There are numerous standards for direct, real-time integration of PLCs and other production facilities.
On the one hand proprietary de facto standards, like PLC interfaces with "Send/Receive" for SIMATIC S7 or as in EUROMAP for robot control, must be taken into consideration. On the other hand, international organizations, such as IEC and OPC, make technologically oriented  standards available. Furthermore, industry-specific functional models such as ISA-95 (automation) or GEM/SECS (semiconductor/electronics) must be implemented.
With SAP Plant Connectivity (PCo), a reliable SAP connection of these process management and automation systems - very heterogeneous in practice - is created.

SAP PCo offers the online collection of process parameters, order and test data as well as real-time processing of events and signals over various machine interfaces. Beside device-specific message adapters and PLC interfaces control interfaces using OPC integration are available:

• UA: "Unified Architecture“ for platform-independent OPC servers with enhanced data security.
• DA: "Data Access" for OPC servers on the Microsoft platform with COM/DCOM.
• AE: "Alarm & Events" for OPC servers on the Microsoft platform with COM/DCOM.

"Rule-based agents" ensure that events are suitably filtered and linked, and no information is lost. Messages formed in this way are delivered to SAP MII or other SAP applications by Web-Services.

Available special equipment connections are continually being expanded. Please call get the latest status in terms of your manufacturing equipment.

The following benefits accrue from using SAP PCo for a direct connection between shop floor IT and Manufacturing Facilities:

• Reduction of integration risks usually associated with device communication through a simple application to the factory network.
• Faster deployment through pre-configured machine connections with frequently used interface protocols and standards.
• High degree of standardization based on Microsoft and SAP technologies.
• Investment security combined with a long-term development strategy.

We integrate your plant and machinery based on extensive experience with direct connection between manufacturing facilities and SAP solutions.

For this we deliver an integration approach that considers not just a single project, but is transferable to the maximum number of production facilities at your plants or your company. We speak the language of your plant maintenance staff and  machine suppliers and follow the safety policies of the IT department.

In addition to configuring specific PCo "agents," we take responsibility for the corresponding SAP-related interfaces. Additional software components from SALT Solutions, such as a “protocol factory”, special SPS connectors and simulators enable us to connect even complex systems directly to SAP.

Some examples of machine connections to SAP using SAP MII and PCo:

Brucker - MPA analysis system:
Using the File Monitoring Adapter from SAP PCo for acquiring analytical results from the device's internal log file and assigning it to the inspection lots in SAP QM.

Buhmann - Servocart C400:
Use of the OPC-DA adapter to determine the status of various machines and error codes. Using additional manual input, reasons for downtime are classified according to VDMA 66412-1.

FOSS - MilkoScan FT120:
Transfer of audit records from the internal data storage of the analysis system using a device-specific PCo SAP adapter for linking the data to the inspection lot in SAP QM.

de Man - Bag sealing machine:
Start and stop messages with reasons for machine-specific down time are aquired via the TCP/IP message adapter and standardized for VDMA-compliant performance indicators.

OAS - Scale System:
Event-driven combination of weighing results from scale data storage with order and job data in SAP ERP over DB interface.

Weber - Slicer 902/903:
Identification of VDMA-compliant classes of fault reasons from different machine status and error codes using SAP PCo (OPC-DA adapter).