This blog post showcases a demonstrator solution developed by five partners from the German Industry 4.0 initiative, “Marktplatz Industrie 4.0”. The solution is an IIoT implementation that illustrates how business processes can be automated from the shop floor to the top floor, meaning from the sensor to the customer.
The primary focus of this use case is to automate business processes and control production processes directly from the ERP system. Additionally, the solution provides fleet device management, monitoring, and software installation for edge devices.
To achieve this complex solution in a simple and cost-effective manner, five SME companies contributed their technology modules:
- Inasoft Systems GmbH: With the SQL4Automation product data from robots and industrial controls can be collected and made available on the edge device level
- SYS TEC electronic AG: The edge gateway sysWORXX CTR-700 enables effective data processing at the edge. It runs the full edge software stack and collects sensor data to measure energy consumption and environmental parameters such as temperature and humidity.
- manaTec GmbH: The ERP system Odoo is a central component to gather, interpret and control all information such that informed decisions can be taken to optimize the production process
- SQL Projekt AG: The integration platform TRANSCONNECT® controls all data and information flow and acts as a bridge between shop floor and top floor
- qbee AS: Our device management platform, qbee.io, enables the management of a large number of edge devices. It installs and configures all software components on the edge controllers, monitors the performance and reliability of the devices throughout their lifecycle, and enables OTA software updates for both applications and base libraries. Additionally, the built-in VPN allows secure remote access to all devices and the applications running on them.
Let’s have a look at the implementation:
The device management software qbee.io is installed on the CTR-700 device and installs and configures the following software components through software automation. This is the foundation for business process automation:
- MariaDB for collecting measurement values and keeping track of production status on the edge
- Node-RED for collecting environmental sensor data via a WirePAS system. These data points are written into the MariaDB and are visualized on a Node-RED dashboard together with production status.
- SQL4Automation is the interface to the production machine communicating with the machine controllers
- Transconnect is the connector layer from the edge to the cloud and it communicates with the Odoo ERP.
The device management platform performs additional tasks, including keeping the CTR-700 base libraries up to date and secure, providing remote access to the device via both SSH and a secure VPN tunnel to the Node-RED dashboard. User and SSH key management are also provided, and all libraries are continually analyzed for CVE vulnerabilities. The monitoring function ensures that log files, database sizes, and device load always remain within specifications.
With one or multiple CTR-700 devices gathering measurement data from the sensor system, the full communication between the Odoo ERP and the machine is enabled through the different components. The cloud-based Odoo ERP can now start a production run from anywhere in the world, and real-time production data enriched with critical environmental parameters are fed back into the system through the technology stack. On the edge, operators can easily monitor production progress on the local dashboard, even in the event of a temporary internet outage.
Here is a video showcasing the solution:
