The growing importance of Industrie 4.0 inevitably leads to increased use and complexity of cyber-physical production systems (CPPS). At the same time, the systematic application of standards such as the RAMI 4.0 reference architecture is a challenge.
At ISM 2023, we will present a methodological approach that uses RAMI 4.0 to analyse, evaluate and improve system interoperability within CPPS. This approach is based on a process-based methodology and aims to reduce the complexity of system integration. In our study, we examined two exemplary CPPS and worked out the importance of minimising interfaces and adaptations. For this purpose, we combined the PassForM system with ComFlow, a BIBA-internal development for the graphical planning and representation of processes. The results of our study show a significant reduction in the required hardware, interfaces, information and protocols between the systems.
Our findings thus contribute to the further development of standardised approaches to achieve comprehensive interoperability between individual systems within the framework of RAMI 4.0. It becomes clear that the flexibility requirements in modern industrial production remain high and that there is a growing need for methodological approaches that support companies in meeting these requirements.
Future work should further investigate the influence of such systems on production planning and control in order to optimally utilise the advantages of system flexibility. This is a crucial step towards an efficient, modular and flexible implementation of assembly systems in the age of Industry 4.0.