The Manufacturing Connection: Standards Lead to Better Manufacturing

By Gary Mintchell, Executive Director

Gary, what are you hearing about PackML?” asked a software integrator acquaintance who works in factory automation and MES (manufacturing execution systems). I told him I’m getting a lot of requests for information about it.

PackML is a standard that defines the various “states” of a machine and provides a common vocabulary of terms. It was developed by the Organization for Machine Automation and Control (OMAC, www.omac.org) Packaging Working Group, an organization composed of technology developers, machine builders and end-user companies. The name originally referred to packaging-line machinery, but is applicable to any discrete production line. OMAC based its state model (a term used to outline a process change) on the ISA88 standard (ISA88.05). The group itself has been quiet for the past few years, but according to my friend, companies are beginning to request it in the machines they procure. Manufacturers have favored development of PackML because it would make user interfaces and machine operations standard, which simplifies operator training and machine operations. Nestlé and P&G are two companies that pushed hard for the standard.

Thought models like PackML help both the companies who use the machines and the machine builders. By structuring the programming and design of the machine, machine builders can satisfy customers—perhaps with a unique capability—and reduce future design cost and time-to-market. Taking the thought process one step further, companies are beginning to look at their entire manufacturing enterprise by applying the ISA95 model (an international standard for integration of enterprise and control systems) to their operations.

Once companies understand operations and data movements, they can apply technology solutions from MES suppliers. When machines are modeled, operations are modeled and data flows are defined, connections can be made to automatically move real-time data from the machine into MES applications. These applications provide the contextualized information required to adequately manage manufacturing. Machine builders who provide machines based on the state model that their customers understand and that provide pathways for information flow—such as built-in OPC servers—have a competitive advantage. Recent research from LNS Research (blog.lnsresearch.com) in collaboration with MESA (www.mesa.org) confirms that manufacturers who use these standards benefit from using the resulting information.

Many of you who work in discrete industries troubleshoot machine systems to keep equipment running in its optimum state. If the machines are configured in a standard, systematic manner, you can understand the systems and get your work done more quickly and with less hassle. Believe me, I’ve been on a factory floor with the plant manager looking at a down machine and asking if I realized how much money was being lost for every minute the machine was off line. I was looking for any edge, which is what PackML provides.

All such standards, in fact, aid interoperability of systems and data flow. And when you can get data flowing from machines and processes into your management systems—MES, CMMS and EAM—information about the state of the plant is at your fingertips. MT&AP

Gary Mintchell, gmintchell@atpnetwork.com, is Executive Director of Applied Technology Publications and also blogs at www.TheManufacturingConnection.com.