AutoPnP – Plug-and-produce in the automation industry

Abstract

Production systems are subject to increasing fluctuations of fundamental input parameters. Dynamic requirements regarding lot size, product variants, lead times, and costs call for a high degree of flexibility. To keep-up with these trends, we present an approach to support plug-and-produce. This helps to reduce the configuration effort required for setting-up and changing a system. Models are used for the self-description of components. These models are not only used during development time but also during run-time, where we construct a model of the current production setup. The stations in the factory are automatically detected and integrated into the production process.