New automation technology solutions that incorporate an Industry 4.0 perspective for the integration of production environments are increasingly being considered by industry organizations. The concept behind these solutions is to break the paradigm of automation layers based on their functions instead of their hierarchical level. In this sense, a new architecture is needed to address the needs that arise from the perspective of Industry 4.0. The purpose of this article is to propose a new architecture based on integrated functions to meet the current requirements of production systems. An analysis of case studies of automation solutions deployed in real-world production systems is performed and the results can be used for further discussions on this research topic.

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The newest industry revolution, called Industry 4.0, aims to unify and blend existing technologies, which are hierarchically treated, and make possible the idea of total integration among production levels, with a seamless flow of information. The current division into levels and the top-down approach to the information flow will begin to disappear, exchanges of information will occur in a manner that each device is capable of starting an operation on its own. There are, however, several challenges for this integration to become a reality, some of which are associated with the needed information architecture that should be used by production environments. This architecture must focus on Industry 4.0 requirements and be function-oriented, instead of hierarchical.