Proposal of an Architecture based on RAMI 4.0 Layers for Flexible Manufacturing in Industry 4.0

The Industry 4.0 (I4.0) together with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) enable business productivity to be improved through rapid changes in production scope in an increasingly volatile market. This technology innovation is perceived by integrating manufacturing systems, managing business rules, and decentralizing computing resources, enabling rapid changes in production systems. The Reference Architecture Model for Industry 4.0 (RAMI 4.0) is a three-dimensional layer model to support I4.0 applications. One of the major challenges for adopting RAMI 4.0 is the development of solutions that support the functionality of each layer and the necessary interactions between the elements of each layer. This paper focuses on the proposal of architecture for flexible manufacturing in I4.0 using all the Information Technology (IT) Layers of the RAMI 4.0. In order to enable a standardized and interoperable communication, the architecture used the OPC-UA protocol to connect the low layers elements in the factory perspective and REST APIs to connect the high layers in the business perspective. The integration architecture creates an online interface to provide the client the ability to enter, view, and even modify an order based on their needs and priorities, enabling the industry to implement rapid changes to adapt to the marketplace.