A design methodology for modular processes orchestration

Abstract

Industry 4.0 is characterized by increased flexibility of production processes, a level of customization, a level of automation, smart manufacturing execution, and overall optimized production processes. Despite global competition, flexibility is a differentiation strategy applied by manufacturers to remain competitive. By incorporating flexibility in the manufacturing process of their products, enterprises can adapt faster to the demands. Enterprises need cost-effective, intuitive solutions to benefit from Industry 4.0 involving minimal efforts and integration costs. This study presents a new approach increasing the flexibility of manufacturing operations including robot trajectory, processing, and quality control. The results are tested in an industrial platform 4.0 installed in the laboratory. Our approach is to transform a rigid production system into an agile production system. For this, we break down the manufacturing process and reorganize it by programming core modules while maintaining the existing control structure but upgrading its programmable function to the Manufacturing Execution System Layer. Thus, the production manager can use the developed modules connected by flows to orchestrate a new production plan in a short time compared with the traditional approach.