The browser-based framework is used to integrate and develop HTML5-compliant applications as plug-in components. iTAC thus increases the integration and operability of the MOM modules and enhances user-friendliness and the scope of action for users.

"The modern factory is digital, networked and adaptable. However, as the manufacturing landscape in Germany is predominantly brownfield - and therefore has evolved structures, limited space and machines from different decades - flexible and adaptable MES/MOM solutions are required. This is because they enable communication as well as horizontal and vertical networking from the top floor to the store floor," explains Peter Bollinger, CEO of iTAC Software AG, a subsidiary of Dürr AG.

With the iTAC.MOM.Suite, production processes can be controlled, optimized and predicted in real time. The holistic production management system is based on a completely open architecture and can therefore be integrated into existing ecosystems, enabling factories to complete the digital transformation in their production - even in the brownfield - and meet future requirements for an end-to-end digital process chain. Various services and applications are integrated into the iTAC.workbench - a browser-based framework for integrating any HTML5-compliant applications. The framework is designed to consolidate the large number of iTAC and customer-specific applications in a user interface with standard functions.

All MOM modules easily available in the HTML 5 framework

iTAC is now focusing on seamless integration and increasing the integration and operability of the MES/MOM modules in the iTAC.Workbench. It thus serves as a central access point for using all iTAC and third-party modules. What was previously only delivered as a separate plug-in with a different URL is now integrated into the Workbench.

Modules such as the Maintenance Manager or Quality Management can be installed as plugins in the Workbench and opened and operated directly from there. It is possible to define which users have access to which plugins or not. Interfaces can also be easily created via low-code using the Workbench. The user can thus generate an individual interface without any programming knowledge.

Additional modules from third-party providers can also be connected and operated from within the software. Project-specific applications that are required by users on the store floor, for example, can be made available via the add-ons plugin.

Simplicity for users and developers alike

"Our framework offers advantages for both the end user and the developer. It provides the user with a one-stop solution - a single URL is all that is needed to access all available front-end applications. With the single login, the user only logs in once and can easily manage multiple applications. A single administration front end provides access to all plug-ins installed on a system," explains Peter Bollinger.

For the developer, the framework provides an API (Application Programming Interface) to enable access to frequently used functions of web applications, thus facilitating the development process and ensuring homogeneous applications at the same time. The API provides an authentication service - so the developer only needs to use the framework's API. They also have access to a common component library, which reduces the development effort and enables a common user interface design.

Peter Bollinger says: "With the concept of seamless integration, iTAC is increasingly focusing on flexibility, usability and simplicity, which are precisely the qualities that are in demand in Industry 4.0."