Factory Data pipeline - A case study on Integrating Production Data Across Manufacturing Units

Abstract

This thesis presents a case study on the deployment of a data pipeline to support a factory’s manufacturing processes. The work documents the implementation of KEPServerEX, an industrial connectivity platform, to build a data pipeline capable of monitoring low-level device parameters through communication protocols such as OPC UA, TCP/IP, etc. The Kepware REST API and SQL databases are used for data logging. In addition, the study highlights PLC programming practices that enhance the integration of Kepware within the system architecture. The project integrates multiple industrial automation systems, consisting of Siemens PLCs (S7-1500/S7-1200), into a centralized factory control room using WinCC Unified Runtime as a SCADA system. The collected data is transformed to ensure compatibility with ERP platforms, such as Odoo, and pushed to cloud environments, for example, AWS, for cloud storage. The methodologies used in this research are qualitative for formulating research questions and experimental for making conceptual prototypes. The results of this thesis not only solve a practical problem but also ensure future scalability, reliability, and ease of use.