Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Alessandro Raviola

Elena Reggio

Paolo Copello

Federico Risso

Paolo Olmino

Ornella Tavani

Marco Mazzarone

Marco Magagnini

In a method and a system for managing product definition updates for controlling a manufacturing process via a MES system, design information entities each defining manufacturing specifications for a specific product and including sets of data concerning different manufacturing steps are downloaded to the MES system. At the first download, first and second MES information entities are created and stored. The first entities have associated second entities each including data for a manufacturing step and include links to the associated second entities. At each update of a design information entity, a differential package including the whole of the data for a set having undergone changes and for newly added sets, and an identification for unchanged sets, is downloaded. A new version of the second entities corresponding to sets having undergone changes and/or additional second entities corresponding to sets of data that have been added are created and stored.

Method, system and computer readable medium for managing design updates in a manufacturing execution system

We add a new entity Production Parameter History to the ISA-95 Production Schedule Model, thereby extending the model. The new entity stores the recent history of the values assumed by a subset of batch parameters most relevant for production control and resource planning, thus without the ERP system being charged with retrieving the historian from a log or from a warehouse in order to schedule the plant production. Putting together the batch information present in the ISA-95 Segment Requirement and the new Production Parameter History, the MES creates and stores a fully Electronic Batch Record close to a real situation found during product manufacturing. The MES system can provide the Electronic Batch Record to the ERP system through the ISA-95 Production Performance model extended thereof, since a production performance report is made up of a set of one or more Production Responses associated with Production Requests.

Method and system for handling batch production within ANSI/ISA/95 production scheduling extended with batch production parameter historian

A system handles conditional dependencies between alternative product segments of a production process modeled within a manufacturing execution system (MES). The system includes data processing units connected to a network and production components. The data processing units run MES software for controlling and monitoring the process. The MES software includes a production modeler embedding time-sensitive dependency information in each product segment to define the start of execution in relation to another product segment. The production modeler embeds in each product segment programmed for alternative execution conditional dependency information and a sequence attribute about the order of evaluation of the specified condition. The MES software, during execution of a product segment preceding alternative executions, checks the condition specified as first in the set of sequence attributes and, if that condition is satisfied, executes the product segment corresponding with that condition, otherwise iterates the check for execution until a condition is satisfied.

Method and system for handling conditional dependencies between alternative product segments within a manufacturing execution system ANSI/ISA/95 compliant

A method and a system execute database insert calls in a MES system. The data to be stored into the database are represented in XML tree formats according to the S95 hierarchy model. The method includes: a) receiving as input a given XML tree corresponding to a given S95 hierarchy data to stored into the database; b) processing the given XML tree in order to generate a corresponding parallel structure; c) getting a given S95 entity type and its given set of node references from the given parallel structure; d) if the given set of node references is not empty, composing a database insert call passing the information of the given set of node references; e) if the given set of node references is not empty, executing the composed database insert call; and executing items c) to e) for all the S95 entity types of the given parallel structure.

Method and system for executing database insert calls in a MES system

A method for evaluating a production rule for usage as a test input process for a memory management analysis is carried out via a server process. The server process accesses at least a database of a manufacturing execution system. At least one user table is retrieved out of the database. A first number of records are retrieved for the user table. A single execution of the production rule is triggered by the server process. A second number of records are retrieved for the user table. The first number of records are compared to the second number of records and either, classifying the production rule as a suitable rule for the memory management analysis if the first and the second number of records are equal, or, classifying the production rule as an unsuitable rule for the memory management analysis if the first and the second number records are unequal.

Method for evaluating a production rule for a memory management analysis

A method and a system control a manufacturing process. The method includes providing an MES system with a product definition model having at least one product-related entity. Define for one product-related entity a set of product-related entities referencing the one product-related entity and each other via a nested structure. Define for each product-related entity a set of product-related parameters to define the information that may be sent to the MES system. Within the product definition model, define an additional entity called parameter exchange definition for providing a tool for defining how data of product-related parameters of nested product-related entities and of the parent product related entity are to be exchanged among each other. At engineering time, build the given product definition of the given final material by inserting the entities. At run time, instantiating the entities into run-time production requests objects obtained by the given product definition.

Method, system and computer product for controlling a manufacturing process

A manufacturing executing system (MES) contains computing devices and software tools to control machines involved in a production process. The MES is configured to realize production requirements having at least one segment requirement. The MES further contains measures for a user to define whether a segment requirement is repeatable, and a database configured to store segment requirements. The database contains for each segment requirement: a dedicated area to store each segment requirement repeatability status; a dedicated area to store at least a current value of a parameter acquired during an execution of the segment requirement and representing the result of the execution of the segment requirement; and a dedicated area to store expected values of the parameter. Finally, the MES contains a coordinator operable to communicate with the database to access the segment requirement, and operable to determine whether the execution of a segment requirement has to be repeated.

MES with embedded repeatable segment requirements

A method and a system propagate a scaling mode in a production process controlled and executed by a manufacturing executing system (MES). The method includes the steps of providing a production request in terms of an initial quantity of a predetermined product to be produced, identifying the predetermined product by a predetermined production rule thereby dividing the production rule in a number of segment requirements that represent production actions, and defining within the segment requirements resources required to produce the required quantity. A rescaling attribute is defined and is aligned with each of the resources in a production request tree. An interface to the MES is used to update the quantity of the predetermined product to be produced and to recalculate in response to the update, the resources required to produce the updated quantity by applying a rescaling factor calculated from the initial quantity and the updated quantity.

Method and a system for propagating a scaling mode in a production process

A method and a system control a manufacturing process of a plant via a MES system. The MES system is provided with a catalogue of a tool model, the catalogue of the tool model contains tool entities and tool methods on the tool entities. The tool entities contain engineering-time tool entities and run-time tool entities and the tool methods contain engineering-time tool methods and run-time tool methods. At engineering time or at run time, via a tool manager, the tool model catalogue is exposed and information on the tool model data is stored in a database. At engineering time, the specific engineering-time tool entities are defined by invoking engineering-time tool methods. At run time the specific tool entities are instantiated into run-time tool objects and the manufacturing process is controlled relative to physical plant tools by invoking the run-time tool methods on the run-time tool objects.

System and method for controlling a manufacturing process

A manufacturing execution system contains a depicting device for depicting at least a part of a productive process to a hierarchically structured set of entities and an application programming interface for managing data in a data base and for inputting a tree into the application programming interface. The tree representing a hierarchical relationship between at least two entities of the hierarchically structured set of entities. A program device provides a method accessible by the application programming interface. The method is adapted to manipulate the hierarchically structured set of entities. A manipulating device is provided for manipulating the entities of the tree according to the method.

Method and system for improving performance of a manufacturing execution system

An effective method for managing product segments of product production rules within a manufacturing execution system adapted for providing a final product includes the following steps: a) each one of a plurality of sets of product segments are associated within one of a set of product production rules which are stored in a database under a reference standard product production rule (like a simple 'manufacture of a car'); b) a command (e.g. from an operator) is inputted to the database for performing one of following selectable operations: i) add a new product segment; ii) remove one of previous product segment; iii) replace a previous product segment by a new one; c) a further set of new product production rules comprising previous product segments and a further product segment (related to the selectable operation and automatically detected in each product production rule) are introduced in the database; d) an indicator related to the selected operation (i, ii, iii) is inserted in said new product production rule. Finally, e) an algebraic operation is performed on all product segments of both the reference standard product production rule and the new product production rules (for example it performs an addition of the product segments), so that the algebraic operation delivers a final standard product production rule resulting from one of the selected operations of adding i), removing ii), replacing iii).

Method for managing product segments of product production rules

A method for selecting equipment resources in a manufacturing process creates an execution equipment list by retrieving out of a database execution equipment required for starting a process segment. A list of available sub-equipments of the execution equipment is retrieved out of the database. Within the list of sub-equipments a check is performed on the availability of a totality of required equipments for each of a totality of work segments of the process segment respectively. The execution equipment is selected for the starting of the process segment. Each of the required equipments for execution of each of the work segments is selected respectively, in the case where the required equipment for the work segment is available. An output list is created and contains information about assignments of each of the required equipments to each of the work segments respectively in the case where all of the required equipments are available.

Method for selecting equipment resources in a manufacturing process

A method for modeling and executing a production rule of a production phase in a discrete manufacturing scenario, whereby the production rule is associated to a process element and contains predefined production steps and predefined dependencies between the production steps, contains the steps of loading a production rule into a production order manager, parsing the production rule, and retrieving the predefined production steps and the predefined dependencies. Optionally user-defined parameters for the predefined production steps and the predefined dependencies are input. A state machine is created and contains the production steps labeled each as a predefined state, and further contains the dependencies labeled each as a predefined transition between two predefined states. The state machine is then forwarded to a process controller.

Method for modeling and executing a production rule in a discrete manufacturing scenario

A system for handling a dependency between two product segments of a process modeling a production system within a manufacturing execution system (MES) includes a network and a production modeler. The network has data processing units running a MES software for controlling and/or monitoring a production process operating a production components. The production modeler within the MES software defines the dependency between the two product segments, and allows modeling the dependency in a graphical environment as a link between the two product segments. The link is selected from a tool box having link types, each defining one of predetermined dependencies, such as: the two product segments run in parallel, one of the product segments starts after end of the other product segment, one of the product segments starts with a predetermined delay after the other product segment has been started, both two product segments use an identical equipment.

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Genoa, Italy

Alessandro Raviola