There is currently a trend for flexible production of extremely small batches and this needs to become economical. Automation is therefore playing an increasingly important role for modular production in the process industry, whether for manufacturing individual medications or various sizes of shower gels and creams in the cosmetics industry. MTP (Module Type Package) modules provide the basis for rapid changes in the process with components and modules from a variety of manufacturers and OEMs.
In the past, the base chemicals industry has relied on mass production and the large plants needed to do this. In the fine chemicals industry and pharmaceutical production, so-called batch plants (batch process with discontinuous production processes) are also used, which can run different recipes. Once they have been built, they are not designed to be modified. A higher-level central process control system controls these plants and any changes mean complex planning, conversion and programming work or even the construction of a completely new plant.
To meet the requirements for flexible production plants, Festo has completely redesigned the automation of a production module using MTP. This has also demonstrated how efficient the MTP approach is for commissioning modular plants. With this approach, a plant no longer consists of one central controller, but instead is made up of individual modules with their own integrated controller. Each module takes care of a specific section of the production process, such as mixing or filling.
Festo has been involved in committees developing modular production from a very early stage, for example in the working group of the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI). "The benefit of modular plants is that they are quick to design, build and even adapt to changing production numbers. Ultimately, the product is produced more quickly and reaches the market sooner," explains Chris Stich, Advanced Develop. Digital Engineering at Festo. Festo has automated a production module for a modular biopharmaceutical system at INVITE. Bayer, Dortmund Technical University and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf are also involved in the partnership with INVITE.
The project shows how modules from different manufacturers can be installed in a plant and quickly commissioned if they comply with the MTP standard. The MTP standard is a standardised interface description for instant integration (plug & produce) of the individual modules into the process orchestration layer (POL). The MTP file contains all the information required for control and monitoring. During operation, the data is exchanged between the module and POL via OPC UA. Festo is actively working on the MTP standard of the VDI/VDE/Namur guideline 2658.
The biopharmaceutical system that was automated consisted of a reactor module with heating and stirring functions and two dispensing modules. Each module runs autonomously thanks to its integrated controller. Festo used the CPX-CEC controller for one of the dispensing modules while a Siemens controller was used for the other. The project partners demonstrated that the dispensing modules with the MTP standard can be integrated automatically into the POL (process orchestration layer) regardless of the manufacturer. Festo used its own PA Toolkit to program its MTP module. The toolkit includes preprogrammed function blocks for quick and simple programming of MTP modules. The MTP description file can then be generated automatically from the automation program. The project ran from 2019 to 2021.