Industry 4.0: Synchronization of decentrally and centrally collected data
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in future with MES only
In the meantime, MES (Manufacturing Execution System) is considered to be the basic relevant tool to meet the challenges of Industry 4.0. As a central, principally structuring and synchronizing element in a decentralized system, MES is of elementary importance.
The decentralization of individual production and process sections is a crucial task that must be solved in
Industry 4.0. But this can only be achieved if a central element will synchronise and structure things.
In the course of digitalization and with the expansion of complex, automated processes, including those carried out by robots, it became clear that a new type of systematic structure will be required in modern, highly technical production processes today and in the future.
Central control of decentralized things
Up to now, data in semi-automated and automated processes (Industry 3.0) has been collected decentrally where it is generated or created. Which, by the way, will and should remain so in the age of Industry 4.0 and the IoT.
The collection of this data will be exciting and in a certain sense forward-looking. This can now be done
centrally or decentrally.
However, the key to processing the data is its intelligent and powerful synchronization. And this, in turn, is only possible in a central system. Exactly where all “threads” or collected data come together.
A turntable for a flood of data:
This is exactly where the Manufacturing Execution System MES comes in. In principle, an MES has the task of acting as a hub for the collected flood of data and has to organize the production process in the optimum way.
MES collects data on individual production stages, controls relevant systems, monitors functions, alarms in the event of failure of individual processes and can even look into the future to find potential sources of error. All this is synchronized as a transparent data set by the central MES instance.
MES such as granIT:flow, for example, is becoming the central element in prefabricated house production processes for a smooth workflow, optimum capacity utilisation without downtime and flawless quality.
MES – essential for Industry 4.0
granIT:flow plays a central organising and synchronising role in the creation of an image of current processes. As a virtual link between all processes, machine and robot activities, the MES granIT:flow documents the process flow, thus enabling a better understanding of the sequence and, if necessary, enables an improvement of individual production sections. The Manufacturing Execution System has thus become an essential component of modern and trend-setting production processes in the detailed planning and coordination of production sequences.
The responsible technical managers of a production process can follow the production process from A to Z in real time on a screen and, with the help of MES, make changes that ultimately improve or optimize the performance of the production process.
Industry 4.0 without MES? Practically impossible!
