FA Configuration File Layout for Supplier Object Traceability
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Solution Overview
Problem
In factory automation (FA) system design, the association between system configuration files and security sheets can be lost due to deletion or relocation, making it impossible to track relationships between suppliers and objects, leading to increased management complexities as the number of suppliers grows.
Innovation Solution
A system construction support device with a storage unit, operation receiving unit, setting unit, and arrangement control unit that hierarchizes objects within the system configuration file, sets identification information, and moves objects with dummy objects to maintain relationships between suppliers and objects, even when relocated or moved to external files.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a security sheet is used to manage access rights for each object in a system configuration file, then the relationship between suppliers and objects can be tracked, but the association between the system configuration file and security sheet may be lost due to deletion or relocation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the security sheet functionality directly into the system configuration file by storing access right information as attributes of each object within the file itself. This integration eliminates the separate security sheet that could become dissociated, ensuring that the relationship between suppliers and objects is always maintained as long as the configuration file exists.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a self-contained copy of the access right information within the system configuration file structure. Instead of relying on an external security sheet, the file contains embedded attributes that replicate the security sheet's functionality, ensuring that all necessary relationship information is preserved even if external files are deleted or moved.
2Ease of operation
If system configuration files are managed on a supplier-by-supplier basis, then each supplier's design information can be controlled, but the number of man-hours for managing multiple files increases with the number of suppliers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple supplier-specific configuration files into a single integrated system configuration file. Different suppliers' design information is organized as separate objects or sections within the same file, allowing centralized management while maintaining supplier-specific control through access right attributes assigned to each object.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the system configuration file into multiple objects, each representing a specific instrument or component designed by a particular supplier. Each object can have its own access right attributes, allowing individual supplier control while managing all suppliers within a single file structure, thereby reducing the number of files that need to be managed.
Data Source
AI summary
A system construction support device includes a storage unit, an operation receiving unit, a setting unit, and an arrangement control unit. The storage unit stores a system configuration file having a base area including a plurality of objects hierarchized, the plurality of objects each being design information on an instrument of a factory automation system. The setting unit sets identification information for at least one of the plurality of objects on the basis of the user operation received by the operation receiving unit. The arrangement control unit moves the object for which the identification information has been set by the setting unit, to a different location within the system configuration file or to an external file, and places a dummy object at an original location of the object moved to the different location, the dummy object including the identification information set for the object moved and information on a destination of the object moved.