Sensor-to-boardroom integration. Factory floor-to-executive connection. Shop floor to top floor shared resources. No matter what you call it, today's focus is on locating and unlocking available, but isolated, data and distributing it throughout an entire organization.

In most manufacturing facilities, the amount of raw plant floor data is astounding, as "smart" industrial automation hardware, advanced control software, and interconnected open networks like DeviceNet, ControlNet, and EtherNet/IP provide a wealth of information about the manufacturing process. Similarly, from the top down, many manufacturers have invested in ERP and supply chain systems that warehouse data on order entry, financing, purchasing, warehousing, transportation, distribution, human resources, and other operational functions.

Until recently, however, there has been little useful information flow between the two systems, leaving each level to operate independently, unaware of the value of each other's information and unable to connect the information systems that manage the data. Disparate control systems meant that sharing information from one part of the plant to another was sometimes impossible or challenging through the addition of software patches or hardware bridges.

As the manufacturing economy slowly waned over the last decade, companies started looking closely at the role manufacturing plays in financial and performance success. What they found was an array of untapped data that could feed into operational cost and performance roll-ups. With this revelation, operations managers now had a real-time window into what was possible in production, providing a key piece of information for quoting on real capabilities in supply chain management and sales activities.

They discovered that plant level information from systems such as process control, energy management, and quality control could provide valuable (and real-time) information on production, cost, quality, and equipment performance. Historical production data could be used to identify trends in an effort to find and avoid unplanned downtime, lost production, or late orders. Real-time data could also support rapid decision making, assist in on-the-go troubleshooting, and help to optimize daily production processes.

ERP-level information was also suddenly more valuable. Plant floor managers could use data on order quantities, product descriptions, and batch size information to help manufacturing manage production scheduling, decrease inventory, and improve throughput. But the key to turning this data into useful knowledge was finding a way to share it across the entire organization.

The Integration Enigma

In the past, companies have tried many ways (most unsuccessful and costly) to share information. But recently, new enabling technologies have emerged that help companies leverage plant floor and ERP technologies already in place to build an information-sharing architecture.

Technologies like FactoryTalk, from Rockwell Automation, allow companies to build a highly flexible manufacturing information architecture supporting a common set of services and software modules. An information architecture is a layer of software that supports each manufacturing application with a common vocabulary for describing and storing information about shop floor operations, allowing for collaboration among different applications.

Built on the architecture, manufacturing applications can share information seamlessly, as if they were one large application. In addition, operational applications can also be tied into the architecture, creating information that can be served up to consumers at the enterprise and supply chain levels via web browsers and portals.

One key feature of an architecture is that applications can be implemented together or as components, targeted at solving manufacturing issues around integration, visualization and control, order flow management, performance analysis, uptime and reliability, and process optimization.

The result of the architecture and component applications is information flow that moves through the enterprise seamlessly and consistently, while solving plant floor challenges that help sustain business goals.

Understanding Information Flow

Aside from the software architecture, communication networks are an integral part of integration. A control system is usually comprised of programmable controllers, I/O, HMI devices, and other hardware. All of these devices need to communicate with one another -- functionality supplied by a network. Depending on the data relayed, different network technologies can be used, but today, the trend is pointing toward open network technologies. Examples of open network technologies are the CAN-based DeviceNet network and an industrialized version of Ethernet called EtherNet/IP.

One benefit of open network technologies is the ability to access data from any network at any point in the system at any time, without additional hardware or programming.

After Integration

With an effective integrated architecture in place, companies can pursue solutions to other business challenges, such as delivery performance, order flow management, and consistency. For example, eliminating manual processes for production scheduling and planning -- like magnetic planning boards and spreadsheets -- in favor of a scheduling component built on an information architecture, gives operations access to real-time information on work-in-progress, inventory, maintenance, and other issues impacting delivery. Ultimately, access to this information allows companies to better manage delivery expectations.

Improvements in manufacturing efficiency can also be pursued, such as maximizing uptime, process modeling and improvement, or supply chain synchronization. Components are available that monitor overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) -- a formula of machine availability, throughput, and quality -- to help manage manufacturing assets or model and animate business practices.

One example of using an effective integrated architecture is SpaceKraft, a Weyerhaeuser intermediate bulk container (IBC) company. To reach profitability goals, the company implemented an OEE component application at its IBC manufacturing process. Using this plant performance monitoring solution designed to analyze plant equipment performance, SpaceKraft was able to identify and eliminate inefficiencies in the process, avoid additional capital equipment expenditures, and achieve production goals by maximizing manufacturing uptime and improving throughput.

"We were at the point in our operation where we were successfully producing quality products, yet we didn't have a way to measure efficiency," said Glen Lawson, SpaceKraft production manager. "I've always believed that you can't manage what you don't understand, so I knew we needed a tool that could collect, store, and analyze production data over time."

SpaceKraft collects manufacturing event data from the plant's controllers, such as machine start/stop times and number of total parts, and stores them in a database. Via a standard web browser on a client computer, operations managers can view real-time productivity, quality, and preventative maintenance reports on demand to support decisions about process improvements. And with access to historical data, they can identify trends, compare today's performance to the past, and document improvements. With the availability of all this information, SpaceKraft operations managers can now make better-informed plant floor decisions, and they realized a return on investment on the OEE monitoring solution in well under six months.

Depending on who you ask these days, you might think that all an engineer needs for a seamlessly integrated plant is a few high-end devices. But the truth is, plantwide integration is a process, not an event. Integration requires a series of steps, the outcome of which is always unique to the user and facility. To prepare for plantwide integration, manufacturers must understand the big picture and work down to hardware- and software-level detail.

In reality, two levels of integration fall under the plantwide umbrella: horizontal and vertical.

Horizontal integration involves tying the floor of a manufacturing plant together through automation. In simple terms, it encompasses every step of the "making-stuff" process -- from a rail car full of barley malt docking in receiving, to a truck full of lager kegs pulling away from shipping. The easiest way to describe horizontal integration, though, is to provide an example of a disjointed, fractured facility.

Sticking with the brewing theme, imagine that the process and packaging portions of a brewery use separate networks to transfer information and are driven by different, unconnected controllers. Basically, they are separate entities housed under the same roof. In this extremely common scenario, the left side doesn't know what the right is doing, and both suffer through an inordinate amount of "dead time" as a result. For instance, in a situation where a new order for additional product is being processed in the packaging area, the process area must be notified to ensure sufficient product is available and ready for transfer. If the communication is not done successfully, the packaging line may have to stop to wait for product and the customer may not receive its order in time.

Horizontal integration eliminates isolated cells of activity by merging the entire manufacturing process into a single coordinated system. Every area of the plant is connected and can adjust to changing business situations without considerable effort. That's not to say the entire facility runs at optimal efficiency at all times, however. That's where vertical integration comes into play.

Vertical integration supports the transfer and execution of work instructions and the flow of information -- from the simplest sensor on the plant floor to the company's Intranet and Extranet. This is accomplished via integration between the factory floor, MES, and ERP systems. The main goal of vertical integration is to reduce "friction" and transfer information in real time.

The best way to describe friction is with a modern, online example. A web surfer is searching for information on vacation destinations. He locates a site of interest and wants to read more about visitor attractions. He spots the proper link, executes the standard click, and a registration screen pops up. The system requires user ID and password. This is friction. A roadblock, though small, has prevented instant access to key information.

The same happens on the plant floor. Many manufacturing operations lack a sound database structure, which, combined with the information it contains and applications that use it, is the only means to the right data, at the right time, in the right place. Meanwhile, operations that have sound databases are often segregated with several incompatible networks present, making friction constant.

Vertical integration removes these obstacles, providing real-time data to plant personnel and employees in all parts of the company. That means an operator with access to a PC can sit in an office and check the production status of any given line to make sure it is at peak productivity. On-the-spot access to this type of information provides an unlimited resource for knowledge. What areas of the plant are experiencing downtime? What line has the most output? Plus, the knowledge can be synthesized into process improvements: "We need to increase batch sizes to make sure the packaging lines are constantly running." "We need to make these adjustments to lines B and C so they will be as efficient as A."

The benefits of horizontal and vertical integration are obvious. The first advantage of an integrated plant is an increase in productivity. With a cohesive plant floor and the ability to gather information anywhere at any time, engineers can drive out the inefficiencies that habitually plague production. The second benefit is the ability to manufacture more goods. If the entire plant is running efficiently, throughput can be amplified.

The need to be responsive to customer demand continues to lead manufacturers toward integrated solutions that reduce costs and ultimately, create greater plantwide productivity through a tightly coordinated system.

Integrating multiple control disciplines has other benefits as well. Design cycles are shortened, for example, speeding time-to-market for new goods. Software training and programming time also drop, and getting systems to work together is painless. Plus, an integrated architecture is synonymous with a flexible, scalable communications system. That means no additional programming is needed to integrate networks. And at the same time, networks are able to deliver an efficient means to exchange data for precise control, while supporting non-critical systems and device configuration at startup and during run time.

The ability for a company to view plant information from anywhere in the world, and at any stage of production, completes an integrated architecture. A transparent view of the factory floor provides integration benefits such as common user experience across the operator interface environment; configuration tools for open and embedded control applications; improved productivity with the ability to reuse technology throughout the plant; and overall reduced cycle costs related to training, upgrades, and maintenance.

From a practical standpoint, this kind of integration extends usability around the globe. Information entered into the system once can be accessed by individuals throughout the enterprise -- from the machine operator or maintenance personnel on the factory floor to a manager viewing live production data via the Internet halfway around the world.