1,312 research outputs found
A Manufacturing Execution System using Siemens\u27 PC Based Automation Technology
The focus of any manufacturing operation is to establish better yields, reduced cycle times, increase quality, and handle dynamic demand/resource fluctuations. Over the past few years many manufacturing companies have implemented Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and they have proved themselves to be successful in achieving these goals. However, real-time data is required in order to portray an accurate account of the day-to-day and/or hourly product manufacturing operations. Retrieval of this real-lime data is a challenging task. A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is a real-time information system that improves the performance of the shop floor operations by linking business planning, order entry, material management, purchasing and accounting to the controls on the factory equipment. Siemens\u27 PC-based automation technology is an emerging technology that appears to provide a robust architecture for integrating all elements of the manufacturing environment. Applications that range from simple control to distributed control and full-fledged MES can be developed using Siemens\u27 architecture. The primary focus of this thesis is applied research to facilitate the development of a Manufacturing Execution System to control a flexible manufacturing system, CAMCELL, using Siemens\u27 PC-based automation technology and Microsoft\u27s database technology. CAMCELL contains two CNC machining centers, assembly robots, and a vision system, all of which are interlinked by a material handling system. The software architecture of the CAMCELL is based on NIST\u27s five level hierarchy. Specifically, it contains functional modules for order entry, scheduling, and routing. In addition to these functional modules, there are various support modules. In this study, we have developed software architecture to achieve vertical integration of the process control layer, the MES layer and the ERP layer. Using Siemens\u27 WinCC software, real-time process data was collected and integrated into an MES database. The study demonstrates how order information stored in a high-level database is converted into useful information for the control layer. The study also demonstrates the ability of WinCC and Visual FoxPro to update the production data into the MES database. Various Operator interface and database screens are proposed for CAMCELL
RFID-enabled real-time manufacturing execution system for discrete manufacturing: Software design and implementation
Discrete manufacturing (DM) refers to produce products in non-sequential processes so as to respond to market and customer requirements quickly under limited lead-time. However, in shop-floor management, DM companies usually confront challenges such as information gaps between different manufacturing units, slow responsiveness to customer changes, and poor visualization. The main reasons are lacking of efficient manufacturing data collection manners and software to support shop-floor management. This paper introduces an RFID-enabled real-time manufacturing execution system (RT-MES) for improving DM shop-floor management level in the perspective of illustrating the RT-MES software design and implementation. Several contributions from this paper are significant. First, a framework of RFID-enabled RT-MES is proposed, which is generic and helpful for enterprise information system (EIS) construction. Second, a plug-universal database-aided design (PUDAD) concept and its realization are elaborated, which could reduce RT-MES development and implementation cycle. Third, an interface middleware is reported to enable RT-MES real-time intercommunication with other EISs such as SAP ERP. Fourth, a real-life case study describes how RT-MES to enhance a typical DM firm's shop-floor management, which can be referenced by other DM companies when they initiate and implement RFID-enabled solutions. © 2011 IEEE.published_or_final_versionThe 2011 IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing and Control (ICNSC 2011), Delft, the Netherlands, 11-13 April 2011. In Proceedings of ICNSC, 2011, p. 311-31
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
Functional specifications of a manufacturing execution system
Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-130).by Roland B. Sargeant.S.M.M.B.A
The role of a manufacturing execution system during a lean improvement project
Observation is a key aspect within a Lean improvement project. The project team starts from scratch and analyses the current situation by walking through the production process. During the last decade, the digitization of manufacturing operations has had its share of attention. Different kinds of software tools collect and analyze real-time data and turn them into valuable knowledge to support and optimize manufacturing operations. These systems are commonly referred to as Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). The historical data – incorporated in these systems – can be used to support or validate the Lean efforts. As MES enforces the standard way of working on the production floor, it is also crucial to (re)align the system with the Lean improvements. A case study within a food and beverage company illustrates this dual role of an MES during a Lean improvement project
A method to support SMEs to optimize their manufacturing operations
In the last decades the gap between enterprise systems, like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and process control systems has been filled with the development of software systems, commonly referred to as Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM). The ISA-95 standard provides a detailed functional description of this intermediate layer in the CIM pyramid. This standard supports manufacturing companies, system integrators and software vendors by using the same terminology in their communication for integrating their enterprise and control systems. Most of the time, these software systems address bigger companies which are convinced of the strategic advantages for their MOM projects: reduction of risks, costs and errors. This paper introduces an analysis and justification method that reduces the barriers to adoption of MOM systems for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). By applying the method an SME gets an idea of the possible improvements for the materials and information flow required for the production of goods or services
RFID-Based Manufacturing Execution System for Mould Enterprises
According to the problem that it's difficult for mould enterprises to manage and control the production process accurately by using the current manufacturing execution system, the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology was introduced into the manufacturing execution system. In this paper, a RFID-based manufacturing execution system is proposed for tracing and managing the real-time manufacturing process of mould. The framework of RFID-based manufacturing execution system for mould enterprises was established, under this framework, the key technologies including RFID-based shop-floor model of mould enterprises, information fusion model for real-time monitoring, objective function of dynamic job shop scheduling were described respectively. Finally, through the research and application of the system, a novel mode was provided for manufacturing process management of mould enterprises
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