ProVis.Agent

Starting situation

The driving force behind new, integrated software solutions is the growing number of new product variants as well as shorter development, start-up and life cycles of industrially manufactured products. IT systems usually outlive these products, which is why they must become more flexible.

Existing shopfloor-related stand-alone solutions, e. g. in the fields of production control technology, maintenance management, object identification or quality management, need to be integrated with each other. This allows decisions taken on the shop floor to be supported transparently and consistently, so the impacts of disruptions in machinery or facilities, for instance, on cycle times or supplied components, can be illustrated.

The current development of a new shopfloor-related software generation, namely manufacturing execution systems (MES), is aimed at integrating stand-alone solutions. The complexity associated with these systems, combined with up-to-date, real-time-based information from manufacturing, cannot be coped with by human beings without any support. To this end, software agents fulfill complex tasks and provide task-specific information.

Underlying technology

The concept of agent-based control systems is taken from computer sciences. In that context, agents are software units which enhance objects by adding intelligent behavior and mobility.

	Agents can perform jobs independently, obtain the information required to do so on their own and act independently.
	Software agents are a new and efficient way to integrate distributed or networked software with each other
	Agents can delegate jobs to various assistants; they filter out relevant information and combine it to form knowledge.
	Software agents support human beings in brainwork, just as robots support men and women in manual work.

Today, software agents are already in use as a promising technology to control flexible manufacturing systems, for instance in the area of metal cutting of engine components.

ProVis.Agent was implemented on the basis of the Java Agent DEvelopment Framework (JADE).
Java Agent DEvelopment Framework (JADE).

Solution for shopfloor-related information technology

IT solutions based on software agents are optimally tailored to the needs of the fast-changing environment of manufacturing and assembly. They help users to respond quickly to unforeseen events, to take purpose-driven decisions and to pass on important information to any internal or external participant involved in the process.

ProVis.Agent is the first agent-based production control system. Its functionality is based on ProVis.NT, the proven object-oriented control system which monitors and controls the body, paint and assembly shops in one of DaimlerChrysler's automotive plants. Forming an integral part of the MES, ProVis.Agent for the first time allows to be integrated with other shopfloor-related applications.

Fraunhofer IITB has already tested the agent-based connection between the control system and a short-time simulation system. The latter, in turn, allows reliable forecasts to be made of production output and buffer status in the following shifts, on the basis of actual plant data.

Outlook

The digital factory, which today is mainly used for planning new plants and facilities, will soon be extended to include the operation of plants.

The start-up and continuous improvement of plants will also include operation and production control systems. Even today it is possible to generate and simulate SPS programs on the basis of digital factories.

Systems integration between the worlds of planning and automation is the logical step that follows. Fraunhofer IITB makes use of software agent technology in order to boost this very integration.

ProVis.Agent is the first step towards the digital operation of factories.

Benefits

	ProVis.Agent, the first agent-based production control system – awarded by experts of the FISITA international automobile association.
	The innovative step towards integrating complex stand-alone IT systems in automated manufacturing and assembly.
	Minimum maintenance and operating costs owing to the component-based architecture – ranging from receiving and processing SPS signals through to web-based visualization and automated generation of process images.
	Proven architecture and functionalities – as tested in actual industrial use by customers in the automotive and steal sectors.

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