machine manufacturers and suppliers have mostly used their own interfaces and data formats, so packaging companies often cannot see clearly what their machines are doing.

According to VDW, the EU Data Act made machine data easier to access but did not set a common structure or format. COSI fills that gap with uniform protocols and minimum requirements for data exchange, allowing packaging companies to maintain control of their own data.

OMP actively helped define COSI as part of the working group that developed it, working on specification development and quality assurance. Other companies and organizations supporting the standard include DS Smith, Mondi, Palm, Bobst, Koenig & Bauer, and BHS.

What COSI 1.0 covers

COSI 1.0 covers four areas:

• Performance: a real-time analysis across multiple machines finds the optimal speed for individual products.
• Setup: setup parameters can be traced exactly, and variations in setup time traced back to their cause.
• Maintenance: vibration and power consumption data warn of possible failures early.
• Quality: factors such as board flatness are captured at the corrugator and linked to converting problems like scrap or color variation.

Security is part of the design, not an add-on. Machine data can reveal sensitive production processes, and the more machines connect to business systems, the more that matters. COSI therefore requires encrypted connections and access that is governed by the plant owner

Who developed it

VDW started the effort. Between June 2025 and October 2026, a working group of corrugated board manufacturers, machine manufacturers, and software providers, including OMP, developed the standard. FEFCO, the European umbrella association, supports it, and VDW plans to update COSI as industry requirements change.

“When a company invests in a new machine, the effort should go into getting the most out of it from the day it is installed, not into the technical integration,” says Pieter Geerinck, Vice President, Paper Plastics Packaging at OMP. “With COSI, machines and business systems share data in one common format from day one. Teams can spend their time dialing in speed, setups, and quality instead of building custom interfaces.”

Where to find the specifications

Want the details? VDW publishes the technical guideline and full specifications on its website, including JSON schemas for all message types, a glossary, and a compliance checklist.