Page 307 - Sensors and Control Systems in Manufacturing

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F i v e
Cha p te r

Utilizing the building blocks, CIM can provide a base for inte-
grating the enterprise’s products, processes, and business data. It can
define the structure of the hardware, software, and services required
to support the enterprise’s complex requirements. It can also trans-
late information into a form that can be used by the enterprise’s peo-
ple, devices, and applications.
5.8.2 CIM Communications
Communications—the delivery of enterprise data to people, systems,
and devices—is a critical aspect of CIM architecture. This is because
today’s industrial environment brings together a wide range of com-
puter systems, data acquisition systems, technologies, system archi-
tectures, operating systems, and applications. This range makes it
increasingly difficult for people and machines to communicate with
each other, especially when they describe and format data differently.
Various enterprises, in particular IBM, have long recognized the
need to communicate data across multiple environments. IBM’s
response was to develop systems network architecture (SNA) in the
1970s. SNA supports communication between different IBM systems,
and over the years it has become the standard for host communica-
tions in many industrial companies.
However, the CIM environment with sensor communications
must be even more integrated. It must expand beyond individual
areas, throughout the entire enterprise, and beyond—to customers,
vendors, and subcontractors.
Communications in the CIM environment involves a wide range
of data transfer, from large batches of engineering or planning data to
single-bit messages from a plant floor device. Many connectivity
types and protocols must be supported so that the enterprise’s peo-
ple, systems, and devices can communicate. This is especially true in
cases where response time is critical, such as during process alerts.

5.8.3 Plant Floor Communications
Plant floor communications can be the most challenging aspect of
factory control. This is due to the wide range of manufacturing and
computer equipment that have been used in production tasks over
the decades.
IBM’s solution for communicating across the systems is the IBM
plant floor series, a set of software products. One of these products,
Distributed Automation Edition (DAE), is a systems enabler designed
to provide communication functions that can be utilized by plant
floor applications. These functions include:
• Defining and managing networks
• Making logical device assignments