In most cases, improved efficiency is playing a major role in the construction of new production plants or the modernization of existing plants. The goal is to optimize operational sequences and to increase a plant's productivity and cost effectiveness while securing maximum product quality. Continually updated information is a major prerequisite for achieving these goals and meeting the corresponding requirements.

The acquisition of production data provides the basis for optimized production sequences which take into account aspects of product liability and quality assurance.

The following types of data are acquired:

• Machine and process data (states, measured values, metered values, etc.)
• Energy data
• QA-relevant data (e.g. analysis results)
• Maintenance-related information (operating cycles, operating times, etc.)
• Manual inputs (e. g. laboratory values, offline counter values, additional information)

This information must be made available to the control system in a uniform and standardized manner. Data structures must be specified and standardized interfaces to controllers from different machine suppliers must be implemented. This data standardization was performed by the Weihenstephan Technical University.

For the provision of data from controllers of different manufacturers, the data structures must be defined in advance. Standardized data structures already in the machine suppliers' controller software are a prerequisite for consistent data management. Raw data (e.g. fault and operational messages, process signals or setpoints) are stored in defined data blocks with the same structure for all controllers in order to ensure the quality of the data basis. For this purpose, the Weihenstephan Technical University has developed a standard PDA interface specification referred to as the Weihenstephan Standards.

Weihenstephan Standards

In close cooperation with representatives from the industry and with the support of the science promotion committee of the German brewery industry, the Faculty of Food Packaging Technology has developed a standard for the connection of PDA systems to beverage bottling plants.
The 2000 Weihenstephan Standards define the requirements for the contents of a standard PDA specification for bottling plants.

2000 Weihenstephan Standards (pdf)

Whereas the 2005 Weihenstephan Standards include a comprehensive description of interfaces and the provision of data for bottling and packaging plants in the beverage industry. Consisting of an introduction and four parts, the standard is structured as follows:

General section

• Part 1: Physical specification of the interface
• Part 2: Specification of the contents of the interface
• Part 3: Data evaluation and reporting
• Part 4: Inspection and safe operation

The general section introduces the reader to the problems of production data acquisition for beverage bottling plants. Furthermore, this section includes the model of a bottling plant for reusable bottles which is referred to in all other descriptions in the standard.

Part 1 includes the physical specification of the interface for the connection of control devices and machine controllers to a PDA system. This part also specifies the description of a machine/control device's data volume based on an XML device description file.

Part 2 includes the specification of the contents of the interface. It specifies which data points must be available by default on which machines and control devices and in which format and under which names these must be stored.

Part 3 describes functions for data evaluation and the calculation of characteristics. In addition, the sample reports attached to this section facilitate the processing of the data produced in a structured manner.

Part 4 provides guidelines for inspecting the PDA system after its installation. Furthermore, this section includes instructions which secure the safe operation and documentation of the system.

2005 Weihenstephan Standards (download from the homepage of the Weihenstephan Technical University - with costs)