Vertical Integration and Adaptive Services in Networked Production Environments

摘要

A major task in the context of Industry 4.0 is the vertical integration of the layers of automation and information technology to make today's structures in production plants more flexible. While the necessity of such a step is easy to see from an administrative perspective, the technical realization is difficult, since it requires emergent software systems and implies the coupling of heterogeneous systems with different technological constraints. In this paper, we present an approach to realize this step. It is based on the coupling of adaptive components and services, which range from the field level to the management level and include wireless sensor networks, autonomous robots, and multimedia systems for remote maintenance, with an ERP system. By presenting the application in a demonstration production plant bottling liquid soap, we provide evidence of the approach's economical and technological benefits.