Problems of integration of a manufacturing system with the business area of a company on the example of the Integrated Manufacturing Systems Laboratory

Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Engineering Processes Automation and Integrated Manufacturing Systems, Konarskiego 18A, PL44-100, Poland

^* Corresponding author: grzegorz.cwikla@polsl.pl

Abstract

The paper presents issues related to data acquisition and communication between the manufacturing system and the business area of a company, understood as the transmission of real-time information about the status of the production system (the state of equipment, production tasks, workers, the flow of materials, work in progress and products), and, production orders, which is the basis of the Industry 4.0 concept. Data can be acquired from various sensors, PLCs and automatic identification systems, through interfaces (e.g. IO-Link, OPC, MTConnect), providing translation of data between different producer’s equipment and software. The article presents assumptions, concept, interfaces, as well as hardware and software equipment of the Integrated Manufacturing Systems Laboratory, allowing research and teaching of integration of production and business areas. Laboratory workstations equipped with PLCs (3 different producers), sensors (e.g. distance, proximity, colour, position), actuators, HMI panels, hardware interfaces, RFID readers, barcode readers and vision systems, interfacing through OPC, IO-Link or Profinet with SCADA and other IT systems have been presented. An example of systems integration has also been presented.