Manufacturing Execution System Industry-Specific Workflow Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional industrial control and business systems have a loose integration, leading to slow and non-real-time information exchange between plant floor operations and higher-level business operations, often requiring specialized programming and IT personnel, which limits effective coordination and automation.
Innovation Solution
An MES system that uses industry-specific workflows and activity sets to facilitate the execution of business goals, allowing for graphical configuration and integration with control systems and visualization, enabling non-programmers to build workflows and simplify integration through common vendor support for enhanced features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If conventional industrial control and business systems are used with loose integration, then system complexity is reduced and ease of operation is maintained, but information exchange speed deteriorates and real-time coordination is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges business-level operations and control-level operations into a unified workflow execution model within the MES system. The workflow engine integrates ERP business goals with plant floor control activities, enabling real-time information exchange and coordination across previously separate system levels without requiring complex custom integration programming.
Solution Approach 2:
The MES system implements a universal workflow execution environment that can handle both business-level workflows (from ERP) and control-level workflows (to plant floor devices) through a common architecture. This multi-functional approach allows the same system to manage diverse operations across enterprise levels, reducing the need for specialized programming for each integration scenario.
2Adaptability or versatility
If specialized programming code is used for integration, then integration capability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates and dependency on experienced programmers increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service workflow configuration through graphical user interfaces that allow users to define and configure workflows without requiring specialized programming knowledge. The MES provides pre-built templates and visual tools that empower business users and plant operators to create and modify workflows independently, reducing dependency on experienced programmers while maintaining integration capability.
3Productivity
If loose integration is maintained between business and control systems, then system reliability is preserved and complexity is reduced, but productivity deteriorates due to slow information exchange
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments workflows into standardized activity sets that can be independently defined, executed, and managed. Business-level activities and control-level activities are divided into discrete, manageable units that can be orchestrated through the workflow engine. This segmentation enables efficient workflow execution and real-time coordination without requiring complex monolithic integration architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is provided that leverages industry-specific workflows to process business requests. The MES system can maintain activity sets representing industry-specific workflows that can be selected and executed in order to satisfy business-driven goals. The activity sets can comprise both business-level and control-level operations, and can be configured using an intuitive graphical interface that mitigates the need for low-level programming by the end user. Some features of the MES system are enabled or disabled based on data type compatibility with devices in communication with the MES system.