Standard MES interface for discrete manufacturing

• US 7,844,349 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2007
• Issued: 11/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Carmount, Mark K., Weatherhead, N. Andrew, Mauk, Ronald L., Wei, Jennifer, Meyer, Kenneth Carl
• Primary Examiner(s): Masinick; Michael D
• Application Number:
  US11/861,562
• Publication Number:
  US 20080097623A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,161 Days
• Field of Search: 700/1, 700/3, 700/19, 700/29
• US Class Current: 700/19
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41865 characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31372 Mes manufacturing execution system
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/80 Management or planning

Abstract

The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or a method that facilitates data transportation between two ore more systems. A manufacturing execution system (MES) can include a portion of recipe data associated with discrete manufacturing. An MES interface component can seamlessly communicate with the manufacturing execution system (MES) to delivery and execute the portion of recipe data within a controller-based discrete automation environment.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an MES interface component that receives a portion of recipe data associated with discrete manufacturing from a manufacturing execution system (MES);

organizes the portion of recipe data according to an equipment control hierarchy, wherein the portion of recipe data includes an equipment procedure;

places the portion of recipe data into a list of control recipes, wherein the control recipes are embedded with at least one equipment procedure per control recipe; and

delivers the list to at least one production line controller within a controller-based discrete automation environment.

2. The system of claim 1, the portion of recipe data is a control recipe, the control recipe is a set of information that uniquely defines at least one production requirement for a product which, through execution, defines a manufacture of a single batch of the product.

3. The system of claim 1, the MES interface component enforces a modular programming principal related to at least one of Object Oriented Programming, an S95standard or an S88 standard.

4. The system of claim 3, the principal is at least one of encapsulation, polymorphism, or inheritance.

5. The system of claim 1, the hierarchy is the following:

a control recipe includes a recipe procedure that references an equipment procedure that is an ordered set of an equipment unit procedure that is an ordered set of an equipment operation that is an ordered set of an equipment phase.

6. The system of claim 5, further comprising at least one of the following:

a production line related to the controller-based discrete automation environment corresponding to the equipment procedure;

a work cell related to the controller-based discrete automation environment corresponding to the equipment unit procedure;

or a work cell relationship related to the controller-based discrete automation environment corresponding to the equipment unit procedure.

7. The system of claim 1, the MES interface component treats two or more work cells associated with the controller-based discrete automation environment as similar objects, wherein the work cells are made up of a hierarchy of equipment phases, equipment modules, and control modules.

8. The system of claim 1, the MES interface component translates the portion of recipe data for at least one of the equipment operation or the equipment phase and places the portion of recipe data into the predefined data structure.

9. The system of claim 1, the portion of recipe data is placed into an order list, wherein a verification list authenticates the portion of recipe data.

10. The system of claim 9, the portion of recipe data moves into a line list for a work cell in coordination of a physical assembly moving into the work cell, a position on the line list represents a pitch position on a production line within the controller-based discrete automation environment.

11. The system of claim 10, the automation layer receives and acts upon the portion of data and embedded equipment procedure of the production line.

12. The system of claim 11, the equipment procedure is executed in accordance to a physical layout of the production line.

13. The system of claim 12, the equipment unit procedure is executed sequentially as an assembly moves through the production line, wherein the equipment procedure relies on line pitch within the production line to invoke the execution of the equipment unit procedure.

14. The system of claim 13, the portion of recipe data is executed within the equipment unit procedure and a subordinate procedural element, the portion of recipe data is stored within the line list.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising a controller within the controller-based discrete automation environment, the controller is responsible for at least one of the following:

an execution of a work cell level sequencing;

a safety interlock;

a personnel interlock;

a persistent control at a device level;

data shifting as a component moves down a production line;

or data manipulation as a component moves down a production line.

16. A computer-implemented method that facilitates communicating data from a manufacturing execution system (MES) and an automation environment, comprising:

receiving a portion of data associated with a manufacturing execution system (MES), wherein the portion of data is associated with discrete manufacturing;

organizing the portion of recipe data according to an equipment control hierarchy, comprising embedding at least one equipment procedure within the portion of data;

placing the portion of recipe data in a list of control recipes, wherein the control recipes are embedded with at least one equipment procedure per control recipe; and

delivering the list to at least one production line controller within an automation environment.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

utilizing a hierarchy to organize an equipment operation associated with the portion of data; and

employing a standardized interface based on the hierarchy to transport the organized portion of data to the automation environment.

18. The method of claim 16, the portion of data is a control recipe.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising interfacing the MES and the automation environment with a standardized interface having the predefined data structure and a transportation technique for the portion of data within the MES.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising sequentially executing the portions of data based upon an organized hierarchy of equipment operation associated with the automation environment.

21. A computer-implemented system that facilitates data transportation between two or more systems, comprising:

a manufacturing execution system (MES) that defines a portion of recipe data associated with a discrete manufacturing process;

a delivery system that;

receives the portion of recipe data from the MES;

formats the portion of recipe data in accordance with an equipment control hierarchy, wherein the portion of recipe data is embedded with an equipment procedure;

places the portion of recipe data into a list of control recipes, wherein the control recipes are embedded with at least one equipment procedure per control recipe; and

delivers the list to at least one production line controller within a controller-based discrete automation environment; and

the controller-based discrete automation environment that executes the portion of recipe data.