Shop floor integration: Control & automation with cloud MES

What Does Shopfloor Integration Mean?

Shopfloor Integration refers to the digital connection of the production layer (shop floor) with higher-level systems such as MES, ERP, and cloud platforms. The goal is a continuous, real-time data flow between OT (machines, PLCs, sensors) and IT (MES, ERP, analytics).

Without Shopfloor Integration, factories end up with data silos, delayed feedback, and high integration effort per machine or line. With a proper integration layer, machines, lines, and assets become standardized data sources and consumers in the Digital Shopfloor.

Shopfloor Control vs. Shopfloor Automation

These terms are often mixed—but they describe different layers:

Shopfloor Control

Refers to the operational control and monitoring of production: order sequencing, order release, WIP tracking, feedback, and traceability. In an MES context, Shopfloor Control translates production orders into executable steps and tracks their progress.

Shopfloor Automation

Covers the automatic execution on the machine and control level: PLC logic, robot programs, automated material flows, and event-based signals to and from the MES.

Shopfloor Integration is the IT/OT bridge,
Shopfloor Control is the logical production control layer,
Shopfloor Automation is the physical execution layer.

Architecture: MES as the Bridge Between Business and Shopfloor

In a typical Industry 4.0 architecture, the MES sits directly above the shop floor and connects planning systems with automation:

• Top: ERP / APS (order, material, and supply-chain planning)

• Middle: MES (shopfloor control, OEE, quality, traceability)

• Bottom: Shopfloor Integration Layer (OPC UA, gateways, message-based integration) and Automation (PLCs, robots, drives)

A dedicated shopfloor integration layer decouples the MES from protocol details and handles protocol conversion, tag mapping, buffering, and security. This keeps the MES scalable and focused on business logic.

Technical Enablers: OPC UA, MQTT, REST, and Edge

Several standards have become the backbone of modern Shopfloor Integration:

OPC UA

An open, platform-independent communication standard with semantic information models. It is the de facto standard for MES-to-shopfloor integration, including discovery, semantics, and Companion Specifications for machines, robots, and lines.

Message-Based Integration (MQTT, REST)

Modern architectures use event- and message-based communication in addition to classic client/server. Based on OPC UA combined with REST or MQTT, machines and MES exchange events, parameters, and quality data as structured messages.

Edge and Industrial Information Hubs

Edge platforms aggregate shopfloor data, harmonize protocols, and act as an industrial information hub for MES, ERP, and cloud analytics. In OPC-UA-based reference architectures, this edge layer is explicitly positioned as the Shopfloor Integration platform.

For technical users, this means:
Shopfloor Integration provides the standardized IT/OT interface; Shopfloor Control and Automation consume it for scheduling, OEE, quality, maintenance, and process automation.

Shopfloor Integration with a Cloud MES like SYMESTIC

In a Cloud MES setup such as SYMESTIC, the three layers become practical and clearly separated:

Shopfloor Integration

• Machines, lines, and test systems are connected via OPC UA, edge gateways, and standardized connectors.

• Machine states, counters, and process values are harmonized into a unified data model.

Shopfloor Control

• Order sequencing, release, and blocking directly on the shop floor.

• WIP tracking, status visibility, and traceability by lot or serial number.

• OEE, downtime, and scrap analysis as standard functions—not custom projects.

Shopfloor Automation (from the MES perspective)

• Event-driven workflows: downtime, NOK part, or limit violation → escalation, rework route, recipe change, lock, or ERP feedback.

• Integration with maintenance and quality, such as automatic maintenance tickets or additional inspections.

This makes Shopfloor Integration a clear value cluster:

• For OT: a standardized IT counterpart using OPC UA and message-based patterns.

• For IT: a consolidated, protocol-agnostic access layer to the shop floor.

• For business and OPEX: a reliable foundation for OEE, Digital Shopfloor, Smart Maintenance, and Process Optimization.

In short, Shopfloor Integration, Shopfloor Control, and Shopfloor Automation form the technical backbone that allows a Cloud MES like SYMESTIC to build a true Digital Shopfloor—from machine level to management, with real-time data as the standard.