Mapping out an application integration plan is a lot like taking a page out of a NFL playbook. The sketch may depict lines and arrows that show data direction and points of connection. On paper it can look chaotic, and that's because it is. Integration is not an exact science, but rather an ever-changing strategy. Like a quarterback looking for his receiver, the data flow must be flexible enough to change direction and reconnect where it makes the most sense to complete the pass.
That's why manufacturers are hearing terms like Web services and service-oriented architectures (SOA), positioned by industry pundits as catalysts for connecting applications and information. These are frameworks that use Internet-based technology and industry standards to ease connectivity. And it's a welcome change from the days of point-to-point customization.
"Historically, it's been my API talking to your API using an integrator who charges a lot of money to do it," says Kevin Tock, vice president of ArchestrA advanced applications and alliances at Wonderware (Lake Forest, CA), a division of Invensys plc. "We are now trying to get something that used to be a 95%-to-99% custom solution to the point where only 15% to 20% is custom."
Wonderware, like many other software vendors working to connect the plant floor to the enterprise, recently rolled out application integration capabilities within its products. The goal for every commercial offering is to simplify the integration effort, lower cost and enable business and manufacturing agility. And everywhere you turn a vendor has an integrated solution sell for you. Take for instance:
- At the plant floor level there's Rockwell Automation's (Milwaukee, WI) Integrated Architecture with FactoryTalk, or ABB Inc.'s (Wickliffe, OH) Extended Automation System 800xA.
- Manufacturing intelligence vendor ICONICS Inc. (Foxboro, MA) has its BridgeWorx data bridging product, and Informance International Inc. (Northbrook, IL) recently rolled out the Informance Integration Module (IIM) to connect the factory floor to the enterprise.
- In the enterprise, SAP America's Exchange Infrastructure (SAP XI) for process-centric collaboration among SAP and non-SAP components, and Oracle Corp.'s Customer Data Hub that centralizes and synchronizes systems both offer similar integration platforms.
- And then there's the middleware-turned-value-added-business-integration applications, like IBM's WebSphere and TIBCO Software Inc.'s (Palo Alto, CA) enterprise application integration (EAI) and B2B tools.
While every one of these software products can deliver on its promise to unite a company's data infrastructure, progressive manufacturers should understand that they are buying into a particular vendor's value-added solution. Before embarking upon a major integration project, become familiar with the underlying technology; that is, the industry standards that actually drive interconnectivity between disparate systems.
Standard Approach
So the question is: Which way are you going to integrate? Horizontally? Or vertically? For example, do you want to bring all automation -- motion, sequential, safety, drive, batch and process -- into one control environment? Or, do you want to bridge the gap between factory floor and the enterprise by having your manufacturing execution system trade information with your ERP system? Regardless of the direction, keep the project small to begin with, keep in mind the standards that will inevitably work their way into your environment, keep top management in the loop and keep a steady head.
"We recognized we needed to change a culture, but you don't do that with a memo. It takes years of concerted effort," says John Plassenthal from International Truck and Engine Corp. (Chicago), who is the project manager for an integrated hub that the company built several years ago to track the design and production of truck cabs. "Like anything else, you have to come up with a vision and a strategy of how to get there and communicate that and continue to drive it through."
Plassenthal originally built his own "hub-and-spoke" solution that allows software to be replaced and plugged into the central hub without worrying about reworking the routing of data or reprogramming the format. The original set up, based on Baan ERP, IBM DB2 and IBM MQ Series designed to pull information from Rockwell Automation's PLC 5 controllers controlling robots on the shop floor, is now being upgraded to a Web services model with the help of IBM and Rockwell Automation. The company is using IBM WebSphere application development tools to build adapters, as well as Rockwell Software's RSView, RSSql, RSLinx and FactoryTalk, all of which are part of the vendor's Integrated Architecture.
In this case, FactoryTalk, which has a directory of tags that can be moved throughout applications, allows for the horizontal integration across the plant floor. Those tags, which can be accessed via WebSphere's Web services, can also add enterprise connectivity into the mix. Together, IBM and Rockwell Automation have formed a partnership to aid in that vertical integration. Over time, says Rick Fournier, IBM's business development executive for the global automotive industry, more of IBM's middleware -- which is part of the WebSphere suite -- will likely be embedded in plant floor systems to allow for a faster connection. Technology partnerships, like the one between IBM and Rockwell Automation, can help to enable integration. The key, however, is compliance with industry standards.
For instance, eXtensible Markup Language (XML) provides a common way to pass messages through the enterprise, or between business partners. At the plant level a similar effort is underway called object linking and embedding (OLE) for process control, otherwise known as OPC. OPC leverages Microsoft Corp.'s COM/DCOM (distributed component object model) as well as XML and the simple object access protocol (SOAP) to define interfaces between diverse hardware and software.
OPC is not a formal standard like the Instrumentation, Systems and Automation (ISA) Society's ISA-95, which outlines a common definition and format for information exchange between shop floor and business systems. Rather, OPC is a code that companies can use to eliminate writing proprietary drivers between a human machine interface (HMI) and each industrial device, like a programmable logic controller (PLC). To that end, OPC works with ISA-95 and other organizations -- like MIMOSA (www.mimosa.org), a non-profit trade organization dedicated to open information standards for operations and maintenance systems -- to encourage adoption of open interoperability.
"OPC is the best thing out there for plant device connectivity among disparate vendors," says Craig Resnick, an analyst at ARC Advisory Group (Dedham, MA). "Does it solve everything? No. But I don't see anything that will take its place as the defacto way to bring vendors together."
It is confusing to sort out the reasons why one standard might be dependent upon another, or why using two together is better than one. The difference is defined by the fact that each standard has a role for transmission, connectivity or context.
"OPC, UDDI, XML and SOAP are really forms of technology that provide interfacing or data transmission capabilities," says Tom Mueller, director, asset optimization marketing for ABB. "But someone sitting in front of an application doesn't care how the data gets to them. They care about getting the data in a context that is meaningful to them."
In some respect, standards like ISA-95 and the World Batch Forum's (WBF) Business to Manufacturing Markup Language (B2MML) schemas, which use XML implementations of ISA-95 to provide a standard format for production schedules from an ERP system down to a batch control system, are a step toward adding context. But even that is not enough. There is yet another layer, between B2MML and XML for instance, that adds meaning. In ABB's case, that layer is the company's proprietary technology called Aspect Objects.
"Aspect Objects gives information meaning regardless of the source," Mueller says. "You can use OPC to extract data ... but the way we construct the data elements or objects in our system includes [an added] frame of references."
In the enterprise, companies like Oracle are doing similar work for manufacturers trying to manage customers while dealing with diverse systems. The company's Customer Data Hub manages a cross-reference management system that creates a master registry number for all sources and all unique identifications associated with a customer. The purpose of the Customer Data Hub is to gain control over the ever-changing market. Companies are getting acquired, duplicate bills are being generated and different information is circulating in different departments. The hub not only solves this, but according to company officials, because it uses Web services, it can co-exist with other middleware solutions, such as WebSphere or TIBCO.
Do you Believe in Magic?
Standards do make communication easier, but manufacturers should be aware that the integration package they buy into will have a level of proprietary technology and complexity. Even Wonderware, which was heading in the direction of building its own proprietary layer of logic, but instead partnered with Microsoft Corp. (Redmond, WA) to implement BizTalk Server 2004 into its architecture, admits integration is never easy.
According to Tock, it's not seamless, but BizTalk simplifies issues of connectivity. "The BizTalk advantage is that it is technology that already exists and there's a motivation for people to write adapters for it," he says. "One of the things we have to do from a Wonderware perspective is get repeatability. We had to get [the technology] to the point that it didn't require a custom way to talk to SAP. We are not saying these are standard products that magically connect to the enterprise; rather we call them reusable applications that we think will get us 80% of the way there."
Nutramax Manufacturing Inc. (Edgewood, MD), a maker of nutritional supplement products, is one of the first companies to use the Wonderware Industrial Application Server with Enterprise Application Integration, an application development and supervisory control platform. The company was in need of a way to manage and control manufacturing and inventory, a requirement that would mean culling information from applications in accounting, planning, receiving and manufacturing.
At first, Nutramax considered point-to-point custom integration. "It is usually the quickest to implement but it is not scaleable nor is it easily changed," says Pete Patras, vice president of Nutramax. Nevertheless, the Wonderware deployment was kicked off in mid-October and was due to be completed in December (Editor's note: This article was completed in November.)
Patras points to XML and ISA-95, which are embedded in the product as one of the main criteria for choosing this solution. "Standards ensure that there is a well-known and defined solution model, supportable by many parties," he says. "By providing a standard terminology, standards assist us in better identification of our needs and solutions as well as reduced engineering costs across the business lifecycle."
Anyone taking notes would surmise that there is a winning strategy in the integration game. It relies on strong standards, trustworthy vendors, sophisticated software and a project manager -- the quarterback -- who can execute the play. Sometimes, "it's not so much the technology, but the methodology," says Plassenthal.