Titulo Estágio
RAMI 4.0 Adoption in SMEs: Evaluation and Application Case
Áreas de especialidade
Sistemas de Informação
Local do Estágio
DEI-FCTUC
Enquadramento
The Reference Architectural Model for Industrie 4.0 (RAMI 4.0) was created in 2015 to describe the most important aspects of the fourth industrial revolution (industry 4.0 or industrie 4.0) and guide the development of innovative information systems (Hankel and Rexroth, 2015). Proposed by Platform Industrie 4.0 and ZEI (German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association), RAMI 4.0 rapidly turned out to be one of the most prominent reference architectures for the global digitalization of industry.
RAMI 4.0 is a service-oriented architecture that decompose complex processes into smaller packages. Three axis are included in this model: (1) the layers that describe industry 4.0 assets and its structure (e.g. information, communication, integration); (2) the hierarchy levels based in IEC 62264 for enterprise IT and control systems; and the “Life Cycle & Value Stream” based in IEC 62890 for managing the lifecycle of systems and products in industry. Using this reference architecture, companies can develop new systems that integrate smart products and the connected world of the organization (Schweichhart, 2016).
There are important studies that use RAMI 4.0 in industry 4.0 developments, for example, Bousdekis et al. (2019) that present a software for predictive maintenance in the steel industry. However, the adoption of RAMI 4.0 is still in its early stages, particularly, for the context of small and medium size industries (the vast majority of Portuguese companies).
Would it be possible to adopt RAMI 4.0 in small organizations (e.g. suppliers of services or components) that integrate major supply chains investing in industry 4.0 (e.g. automotive, mechanical, or aeronautical)?
This master thesis focuses the adoption of RAMI 4.0 for information systems development in SMEs (industrial SMEs or participating in industry ecosystems).
References
Bousdekis, A., Lepenioti, K., Ntalaperas, D., Vergeti, D., Apostolou, D., & Boursinos, V. (2019, June). A RAMI 4.0 View of Predictive Maintenance: Software Architecture, Platform and Case Study in Steel Industry. In International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (pp. 95-106). Springer, Cham.
Hankel, M., & Rexroth, B. (2015). The reference architectural model industrie 4.0 (rami 4.0). ZVEI, April, 410.
Schweichhart, K. (2016), Reference Architectural Model Industrie 4.0 (RAMI 4.0) – An Introduction. Available at https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/system/files/ged/a2-schweichhart-reference_architectural_model_industrie_4.0_rami_4.0.pdf [last accessed 12/06/2020]
Objetivo
The main objectives of this work are:
1. Literature review of RAMI 4.0 and related architectures for industry 4.0 (e.g. NIST standards for smart factories) with impact in information systems development.
2. Development of a digital platform according to RAMI 4.0 (or an adapted architecture) in a small industrial company.
3. Evaluation of the applicability of RAMI 4.0 in SMEs and recommendations for IT developers in industry 4.0 contexts.
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 1
The main phases for the first semester are presented as follows:
1) Research the state-of-the-art: Reference architectures for industry 4.0 digital developments
Start: September 2020
Duration: 2 months
2) Contacts with a case organization interested in adopting industry 4.0: “Escudo Iberia” is a small company founded in 2018 that provides technical coatings for large industries (energy, automotive, naval, or petrochemical).
Start: October 2020
Duration: 2 months
3) Initial design of the software to be developed in the case company, RAMI 4.0 compliant.
Start: November 2020
Duration: 1 month
Results of the 1st semester:
• Literature review about RAMI 4.0 adoption
• Requirements and architecture for the application case
• Intermediate report
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 2
The main phases for the second semester are presented as follows:
4) Study of RAMI 4.0 adoption in the case organization.
Start: January 2021
Duration: 4 months
5) Development and tests of the IT solution in the case company.
Start: January 2021
Duration: 4 months
6) Writing of the thesis and a scientific paper
Start: May 2021
Duration: 2 months
Results of the 2nd semester:
• Final report
• Scientific paper (information systems development in small industrial companies according to RAMI 4.0 reference architecture)
Condições
The student will be integrated in the Information Systems group (ISG) of CISUC, Department of Informatics Engineering, University of Coimbra. A workplace and the required resources will be provided.
The application case will be developed at Escudo Iberia, Lda (some visits are planned but the work will be mostly conducted at DEI).
Observações
The student will be engaged with the activities of ISG in a topic with major relevance for industries worldwide. Therefore, this work offers an opportunity to strengthen the skills of IS design for industry 4.0.
The development tasks will focus exclusively on the software elements of RAMI 4.0 (e.g. mobile or web platform for process or product lifecycle management; technologies to be selected by the student).
Orientador
João Barata
barata@dei.uc.pt 📩