NIST’s Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS) Test Bed

Washington, D.C. – The Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS) Test Bed is comprised of three major components:

• Computer-aided technologies (CAx) Lab
• Manufacturing lab
• Data publication web services

The CAx Lab contains several computer-aided technology tools from the design (CAD), manufacturing (CAM), inspection (CAI), data management (PDM), and verification & validation (V&V) domains. Uses of the CAx Lab included, but are not limited to, developing test cases for conformance testing to standards, generating CAD models for fabrication experiments, and testing cyber-physical connections across the product lifecycle.

The Manufacturing Lab, in partnership with the NIST Fabrication Technology Office (FTO), mimics the configuration of a contract-manufacturing shop. The Manufacturing Lab contains several fabrication machine tools (e.g., CNC milling, CNC turning) and inspection equipment (e.g., CMM, digital micrometers).

Data is collected from the Manufacturing Lab using the MTConnect standard. That data is aggregated and published internally and externally of NIST via web services. Three channels of data dissemination are available or becoming available from the SMS Test Bed: (1) a volatile data stream using an MTConnect agent, (2) a query-able data repository using the NIST Material Data Curation System (MDCS), and (3) pre-compiled data packages that include a collection of CAx Lab data and associated Manufacturing Lab data.

The goal of the SMS Test Bed is to extend existing production-focused concepts by designing and architecting a test bed that enables smart manufacturing research and development across the product lifecycle. This process should highlight the challenges and requirements for introducing cyber-physical infrastructure in manufacturing, as well as create opportunities to provide a tangible source of data that other researchers may use to develop and validate smart manufacturing technologies. It also requires the integration of systems from each product lifecycle stage so that information may flow between design, fabrication, and inspection. This enables the development of technologies and standards that create a "digital thread" to exchange information, including product design and quality and equipment performance and health, across the product lifecycle. These efforts complement existing research and development aimed at reducing cycle time, ensuring first-pass success, and improving the overall performance of the product design and manufacturing process.

System Insights contributes to new NIST Test Bed, making ‘digital thread’ accessible

System Insights collaborates with NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) and other partners on the Smart Manufacturing Test Bed, a project with the common goals of enabling the digital thread and transferring the learnings to the manufacturing industry for improvement in its business performance and global competitive advantage.

The Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS) Test Bed was launched by NIST, a non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.  The Test Bed is an innovative model factory that will facilitate the advanced manufacturing technology known as the ‘digital thread’, which refers to the information life cycle processes from design, through manufacturing and inspection.  The goal of the Test Bed is to create a shared resource for smart manufacturing research and development, accessible to those who want to explore capabilities as well as contribute to its advancement. The Test Bed is designed to be the foundation for fostering the acceptance and use of the digital thread, a technological advance predicted to yield significant operational and bottom-line benefits for manufacturers of all sizes.

System Insights and NIST’s collaborative effort generated the MTConnectR package, which provides a solution to analyze data from machine tools, using the MTConnect standard to collect data from machine tools and bring the data into R, the statistical analysis package.  This solution will enable one part of the digital thread concept – connecting the as-planned to the as-fabricated state.

The test bed overall will support the next planned stage of recently started collaborative effort between System Insights and NIST that will collect data and power analytics.  Systems Insights’ collaboration with NIST and the ecosystem of partners will help manufacturers transform to digital, data driven manufacturing. The MTConnect package will be enhanced to integrate with System Insights’ VIMANA platform, that collects, enriches and analyzes data from advanced manufacturing equipment, enabling decision to improve productivity.

“We are very excited to work with NIST on this Test Bed,” stated Dr. Athulan Vijayaraghavan, Founder and CTO, System Insights.  “We see this as a great start to advance the use of analytics to drive insight and to integrate technology and processes across the digital thread so manufacturers can outpace the competition and reduce costs. We value the opportunity provided by the NIST Test Bed to innovate and enable the future of manufacturing, as well as build learnings into future products for our customers,” he added.

According to NIST, future plans for the Test Bed include offering manufacturers the opportunity to compare the fabrication of test products using their standard procedure and with an optimized ‘digital thread’ plan.  

About System Insights: System Insights is transforming how industrial companies operate plants and deliver products.  We help our customers gain real-time visibility and control of their manufacturing operations to improve productivity, maximize asset performance, reduce resource consumption, and boost profits. System Insights’ technology fuels Industry 4.0, IIoT, and Smart Factory client initiatives.

VIMANA by System Insights is the leading cloud-based and on-premise predictive analytics platform for manufacturing intelligence. VIMANA securely connects to multi-vendor and legacy factory assets using MTConnect and OPC UA standards.  Our software captures, enriches, and analyzes vast volumes of machine data, generating metrics and insight to help customers accelerate cycle times, minimize scrap, and reduce production costs.  System Insights collaborates with a robust partner ecosystem, from machine tool and controller technology manufacturers, to factory automation systems and mission critical enterprise software providers. We are recognized as industry thought leaders and are contributing partners to the MTConnect Institute.  Committed to the future of manufacturing, we collaborate closely with DMDII (Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute), NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), and IIC (Industrial Internet Consortium).

Source: NIST