Challenges & Solutions for Aerospace Leader

About the Solution

Based on an implementation of a Siemens Opcenter Execution (SIMATIC IT) MES, the fully integrated solution our team delivered to the aerospace leader consisted of a huge number of moving parts:

• A customized user-facing web portal that sits on top of the MES. This web portal is the way in which users interact with the entire system. From here, users can create orders, send work instructions to individual pieces of equipment, view data returned during work executions, etc.
• When a user creates an order, the MES translates the order parameters into a form easily understood by the various pieces of equipment involved in the process. This translation is then passed to the Plant Coordinator, a Siemens PLC that acts as the "communication brain” of the entire process.
• The Plant Coordinator passes the instructions on to the PLC that controls the individual piece of equipment needed to execute the action. Eventually, the equipment receives the instruction and starts to perform the work specified.

While this seems like a fairly simple workflow, you must consider that in many cases, multiple instructions are being passed around at any given time. This IT ecosystem must keep track of what is happening within the process at all times to ensure that there are no crashes or other detrimental effects to performing work instructions. This involves a detailed understanding of where equipment currently is, what it might look like if a work instruction is executed, and how all of this fits into the overall process.

IndX's Advantage

Why was IndX chosen as the best partner and system integrator to support this global aerospace leader’s ambitious digital initiative? Our consultants have a unique skillset that brings together the power of Opcenter Execution (SIMATIC IT) with the simplicity and usability of web-based programming, which allowed us to produce a system that is both able to perform complex logic and make it as simple as possible for the end user. Thanks to our global capabilities and resources, we also had the flexibility to have consultants on-site for implementation and testing purposes. Thanks to the solution delivered by our team, the customer is now one exciting step closer to lights-out manufacturing - a seamlessly automated and fully transparent manufacturing process from beginning to end.

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