M2M communication using RF-ID and a digital product memory

Future production plants are facing new problems. There is an emerging need for individual products that are competitive in quality, price and availability, compared to usual bulk products [MFH09]. This leads to changing demands during the plants lifetime that can only be handled if they themselves are reactive to changes. Reusability, modularization and adaptability of machines and plants represent important characteristics. While modular mechatronic components are broadly used in todays machine and plant engineering world, the used software and automation still demands high expenses on creating and integrating the IT and production systems. But such a simplified cooperation of mechatronic units also requires a simplified information processing, coupling and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication. For the manufacturing of workpieces this coupling can be realized using digital product memories appended to the products. They represent the physical link of production relevant information and the actual created workpieces. These information are the major ones in the whole manufacturing process. As substitute for conventional communication infrastructures, the product memories take over the technical process of linking machines and processes. This paper describes such an architecture and considers in particular the effects on Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). In the end an exemplary implementation at the research platform SmartFactoryOWL is presented.