Production capability protocols are used to pull data from the MES Production Resource Management module, and production performance protocols deliver data to the ERP from the MES Production Tracking System. Meanwhile, production schedule protocols send data from the ERP system to the Detailed Production Scheduling module in the MES.
The MES also consists of several other interconnected modules, including Production Dispatch, Production Definition Management, Production Execution, Production Data Collection, and Production Performance Analysis. Of these, the Production Definition Management, the Production Execution, and the Production Data Collection modules connect through OPC to the control system.
Improve the ISA Model
To make the ISA model provide real-time, dynamic, rule-based behavior to a real-world, flexible manufacturing system, some further steps help to make the system perform better and provide an easy-to-operate user interface.
First, a Data Integration Service (DIS) sublayer bridges the MES to the ERP system by encapsulating transactional data using B2MML. Second, to bring data from the OPC layer, a real-time, fully redundant data server feeds data to the MES and back to the control systems. It encapsulates data from the plant floor to make it easy for the MES to handle. In addition, the ISA Production Resource Management module can be expanded to include an equipment manager, a material manager, and a personnel manager.
The Production Dispatch module can be changed to a Production Order Manager, and the ISA Production Tracking module can be expanded to include a material manager, a production performance analysis, and a personnel manager. In addition, an historian has replaced the ISA Production Data Collection module, while the ISA Production Performance Analysis module’s duties have been expanded to include a Plant Performance Analyzer. While these modules cover information flow, two additional systems provide the flexibility for engineers to configure the system. A Report Manager provides data necessary for plant managers to run the plant, and a Client Application Builder allows engineers to design and build the MES.
Additional features that go beyond ISA SP-95 specifications provide more flexibility for MES system designers. For example, rules coordinate and synchronize machines, applications, and people. The system accommodates third-party software products and devices, as well as laboratory information systems and specification management systems, which assist users in managing and formulating product specifications for raw materials, semi-finished and finished products, and packaging materials. These systems can also distribute information across the company and throughout different departments.
Simplify Programming and Configuration
A framework approach to building an MES can eliminate trial-and-error spaghetti coding. For example, a graphical modeling environment, along with a strict separation between the production model and the operating components, provide better transparency and flexibility than a traditional approach to building an MES. Just as object-oriented programming reduces “reinventing the wheel,” an MES containing a hierarchy of reusable libraries can significantly reduce project costs and risks.
Also, the MES Client Application Builder with built-in Web server allows engineers to create and publish custom ASP.Net Web pages on a range of devices–from laptops to handheld computers. Data sources include the pro- duction modeler, MES components, the database, and the real-time data server.
Benefits of a Fully Integrated ERP/MES System
An ERP system provides business planning and logistics, plant production scheduling, operational management, and so on—all Level 4 activities. An MES (Level 3) provides manufacturing operations management, dispatching production, detailed production scheduling, reliability assurance, and so on.
In the past, some complained ERP systems tried too hard to provide what an MES does. Integrating an ERP system with an MES meant overlapping functionalities manufacturers couldn’t use or didn’t need. And, in many cases, an “MES functionality” provided within an ERP system was anything but comprehensive.
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