Challenges and Opportunities of DevOps in Cyber-Physical Production Systems Engineering

DevOps is a set of practices that combines software development and operations to enable a continuous software product life cycle to improve the quality of software systems. Although DevOps is considered successful for typical software systems, it has not yet been widely adopted in the area of CyberPhysical Production Systems (CPPSs) that integrate physical components with computer-based control and communication systems. Related to industrial settings, many new challenges arise, like long-term investments, missing flexibility in asset-heavy production environments, and the inherent physicality of hardware. This paper examines the use of the DevOps methodology in the manufacturing domain. It identifies and discusses the unique challenges and describes first solution proposals to overcome those challenges, based on literature and experiences from the industry. The article provides useful guidance to researchers and practitioners on potential pitfalls and exciting opportunities.