Benchmarking VisualStudio.NET for the development and implementation of a manufacturing execution system

The focus of this thesis is to show the utility of Microsoft\u27s\u27 .NET framework in developing and implementing a MES system. The manufacturing environment today, more than ever, is working towards achieving better yields, productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction. Companies such as DELL are rapidly outgrowing their competition due to better management of their product lifecycles. The time between receiving a new order to the time the final product is shipped is getting shorter. Historically, business management applications such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems have been implemented without too much importance given to the operational and shop floor needs. The fact is that these business systems can be successful only when they are properly integrated with real-time data from the shop floor, which is the core of any manufacturing set-up. A Manufacturing Execution System or a MES is this link between the shop floor and the top floor. MESA international defines MES as Systems that deliver information enabling the optimization of production activities from order launch to finished goods Thus, a MES provides the right information to the right people at the right time in a right format, to help them make well-informed decisions. Thus, a necessity for an efficient MES is high capability of integration with the existing systems on the operational level. This is where Microsoft\u27s\u27 VS.NET fits in. Microsoft defines .NET as A set of software technologies for connecting information, people, systems and devices . The vision of .NET is to enable the end user to connect to information from any place at anytime, using any device and in a manner that is independent of the platform on which the service is based. The building block of the .NET framework is the Common Language Runtime or CLR, which is capable of converting data from its original format into a format understandable to .NET and then use that format to interface with its client. This feature that .NET provides holds the key in the context of a MES development and implementation. The aim of this applied research is to design a MES using VS.NET to control the working of a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) namely CAMCELL. The architecture used for the MES will then be gauged against an MES implementation done previously using a Siemens\u27 PC-based automation technology and Visual FoxPro. This study will integrate the Siemens\u27 technology with the .NET framework to enhance the resulting MES efficiency. The shop floor details or the real-time data collection will be done using the databases from WinCC and data aggregation and manipulation will be done within the .NET framework. The software architecture used for this study will achieve vertical integration between the CAMCELL ERP layer, the MES layer and the Control layer. The study will demonstrate how the data stored in a high level ERP database can be converted into useful information for the control layer for process control and also how real-time information gathered from the control layer can be filtered into useful information up to the ERP layer to facilitate the decision making process. VS.NET user interface screens will be proposed to support these activities. The performance of the proposed architecture will be compared to that from previous studies, thus benchmarking VS.NET for the implementation of the MES

Multi Agent Systems in Logistics: A Literature and State-of-the-art Review

Based on a literature survey, we aim to answer our main question: “How should we plan and execute logistics in supply chains that aim to meet today’s requirements, and how can we support such planning and execution using IT?†Today’s requirements in supply chains include inter-organizational collaboration and more responsive and tailored supply to meet specific demand. Enterprise systems fall short in meeting these requirements The focus of planning and execution systems should move towards an inter-enterprise and event-driven mode. Inter-organizational systems may support planning going from supporting information exchange and henceforth enable synchronized planning within the organizations towards the capability to do network planning based on available information throughout the network. We provide a framework for planning systems, constituting a rich landscape of possible configurations, where the centralized and fully decentralized approaches are two extremes. We define and discuss agent based systems and in particular multi agent systems (MAS). We emphasize the issue of the role of MAS coordination architectures, and then explain that transportation is, next to production, an important domain in which MAS can and actually are applied. However, implementation is not widespread and some implementation issues are explored. In this manner, we conclude that planning problems in transportation have characteristics that comply with the specific capabilities of agent systems. In particular, these systems are capable to deal with inter-organizational and event-driven planning settings, hence meeting today’s requirements in supply chain planning and execution.supply chain;MAS;multi agent systems

IDL-XML based information sharing model for enterprise integration

CJM is a mechanized approach to problem solving in an enterprise. Its basis is intercommunication between information systems, in order to provide faster and more effective decision making process. These results help minimize human error, improve overall productivity and guarantee customer satisfaction. Most enterprises or corporations started implementing integration by adopting automated solutions in a particular process, department, or area, in isolation from the rest of the physical or intelligent process resulting in the incapability for systems and equipment to share information with each other and with other computer systems. The goal in a manufacturing environment is to have a set of systems that will interact seamlessly with each other within a heterogeneous object framework overcoming the many barriers (language, platforms, and even physical location) that do not grant information sharing. This study identifies the data needs of several information systems of a corporation and proposes a conceptual model to improve the information sharing process and thus Computer Integrated Manufacturing. The architecture proposed in this work provides a methodology for data storage, data retrieval, and data processing in order to provide integration at the enterprise level. There are four layers of interaction in the proposed IXA architecture. The name TXA (DDL - XML Architecture for Enterprise Integration) is derived from the standards and technologies used to define the layers and corresponding functions of each layer. The first layer addresses the systems and applications responsible for data manipulation. The second layer provides the interface definitions to facilitate the interaction between the applications on the first layer. The third layer is where data would be structured using XML to be stored and the fourth layer is a central repository and its database management system

An XML-based continuous auditing web services model -An Implementation Study

The concepts of continuous auditing are now more than two decades old, many researchers have issued differ continuous audit system model for applying over internet technology. A continuous audit is an assurance service where the time between the occurrence of events underlying a particular subject matter and the issuance of an auditor‘s opinion on the fairness of a client‘s representation of the subject matter is eliminated. The auditor offer restricted views provided by the continuous audit web services (CAWS) routines on a fee basis to analysts, investors, financial institutions, and other parties interested in obtaining continuous audit (CA) of business performance or other audit objects of interest. In our study proposed not only discuss with how to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of the entire data collection system but also implement the XML web services to enterprise applied for correctness and usefulness well-known the CAWS model. The CAWS design and demonstrate an implementation of continuous audit with the internal auditor data verify for compliance CA domain. The demonstrated CAWS model uses data retrieval layer, data analysis layer and data presentation layer over the internet to continuously monitor by the audit department. The article concludes with suggestion for future research and our implemented experiences

Mallipohjainen järjestelmäintegraatio tuotannonohjausjärjestelmille

Application integration becomes more complex as software becomes more advanced. This thesis investigates the applicability of model-driven application integration methods to the software integration of manufacturing execution systems (MES). The goal was to create a code generator that uses models to generate a working program that transfers data from a MES to another information system. The focus of the implementation was on generality. First, past research of MES was reviewed, the means to integrate it with other information systems were investigated, and the international standard ISA-95 and B2MML as well as model-driven engineering (MDE) were revised. Next, requirements were defined for the system. The requirements were divided into user and developer requirements. A suitable design for a code generator was introduced and, after that, implemented and experimented. The experiment was conducted by reading production data from the database of MES-like Delfoi Planner and then transforming that data to B2MML-styled XML-schema. The experiment verified that the code generator functioned as intended. However, compared to a manually created program, the generated code was longer and less efficient. It should also be considered that adopting MDE methods takes time. Therefore, for MDE to be better than traditional programming, the code generator has to be used multiple times in order to achieve the benefits and the systems cannot be too time-critical either. Based on the findings, it can be said, that model-driven application integration methods can be used to integrate MESs, but there are restrictions.Järjestelmäintegraatio vaikeutuu ohjelmien monimutkaistuessa. Tässä työssä tutkitaan mallipohjaisten järjestelmäintegraatiometodien soveltuvuutta tuotannonohjausjärjestelmille (MES). Tavoitteena oli muodostaa koodigeneraattori, joka käyttää malleja luodakseen toimivan ohjelman, joka siirtää tietoa MES-järjestelmästä johonkin toiseen tietojärjestelmään. Toteutuksessa keskityttiin yleistettävyyteen. Aluksi työssä käytiin läpi aikaisempaa tutkimusta MES-järjestelmistä ja mahdollisuuksista integroida niitä toisiin informaatiojärjestelmiin. Lisäksi otettiiin selvää kansainvälisestä ISA-95 standardista ja B2MML:sta sekä mallipohjaisesta tekniikasta (MDE). Tämän jälkeen järjestelmälle määriteltiin vaatimukset, jotka jaettiin käyttäjän ja kehittäjän vaatimuksiin. Koodigeneraattorista tehtiin ehdot täyttävä suunnitelma, joka toteutettiin ja jolla suoritettiin kokeita. Koe toteutettiin lukemalla tuotantodataa MES:n kaltaisen Delfoi Plannerin tietokannasta, jonka jälkeen data muutettiin B2MML tyyliä noudattavaan XML-schema muotoon. Kokeet osoittivat, että koodigeneraattori toimi kuten toivottiin. Kuitenkin havaittiin, että verrattuna manuaalisesti toteutettuun ohjelmaan, luotu ohjelma ei ollut yhtä tehokas ja lisäksi se oli pidempi. Huomattiin myös, että MDE-metodien käyttöönotto vie paljon aikaa. Jotta MDE olisi perinteistä ohjelmointia parempi vaihtoehto, sitä pitäisi käyttää useita kertoja ja sillä luotu järjestelmä ei saisi olla liian aikariippuvainen. Havaintojen perusteella voidaan sanoa, että mallipohjaisia järjestelmäintegraatiometodeja voidaan käyttää MES-järjestelmien integrointiin, mutta sille on rajoituksia

Interoperability framework for supporting information-based assistance in the factory

The aim of this paper is to propose new interoperability solution, based on Info-Engine framework and web services technology to support data exchange and extraction from PLM system, specially the Windchill tool. This solution will be implemented as a connector module of more generic framework, named Digital Factory Assistant (DFA). The DFA framework aims to provide factory workers by a set of knowledge and information based decision support to improve their activity performance

Plug-and-Participate for Limited Devices in the Field of Industrial Automation

Ausgangspunkt und gleichzeitig Motivation dieser Arbeit ist die heutige Marktsituation: Starke Kundenbedürfnisse nach individuellen Gütern stehen oftmals eher auf Massenproduktion ausgerichteten Planungs- und Automatisierungssystemen gegenüber - die Befriedigung individueller Kundenbedürfnisse setzt aber Flexibilität und Anpassungsfähigkeit voraus. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es daher, einen Beitrag zu leisten, der es Unternehmen ermöglichen soll, auf diese individuellen Bedürfnisse flexibel reagieren zu können. Hierbei kann es im Rahmen der Dissertation natürlich nicht um eine Revolutionierung der gesamten Automatisierungs- und Planungslandschaft gehen; vielmehr ist die Lösung, die der Autor der Arbeit präsentiert, ein integraler Bestandteil eines Automatisierungskonzeptes, das im Rahmen des PABADIS Projektes entwickelt wurde: Während PABADIS das gesamte Spektrum von Planung und Maschineninfrastruktur zum Inhalt hat, bezieht sich der Kern dieser Arbeit weitestgehend auf den letztgenannten Punkt - Maschineninfrastruktur. Ziel war es, generische Maschinenfunktionalität in einem Netzwerk anzubieten, durch das Fertigungsaufträge selbstständig navigieren. Als Lösung präsentiert diese Dissertation ein Plug-and-Participate basiertes Konzept, welches beliebige Automatisierungsfunktionen in einer spontanen Gemeinschaft bereitstellt. Basis ist ein generisches Interface, in dem die generellen Anforderungen solcher ad-hoc Infrastrukturen aggregiert sind. Die Implementierung dieses Interfaces in der PABADIS Referenzimplementierung sowie die Gegenüberstellung der Systemanforderungen und Systemvoraussetzungen zeigte, das klassische Plug-and-Participate Technologien wie Jini und UPnP aufgrund ihrer Anforderungen nicht geeignet sind - Automatisierungsgeräte stellen oftmals nur eingeschränkte Ressourcen bereit. Daher wurde als zweites Ergebnis neben dem Plug-and-Participate basierten Automatisierungskonzept eine Plug-and-Participate Technologie entwickelt - Pini - die den Gegebenheiten der Automatisierungswelt gerecht wird und schließlich eine Anwendung von PABADIS auf heutigen Automatisierungsanlagen erlaubt. Grundlegende Konzepte von Pini, die dies ermöglichen, sind die gesamte Grundarchitektur auf Basis eines verteilten Lookup Service, die Art und Weise der Dienstrepräsentation sowie die effiziente Nutzung der angebotenen Dienste. Mit Pini und darauf aufbauenden Konzepten wie PLAP ist es nun insbesondere möglich, Automatisierungssysteme wie PABADIS auf heutigen Anlagen zu realisieren. Das wiederum ist ein Schritt in Richtung Kundenorientierung - solche Systeme sind mit Hinblick auf Flexibilität und Anpassungsfähigkeit gestaltet worden, um Kundenbedürfnissen effizient gerecht zu werden

ASPIE: A Framework for Active Sensing and Processing of Complex Events in the Internet of Manufacturing Things

Rapid perception and processing of critical monitoring events are essential to ensure healthy operation of Internet of Manufacturing Things (IoMT)-based manufacturing processes. In this paper, we proposed a framework (active sensing and processing architecture (ASPIE)) for active sensing and processing of critical events in IoMT-based manufacturing based on the characteristics of IoMT architecture as well as its perception model. A relation model of complex events in manufacturing processes, together with related operators and unified XML-based semantic definitions, are developed to effectively process the complex event big data. A template based processing method for complex events is further introduced to conduct complex event matching using the Apriori frequent item mining algorithm. To evaluate the proposed models and methods, we developed a software platform based on ASPIE for a local chili sauce manufacturing company, which demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methods for active perception and processing of complex events in IoMT-based manufacturing