The Practical Side of Smart Manufacturing

Authored by John Clemons, MESA Marketing Committee Chair, based on an interview with Jan-Christoph Galm, MESA EMEA Board Member and member of the MESA Model Sub-Committee.  

MESA, the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association, has embarked on the development of a new model for Smart Manufacturing. Many people have asked me, “Why? Why is MESA doing this? Aren’t there enough models out there already?”

Well, yes, there are. There’s lot of models out there that cover all sorts of aspects of Smart Manufacturing. But they all have one thing in common. They all approach Smart Manufacturing from a specific point of view.

Now, not all those points of view are bad. But an individual point of view may not work for everybody and someone who’s not that familiar with Smart Manufacturing may not realize that what they’re looking at is even based on a particular point of view.

And that’s the big difference between the other models that are out there and what MESA is doing. The new MESA Smart Manufacturing model is being developed from a completely neutral point of view. It is intended to cover the breadth and depth of smart manufacturing but from a completely unbiased and neutral point of view.

Here’s the way Jan-Christoph Galm, a member of MESA’s EMEA Board of Directors explained it. “The idea of the new MESA model for Smart Manufacturing is first and foremost to be transparent. It’s to be totally unbiased with no built-in preconceived notions or points of view on what Smart Manufacturing is. It’s to provide an unbiased view of the vision of the Smart Factory.”

Along these lines, the new MESA model for Smart Manufacturing will provide a framework to help everyone speak the same language and to get a baseline or foundation on what Smart Manufacturing is all about. It’s a common model and a common language. The people that use it then accept it as a common agreement on what’s what with regards to Smart Manufacturing.

According to Jan-Christoph, there’s much more to it than that. “The new MESA model will be practical. It does no one any good for MESA to put out another model that only academicians can use. Or a model that only a very few people can get past the first few pages. The MESA model will be practical, for everyone to use, from the shop floor to the top floor, from operations to engineering to IT to management.”

The new MESA model will be both high level and low level but making it easy to navigate from the highest levels to the lowest levels, and back again. All providing a step-by-step way for people to discuss through the levels and understand what Smart Manufacturing is all about.

Jan-Christoph also emphasizes the roots of MESA with regards to the new model. “MESA grew up with Manufacturing Execution Systems or MES and we haven’t forgotten those roots. The new MESA model will be focused on Smart Manufacturing but just as MES is a key part of Smart Manufacturing, MES will be a key part of the new MESA model. It’ll provide not only an understanding of Smart Manufacturing, but an understanding of MES, the benefits of MES, and how MES fits into Smart Manufacturing.”

The new MESA model will have something for everybody. It will be intentionally neutral, with no pre-conceived biases or points of view. It will be practical, providing a common vision and a common language for everyone to understand the basics of Smart Manufacturing. And it won’t forget MES, which is still a cornerstone of manufacturing operations and a key part of Smart Manufacturing.

Stay tuned for more on the new MESA Smart Manufacturing Model.

Enhance your exposure by sponsoring the MESA Smart Manufacturing Model.

Getting Excited About the New MESA Smart Manufacturing Model

Authored by John Clemons, MESA Marketing Committee Chair, based on an interview with Dennis Brandl, MESA GEP Instructor and member of the MESA Model Sub-Committee. 

Everyone in the manufacturing world says we’re in the middle of the fourth industrial revolution and Smart Manufacturing is transforming manufacturing back into an economic powerhouse. 

But what most people see is wave after wave of new technology with no real idea how any of it is supposed to fit together.

MESA, the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association, has started developing a new Smart Manufacturing Model, with the express purpose of providing everyone with a simple and easy-to-use framework for making sense out of everything that’s part of Smart Manufacturing.

Dennis Brandl, a member of the MESA team building this model, says, “Most people don’t understand how it all fits together. It’s really just a vast state of turbulence with just about every country having its own model for Smart Manufacturing. MESA is cutting through all this fluff to provide a comprehensive Smart Manufacturing model that people can actually use to understand what Smart Manufacturing is all about.”

The new MESA Smart Manufacturing Model will provide a way to look at a company’s manufacturing operations and get a view of the entire lifecycle of manufacturing. In fact, this concept of lifecycles is key to the new model. Whether it’s a product lifecycle, an asset lifecycle, or a lifecycle for the manufacturing personnel, this idea of lifecycles is a key to understanding the complete picture of the manufacturing operations and how Smart Manufacturing fits into this picture.

Dennis explains more of the purpose of the new MESA model. “It’s fundamentally going to be a way of looking at the problem space to make sure you don’t miss anything. It’s intended to cover everything you need to be concerned with in this space. It will help people decide what to do by helping them ask the hard questions and determine if they really have the answers they need.”

In this way the new MESA model can be thought of as a checklist at the highest level to make sure no one is missing any of the key concepts of Smart Manufacturing.

Manufacturing companies can use the new model to make sure they’re dealing with all the issues, especially the ones they haven’t thought of yet. And solution providers can use the new model to make sure they’re providing their customers with everything they need.

Dennis says he’s very excited about the new MESA model. He says, “This is going to be good for everyone. Smart Manufacturing is good for everyone. It’s a win-win for everybody.”

The new MESA Smart Manufacturing Model will be easily usable by everyone. It will be a key tool for everyone to use to understand Smart Manufacturing when they’re looking at anything related to Smart Manufacturing. 

The new model will show people the path and will show people the way. Ultimately it will be down-to-earth, showing people what really works, in a way they can understand.

It’s easy to get excited about the new MESA Smart Manufacturing Model. It will be a great tool to understand what’s really going on in Smart Manufacturing. It will help everyone make sure they’re asking the hard questions and dealing with the tough issues that will ultimately decide the success or failure of a Smart Manufacturing project. 

Stay tuned for more on the new MESA Smart Manufacturing Model.

Enhance your exposure by sponsoring the MESA Smart Manufacturing Model.

B2MML-JSON Version Available from MESA

 Dennis Brandl, a member of MESA International

The latest release of B2MML from MESA International includes a JSON Schema specification of the ISA-88 and ISA-95 standards.  JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) a lightweight data-interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write and is easy for machines to parse and generate.  See www.json.org for information on JSON.  It is an open standard for data exchange that is made up of attribute value pairs and array data types. JSON is language independent but uses conventions that are familiar to most programmers that know C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Perl, Python, or any similar language. JSON is a lightweight alternative to XML and is often used in mobile applications and in Perl Python, and JavaScript applications.

JSON Schema is a grammar language for defining the structure, content, and (to some extent) semantics of JSON objects. See www.json-schema.org for information on JSON schemas.  Schemas specify metadata (data about data) about what an object's properties mean and what values are valid for those properties.  B2MML-JSON is derived from B2MML XSD definitions, using XMLSpy2021 from Altova (www.altova.com).  B2MML-JSON is a complement to the B2MML XML format and will remain in sync with any changes to B2MML and ISA-95.  JSON is typically used with REST based message exchanges, and XML is typically used with web service (SOAP) based exchanges.

The B2MML-JSON schema definition includes all the transactions specified in ISA-95 Part 5, providing one of the first standard syntax for fully qualified JSON message transactions. JSON messages can be exchanged using the ISA-95 Part 6 Message Service model, and the associated implementation OpenO&M implementation. The OpenO&M ISBM (Information Service Bus Model) defines both a web service and a REST interface specification to message exchange systems, and supports the exchange of XML and JSON messages. See www.mesa.org/en/ws-ISBM.asp for more information. 

This is the first release of B2MML-JSON and it includes all BatchML and BatchML-GeneralRecipe elements.  The current B2MML-JSON has all elements in a single file (rather large), but the MESA B2MML committee is looking for feedback from users on the best way to partition and organize JSON Schema files.  B2MML-JSON users are encouraged to pick up B2MML V7 from the MESA web site at http://www.mesa.org/en/B2MML.asp.  B2MML V7 is also available on Github at https://github.com/MESAInternational/B2MML-BatchML.   

Bio:
Dennis Brandl is the Chief Consultant for BR&L consulting, specializing in Manufacturing IT and Flexible Manufacturing solutions.  He has been involved in MES, batch control, and automation system design and implementation in a wide range of applications over the past 30 years.  Dennis is an active member of the ISA 95 Enterprise/Control System Integration committee, the ISA 99 Cyber System Security committee, and the IEC/ISO Smart Manufacturing Working Group, and a regular contributor to industry magazines.  Mr. Brandl has a BS in Physics and an MS in Measurement and Control from Carnegie-Mellon University, and a MS in Computer Science from California State University.