As part of ChoConnect, four locally distributed trade fair machines, which are connected to form a virtual production line for chocolate products, will exchange information with each other based on the Weihenstephan standard without integrating an MES system. The machines come from the manufacturers Loesch Verpackungstechnik, Sollich, Theegarten-Pactec and Winkler as well as Dünnebier Süßwarenmaschinen. The current status of the line and all individual machines can be experienced live by visitors to Interpack (May 4 to 7), both at the stands of the four participating machine manufacturers and at Bosch Rexroth and the VDMA.

With the project, the partners involved want to demonstrate to the industry how modern communication mechanisms from the Industry 4.0 environment can be used to obtain sufficient information to react more quickly to faults, make production processes more flexible and efficiently increase overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). The basis for this is consistently transparent machine status within the value stream - from preparation and molding to primary and secondary packaging. In contrast to this genuine M2M communication, the previous networking practice only provided rudimentary information such as input and output signals.

"The system is not a replacement for MES systems, but is primarily used for communication at store floor level," explains Tobias Gerhard, Sales Processing and Packaging at Bosch Rexroth. "Instead of copying or replacing existing mechanisms of control systems, it passes on the respective status of the system modules directly via OPC UA."

As an example for future M2M projects, ChoConnect demonstrates how the entire line can be switched on centrally from standby and its readiness visualized with uniform status diagnostics. Visitors will also experience automatic power adjustment: By automatically adapting the speed of the line to the weakest link in the chain, it becomes more available and effective overall. In line with this objective, the project also shows how the respective product controls the production process. The system modules adjust themselves automatically or report the need for manual adjustment.

Call for the development of an official standard

With ChoConnect, the project partners also want to give the starting signal for the long-term development of an official standard for confectionery production and expressly invite all industry players to participate. "By intelligently networking machines from different manufacturers along a chocolate line for the first time, I expect a noticeable increase in OEE for our customers," says Tobias Heinze, Product Manager Sales at Loesch Verpackungstechnik.

The scope of M2M communication is currently based on the Weihenstephan WS Food standard. On the software side, it is also based on a service-oriented client-server architecture based on the open OPC UA standard. This enables secure, reliable and platform-independent information exchange via the Internet and firewalls and prevents unauthorized data access. On the hardware side, ChoConnect consists of an Ethernet network of embedded controllers and industrial PCs for the individual machines.