The HORSE Project: The Application of Business Process Management for Flexibility in Smart Manufacturing

Abstract

Several high-tech manufacturing technologies are emerging to meet the demand for mass customized products. These technologies include configurable robots, augmented reality and the Internet-of-Things. Manufacturing enterprises can leverage these new technologies to pursue increased flexibility, i.e., the ability to perform a larger variety of activities within a shorter time. However, the flexibility offered by these new technologies is not fully exploited, because current operations management techniques are not dynamic enough to support high variability and frequent change. The HORSE Project investigated several of the new technologies to find novel ways to improve flexibility, as part of the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The purpose of the project was to develop a system, integrating these new technologies, to support efficient and flexible manufacturing. This article presents the core result of the project: a reference architecture for a manufacturing operations management system. It is based on the application and extension of business process management (BPM) to manage dynamic manufacturing processes. It is argued that BPM can complement current operations management techniques by acting as an orchestrator in manufacturing processes augmented by smart technologies. Building on well-known information systems’ architecting frameworks, design science research is performed to determine how BPM can be applied and adapted in smart manufacturing operations. The resulting reference architecture is realized in a concrete HORSE system and deployed and evaluated in ten practical cases, of which one is discussed in detail. It is shown that the developed system can flexibly orchestrate the manufacturing process through vertical control of all agents, and dynamic allocation of agents in the manufacturing process. Based on that, we conclude that BPM can be applied to overcome some of the obstacles toward increased flexibility and smart manufacturing.

Influence of task decision autonomy on physical ergonomics and robot performances in an industrial human–robot collaboration scenario

“…To coordinate the collaboration and consent the transferring of information, the SHOP4CF 6 architecture was adopted to design and execute the scenario ( Zimniewicz, 2020 ). More precisely, the Task data model 7 and the Manufacturing Process Management System (MPMS) component ( Erasmus et al, 2020 ) were employed to coordinate the robot controller and the operator. On one hand, the MPMS provided a process modeler to design the process models and a process engine to automatically execute these models.…”

Research of Dikw and 5c Architectural Models for Creation of Cyber-Physical Production Systems Within the Concept of Industry 4.0

“…Analyzing publications: [14,17], which consider ANSI ISA 95, 5C and 8C models; [18], where the model 8C is proposed on the basis of the model 5C and [19], which is dedicated to the development of the integration model CPPS-IoE-5C -it can be seen that they are descriptive, which does not allow to compare a model when choosing an architecture for developed by SPPS.…”

“…; enterprise level planning provides order management, processing, general production planning, etc. In 2015, [19] proposed an architectural model 5C, presented, which according to the authors consists of the following levels of "Smart Connection", "Data-to-Information Conversion", "Cyber", "Cognition" and "Configuration". A general view of the CPPS 5C architecture is presented in fig.…”

Using Augmented Reality and Internet of Things for Control and Monitoring of Mechatronic Devices

“…The application of IoT principles in industries is called the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). In this case, individual machine parts, sensors and actuators act as interconnected devices [13]. In particular, the interconnection of devices should be wireless and bring about new possibilities for their mutual interaction as well as for their diagnostics, control and provision of advanced services.…”