Manufacturing Execution System Software Research Articles

Making Cognitive Ergonomics in the Human–Computer Interaction of Manufacturing Execution Systems Assessable: Experimental and Validation Approaches to Closing Research Gaps

Cognitive ergonomics and the mental health of production workers have attracted increasing interest in industrial companies. However, there is still not much research available as it is regarding physical ergonomics and muscular load. This paper designs an experiment to analyze the cognitive ergonomics and mental stress of shop floor production workers interacting with different user interfaces of a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) that is adjustable for analyzing the influence of other assistive systems, too. This approach is going to be designed with the Design of Experiments (DoE) method. Therefore, the respective goals and factors are going to be determined. The environment will be the laboratories of the University of Applied Sciences Amberg-Weiden and its Campus for Digitalization in Amberg. In detail, there will be a sample assembly process from the automotive supplier industry for demonstration purposes. At this laboratory, the MES software from the European benchmark SAP is installed, and the respective standard Production Operator Desk is going to be used with slight adaptions. In order to make the cognitive ergonomics measurable, different approaches are going to be used. For instance, body temperature, heart rate and skin conductance as well as subjective methods of self-assessment are planned. The result of this paper is a ready-to-run experiment with sample data for each classification of participants. Further, possible limitations and adjustments are going to be discussed. Finally, an approach to validating the expected results is going to be shown and future intentions are going to be discussed.

Digital twin technology as a modern approach to quality management

The concept of a digital twin and its types are discussed in this paper. The essence of the development of digital twins in the SysML language, the use of AnyLogic (simulation software) and the use of MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) software for communication with production systems are described. The functions of neural technologies that can be integrated into a modern QMS (quality management system) are considered. The use of digital twins in the quality management system allows monitoring inconsistencies in the technological component of production and quickly eliminating them, and also offers solutions to the identified problem. Companies are now finding a competitive advantage in digital technologies, especially digital twins, whose economic benefits are undeniable. The quality management system of enterprises with high-tech industries is more and more moving into the analysis of big data and in interaction with the digital environment. Thus, it is so important to pay attention to technologies directly related to the analysis of the quality of the product and the processes of its creation. As a result of the study, a clear connection between advanced information technologies and the development of the quality management system of enterprises was revealed.

MES as an Enabler of Lean Manufacturing

Abstract Many firms have adopted Lean Manufacturing as a means of increasing productivity and reducing cost, often by focusing on the implementation of Lean best practices to identify and eliminate waste. This paper explores the application of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) to support the waste identification and elimination process. The majority of MES vendors have now incorporated Lean functionality in their software, but a comprehensive methodology that explains how MES can be used to enable and promote Lean Manufacturing is still lacking. This paper aims at filling this gap by presenting a Lean-MES framework. The proposed framework is validated and extended through a market analysis of MES software, identifying areas for further development for MES vendors.

An effective detailed operation scheduling in MES based on hybrid genetic algorithm

A detailed operation scheduling solution based on hybrid genetic algorithm is proposed and integrated with the manufacturing execution system (MES) for multi-objective scheduling. The constraints and influences from real-time production information collected by MES will all be considered in scheduling procedures. Each order can be scheduled forward or backward and the various constraints such as the ones from working calendar, processing capacity of manufacturing resources and the connection type between the operation and the previous operation will be obeyed in scheduling. A genetic algorithm is designed according to the features of the scheduling problem. Two methods of operation sequence (OS) initialization (named as OSIOP and ROSI) and three methods of manufacturing resource selection (named as RSAPT, RSWTB and RRS) are designed for population initialization. A variable neighborhood search is designed and implanted in the process of GA to improve the scheduling results. The experiments are made and the results have proved the feasibility of the hybrid GA. This scheduling solution is programmed in $$\hbox {C}^{\#}$$ and applied to a commercial MES software successfully.

Real-Time Monitoring Station for Production Systems

Real-time monitoring of the flow of materials, semi-completed and completed products during production process is necessary practice for every company because of need for optimal production management. Identification of technological operations, parts, products and persons responsible for any production stage is possible using means of processes control devices and automatic identification systems. Paper describes the in-line monitoring station designed for tests of real-time production monitoring methods. Available sources of information are RFiD, bar codes, and vision system. These data sources are integrated into the in-line production monitoring station. Modular production system model or small production system can be placed under the In-line station as an object of monitoring. Advanced PLC integrates control over subsystems and allows communication between hardware and software components of data acquisition system. Data acquired from the in-line research station is stored in a dedicated database, then processed and analysed using MES (Manufacturing Execution System) software.

Towards a Formal Specification Framework for Manufacturing Execution Systems

Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) optimize production and business processes at the same time. However, the engineering and specification of MES is a challenging, interdisciplinary process. Especially IT and production experts with different views and background have to cooperate. For successful and efficient MES software projects, misunderstandings in the specification process have to be avoided. Therefore, textual specifications need to be complemented by unambiguous graphical models, reducing the complexity by integrating interdisciplinary views and domain specific terms based on different background knowledge. Today's modeling notations focus on the detailed modeling of a certain domain specific problem area. They do not support interdisciplinary discussion adequately. To bridge this gap a novel MES Modeling Language (MES-ML) integrating all necessary views important for MES and pointing out their interdependencies has been developed. Due to its formal basis, comparable and consistent MES-models can be created for specification, standardization, testing, and documentation of MES software. In this paper, the authors present the formal basis of the modeling language and its core notation. The application of MES-ML is demonstrated taking a yogurt production as an example. Finally, the authors give some evaluation results that underline the effectiveness and efficiency of this new modeling approach with reference to four applications in industrial MES-projects in the domain of discrete and hybrid manufacturing.

Research on Development Method of MES Based on Component and Driven by Ontology

Manufacturing Execution System (MES) links plan management and workshop control in an enterprise, which is an integrative management and control system of workshop production oriented to manufacturing process. The paper analyzes the function of MES software and the traditional software development flow as well as the defects of the traditional software development method. To overcome the difficulties of traditional software development method, development of MES based on component and driven by ontology is put forward to prompt development efficiency and performance of MES, which can be more reconstructing, reuse, expansion and integration, and the key technologies of MES development based on component and driven by ontology are investigated in detail. Development method of MES software based on component and driven by ontology is feasible and efficient through developing a pharmaceutics MES which applied in a pharmaceutics manufacturing factory.

Data model design for manufacturing execution system

PurposeSince the data model plays an important role in designing manufacturing execution system (MES) database, this paper seeks to provide a generic and adaptable data model for MES, which can facilitate and improve the MES development.Design/methodology/approachExtended entity‐relationship (EER) model technique is adopted to build the data model of MES.FindingsBased on MES functions and database requirement analysis, four subject's structures of MES database is abstracted from a system integration point of view. These four structures are independent relatively but also have close interrelation. Each structure is modeled with EER model.Research limitations/implicationsThe presented data model mainly focuses on discrete manufacturing MES, which perhaps limits its usefulness elsewhere, and the data model still need further testing in manufacturing enterprises with different scales.Practical implicationsA prototype MES system is developed and implemented, the results show that the proposed EER modeling approach can establish and make clear complex relationships among entities existed in a manufacturing system, which lays the foundation for adaptable and modular MES software development and implementation.Originality/valueThis paper fulfils a fundamental need of designing data model for MES and provides a main framework for developing MES data model, which provides reference for researches both in academia and industry to build specific relational data models for specific needs.