Configuration of a Production Control System through Cooperation of Software Units Using their Capability Profiles in the Cloud Environment

Recent manufacturing systems including application software for production control are required to have high flexibility and fast changeability. In response to this, this paper proposes the development and operation methodology for production control applications which are configured by cooperation of manufacturing software units provided by different vendors using capability profiling technology. In this methodology, a profile matcher uses the manufacturing software capability profile repository to find and select adequate software units by capability profile matching with the required capability profile. The manufacturing software capability profile repository can be organized using a standardized method given by ISO 16100 to describe capabilities of manufacturing software units in terms of the capability profile. Based on information from the matcher's output, the production control application has been configured by combining selected software units. The application configurator organizes the production control application by plug-and-play of software units which match the capability profile with the requirement. A profile matcher has been implemented. The experimentation that configured an application in a cloud environment that communicates with the equipment on the floor has been successfully done on a commercially available cloud service. This trial shows the potential for the proposed methodology as a solution for a quick and flexible configuration of a production control system.