MMS: A Communication Language for Manufacturing

This book describes MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification), an OSI communications protocol used between manufacturing devices, e. g. , automated guided vehicles, numerical controllers and robots, and host computers. By examples taken from a real manufacturing application the book provides a comprehensive and practical insight into typical uses of MMS. It guides the user through the maze of MMS and offers recommendations on which services are suited for most typical applications. The material is arranged so that the book may serve as a reference manual.

Today's manufacturing environment is characterised by significant change in the way it is able to respond to its business objectives. Companies now face new challenges to meet customer demands including greater flexibility, a wider range of products, higher quality, improved lead time, whilst maintaining _c. ompetitive prices. The changes manifest in each company will differ but, the trend is towards providing a leaner, more responsive organisation. This is reflected in the need for Information Technology (IT) systems to be more integrated across an enterprise and for the systems to be provided on a distributed basis. At the same time it is imperative that the costs associated with these IT systems and the range of skills required by an enterprise to develop and support such systems should be minimal. One way of achieving this objective is to adopt the use of standards. During recent years there has been a lot of activity to standardise the way that manufacturing devices communicate with each other. Considerable progress has been made, thanks not least to the success of the international effort of stand ardisation bodies like ISO, IEEE and IEC, and projects applying standardised protocols like Manufacturing Automation Protocol (MAP), in the USA, Commun ications Network for Manufacturing Applications (CNMA) in Europe and not forgetting Mini-MAP and Fieldbus technology.

1. Introduction. - 1. 1 The need for standards. - 1. 2 Motivation for the book. - 1. 3 Purpose of the book. - 1. 4 Organisation of the book. - 1. 5 Acknowledgements. - 2. Rationale and Context. - 2. 1 Rationale for MMS. - 2. 2 The OSI reference model. - 2. 3 MAP and CNMA. - 2. 4 Mini-MAP. - 2. 5 Profibus. - 2. 6 Summary. - 3. Manufacturing Message Specification (MMS). - 3. 1 Basics. - 3. 2 The MMS object model. - 3. 3 Confirmed and unconfirmed services. - 3. 4 The MMS-related standards. - 3. 5 Summary. - 4. MMS Core Object Classes. - 4. 1 Virtual Manufacturing Device (VMD). - 4. 2 Domains. - 4. 3 Program invocations. - 4. 4 MMS variables. - 4. 5 Summary. - 5. MMS in Real Manufacturing Devices. - 5. 1 Introduction. - 5. 2 The Siemens MMS implementation for SIMATIC PLCs. - 5. 3 The Siemens MMS implementation for SINUMERIK NCs. - 5. 4 The Télémécanique MMS implementation for TSX 47 PLCS. - 5. 5 Comparison of the two PLC MMS implementations. - 5. 6 Summary. - 6. Use of MMS in a Real Manufacturing Application. - 6. 1 Overview. - 6. 2 Rail guided vehicle (RGV). - 6. 3 Machining centre. - 6. 4 Summary. - 7. MMSI. - 7. 1 Introduction. - 7. 2 The main benefits of a standard API. - 7. 3 Purpose and scope of MMSI. - 7. 4 Properties of MMSI. - 7. 5 Classes of MMSI functions. - 7. 6 Naming rules for MMSI functions. - 7. 7 Context-sensitive functions. - 7. 8 Support functions. - 7. 9 Context-free functions. - 7. 10 Parameters of MMSI functions. - 7. 11 Synchronous and asynchronous modes. - 7. 12 DCB management. - 7. 13 MMSI main data types. - 7. 14 MMSI objects and handles. - 7. 15 Reading a variable. - 7. 16 Summary. - 8. A DDE Interface to MMS. - 8. 1 Introduction. - 8. 2 Windows DDE basics. - 8. 3 The MMS/DDE application interface. - 8. 4 Operation of the MMS/DDE server. - 8. 5 Example: calling MMS in an Excel spreadsheet. - 8. 6 Summary. - 9. Other MMS Objects and Services. - 9. 1 Operatorstations. - 9. 2 Semaphores. - 9. 3 Events. - 9. 4 Journals. - 9. 5 Summary. - 10. Conclusion. - 10. 1 What has been discussed. - 10. 2 Why is MMS important? . - 10. 3 Where is MMS being applied? . - 10. 4 What is MMS used for? . - 10. 5 What are the main benefits of using MMS? . - 10. 6 What about interoperability? . - 10. 7 Where can I obtain more information? . - 10. 8 So, what of the future? . - Glossary of Terms. - Appendix 1. The MMS and CNMA Information Servers. - Appendix 2. MMSI Context Sensitive Functions.