In greenfield projects, equipment is often ordered long before anyone thinks about MES. When the machines arrive, the data needed for monitoring, traceability and quality is locked behind proprietary controls, and retrofitting interfaces becomes a costly project of its own.
What to include
- A signal list: states, counts, alarms and critical process parameters.
- Supported protocols and the data access method.
- Product identification points and how IDs are read or written.
- Interlock and handshake behaviour with higher-level systems.
- Time synchronisation and data quality requirements.
- Documentation, test procedures and acceptance criteria for the interface.
Why it pays back
An interface specified in the purchase order is built and tested by the OEM as part of the machine. The same interface added later involves change orders, site visits and production downtime. Writing it in early is one of the highest-return decisions in a new plant.
Vector11 prepares these specifications as part of greenfield advisory. We do not supply the production machinery itself.
