Development of an interface between a supervisory shop controller and MRP system in a CIM environment

This paper addresses the integration of an MRP-based manufacturing system software with supervisory control software. The Bill of Materials (BOM) for the parts of this assembly, Product Costs, Master Production Schedule (MPS), Forecasts, and Inventories are generated using the MRP software. Pertinent information required for coordination and control of the assembly process is exported using a data exported module in the software. This information is then used to retrieve components of this product from an AS/RS, transport them to an assembly cell using an AGV, and assemble them using a SCARA robot. The MRP database is periodically updated using a resident data import module.