Flagstone in SmartFactory
Flagstone's role in SmartFactory
For Flanders Make's SmartFactory project, Flagstone's Smart Production provides the starting point for the visitor experience. The main functionality for this demonstrator consists of the order management system. This Production Queue system takes care of continuous batch production, as well as creating the Rush Orders entered by the visitor. Through the order details we can find the production status, Bill of Material and the link with the systems of other project partners.
When entering a Rush Order we have adapted our MES product in such a way that after collecting the visitor's info we give them the choice of different options for creating the corresponding order.
The open software infrastructure has ensured that we can easily establish connectivity with the software of our project partners Yazzoom and Siemens.
From Yazzoom we receive anomaly information through our APIs, which we then visualise in our MES product Smart Production. The link with the Yazzoom product Yanomaly ensures that the user can quickly obtain more information about the detected problem.
The orders generated by our MES are sent via OPC UA to the Siemens PLC by means of a data backbone message, so that they can be executed on the machine there. If this demonstrator develops further in the future, we will be able to expand the standard message in a simple manner so that we can both provide new information and process the information added by the line controller. We also foresee a button in our MES which allows to open the Siemens software where the machine parameters are displayed.
To provide this demo, Flagstone only had to make minimal adjustments to the existing standard product Smart Productivity. The customizations allow us to guarantee a tailor-made impression, which indicates that every company can become future-proof as a result of the dynamic structure of our software.
Advantages of Flagstone in SmartFactory
The great importance and benefits of using a proper MES lie in several areas.
On the one hand, the digitisation of the work floor will mean that the operators who have to do the work will receive clear instructions on what is expected of them through user-friendly screens, while they can follow the progress of their work in real time. This allows them to focus on their core tasks, while all important data captured during the work is properly registered. This always results in substantial time savings and significantly increases quality control.
On the other hand, the digitalisation of the work floor ensures that the general business processes can be greatly improved. The MES ensures the registration of all important production parameters, which makes it possible to carry out analyses on them, both with regard to striving for the achievement of current KPIs and obtaining a more global picture of the situation of a production unit over a longer period of time.
Specifically to the Flagstone solution in this SmartFactory project, Flagstone has been able to quickly integrate new technologies with our solution. The fact that we can communicate with third parties through API calls and OPC makes our solution flexible.
