Developing an adaptable manufacturing execution system framework

Abstract

Manufacturing system now reached a point where it can accommodate various kinds of production models. However, its management and control sub-system, i.e. the manufacturing execution system (MES), is still constructed with relatively dedicated framework. Such lag in the development of MES has inevitably caused some problems. A salient one is the lack of adaptability to effectively cope with the diversity of manufacturing processes. This paper aims to provide some resolutions to this problem. After analyzing the adaptability requirements of A-MES in detail, some key techniques are researched including data integrated adapter, developing configurable factory model, reusable business component and data based script driven mechanism. Thereafter, a new kind of adaptable MES framework named A-MES is presented. A-MES is capable of accommodating changes in internal and external manufacturing system with little programming work. Moreover, a implementation system of A-MES is given, which has been successfully applied in different assembly lines in automotive industry. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010.