Sources of data for AI Empowered Maintenance – Manufacturing Execution Systems
John Q. Todd, Sr. Business Consultant and Product Researcher with Total Resource Management
Posted 11/09/2022
What are Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)?
Manufacturing Execution Systems are diverse systems that function in real-time to control and monitor the various elements of a production process. These elements can include the actual raw materials (input), people, the machines that make up the line, and any supporting services such as maintenance and configuration.
Manufacturing Execution Systems are used to define the equipment needed to produce the product (the recipe), then capture the data and outcomes of the processes being exercised. A MES is quite often integrated to resource planning and production analysis tools to evaluate production needs and to manage equipment reliability, availability, and effectiveness. The data coming out of these systems can be used for decision making and predictive analyses to foster improvements in process and procedure.
How do they relate to other familiar systems?
The boundaries of functionality and responsibility between a Manufacturing Execution Systems, ERP, EAM, and SCADA systems can be blurred. Enterprise Resource Planning, Enterprise Asset Management, and Supervisory Control / Data Acquisition solutions all have substantive and wide-ranging functions available to us. Industry groups such as MESA International assist in the implementation of and definitions around Manufacturing Execution Systems. Another excellent source of industry information is the MES Center Association.
Where do they play a role in operations?
The architecture of a Manufacturing Execution Systems system is described in the ANSI/ISA-95 industry standard. For perspective, in this standard an ERP is considered at Level 4 (the top level), while a Manufacturing Execution Systems is at Level 3. Levels 0, 1, and 2 are at the process control level of functionality.
Other familiar systems operating at Level 3 are:
- LIMS – Laboratory Information Management Systems
- WMS – Warehouse Management Systems
- CMMS – Computerized Maintenance Management Systems
Typical data flowing to/from the Manufacturing Execution Systems and the other levels include results, requests, definitions, events, and process or equipment status/condition data. These streams of data come up from the lower levels of the architecture. Level 2 and below is where the SCADA systems and the PLCs (programable logic controllers) reside. The actual real-time data values, alarms, and production results are coming from these levels.
Where is the technology headed?
There is a published standard for “plant floor connectivity.” It began as OLE for Process Control (OPC) but has moved to OPC Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) to expand its capability across modern software platforms. The IEC 62541 standard is also related to OPC. It is also worth mentioning that OPC-UA has APIs written in the most common programming languages, enabling interfacing across systems. The OPC-UA specification addresses the elements of the potential data interactions. Formats for alerts, conditions, services, and aggregates are a few.
A trend in the Manufacturing Execution Systems world is for greater system collaboration capabilities to foster flexibility yet maintain the rules necessary to produce quality products. Historically, a Manufacturing Execution Systems has been a collection of database interconnections and purpose-built applications, making for less than reliable results and difficulty in system maintenance and further development. Modern systems are bringing the disparate sources of data into a federated point for visualization, analysis, and decision-making.
Manufacturing Execution Systems– a good source of equipment data
As we move towards empowering maintenance with AI and other learning tools, connecting to the growing sources of data is an important consideration. Add this to the plethora of Manufacturing Execution Systemssystems that are available to us, there is much to explore.
Total Resource Management has the experience working with clients who wish to take advantage of the data coming from their equipment whether from a Manufacturing Execution Systems or other system. Whether it be to support a condition-based maintenance program or to explore the use of AI tools and models to actively reduce failures and costs, Total Resource Management has the solutions and the knowledge needed for you to be successful.
John Q. Todd
John Q. Todd has nearly 30 years of business and technical experience in the Project Management, Process development/improvement, Quality/ISO/CMMI Management, Technical Training, Reliability Engineering, Maintenance, Application development, Risk Management, & Enterprise Asset Management fields. His experience includes work as a Reliability Engineer & RCM implementer for NASA/JPL Deep Space Network, as well as numerous customer projects and consulting activities as a reliability and spares analysis expert. He is a Sr. Business Consultant and Product Researcher with Total Resource Management, an an IBM Gold Business Partner – focused on the market-leading EAM solution, Maximo, specializes in improving asset and operational performance by delivering strategic consulting services with world class functional and technical expertise.
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