A RAMI 4.0 view of predictive maintenance: Software architecture, platform and case study in steel industry

Abstract

The fourth industrial revolution is characterized by the introduction of the Internet of Things (IoT) into manufacturing, which enables smart factories with vertically and horizontally integrated production systems. The key issue of any design and system development in the context of Industry 4.0 is the proper implementation of Reference Architectural Model Industrie (RAMI) 4.0 in various manufacturing operations and the definition of appropriate sub-models for individual aspects and processes according to the technical background of Industry 4.0. Since maintenance is increasingly considered a strategic business function which contributes to overall reliability and profitability, predictive maintenance, as a novel lever of maintenance management, has been evolved. Predictive maintenance is a significant enabler towards Industry 4.0. In this paper, we design a predictive maintenance architecture according to RAMI 4.0. On this basis, we develop a unified predictive maintenance platform and we apply it to a real manufacturing scenario from the steel industry.