Functional Safety Use Cases in the Context of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems

Flexibility and reconfiguration of manufacturing systems have been subjects of research for almost half a century. In recent years, with the emergence of customized mass production as a goal of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMSs) have experienced a renaissance. The objective of rapid reconfiguration of production facilities is a fundamental condition for the realization of customized mass production. Besides the configuration of machinery and their programs, this also affects the configuration of the safety system. In this paper, core characteristics of Reconfigurable Safety Systems (RSSs) are proposed, which extend the characteristics of RMSs. Furthermore, we explore use cases of discrete manufacturing and identify service groups and services that are needed for the technical implementation of rapid safety reconfiguration within RMSs in order to allow flexible, reliable, and safe operation of machinery.