System and method for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for exchanging process data relating to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing. The system comprises at least one process data providing unit, a process data distribution unit, a local process data interface and an integration layer management plane. The at least one process data providing unit is configured to provide process data relating to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing. The process data distribution unit is connected to the communication system of the interconnected computer network and the enterprise industrial manufacturing network, and is configured to provide process data via the communication system of the interconnected computer network and / or via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network. The local process data interface is connected to the process data distribution unit via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network, and to a local industrial production network, and is configured to enable exchange of provided process data between the process data distribution unit and the local industrial production network via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network. An integration layer management plane of the system is configured to trigger the process data distribution unit and the local process data interface to exchange the provided process data. The system enables the exchange of process data relating to industrial manufacturing or processing in a network environment in the production industry and in particular in the chemical industry.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a system, method and computer program for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing. In addition, the present invention relates to a non-transitory computer-readable data medium storing a computer program. The present invention can be used to exchange process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing, between different recipients at different plants located at a production site, for example, such as between chemical plants at a chemical production site. The present invention can also be used to exchange process data between recipients located at different production sites, such as chemical production sites. Background Art

[0002] In industrial production, it is often necessary to make process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing performed in a certain plant available to multiple recipients. This may be the case, for example, if process data related to a specific chemical process is needed in order to be able to perform another chemical process. Another situation in which multiple recipients are interested in process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing may include checking the status of a certain industrial process or checking the quality associated with the industrial process. The recipients who need to access process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing performed in a certain industrial plant may reside in the same industrial plant, or in another industrial plant or another industrial production location.

[0003] Therefore, it would be advantageous if a well-functioning and flexible process data integration could be achieved between a process data producer and multiple recipients in industrial manufacturing or process industries, and in particular in chemical manufacturing or processing. Summary of the invention

[0004] The object on which the present invention is based is to provide an improved or at least alternative system, method and computer program for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing. In particular, the system, method and computer program should enable efficient and flexible exchange of process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing, between different interconnected networks associated with various process data producers and process data recipients.

[0005] According to the present invention, a system for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing, is proposed. The system comprises at least one process data providing unit, a process data distribution unit, a local process data interface and an integration layer management plane.

[0006] The at least one process data providing unit is configured to provide process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing. The process data distribution unit is connected to the communication system of the interconnected computer network and the enterprise industrial manufacturing network, and is configured to provide process data via the communication system of the interconnected computer network and / or via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network. The local process data interface is connected to the process data distribution unit via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network and to the local industrial production network, and is configured to enable the exchange of the provided process data between the process data distribution unit and the local industrial production network via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network. The integration layer management plane of the system is configured to trigger the process data distribution unit and the local process data interface to exchange the provided process data.

[0007] The present invention includes the recognition that the network environment in industry, and in particular in the chemical industry, is usually divided into non-enterprise networks, enterprise networks, and local industrial production networks such as chemical production sites (including one or more chemical plants). It is often necessary to provide process data related to chemical manufacturing or processing present in one of these networks to a recipient residing in another of the networks.

[0008] With the system, process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing, can be exchanged in a corresponding network environment in the production industry. This is achieved by providing a system with a process data distribution unit, which can exchange process data via a communication system of an interconnected computer network, which can be a non-enterprise network such as the Internet. In addition, the process data distribution unit is connected to an enterprise industrial manufacturing network to exchange process data via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network, which can be an intranet of an industrial manufacturing company. Therefore, the process data distribution unit enables the exchange of process data via the communication system of the interconnected computer network and via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network. Therefore, the process data to be exchanged can be provided via the communication system of the interconnected computer network or the enterprise industrial manufacturing network. Therefore, the recipient can receive process data via the communication system of the interconnected computer network or via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network.

[0009] Since the system includes a local process data interface, process data can be exchanged between the enterprise industrial manufacturing network and the local industrial production network, which can be or include a chemical plant network or a chemical production site network. Therefore, using the system, process data can be exchanged between the local industrial production network and the communication system of the interconnected computer network via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network through the local process data interface and the process data distribution unit. The at least one process data providing unit can provide process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing via any of the local industrial production network, the enterprise industrial manufacturing network and the communication system of the interconnected computer network, so that efficient process data integration between these networks can be achieved using the system.

[0010] Herein, process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing can represent the attributes of the process used to manufacture industrial products. In particular, process data can be related to chemical manufacturing and can represent the attributes of a chemical process, in which products are created by converting organic and / or inorganic raw materials with chemical processes. The attributes of a chemical process can include, but are not limited to, the progress (i.e., state) of the chemical process, the compounds used in the chemical process, the process parameters used in the chemical process, and the measured attributes of the chemical products. The attributes of a chemical process can also include the raw materials being used, the chemical process being applied, the operating parameters used in the operating conditions or chemical process, and / or the equipment being used in the chemical process.

[0011] Preferably, the communication system of the interconnected computer network is a non-enterprise network, for example, including the public Internet and / or a hyperscale side virtual network that can peer with each other. For example, the hyperscale side virtual network can be managed via a software defined network (SDN). The advantage of the hyperscale side virtual network is that they generally have higher performance and stability.

[0012] An enterprise industrial manufacturing network may be an intranet that connects IT infrastructures (sometimes global) at an enterprise level. An enterprise industrial manufacturing network may be an enterprise chemical manufacturing network of a chemical manufacturing company. In particular, an enterprise industrial manufacturing network may be an enterprise network of a chemical manufacturing company that uses the system to exchange process data related to chemical manufacturing or processing.

[0013] The local industrial production network may be a local chemical production network, or may be connected to or part of an enterprise industrial manufacturing network. The local industrial production network may be or may include a local plant network (e.g., a local plant network of a chemical plant), or a local production site network including multiple local plant networks of a chemical plant at a chemical production site.

[0014] The local factory network can be a local network of production sites including multiple factories, or a local network of a single industrial production factory. Preferably, the local factory network can realize connections between components residing in the industrial factory (ie, control systems and other systems providing basic automation functions).

[0015] The local process data interface is preferably a local integration gateway. The local process data interface is preferably used to integrate the local industrial production network into the enterprise industrial manufacturing network. For example, the local industrial production network can be connected to or can include multiple local plant networks or local production site networks, so that these local networks can be integrated into the enterprise industrial manufacturing network via the local process data interface to exchange process data. The local process data interface can be set as a hardware device resident on site, or it can be set as software, for example, as a virtual machine running under a virtual machine hypervisor on a pre-existing edge hardware facility.

[0016] The integration layer management plane of the system is preferably implemented in software and can be part of the process data distribution unit, the local process data interface or other components of the system. The integration layer management plane can also be distributed over multiple parts of the system, for example, distributed over the process data distribution unit, the local process data interface and / or at least one process data providing unit. The integration layer management plane is preferably used to control process data exchange within the system, for example, by triggering process data exchange between the process data distribution unit, the local process data interface and / or at least one process data providing unit.

[0017] The at least one process data distribution unit is preferably a messaging agent (sometimes also referred to as a message agent, integration agent or interface engine) and is used to exchange process data via a communication system of interconnected computer networks and / or an enterprise industrial manufacturing network. The process data distribution unit can be connected to another process data distribution unit of the same system or a different system to copy process data between the two process data distribution units. The messaging agent can be implemented as an intermediate computer program module that enables software applications to communicate by exchanging formally defined messages (e.g., containing or representing process data).

[0018] The at least one process data providing unit may be a control unit of a plant configured to provide process data, a memory configured to store process data, a sensor configured to generate process data, or a messaging agent (e.g., a system for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing at different industrial production sites).

[0019] Preferably, in addition to process data, remote procedure calls (RPCs) related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing, may be exchanged in the system. For example, RPCs for triggering certain actions in a chemical process or the like may be exchanged in the system (e.g. as part of remote control of a chemical process or the like). For example, RPCs may be provided via the system in order to control an avatar to perform certain actions in a chemical plant as part of chemical manufacturing or processing.

[0020] Preferably, the local process data interface comprises an integration service configured for querying provided process data from the local chemical production network and / or for integrating provided process data by sending the provided process data to the process data distribution unit. The integration service may be configured to query local data sources and integrate additional process data by sending the additional process data to the nearest process data distribution unit (which may be a messaging agent), for example based on a cyclic schedule or triggered by an external event. The integration service may comprise containerized computer programs that may be developed externally and then scheduled for execution on the local process data interface, which may be a local integration gateway, for implementing new functionality or adjusting existing functionality.

[0021] Preferably, the integration service is configured to send process data to the process data distribution unit based on a predefined cyclic schedule, or when triggered to do so by the integration layer management plane. For example, upon receiving a corresponding RPC, the integration service may be triggered to send process data. In particular, the integration service may be configured to be controllable using an RPC, which may be provided via any of a communication system of an interconnected computer network, an enterprise industrial manufacturing network, a local industrial production network, and a local factory network.

[0022] The system may include at least two process data providing units, wherein the local process data interface includes at least two integration services, each of the at least two integration services being assigned to one of the at least two process data providing units for querying provided process data from the corresponding process data providing unit. In this case, the local process data interface may collect process data from a plurality of process data providing units, such as from different chemical plants or different sensors in a chemical plant, etc.

[0023] In this case, the system includes at least two process data providing units, and the local process data interface can preferably be configured to aggregate the process data provided by the at least two process data providing units and to enable the aggregated process data to be exchanged between the process data distribution unit and the local industrial production network via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network. In particular, the local process data interface can be configured to aggregate multiple process data streams from local data sources (e.g., different sensors) to forward them to the process data distribution unit, for example, the process data distribution unit can be a messaging agent with which communication can be established using the best network connection (compared to other available messaging agents). The local process data interface can further be configured to provide retention of at least some of the aggregated process data. Process data retention can enable temporary buffering of the aggregated process data, thereby providing the ability to cope with network interruptions for a longer period of time.

[0024] Preferably, at least one process data providing unit is configured to provide the process data to the process data distribution unit via the communication system of the interconnected computer network and / or via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network. In this case, the process data providing unit is connected to the communication system of the interconnected computer network and / or the enterprise industrial manufacturing network.

[0025] Alternatively or in addition, at least one process data providing unit may be configured to provide the process data to the local process data interface via the local industrial production network. In this case, the process data providing unit is connected to the local industrial production network and may be part of an industrial plant (may be a chemical plant), for example, a control or measurement unit or sensor in the industrial plant.

[0026] For example, the system may further include at least one local plant network of a chemical plant connected to the local chemical production network. In this case, the process data providing unit may be a part of the chemical plant, and the process data provided may be related to chemical manufacturing or a chemical process performed in the chemical plant.

[0027] The present invention also relates to an arrangement comprising at least two systems, each of which is configured according to the above-mentioned system, that is, it has at least one process data providing unit, a process data distribution unit, a local process data interface and an integration layer management surface, and the integration layer management surface is configured to trigger the process data distribution unit to exchange the provided process data with the local process data interface.

[0028] Preferably, in this arrangement, the process data distribution units of the at least two systems are connected to each other via the communication system of the interconnected computer network and via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network, and are configured to replicate process data between the process data distribution units of the at least two systems at least via the communication system of the interconnected computer network. In order to replicate process data, these process data distribution units of the arrangement can be configured to use a Kafka link or a message queue telemetry transmission (MQTT) bridge. In particular, the process data distribution unit can be a messaging agent in a distributed setting, such as one agent for each chemical production site. Preferably, the messaging agent supports two-way process data replication between messaging agents, for example, using a Kafka cluster link or using an MQTT bridge. In particular, the integration layer management plane of at least one of these systems can be configured to trigger the selective replication of process data between the process data distribution units of the at least two systems.

[0029] Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing. The method comprises the following steps:

[0030] - providing a process data distribution unit connected to the communication system of the interconnected computer network and the enterprise industrial manufacturing network and configured for exchanging process data via the communication system of the interconnected computer network and / or via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network,

[0031] - providing a local process data interface, which is connected to the process data distribution unit and to a local industrial production network and is configured to enable the exchange of process data between the process data distribution unit and the local industrial production network via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network,

[0032] - providing process data relating to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing, to one of the process data distribution unit and the local process data interface using a process data providing unit, and

[0033] - triggering the process data distribution unit and the local process data interface by means of the integration layer management plane to exchange the provided process data between them.

[0034] The method may optionally include the further step of triggering the process data distribution unit and the further process data distribution unit to replicate the provided process data between them via the communication system of the interconnected computer network. For example, one process data distribution unit may be part of a first system for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, while the further process data distribution unit may be part of a second system for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, as described above. Exchanging process data via the communication system of the interconnected computer network may be advantageous because such process data exchange may generally be performed more efficiently than exchanging process data via an enterprise industrial manufacturing network.

[0035] The invention also relates to a computer program for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing, wherein the computer program is configured to, when running on a computer, trigger a process data distribution unit and a local process data interface to exchange provided process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing between them, and / or trigger the process data distribution unit and another process data distribution unit to copy the provided process data between them at least via a communication system of an interconnected computer network. The invention also relates to a non-transitory computer-readable data medium storing the computer program.

[0036] It shall be understood that the above-mentioned aspects, in particular the system according to claim 1, the method according to claim 12 and the computer program according to claim 14, have similar and / or identical preferred embodiments, in particular as defined in the dependent claims.

[0037] It shall be understood that a preferred embodiment of the present invention may also be any combination of the dependent claims or the above-described embodiments with the corresponding independent claim.

[0038] These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] Figure 1 An arrangement is shown comprising three systems configured for exchanging process data relating to industrial manufacturing or processing,

[0040] Figure 2 An arrangement comprising two systems for exchanging process data representing quality information related to chemical manufacturing, and

[0041] Figure 3 An arrangement comprising two systems is shown for exchanging process data representing quality information relating to the chemical production of PU foam. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] Figure 1 An arrangement 100 comprising three systems 102, 104, 106 is shown, which are configured for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing. By way of example, the arrangement 100 is described with respect to chemical manufacturing or processing. However, the arrangement 100 may also be used for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing in other industrial sectors than the chemical industry.

[0043] In alternative embodiments of the arrangement 100, there may be only one system or two systems or more than three systems. Each of the systems 102, 104, 106 may be associated with a different chemical production site that may even be separated in space. Thus, the arrangement 100 represents a network environment of a chemical manufacturing company having multiple production sites that are connected to each other via one or more networks in order to exchange process data.

[0044] Each system 102, 104, 106 includes a process data distribution unit 108, 110, 112 that can be configured as a messaging agent. The process data distribution units 108, 110, 112 are connected to the public Internet 114, which represents a communication system of interconnected computer networks. In addition, the process data distribution units 108, 110, 112 are connected to a very large-scale virtual network 116, which also represents a communication system of interconnected computer networks. Each of the process data distribution units 108, 110, 112 supports bidirectional data replication between another process data distribution unit 108, 110, 112 using a Kafka cluster link 118, 120 via the very large-scale virtual network 116. As an alternative to the Kafka cluster link 118, 120, an MQTT bridge can be used to replicate process data between the process data distribution units 108, 110, 112.

[0045] The process data distribution units 108, 110, 112 are also connected to each other via an enterprise chemical manufacturing network 122. The enterprise chemical manufacturing network 122 may be an intranet of a chemical manufacturing company.

[0046] Each system 102, 104, 106 includes a local process data interface 124, 126, 128 implemented as a local integration gateway. Each of the local process data interfaces 124, 126, 128 is used to integrate a local chemical production network 130, 132, 134 as part of the respective system in the systems 102, 104, 106. In more detail, the local process data interface 124 is configured to integrate the local chemical production network 130 into the system 102. The local process data interface 126 is configured to integrate the local chemical production network 132 into the system 104. In addition, the local process data interface 128 is configured to integrate the local chemical production network 134 into the system 106. Each of the local chemical production networks 130, 132, 134 may represent a local chemical production network of a chemical production site associated with a respective one of the systems 102, 104, 106.

[0047] In particular, the local process data interfaces 124, 126, 128 enable the local chemical production networks 130, 132, 134 to be connected to the corporate chemical production network 122. Thus, process data can be exchanged via the local process data interfaces 124, 126, 128 between the local chemical production networks 130, 132, 134 and the corporate chemical production network 122, respectively.

[0048] Each of the local chemical production networks 130 , 132 , 134 is connected to two local plant networks, namely, local plant networks 136 and 138 are connected to local chemical production network 130 , local plant network 140 is connected to local chemical production network 132 , and local plant networks 144 and 146 are connected to local chemical plant network 134 .

[0049] The arrangement 100 also includes a plurality of process data producers or consumers residing in different networks of the aforementioned networks. For example, via the Internet 114, process data producers or consumers 148, 150 and 152 can exchange process data with the process data distribution units 108, 110, 112, respectively. In particular, the process data producer can be a process data providing unit, such as a control unit of a factory, which is connected to the Internet 114 to exchange process data. The consumer can be a customer of a chemical manufacturing company, which may need process data of the chemical factory to check the status of the product. The consumer can also pay attention to the process data during manufacturing in order to check the quality of the product.

[0050] In addition, the process data producer or consumer may reside in the enterprise chemical manufacturing network 122. For example, the enterprise chemical manufacturing network 122 may include one or more databases that implement a process data providing unit for providing process data contained in the database. Merely by way of example, in the arrangement 100, the system 102 includes a process data producer or consumer 121 that can exchange process data with the process data distribution unit 108 via the enterprise chemical manufacturing network 122. In addition, the system 104 includes a process data producer or consumer 123 that resides in the enterprise chemical manufacturing network 122 for exchanging process data with the process data distribution unit 112.

[0051] Also exemplarily, each of the local chemical production networks 130, 132, 134 is used to exchange process data between two process data consumers or producers, which are process data producers or consumers 154 and 156 of the local chemical production network 130, process data consumers or producers 158 and 160 of the local chemical production network 132, and process data consumers or producers 162 and 164 of the local chemical production network 134. The process data producers or consumers 154, 156, 158, 160, 162, 164 may also be implemented as a database storing process data associated with a corresponding location in the local chemical production site, or may be a consumer of the local chemical production site, such as a control and / or evaluation unit for controlling one or more chemical plants of the corresponding local chemical production site.

[0052] Each local chemical production site associated with one of the systems 102, 104, 106, respectively, comprises two chemical plants, wherein each chemical plant has a local plant network. It should be understood that, of course, each local chemical production site may also comprise only one chemical plant or more than two chemical plants.

[0053] As previously described, each local chemical production network 130, 132, 134 of the system 102, 104, 106 is connected to two local plant networks 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, 146, respectively. Via each of the local plant networks 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, 146, a process data consumer or producer can exchange process data with the corresponding local chemical production network 130, 132, 134. That is, via the local plant network 136, a process data producer or consumer 166 can exchange process data with the local chemical production network 130. The local plant network 136 is integrated using the local process data interface 124. In order to query process data from the process data producer or consumer 166, the local process data interface 124 includes an integration service 168, which can be used to integrate process data by sending the process data to the process data distribution unit 108. Via the local plant network 138 , a process data consumer or producer 170 may exchange process data with the local process data interface 124 using integration services 172 .

[0054] Thus, using the local plant network 140, a process data producer or consumer 174 can exchange process data with the local process data interface 126 via an integration service 176, and via the local plant network 142, a process data producer and consumer 178 can exchange process data via an integration service 180 of the local process data interface 126. The system 106 includes two process data producers or consumers 182, 184 that exchange process data with the local process data interface 128 via the local plant networks 144, 146 using an integration service 186 and an integration service 188, respectively.

[0055] Using streaming messages (possibly including asynchronous communications) which may be small chunks of process data, for example, RPC, it is possible to remotely execute functions implemented on the local process data interfaces 124, 126, 128, for example, adding, starting or stopping additional integration services 166, 170, 176, 180, 186, 188 on the corresponding local process data interface 124, 126, 128, or to call functions implemented within the integration services 166, 170, 176, 180, 186, 188, for example using json-rpc.

[0056] The streaming measurement message may also be process data from a device within the plant to be written to the process data distribution unit 108, 110, 112, for example, time series data enriched with source context descriptors. The streaming message may also be process data that can be read from the process data distribution unit 108, 110, 112 and will be provided to one of the process data consumers or producers residing in the field.

[0057] The arrangement 100 further includes two integration layer management planes 190, 192 resident in the enterprise chemical manufacturing network 122. The integration layer management planes 190, 192 are configured to implement a secure, highly available central access point to complete management tasks associated with the operation of the arrangement 100. Such operations may include selectively replicating process data between process data distribution units 108, 110, 112 via a Kafka cluster link or an MQTT bridge through a hyperscale virtual network 116. In addition, operations may include creating, updating, or deleting process data. The use of RPC enables the incarnation of a chemical plant to be remotely controlled to assist or execute chemical processes in the chemical plant.

[0058] The arrangement 100 enables writing and reading of process data, or performing RPCs from different process data producers and consumers of the arrangement 100 .

[0059] Figure 2 An arrangement 200 comprising two systems 202, 204 is shown for exchanging process data related to chemical manufacturing or processing. Alternatively, the arrangement 200 may also be used for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing other than the chemical industry.

[0060] Each of the two systems 202, 204 is associated with a different local chemical production side, each having a local chemical production network 206, 208, respectively. The local chemical production networks 206, 208 are embedded in an enterprise chemical production network 210 of a chemical manufacturing company.

[0061] In each of the local chemical production networks 206, 208, there resides a process data producer or consumer 212, 214, respectively. For example only, the process data producer or consumer 212, 214 is each implemented as a long-distance wide area network (LoRoWAN) sensor, which is configured to track quality information from a corresponding chemical plant residing in one of the local chemical production sites associated with the local chemical production networks 206, 208. Each LoRoWAN sensor can be connected to a corresponding LoRoWAN backend residing in the corresponding local chemical production site. The quality information tracked by one of the LoRoWAN sensors 212, 214 may be of interest to the corresponding other local chemical production site. For example, in terms of the production manager responsible for the quality in the factory of the first local chemical production site, the quality information may be of interest, wherein the production manager resides in the second local chemical production site. It may be further desired to process the tracked quality information at the first local chemical production site and the second local chemical production side. Therefore, it is necessary to exchange the quality information represented by the process data between the two systems 202, 204.

[0062] To this end, the LoRoWAN sensor 212 provides the process data representing the tracked quality information to a local process data interface 216, which can be a local integrated gateway. The local process data interface 216 enables the exchange of process data between the LoRoWAN sensor 212 and the process data distribution unit 218 via the enterprise chemical manufacturing network 210 using the local process data interface 216. The process data distribution unit 218 is connected to the process data distribution unit 220 of the system 204 via a cloud virtual network 222 implemented by a communication system of an interconnected computer network. The process data distribution units 218 and 220 can use an MQTT bridge to copy process data between them. Alternatively, a Kafka cluster link can be used. The process data distribution unit 220 is also connected to the enterprise chemical manufacturing network 210. Typically, enterprise networks (such as enterprise chemical manufacturing networks 210) are outdated and provide insufficient network performance, for example, latency and throughput may vary significantly in different regions. Therefore, it is beneficial to tunnel traffic through a communication system of an interconnected computer network (such as a cloud virtual network or a super-large-scale virtual network described herein).

[0063] The process data distribution unit 220 may now exchange the received process data representing the quality information tracked by the LoRoWAN sensor 212 with the local process data interface 224 of the system 204. The local process data interface 224 allows for the exchange of process data with a process data producer or consumer 214 of the system 204.

[0064] Each of the process data distribution units 218, 220 may also exchange process data with process data producers or consumers 226, 228 residing in the public Internet 230. For example, a production manager may reside in an office outside of a local chemical production site associated with the local chemical production network 206, 208 and may receive process data representing quality information tracked by the LoRoWAN sensor 212 from one of the process data distribution units 218, 220.

[0065] Figure 3 An arrangement 300 comprising two systems 302, 304 for exchanging process data representing product-important quality information related to the chemical manufacture of polyurethane (PU) foam is shown. The systems 302, 304 may be associated with different local chemical production sites.

[0066] The following describes a specific implementation of exchanging process data with respect to the arrangement 300 for manufacturing foam made of PU (e.g., intended for manufacturing shoe soles). First, a process data producer 306 (e.g., a LoRoWAN sensor or other sensor) can track quality information associated with manufacturing PU foam in a chemical plant at a first local chemical production location having a local chemical manufacturing network 308. The process data generated by the process data producer 306 can represent the quality information of the PU foam and can be exchanged between a local process data interface 310 and a process data distribution unit 312 of the system 302 via an enterprise chemical manufacturing network 314 of the chemical manufacturing company.

[0067] Process data may be provided to multiple process data consumers from the process data distribution unit 312. In particular, quality information associated with the PU foam may be of interest to multiple process data consumers within or outside the chemical manufacturing company. For example, a production manager at a chemical manufacturing company may be outside of a local chemical manufacturing site but may require process data associated with quality information for PU foam manufacturing for analysis or evaluation purposes. To provide the process data, the process data distribution unit 312 (which may be a messaging agent) is connected to the public Internet 316 and may provide the process data to a production manager 318 via the Internet 316.

[0068] In addition, the process data distribution unit 312 is connected to a cloud virtual network 324 to replicate the process data, wherein the process data distribution unit 322 of the system 304 is associated with a second local chemical production site. The process data distribution unit 322 is also connected to the public Internet 316, thereby allowing the replicated process data to be exchanged with a process data consumer 324 (which may be an external company, such as a customer of a chemical manufacturing company that uses PU foam to manufacture shoe soles). The process data consumer 324 may even be concerned about the quality of the PU foam during the manufacture of the PU form and may therefore need to access process data representing the tracked quality information of the PU foam.

[0069] The system 304 includes a local chemical manufacturing network 326 associated with a second local chemical production site of the system 304. Using a local process data interface 328, process data may be exchanged between the local process data interface 328 and the process data distribution unit 322. This allows a process data consumer 330 (e.g., a process data evaluation unit) residing in the local chemical manufacturing network 326 to receive and evaluate process data generated by the process data producer 306.

[0070] Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.

[0071] For the processes and methods disclosed herein, the operations performed in the processes and methods may be implemented in different orders. In addition, the operations outlined are provided only as examples, and some of the operations may be optional, may be combined into fewer steps and operations, may be supplemented with more operations, or may be expanded into more operations without departing from the essence of the disclosed embodiments.

[0072] In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality.

[0073] A single unit or device may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

[0074] It can also be performed by any other number of units or devices. Each process can be performed by one or more units or devices, such as providing process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, exchanging process data via a communication system of an interconnected computer network and / or via an enterprise industrial manufacturing network, realizing process data exchange between a process data distribution unit and a local chemical production network via an enterprise industrial manufacturing network, using an integrated layer management plane to trigger a process data distribution unit and a local process data interface to exchange the provided process data between them, etc. These processes can be implemented as program code means of a computer program and / or dedicated hardware.

[0075] The computer program product may be stored / distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium provided together with or as a part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms, such as via the Internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems.

[0076] Any unit described herein may be a processing unit as part of a classical computing system. The processing unit may include a general-purpose processor, and may also include a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other dedicated circuit. Any memory may be a physical system memory, which may be volatile, non-volatile, or some combination of the two. The term "memory" may include any computer-readable storage medium, such as a non-volatile mass storage device. If the computing system is distributed, the processing and / or storage capabilities may also be distributed. The computing system may include multiple structures as "executable components". The term "executable component" is a structure that is fully understood in the computing field as a structure that can be software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, when implemented in software, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the structure of the executable component may include software objects, routines, methods, etc. that can be executed on the computing system. This may include executable components in the computing system stack or on a computer-readable storage medium. The structure of the executable component may exist on a computer-readable medium so that when interpreted by one or more processors of the computing system (e.g., by a processor thread), the computing system performs a function. Such a structure may be directly computer-readable by a processor, for example, as in the case where the executable component is binary, or it may be constructed to be interpretable and / or compiled, for example, whether in a single level or multiple levels, thereby generating such binary that can be directly interpreted by a processor. In other cases, the structure may be hard-coded or hard-wired logic gates that are implemented exclusively or almost exclusively in hardware, such as in a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other dedicated circuit. Therefore, the term "executable component" is a term for a structure that is well known to those of ordinary skill in the field of computing, whether implemented in software, hardware, or a combination. Any embodiment herein is described with reference to actions performed by one or more processing units of a computing system. If such actions are implemented in software, one or more processors direct the operation of the computing system in response to having executed the computer-executable instructions that constitute the executable component. The computing system may also include a communication channel that allows the computing system to communicate with other computing systems, such as through a network. "Network" is defined as one or more data links that enable electronic data to be transmitted between computing systems and / or modules and / or other electronic devices. When information is transferred or provided to a computing system over a network or another communications connection (e.g., hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired or wireless), the computing system properly views the connection as a transmission medium. Transmission media may include networks and / or data links that may be used to carry desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and may be accessed by general purpose computing systems or special purpose computing systems or a combination thereof.Although not all computing systems require a user interface, in some embodiments, a computing system includes a user interface system for interacting with a user. The user interface serves as an input or output mechanism for the user, for example, via a display.

[0077] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that at least part of the present invention can be practiced in a network computing environment with various types of computing system configurations, including personal computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, message processors, handheld devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, mobile phones, PDAs, pagers, routers, switches, data centers, wearable devices (such as glasses), etc. The present invention can also be practiced in a distributed system environment, where, for example, a local computing system and a remote computing system linked by a network by a hardwired data link, a wireless data link, or a combination of hardwired and wireless data links perform tasks together. In a distributed system environment, program modules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

[0078] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that at least part of the present invention can be practiced in a cloud computing environment. The cloud computing environment can be distributed, but this is not necessary. When the cloud computing environment is distributed, it can be distributed in multiple countries within an organization and / or have components across multiple organizations. In this specification and the appended claims, "cloud computing" is defined as a model for implementing on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (such as networks, servers, storage devices, applications and services). The definition of "cloud computing" is not limited to any of the other numerous advantages that can be obtained from this model when deployed. The computing system of the accompanying drawings includes various components or functional blocks that can implement various embodiments disclosed herein as explained. Various components or functional blocks can be implemented on a local computing system, or can be implemented on a distributed computing system that includes elements residing in the cloud or implementing various aspects of cloud computing. Various components or functional blocks can be implemented as software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The computing system shown in the figure can include more or fewer components than those shown in the figure, and some of these components can be combined as needed according to the situation.

[0079] Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

Claims

1. A system for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing, comprising: at least one process data providing unit, which is configured to provide process data related to industrial production or processing, in particular chemical production or processing, a process data distribution unit connected to the communication system of the interconnected computer network and to the enterprise industrial manufacturing network and configured to provide process data via the communication system of the interconnected computer network and / or via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network, - a local process data interface, which is connected to the process data distribution unit and to the local industrial production network via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network and is configured to enable exchange of provided process data between the process data distribution unit and the local industrial production network via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network, wherein, - the system further comprises an integration layer management plane, the integration layer management plane being configured for triggering the process data distribution unit and the local process data interface to exchange the provided process data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein: The local process data interface comprises an integration service configured for querying provided process data from the local industrial production network and / or for integrating the provided process data by sending the provided process data to the process data distribution unit.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein: The integration service is configured to send process data to the process data distribution unit based on a predefined cyclic schedule or when triggered to do so by the integration layer management plane.

4. The system according to claim 2 or 3, comprising at least two process data providing units, wherein: The local process data interface comprises at least two integration services, each of which is assigned to one of the at least two process data providing units and is used to query provided process data from the corresponding process data providing unit.

5. The system according to claim 1 , comprising at least two process data providing units and wherein: The local process data interface is configured for aggregating process data provided by the at least two process data providing units and for enabling exchange of the aggregated process data between the process data distribution unit and the local industrial production network via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network.

6. System according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein: The process data providing unit is configured to provide the process data to the process data distribution unit via the communication system of the interconnected computer network and / or via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network.

7. The system according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein: The process data providing unit is configured to provide the process data to the local process data interface via the local industrial production network.

8. The system according to at least one of the preceding claims, further comprising at least one local plant network of an industrial plant, in particular a chemical plant, which is connected to the local industrial production network, wherein The process data providing unit is part of the industrial plant and the provided process data are related to an industrial process performed in the industrial plant.

9. An arrangement with at least two systems, which are configured according to the system of at least one of the preceding claims, wherein: The process data distribution units of the at least two systems are connected to each other via the communication system of the interconnected computer network and the enterprise industrial manufacturing network, and are configured to copy process data between the process data distribution units of the at least two systems via the communication system of the interconnected computer network.

10. The arrangement of claim 9, wherein: To replicate process data, these process data distribution units are configured to use a Kafka link or a message queue telemetry transport bridge.

11. An arrangement as claimed in claim 9 or 10, wherein: The integration layer management plane of at least one of the systems is configured to trigger selective replication of process data between process data distribution units of the at least two systems.

12. A method for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing, the method comprising - providing a process data distribution unit connected to the communication system of the interconnected computer network and the enterprise industrial manufacturing network and configured for exchanging process data via the communication system of the interconnected computer network and / or via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network, - providing a local process data interface connected to the process data distribution unit and to a local industrial production network and configured to enable the exchange of process data between the process data distribution unit and the local chemical production network via the enterprise industrial manufacturing network, - providing process data relating to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing, to one of the process data distribution unit and the local process data interface using a process data providing unit, and - triggering the process data distribution unit and the local process data interface by means of the integration layer management plane to exchange the provided process data between them.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising triggering the process data distribution unit and another process data distribution unit to replicate the provided process data therebetween via the communication system of the interconnected computer network.

14. A computer program for exchanging process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing, wherein: The computer program is configured to, when running on a computer, trigger a process data distribution unit and a local process data interface to exchange provided process data related to industrial manufacturing or processing, in particular chemical manufacturing or processing, between them, and / or trigger the process data distribution unit and another process data distribution unit to copy the provided process data between them via a communication system of an interconnected computer network.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable data medium storing the computer program as claimed in claim 14.

Images