A Manufacturing Cell Controller Architecture

Worldwide competition among enterprises has lead to new needs in the area of manufacturing to answer for price, quality and delivery time. The improvement of productivity and flexibility in manufacturing systems by the introduction of new concepts and technologies, and by the appropriate integration of the different resources, may constitute a key factor for the solution towards the success. This paper describes the specification and implementation of a Manufacturing Cell Controller integrated into the demonstration pilot of an ESPRIT Project. Special attention is given to the control structure, communication system, information system and the way the integration was done using the MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification) communication standard. Be also important, an analysis of the performance and costs of the solution is discussed together with alternative development platforms and technologies to achieve a better one.