System design, please advise.

[theripley]

Hi. I am making new system design for an automotive plant. They wanted a system that will monitor the output of their production line, like how many NG or Good parts. They wanted to save all data in a computer located in the office (around 100 m from the production line). I made a simple flow for the requirement, please see attached file. On the computer side, I am thinking of using an SCADA software to manage data coming in & out, however, I think it's an overkill. Maybe a simple MX works will do, I am not sure since I have yet made a system like this before. Please advise me what is the most econimical/ simple solution for this. Please share your expertise. Presentation3.pdf Edited May 27, 2015 by theripley

[Gambit]

Which hardware is already installed.?? There is a very easy way to put data into a database via a GOT or a QJ71MES96 module. Edited May 22, 2015 by Gambit

[theripley]

Hi Gambit, Thanks for your reply. This is a new set-up, meaning no hardware is installed as of this time.

[Gambit]

I would use a GT25 or GT27 with an MES license. This way you can put data easily in a database such as Microsoft access but also retrieve it. Edited May 27, 2015 by Gambit

[Nightfly]

I would at a minimum ask the following... What are you going to do with the data you have captured? How will the data recorded in the database be presented to the user? What about visualising and searching the data you have captured? do you need by date or batch, or good vs bad, per day or batch etc? What about printing and saving to excel or pdf etc? is this a requirement. I would address these questions before picking a solution. How will the "lists" created on the computer be transferred to the HMI? I presume there would not need to be any technical knowledge required to do this. For example a user just enters the details within a form presses a save button etc. And it appears on the HMI. Will the PC in the office be used for anything else other than data capture? If the PC is purely for the use of data capture you could go with a SCADA or cheap PC "HMI runtime" depending on your needs on visualising the data you have captured. You could create and edit the lists that are required to follow on the screen and punch them in directly into the PLC (not HMI). This would only work if the language require could be covered by ASCII. Problem with this would be if you needed to show pictures as well (to compare the product against a known good example for instance). Just a few thoughts

[theripley]

Hi Nightfly, Please see my reply below in red: 1.) What are you going to do with the data you have captured? --> Data will be saved in a database, which will be retrievable also. 2.) How will the data recorded in the database be presented to the user? What about visualising and searching the data you have captured? do you need by date or batch, or good vs bad, per day or batch etc? What about printing and saving to excel or pdf etc? is this a requirement. --> I presume it will be in a tabulated format. However,this is a gray area on this project, as it was not clearly discussed during the meeting. But on my prespective, I would want it to show data per batch, per day & per status (Good or NG). 3.) How will the "lists" created on the computer be transferred to the HMI? I presume there would not need to be any technical knowledge required to do this. For example a user just enters the details within a form presses a save button etc. And it appears on the HMI. --> Yes, exactly as you say. It has to be very simple that non-technical personnel may be able use it without "even thinking". 4.) Will the PC in the office be used for anything else other than data capture? --> The PC will not be exclusively use for this function only.