An operation control system includes: a storing processing part configured to store collected information on abnormality in countermeasure progress information storage parts in which information on an abnormality or countermeasure information on a countermeasure to the abnormality is stored; an equipment abnormality monitor part configured to, when a length of a time period during which the abnormality continues exceeds a prescribed time period, update a state of the abnormality; a countermeasure monitor part configured to monitor a state of the countermeasure, and, when the state of the countermeasure changes, update the state of the countermeasure; and an output processing part configured to change how to output alarm information in accordance with the length of the time period during which the abnormality continues and the state of the countermeasure.

A software defined (SD) process control system (SDCS) implements controller and other process control-related business logic as logical abstractions (e.g., application layer services executing in containers, VMs, etc.) decoupled from hardware and software computing platform resources. An SD networking layer of the SDCS utilizes process control-specific operating system support services to manage the usage of the computing platform resources and the creation, deletion, modifications, and networking of application layer services with devices disposed in the field environment and with other services, responsive to the requirements and needs of the business logic and dynamically changing conditions of SDCS hardware and/or software assets during run-time of the process plant (such as performance, faults, addition/deletion of hardware and/or software assets, etc.). A visualization system of the SDCS provides a user with a view as to the state of the SDCS as currently configured/running on the computing platform to enable a user to view currently configured interrelationships between logical elements of the control system and other logical and/or physical elements of the control system. The visualization system also provides performance metrics of the system as currently configured to enable a user to understand the operational health of the control system as currently configured.

A software defined (SD) process control system (SDCS) includes a method executed by a discovery service for inferring information regarding a physical or logical asset of a process plant. The method includes obtaining an announcement indicative of a presence of a physical or logical asset of the process plant. The method also includes obtaining, from a context dictionary, one or more parameters retrievable from the physical or logical asset or one or more services associated with the physical or logical asset that were not indicated in the announcement. Furthermore, the method includes storing a record of the discovered physical or logical asset in a discovered item data store. The record includes an indication of the identity of the physical or logical asset and the one or more parameters or one or more services associated with the physical or logical asset that were not indicated in the announcement.

A software defined distributed control system (SDCS) in a process plant includes an application layer that includes a plurality of containers instantiated in a data cluster. Each of the containers is an isolated execution environment executing within the local operating system of a respective computing node. The containers cooperate to facilitate execution of a control strategy in the SDCS, and includes a hyper converged infrastructure (HCI) operating across the data cluster, which HCI is configured to communicate with the application layer via an adapter service. The HCI includes software-defined (SD) compute resources, SD storage resources, SD networking resources, and an orchestrator service. The orchestrator service is programmed to configure a first container to include a service executing within the first container. It also assigns the first container to execute on an available hardware resource to control a plurality of field devices operating in the process plant.

The progress of deterioration of a manufacturing facility is prevented while keeping KPI within an allowable range. A facility diagnosis device includes a deterioration prevention mode definition storage unit that stores information including an operation control method for preventing deterioration of a manufacturing facility or a portion thereof for each of predetermined deterioration prevention modes; a KPI calculation unit that calculates a predetermined KPI by using a deterioration degree predicted for each of the deterioration prevention modes for the manufacturing facility or the portion of the manufacturing facility, and determines whether the KPI satisfies a predetermined condition; a deterioration prevention determination unit that determines a deterioration prevention mode that should be executed from a satisfaction determination result; and a control information output unit that outputs control information on the manufacturing facility or the portion of the manufacturing facility according to the deterioration prevention mode that should be executed.

An apparatus and method for pressing articles on components of a vehicle assembly is provided. The apparatus includes a support fixture, a driving mechanism coupled to the support fixture, and a sensor coupled to the support fixture. The apparatus detects a component that includes a receiving section and controls the sensor to determine a height of the receiving section with respect to a datum of the component, based on the detection. The apparatus computes an offset distance with respect to the determined height and actuates the driving mechanism based on the offset distance. Based on the actuation, the driving mechanism moves an actuator to a first position in proximity of the receiving section. The driving mechanism further actuates to displace the actuator from the first position to a second position, which causes the actuator to apply a force on an article, causing the article to mate with the receiving section.

A computer-implemented method for the monitoring of a plurality of cable-processing machines for the processing of cables includes the following steps: transmission of production parameters from one cable-processing machine, or a plurality of cable-processing machines, to a control server with a central database, wherein the production parameters include settings for the cable-processing machine for the processing of the cables by the cable-processing machine in question; reception of the production parameters by the control server; and storage of the production parameters in the central database.

A production facilities monitoring method monitors an operation status of a plurality of production facilities of a same kind located at a plurality of production sites and includes: a data information preparation step of aggregating operational data of each of the production facilities for each of the production sites; a data accumulation step of accumulating the operational data aggregated at the data information preparation step into a computer located at a data accumulation site; a data analysis step of analyzing a current operation status at each of the production facilities, using current operational data and past operational data accumulated at the data accumulation step; and an operation status determination step of determining whether operation is abnormal at each of the production facilities, based on an analysis result of the data analysis step.

An equipment control system includes a control unit. The control unit is configured to control equipment based on an authority. The authority is set for each of a plurality of individuals and a relative positional relationship. The relative positional relationship is a relative positional relationship between the equipment and each of the plurality of individuals.

A control system for a technical installation includes an operator station server and an operator station client, wherein the operator station server includes a visualization service for outputting image information to the operator station client, where the operator station server uses a first measured value associated with a first technical object of the technical installation and a second measured value associated with a second technical object of the technical installation to generate a scatter diagram with an operating point visualized in the scatter diagram, and where the operator station server transmits the scatter diagram with the operating point to the operator station client via the visualization service, where the control system provides the at least one operating point with a visual coding generated based on an alarm status and/or a quality status of the first measured value associated with the operating point and the second measured value.