wilamowski-b-m-irwin-j-d-industrial-communication-systems-2011

Vertical Integration 13-11
ERP frameworks will become even more comprehensive and include functional modules currently
belonging to the MES level. Such a mostly distributed approach for the MES level will, however, impose
more demanding requirements on the middleware to support better flexibility. Concepts emerging in
the IT world like ontologies to formally describe semantic information will have to be used and additional
abstraction levels must be introduced. Another emerging middleware concept possibly facilitating
the interconnection of heterogeneous software frameworks are service-oriented architectures (SoA)
that might ease the actual vertical integration.
The need for abstract interoperability layers is visible already today. Contrary to the beginning of the
CIM era, many powerful technological building blocks are available: widely used protocol standards, middleware
concepts, distributed application paradigms, databases, and last but not least, high-performance
computers. But, the main problem has not much changed over the years: to find proper interfaces between
lots of applications that are to a large extent still not interoperable. Nevertheless, interfaces alone are not
sufficient to achieve interoperability. The semantic definitions for data exchange will require more effort.
This is exactly why there are so many standardization activities in the automation area.
End users may have the impression that it took the emergence of standards like ISA S95 or S88 to
stimulate actual product developments. Yet, the need for integration has been there before and has been
the driving force behind all standardization efforts. It simply took a long time until the technological
environment was mature enough to provide a solid basis. On the other hand, it appears that what has
been reached today is only an intermediate step. All standardization activities had a clear focus, either
from a technology or application domain point of view. The results are therefore optimized according
to the respective goals, but they need to be properly aligned across similar or complementary activities.
Major groups like ISA SP95, the OPC Foundation, and Machinery Information Management Open
Systems Alliance (MIMOSA) already started joint efforts in this direction.
Throughout the chapter, vertical integration has mostly been treated in the context of actual plant operation.
It should be noted, however, that also an automation system has a life cycle with a design phase,
installation, and commissioning that need to be finished before the system becomes operational, not to
forget maintenance and management during operation. Especially, the first phases of the life cycle are typically
still supported by individual design frameworks that are not compatible with the one used later. One
future goal of vertical integration will therefore be to include the entire life cycle in one consistent database
with just different, phase-specific tools that change with the life cycle. Therefore, vertical integration in
its ultimate all-inclusive form also gets a time aspect, and this aspect will gain importance in the future.
Abbreviations
CIM
CN/IP
ERP
HTTP
HVAC
IP
LAN
MAP
MES
MIMOSA
OPC
SCADA
SCM
SoA
TCP
TLS
Computer integrated manufacturing
Control network/IP
Enterprise resource planning
Hypertext transfer protocol
Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning
Internet protocol
Local area network
Manufacturing automation protocol
Manufacturing execution systems
Machinery Information Management Open Systems Alliance
Open process control
Supervisory control and data acquisition
Supply chain management
Service-oriented architecture
Transmission control protocol
Transport layer security
© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC