Design and create an inventory management system

Project description

Design and create inventory management system in current MES system

• Use commercial MES software from Parsec, named TrakSYS
• Modelling of inventory system
• Create business logic (C#), and integrate in TrakSYS

Design and create weigh scale integration

• Connect to scale through OPC.US/MQTT
• Create business logic (C#) to get weight and integrate in TrakSYS
• Integration with inventory management system

Design and create Factory Talk Batch server integration

• Create middle ware windows service based on C#
• Connect to Factory Talk Batch server through API calls
• Integration with inventory management system through B2MML

Context

The client currently has a Manufacturing Execution System (MES), makes use of batching software, and uses electronic scales to weigh goods as they move throughout the factory.

These, however, are not integrated with one another and moreover, the factory lacks a digital inventory management system connected to all systems that coordinates the transportation and storage of goods. High connectivity and automated and coordinated management of batching processes is essential for raising the enterprise’s Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), increasing worker productivity, and decreasing the likelihood of work stoppages.

Results

We created a web interface in the MES platform TrakSYS to monitor the inventory. The inventory could be manually manipulated in this interface if needed. Next, we made a library that changes the inventory through API.

A digital twin of the factory process was on a factory talk batch server and the input values were in a B2MML file. The outcome from the process was stored in another B2MML file in a folder that is being monitored so that the values from the inventory automatically changed in the MES platform.

Methodology

To complete the challenges in this project, we used documentation provided and were able to ask anything to the expert of the project as well as internet.

About the project group

We are 5 fourth semester students with a background in either software or infrastructure. We spend 12 hours a week on location, use scrum and had sprints of 3 weeks. The project had a total of 4 sprints.