Views: 71
Redaktion: Jürgen Schreier
BMW relies on Microsoft. With a new initiative, both companies want to accelerate the development of Industry 4.0 solutions and invite other manufacturers and suppliers to join the community. The Open Manufacturing Platform (OMP) was launched at the Hannover Messe 2019.
Original Article Industry of Things : Complex, proprietary IT systems and data silos are the “enemies” of the Industry 4.0 philosophy because they limit profitability and productivity in production. The Open Manufacturing Platform (OMP) of BMW and Microsoft, which was launched on the occasion of the Hannover Messe 2019, is intended to overcome these hurdles by establishing an open technology platform and a cross-industry community. The goal is to drive the development of smart factory solutions that can be shared by the OMP community in the automotive and manufacturing industries.
The OMP is based on the Microsoft Azure Industrial IoT cloud platform. It provides its community members with a reference architecture based on open industry standards based on open source components and an open data model for better collaboration and data sharing.
3000 systems, robots and AGVs connected to the BMW Group IoT platform
The platform also standardizes industrial data models to accelerate the analysis of information. This provides access to data previously stored primarily in proprietary systems. Solutions can be quickly created using industry reference applications. Community members retain full control over their data and intellectual property.
Microsoft and the BMW Group are joining forces to improve the efficiency of digital production across the industry, “said Scott Guthrie, EVP, Microsoft Cloud and AI Group. “Our commitment to building an open community will open new opportunities for collaboration along the entire manufacturing value chain.”
With more than 3,000 systems, robots and autonomous transport systems connected to the BMW Group IoT platform, which is based on Microsoft Azure cloud, IoT and AI services, the BMW Group intends to bring important first use cases to the OMP community , An example of this is the use of their IoT platform for the company’s second generation of autonomous transport systems at the BMW Group Regensburg plant, one of 30 production and assembly locations worldwide. As a result, the BMW Group was able to significantly simplify its logistics processes through central coordination of the transport system and achieve greater efficiency in logistics.
OMP makes BMW solutions available to other companies
In the future, these and other use cases – such as digital feedback loops, digital supply chain management, and predictive maintenance – will be delivered and developed within the OMP community, with the BMW Group retaining the rights to existing intellectual property and company data.
“To master the complex task of producing individualized premium products requires innovative IT and software solutions. The networking of production sites and systems as well as the secure connection of partners and suppliers play a particularly important role here. We have been relying on cloud services since 2016 and are consistently developing new approaches. With the Open Manufacturing Platform as the next step, we want to make our solutions available to other companies and leverage joint potential to sustainably consolidate our strong position in the market, “says Oliver Zipse, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Production.
The OMP is the further development of the long-term technology partnership between the BMW Group and Microsoft and their joint commitment to innovation. The OMP provides members with new ways to leverage the power of their data so they can develop and integrate industrial solutions faster, safer, and in return benefit from contributing to the community while learning from other community members.
OMP is compatible with RAMI4.0 and OPC UA
The OMP will be designed to meet the industry’s common challenges, such as machine data integration and on-site system integration. This enables the reuse of software solutions by manufacturers, suppliers and other partners. For example, a ROS-based solution for integrating and coordinating autonomous transport systems for logistics will be brought to OMP. The OMP is compatible with the existing reference architecture for Industry 4.0 (RAMI4.0) and uses inter alia the industrial interoperability standard OPC UA.
“This is very good news for the manufacturing industry,” says Stefan Hoppe, president and CEO of the OPC Foundation. “Using open international industry standards such as OPC UA in the OMP community enables manufacturers, machine builders and suppliers to integrate their assets cost-effectively, efficiently and securely. For a long time, companies have driven proprietary, closed ecosystems – the OMP Open Development Initiative will shape tomorrow’s manufacturing. ”
The OMP will evolve over time along with the manufacturer’s requirements to provide new solutions that leverage artificial intelligence, edge computing, or digital twins, for example.
The OMP community will be expanded with additional partners. The OMP Advisory Board is expected to be operational by the end of 2019 with initially 4-6 partners and at least 15 use cases in selected production environments. Partners Microsoft and the BMW Group encourage other manufacturers and suppliers – including non-automotive companies – to join the community.
Collaboration is the lifeblood of future manufacturing
“The realization that an open approach is needed is gaining momentum across the industry, as demonstrated by SAP’s announcement today of the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance, an alliance focused on factories, factories and warehouses, between SAP and a number of European manufacturing leaders will help create an open ecosystem for operating highly automated factories, “said Sam George, Director, Azure Internet of Things. “OMP and the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance are ko
“OMP and the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance are complementary visions, both recognizing the need for an open platform for the cloud and an intelligent factory floor that highlight an open data model and standards-based data exchange mechanisms that enable collaboration between companies. ”
George emphasizes that he works closely with SAP, including the Open Data Initiative and industry-wide initiatives, including the Industrial Internet Consortium, the Industry 4.0 Platform, and the OPC Foundation. George: “We look forward to continuing this fruitful partnership and working to align OMP with the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance, and cooperation is the lifeblood of future manufacturing, and the more we work together, the more we can achieve.”
Leave a Reply