Web server-based Control in Applications

Abstract:
Nowadays, there are several trends in the automation industry like the shortage of skilled workers and the changeover from production tasks to manufacturing services. It states an increasing rate of manufacturing services, which include for example maintenance, from 25% in 1995 to 40% in 2010. This shows a trend from the human performing a physical production towards reconfiguration, maintenance and service tasks. Further on, every 10 years 30% of processes in industrial manufacturing disappear as they are dominated and replaced by very few but established technology of processes. As a consequence, a trend from static production lines towards exchangeable devices is visible. Therefore, the automation technology claims for optimisation when applying new devices. In this context, optimisation includes maintainability as well as performance indicators, flexibility by a high level of standard reuse and a faster ramp-up time. As a consequence, there is the need of easiness to use. This means for new devices neither expensive training for the staff nor special education or skills should be required to setup these devices. Instead, an intuitive operation is aspired rather than the need to query handbooks. This is even stressed by the needs for hardly any configuration and programming, which is commonly referred to as plug-and-play.