7 questions about production information systems

Workers in large industries often have to deal with the sea of ​​information - data on the products produced, on energy consumption, electricity consumed, plan and fact, productivity and quality losses. These data are contained in a heap of places, they need to be brought together to obtain a single picture. In this difficult matter, people are helped by production information systems. In my work, I often encounter issues related to these systems. Recently it occurred to me to put them together and give answers to them.

What is a production information system?

The production information system receives data from disparate production systems (APCS, TM, ASKUE, ASUTG, databases, office applications, manual input) and provides these data to users and other systems.
Their purpose, expressed in three words, not counting alliances and prepositions: information for people and systems . (About three words - thanks for the advice Guy Kawasaki!)
Obtaining data from lower-level systems, production information systems solve the problem of horizontal integration, while providing data to upper-level systems (ERP, EAM, TEP calculation systems) - vertical. And for all consumers (users and systems) the production information system provides a single point of access to all production information.

Production Information System = Historian?

Production information systems are often considered synonymous with Historian class systems, but this is not always the case. The production information system can include archiving and long-term storage functions that are central to Historian, and can also use Historian class systems as data sources.
In some cases, production information systems do not use the archiving functions at all, relaying user requests to sources on the fly and displaying the results obtained.

Is it possible to make an information system based on SCADA?

Yes you can. But not necessary. But this is not always advisable. SCADA allows controlling the process and issuing control actions to this process. The second function in information systems is not claimed. But often in SCADA there are no other necessary functions.
What are these functions:

• Convenient Means of Mimic Navigation
• Quick access to detailed information on parameters
• View formula and calculation tree for calculated parameters
• Work with data received at different times
• Convenient means of displaying and working with trends
• Powerful means of calculating indicators
• Advanced reporting tools

As a result, the information system made on the basis of SCADA often does not provide the required degree of convenience of working with information and, by its nature, remains a SCADA system.
Also often in SCADA systems, the main client for a data display is a heavy client specially installed on the user's machine. Light clients and Web-based display tools are often auxiliary and limited. And information systems require developed and powerful display tools that do not require special installation on users' machines.
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Is it possible to make an ERP-based production information system?

Yes you can. But not necessary. But this is not always advisable. ERP usually needs aggregate values. Pulling a large amount of raw data into it is not very natural. On the contrary, it is convenient when ERP receives a ready actual value per shift or day.
According to ARM Research in the Western market, more than half of the enterprises that have implemented ERP have also implemented MES systems (this type of system includes production information systems). The information system itself collects data and feeds them a “monster”. As a result, ERP performs its functions, and its information system.

On the basis of which platforms can you create an information production system?

The production information system can be built on the basis of one of the specialized platforms: PISystem (OSIsoft), SIMATIC IT Historian (Siemens), IndustrialSQL (Wonderware), Proficy Historian (General Electric) and some others.
As a platform for building production information systems, we use our own development, the Infocont software package.

What is the difference Infoocont from other platforms. Why was to do another system?

Hidden, it is not customary to advertise here (smile). The text of the answer is here .

Where to read about production information systems?

Different types of production information systems are described in the article “MIS and EMI: Information Systems at MES Level”

From what sources do information systems get data?

In general, any system can be a source of data for an information system.
If you need to control all production processes, then the systems are automatic process control systems. If it is necessary to control the compliance of the plan for the generation of actual power generation, the systems of remote control and the exchange of dispatch schedules (for example, GeCon / HePart) can act as sources.
Other data sources can be MES, LIMS and ERP class systems.

Is it acceptable that information is duplicated in several systems?

The purpose of the information system is to provide ALL the necessary information in one place. That the user did not open five applications, and the third-party system did not address itself to 10 sources.
To achieve this goal, it is permissible to go for duplication of information. The only thing is that the mechanisms for updating the information should be thought out so that the information in the source does not differ from our system.
There are also methods for reducing duplication. Data from the source may not be available in full, or data may be obtained on the fly upon request.