The leading international Hannover Messe trade show is being staged in 2013 under the banner of ‘Integrated Industry’ from April 8 to 12. It provides insight into investments in technology and automation, focusing on key manufacturing technologies and services. Along these lines, iTAC Software AG will be presenting its cross-industry manufacturing execution system, which is also available as a cloud-based model and facilitates direct integration of the automation level via OPC UA.
With the iTAC.ARTES middleware, the MES is a platform-independent and manufacturer-independent framework providing the technological basis for the operation of state-of-the-art enterprise applications on the Java EE platform. An upgrade of the middleware to incorporate an OPC UA gateway is just one example of this future-proof MES’s ability to meet both Industry 4.0 and MES in the cloud requirements.
iTAC’s cloud-based MES is no pipe dream
iTAC’s new developments are geared to forward-looking internet-based information and communication technologies. The Industry 4.0 compliant cloud-based MES model is one example. Cloud-based MES supports company-wide value chains across all production facilities and iTAC has been ready for roll out for quite some time now. Various enterprises including MID-TRONIC Wiesauplast GmbH have integrated cloud-based MES in their corporate infrastructures to guarantee Industry 4.0 compliance. Integrated industry is already a reality at iTAC - while it remains a vision for many manufacturers and customers.
“The fourth industrial revolution will shift the focus to the integration of all areas of industry,“ explained Martin Heinz, General Manager D-A-CH at iTAC. He continued, “The intrinsic potential of the 'integrated industry‘ is particularly evident in the digital factory concept. Digital factories have integrated processes and interdisciplinary product development operations. The MES uses standardized interfaces for interoperable integration in the company’s business and production processes. In conjunction with consistent process control, quality, operational and machine data management, it delivers measurable process improvements in manufacturing enterprises’ cross-plant value chains.“