Chair of Food Packaging Technology

TUM School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan

Technical University of Munich

Contact: Raik Bär, M.Sc.

raik.baer@tum.de

+49 8161 71 3580

www.lvt.wzw.tum.de

www.weihenstephaner-standards.de

Chair of Food Packaging Technology

TUM School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan

Technical University of Munich

R. Bär, T. Voigt

A standardized MES interface for process areas of breweries

Introduction

Breweries have to produce high-quality products at acceptable market prices. In order to

remain competitive, they rely on effective IT assistance for their in-company processes. They

are increasingly using process-orientated production management systems, so-called

Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). MES closes the gap between the production

level (Process Control System) and the enterprise management level (Enterprise Resource

Planning) and thus enables a vertical data continuity. Exemplary tasks of MES are shown in

Figure 1.

For effective use of MES functions, a data exchange network between all relevant production

facilities and the involved IT systems is essential. However, the connection of the machines,

process control and computer systems is complex. Automation companies use different

communication mechanisms. The availability of data of relevance for the MES varies. In

many cases, no data are available. Therefore, time-consuming definition work and expensive

engineering and programming is required to connect the different systems.

Standard definitions for the communication interfaces, especially the contents of the provided

and acquired data, help to reduce integration problems and save time. This has been proved

for the bottling and packing area – WS Pack (also meat processing - WS Food and baking

industry – WS Bake) by the Weihenstephan Standard concept. In the mentioned application

domains, Weihenstephan Standards provide detailed definitions of the most relevant

production data tags needed for MES implementation. Together with recommendations about

the communication protocol and explanations about data processing to gain MES

information, food and beverage producers, OEMs and IT system providers use them in a

uniform way.

Approach

For the process part of a brewery, standards are missing. The new MES interface will cover

the most relevant process areas, in particular brewhouse, fermentation cellar, filtration and

the related utilities like steam generator or compressed air supply. In order to figure out the

needed data tags a bottom up approach is followed (see Figure 2):

1. MES function description

2. Modelling based upon three founding pillars

• Equipment

• Process

• MES functions

3. Derivation and definition of the relevant data tags

Methods

Within the scope of a research project a representative survey in the form of expert interviews

was conducted. The requirements and needs of the three industry sectors were considered.

Based on the results, relevant MES functions can be derived and an optimal MES for

breweries can be described.

The modelling tool is based on already existing standards. The brewery equipment is pictured

in a tree diagram based on ANSI/ISA-S88 (Batch Control). The process is modeled using

Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) and can be divided in a granularity of three

levels. The process can be linked to the equipment and by using standard (mathematical)

templates, KPIs like the brewhouse yield and consumptions (related e. g. on a batch) can be

calculated.

First Results

In cooperation with the project partners relevant MES functions have already been worked

out and are currently formulated and modeled.

One of the most important functions of a MES is the interface between the production and the

enterprise management, in order to enable a transparent and effective production. In

combination with an appropriate communication protocol such as OPC UA, the MES is the

leading IT system to manage and evaluate the production, where all relevant data are

merged.

Project partners

Weihenstephan Standards for brewing processes

Figure 2: Used method to determine MES relevant data tagsFigure 1: Automation pyramid: MES functions in breweries based on [VDI 5600] and [ANSI-ISA S-95]

Tracking and Tracing Process- and product quality Long-term evaluation

Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Energy and media consumption Capacity and states

Detailed scheduling Information management Maintenance

Table 1: Most relevant MES functions in a brewery

Breweries OEMsIT systemproviders