scholarly journals Success Factors for the Design of Field-level Control Code in Machine and Plant Manufacturing - an Industrial Survey -

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgit Vogel-Heuser ◽  
Juliane Fischer ◽  
Eva-Maria Neumann ◽  
Matthias Kreiner
Keyword(s):  
Software Engineering ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Development Effort ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Level Control ◽  
Control Software ◽  
Automated Production ◽  
Field Level ◽  
Control Code

Abstract The amount of software in automated production systems, including its development effort, is continuously increasing to currently up to 35-50% of the development personnel. Consequently, success factors for achieving modularity and complexity management of control software are of high economic interest. Scientific solutions are manifold but often not implemented in industry. This paper introduces the study QoaPS SWE (Quality of automated Production Systems’ Software Engineering) providing insights into 61 machine and plant manufacturing companies to give quantitative and qualitative results to five essential research questions on success factors in the design of field-level control code. Compared to preceding surveys, QoaPS SWE achieves statistically significant results for software maturity (MMOD+), complexity, and model-based software engineering and provides detailed insights into causes and consequences for single criteria, thus clearly identifying obstacles to be addressed in future research and with industrial countermeasures. Especially staff qualification and organizational issues are identified as obstacles to applying the object-oriented programming paradigm for control software in machine and plant manufacturing. Validity is ensured by analyzing the statistical significance of the results in addition to comparisons with earlier surveys and interviews as well as the comparison with already existing and accepted maturity levels. The provided qualitative and quantitative results will allow the benchmarking of companies’ maturity and the derivation of concrete recommendations for companies depending on their MMOD+ value and the evaluated characteristics.

Towards verified continuous integration in the engineering of automated production systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (10) ◽  
pp. 784-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob Mund ◽  
Safa Bougouffa ◽  
Iman Badr ◽  
Birgit Vogel-Heuser
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Software Engineering ◽  
System Integration ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Individual Quality ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
Automated Production ◽  
Continuous Integration ◽  
Verification Techniques

Abstract Continuous integration (CI) is widely used in software engineering. The observed benefits include reduced efforts for system integration, which is particularly appealing for engineering automated production systems (aPS) due to the different disciplines involved. Yet, while many individual quality assurance means for aPS have been proposed, their adequacy for and systematic use in CI remains unclear. In this article, the authors provide two key contributions: First, a quality model for a model-based engineering approach specifically developed for aPS. Based thereon, a discussion of the suitable verification techniques for aPS and their systematic integration in a CI process are given. As a result, the paper provide a blueprint to be further studied in practice, and a research agenda for quality assurance of aPS.

An agent-based approach for dependable planning of production sequences in automated production systems

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Rehberger ◽  
Lucas Spreiter ◽  
Birgit Vogel-Heuser
Keyword(s):  
Software Engineering ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Product Management ◽  
Plant Resources ◽  
Time Duration ◽  
Automated Production ◽  
Agent Oriented Software Engineering

AbstractOne approach to achieve flexibility and dependability for the control of automated production systems (aPS) is agent-oriented software engineering (AOSE). In this paper, the modular decoupling of the supervisory control, most significantly the planning of production sequences and transfer routes, from the distributed real-time control of the plant resources is demonstrated by the use of agents. The resulting product management agent (PMA) represents the technical process of the manufactured product and conducts a discrete reasoning algorithm to derive appropriate production plans by the use of graph-search and also by interaction with the underlying resource agents (RA). It is shown, that for a given production system, dependable solutions are automatically generated in regard to a given product recipe. Further it is deduced, that the solutions are calculated and evaluated by the PMA within a deterministic time duration. This is argued on the fact, that the computation complexity does not exceed polynomial time and is mostly predetermined by the design parameters of the plant. Thus, it gives a reasonable approach for the use in a real-time environment. Additionally, through separation of supervisory and field control, a modular software engineering is achieved, offering the advantage that the PMA and the resource agents can be reused, by solely adapting the knowledge bases and without the need for modifying the planning algorithms after a reconfiguration of the aPS.

scholarly journals MICOSE4aPS: Industrially Applicable Maturity Metric to Improve Systematic Reuse of Control Software

2022 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Birgit Vogel-Heuser ◽  
Eva-Maria Neumann ◽  
Juliane Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Food Packaging ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
System Quality ◽  
Control Software ◽  
Mechatronic Systems ◽  
Automated Production ◽  
Quality Of Control ◽  
Software Modules ◽  
Systematic Reuse

automated Production Systems (aPS) are highly complex, mechatronic systems that usually have to operate reliably for many decades. Standardization and reuse of control software modules is a core prerequisite to achieve the required system quality in increasingly shorter development cycles. However, industrial case studies in aPS show that many aPS companies still struggle with strategically reusing software. This paper proposes a metric-based approach to objectively measure the m aturity of i ndustrial IEC 61131-based co ntrol s oftwar e in aPS (MICOSE4aPS) to identify potential weaknesses and quality issues hampering systematic reuse. Module developers in the machine and plant manufacturing industry can directly benefit as the metric calculation is integrated into the software engineering workflow. An in-depth industrial evaluation in a top-ranked machine manufacturing company in food packaging and an expert evaluation with different companies confirmed the benefit of efficiently managing the quality of control software.

scholarly journals Key maturity indicators for module libraries for PLC-based control software in the domain of automated Production Systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (11) ◽  
pp. 1610-1617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgit Vogel-Heuser ◽  
Juliane Fischer ◽  
Eva-Maria Neumann ◽  
Sebastian Diehm
Keyword(s):  
Production Systems ◽  
Control Software ◽  
Automated Production

Change analysis on evolving PLC software in automated production systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (10) ◽  
pp. 806-818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Schlie ◽  
Safa Bougouffa ◽  
Juliane Fischer ◽  
Ina Schaefer ◽  
Birgit Vogel-Heuser
Keyword(s):  
Static Analysis ◽  
Software Evolution ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Feasibility Studies ◽  
System Quality ◽  
Control Software ◽  
Change Analysis ◽  
Automated Production ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Manual Examination

Abstract Control software for automated Production Systems (aPSs) becomes increasingly complex. Respective systems undergo constant evolution. Yet, proper documentation may not always be present, entailing maintenance issues in the long run. While manual examination of software for aPSs is an error-prone task, static analysis can improve system quality. However, it has not been applied to describe software evolution by means of changed systems artifacts. The authors address this issue and perform change analyses on IEC61131-3 projects, identifying introduced and removed systems artifacts as well as existing ones affected. By that, the authors aim to support sustainable evolution. Two feasibility studies, implemented independently, but for the same evolution scenarios for an automation plant, are used for evaluation. The technique is shown to be efficient and highly precise.

Digital production innovation projects – The applicability of managerial controls under high levels of complexity and uncertainty

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Johansson ◽  
Malin Kullström ◽  
Jennie Björk ◽  
Anna Karlsson ◽  
Susanne Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
System Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Production ◽  
Innovation Projects ◽  
Managerial Implications

PurposeThe purpose of the present study is to assist academics and practitioners in supporting and managing digital production innovation projects using managerial controls. The focus is on projects that deliver innovations containing new combinations of physical, digital and/or cyber-physical components, developed to be used within a production system. More specifically, this paper aims to explore the applicability of different managerial controls for managing and supporting digital production innovation projects, i.e. projects that are characterized by high levels of complexity and uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachThis is a multiple-case study in which interview data was collected from five digital production innovation projects in two manufacturing firms. The empirical data was used to analyze success factors, challenges and obstacles in different phases of the studied projects, and to connect these to the application of different types of managerial controls.FindingsThe findings provide an increased understanding of who to control, what to control and how to control in digital production innovation projects.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is focused specifically on the perception of managerial controls in digital production innovation projects and has not explicitly focused on manufacturing companies' intended usage of managerial controls. This paper's focus on manufacturing companies with producing customers and on projects developing solutions for their respective customers' production systems also encourages further studies at other companies undergoing a comparable transition. Given the necessary system perspective on managerial controls that is being highlighted, this paper emphasizes further research needs on how firms can also apply managerial controls to support external collaborations.Practical implicationsThe results have a number of managerial implications regarding digital production innovation projects. The most prominent findings revealed the importance of giving attention to the managerial controls related to the decision-making process and the involvement from stakeholders outside the organization itself. In particular, it was shown that managerial controls securing a more holistic involvement in the decision-making process should be applied, and that managerial controls suitable for customers and partners need to be developed.Originality/valueThe study is among the first studies to focus on the application and perceived effectiveness of managerial controls in digital production innovation projects. The ways in which managerial controls are applied to collaborations with customers and partners and the ways in which action, cultural and personnel controls are combined and aligned to support the corporate decision-making process particularly stand out as essential for manufacturing companies' Industry 4.0 transition.

Digital platform of production systems

2021 ◽  
pp. 104-115
Author(s):  
O.I. Bochkarev ◽  
P.N. Bilenko ◽  
V.G. Beltsov ◽  
E.A. Asanova
Keyword(s):  
Production Systems ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Technological Breakthrough ◽  
Digital Platform ◽  
Digital Services ◽  
World Markets ◽  
Competitive Products

The Russian manufacturing companies are faced with the task of a technological breakthrough and bringing high-tech competitive products to world markets. The results of the study demonstrated the urgent need for enterprises to develop production systems using digital services combined into platforms. The article proposes an approach to the construction and development of production systems based on the use of both world experience and knowledge, and new digital services and systems of tools, developed at domestic enterprises. The sequence of targeted steps to implement digital transformation is highlighted.

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