Modular design and simulation based verification of the logic control code for an agile shoe manufacturing system

To properly deal with the increasing complexity of industrial distributed and agile manufacturing control systems, the use of methods and tools that support the designer in the definition, verification and implementation of logic control software is more and more necessary. Nowadays, many different concepts, methodologies, standards and computer aided design tools are available to face the considered problem in a structured and systematic way. As a consequence, critical decisions have to be undertaken to select the most appropriate techniques and tools to use, by considering their limits as concerns the provided functionalities, the compliancy with existing standards, and the openness towards not proprietary software instruments. In the present work a methodological approach to the structured design and simulation based verification of manufacturing plants logic control systems is discussed. The methods and tools used during the different phases of the design are illustrated with reference to an application example in the shoe manufacturing sector, with particular attention to the design and the closed loop discrete simulation of the PLC code for the control of the making department transportation line, that is based on an innovative molecular architecture.