Controls to CPM Connection: Are We There? The requirements for manufacturing intelligence and visualization are becoming requisite components of the collaborative manufacturing enterprise.

1. THOUGHT LEADERS FOR MANUFACTURING & SUPPLY CHAIN
ARC INSIGHTS
By Dick Slansky
The requirements for manufacturing
intelligence and visualization are
becoming requisite components of
the collaborative manufacturing
enterprise.
INSIGHT# 2003-20MDH&E
MAY 14, 2003
Controls to CPM Connection: Are We There?
Keywords
Collaborative Production Management (CPM), Real-time Performance
Management (RPM), MES, ISA-S95, OPC XML-DA, COTS
Summary
Manufacturers are acutely aware of the need for a link between their fac-
tory floor control systems and production management systems. While this
connection has been established in some industry verticals such as Semi-
conductor and Electronics Assembly, for other sectors
such as Automotive and Aerospace this link has been
fragmented and sporadic. Automation suppliers recog-
nize this need and are developing strategies and
architectures to integrate automation solutions with
production management systems. One problem is that
the traditional MES space is highly fragmented and populated with in-
house applications. Can the automation and Collaborative Production
Management (CPM) suppliers successfully bridge this gap across all indus-
trial verticals?
Analysis
Manufacturers need to access and exchange information that originates at
the automation lines, equipment, and devices, with their production man-
agement systems. For the most part the automation suppliers have not
been able to provide a satisfactory means to move production operations
data from their PLCs, controllers, devices, sensors, and infrastructure to
production management systems. Furthermore, this data, often in very
elemental formats such as tags and point data, needs to be aggregated and
analyzed before it can become useful information to production manage-
ment applications. The data that originates at this level represents real-time
information that is required to power event-driven applications that pro-
vide visibility for gauging activities such as RPM and work-in-progress
(WIP) tracking.

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Production management functions are very critical to the execution of the
production processes. While the importance of manufacturing engineering
functions that define and develop manufacturing plans that detail the steps
for fabrication and assembly cannot be underestimated, the systems and
applications that execute and manage these processes are equally vital. Yet,
despite their importance to production operations, tra-
ditional manufacturing execution systems (MES)
functionality has consistently been ill-defined and un-
structured causing confusion among manufacturing
users when confronted with choosing production
management applications to fit their production proc-
esses. The problem was that many of these
applications did not fit or were limited to a narrow
vertical industry scope, and users resorted to building
in-house highly customized production management
solutions. Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) solutions
were more often the exception than the rule.
The MES functionality problem was further exacerbated by the widely
varying interpretation of just what constitutes a function within this do-
main. Each manufacturer, depending on their specific vertical industry, has
an explicit scope of the set of functions and applications that best fit their
production processes. Some consider process planning steps combined
with scheduling to be MES, while others might regard the traditional MESA
definitions of production management systems. Factory operations man-
agers are now demanding a broader range of functionality that better
serves the requirements of a collaborative manufacturing environment.
ARC has consistently referred to this expanded domain of production man-
agement as CPM.
Scope of CPM Extends Beyond MES Functionality
Manufacturers have sought turnkey production management solutions, but
are forced to do extensive customization with current COTS applications in
order to meet unique production requirements. Some vertical sectors such
as Semiconductor and Electronic Component Assembly have production
processes that are largely uniform and consistent enough so that special-
ized COTS solutions can be applied to these manufacturing processes
successfully. Verticals like Automotive, Aerospace, Metal Fabrication, and
Heavy Equipment are examples of complex and physically disparate as-
Production Scheduling
Work Flow Execution
Resource Allocation Management
Work Flow Modeling
Dispatching
Historians
Labor Tracking
WIP Tracking
Quality Assurance
Traditional MES Functions

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©2003 • ARC • 3 Allied Drive • Dedham, MA 02026 USA • 781-471-1000 • ARCweb.com
sembly processes with substantial amounts of outsourcing that historically
haven’t responded very well to generalized production management solu-
tions
CPM is a response to the need for more complete collaboration and a higher
level of connectivity to business processes external to the factory floor. This
represents a much wider domain of activities than the former MES strategy.
The demands of a much more connected and integrated product lifecycle,
along with more explicit value chain requirements, have levied the need to
include activities such as regulatory compliance methods, process model-
ing, visibility, and analytics.
Many CPM functions will fall into the category of service applications.
They connect with factory floor control systems though a strategy of ser-
vice-based infrastructure (SBI) applications and communication standards.
One example of methods that would facilitate these connections between
factory floor control systems and CPM applications would be the use of the
OPC XML-DA specification in conjunction with industrial Ethernet.
Automation Suppliers Seek to Include CPM within Their
Solutions Portfolio
As the various enterprise-wide manufacturing architectures begin to
emerge from the automation suppliers, connecting CPM systems and con-
trol systems will be accomplished by applying a variety of methods and
strategies that allow integration of business operations
with manufacturing operations. These methods and
strategies include work flow process modeling en-
gines, ISA-S95-based component and data models,
traditional legacy component packaging, vertical in-
dustry components, and manufacturing portals.
The challenge for automation suppliers is not the es-
tablishment of physical connectivity with CPM level
application servers and systems, but including proc-
esses and applications that access, aggregate, and
analyze data from their control systems to create use-
ful information for decision support. Additionally,
these suppliers will most likely seek partnerships and
alliances, and even acquisitions of CPM providers that best fit their vertical
industry customer base. Currently, we are seeing a marked increase in ac-
Business Process Management
Integration of Factory Ops and Busi-
ness Processes
Connect Factory Ops with Supply Chain
Visibility and Analytics
Manufacturing Intelligence
Workflow Planning
Production Process Simulation
Process Optimization
Regulatory Compliance Support
Partial Set of CPM Functions

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©2003 • ARC • 3 Allied Drive • Dedham, MA 02026 USA • 781-471-1000 • ARCweb.com
tivity in product-oriented automation suppliers moving to bolster their so-
lutions portfolios with service-oriented CPM application components.
Examples include Siemens acquisition of ORSI and Rockwell’s acquisition
of MES integrator Interwave. Implementation of this controls to CPM col-
laboration will be a joint effort between the automation and CPM suppliers,
but for several industrial verticals like automotive and aerospace this is ac-
tivity is at a formative stage.
Recommendations
• Manufacturers within vertical industries should look beyond the typical
production management functions currently used in their factories, and
expand the scope of activities to include CPM functions that serve to
support an expanded collaborative manufacturing environment.
• Manufacturers should be aware of the current activities of the automa-
tion suppliers to incorporate and integrate CPM functions with their
existing automation solutions.
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