Smart Factory Information Service Bus (SIBUS) for manufacturing application: requirement, architecture and implementation

The Smart Factory is an important topic worldwide as a means for achieving Industry 4.0 in the manufacturing domain. Contemporary research on the Smart Factory has been concerned with application of the so-called Internet of Things (IoT) to the shop floor. However, IoT in this context is often restricted to solving local problems such as managing product information, collaborative information exchange, and increasing productivity. To take full advantage of the potential of the IoT in manufacturing systems, it is necessary that the information service perspective should receive keen attention. This paper proposes a reference architecture for the information service bus or middleware for the Smart Factory that can be used for information acquisition, analysis, and application for the various stakeholders at the levels of Machine, Factory, and Enterprise Resource Planning. To reflect the real voice of the industry, real industrial problems have been identified, transformed into requirements, and incorporated into the information architecture; i.e., Smart Factory Information Service Bus. The implementation process of the reference architecture is also presented and illustrated via case studies.