AWS for Industries

Simplify Manufacturing Execution System deployment and management using the iBASEt Solumina QuickStart

September 8, 2021: Amazon Elasticsearch Service has been renamed to Amazon OpenSearch Service. See details.

The implementation, management and support of a Manufacturing Execution System has traditionally been quite challenging. Obstacles to deployment include complex systems integration, scarce local resources (hardware, subject matter experts, downtime to implement, etc.) and lack of sufficient budget to implement in a timely manner. Once installed, time and resources must be invested to accommodate production modifications, staffing turnover, and supply chain disruptions, among other disruptive events.

iBASEt has 30+ years of experience in highly engineered, regulated industries. The iBASEt Solumina QuickStart simplifies the complex by empowering customers to implement, run and manage a Manufacturing Execution System from the AWS cloud. By using shared hardware resources in a secure environment, resource and other constraints can be easily overcome. Standardized deployment with pre-configured processes and open APIs easily overcome traditional integration challenges.

iBASEt customers gain real-time visibility, take control, and drive velocity across their operations and extended value chain. With the iBASEt Solumina QuickStart, you can leverage three decades to experience and industry knowledge – gained by working closely with industry-leaders such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rolls Royce, and Pratt & Whitney – to simplify what has traditionally been a challenging task of deploying and managing a world-class Manufacturing Execution System.

This article will explain how this different approach is now possible with the iBASEt Solumina QuickStart, what steps should be taken as part of the deployment, as well as provide a future vision of how to add new capabilities and manage product upgrades easily through the use of microservices within the modular architecture of the iBASEt Solumina solution portfolio.

Overview of solution
Solumina streamlines manufacturing productivity, quality, and compliance. It integrates quality management as part of the production process and simplifies the execution of maintenance, repair, and overhaul processes. This Quick Start builds a Solumina environment on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud and sets up the following:

  • A highly available architecture that spans three Availability Zones
  • A virtual private cloud (VPC) configured with public and private subnets, according to AWS best practices, to provide you with your own virtual network. You can also deploy Solumina into an existing VPC.
  • In the public subnets:
    • Managed network address translation (NAT) gateways to allow outbound internet access for resources in the private subnets
    • A Linux bastion host in an Auto Scaling group to allow inbound Secure Shell (SSH) access to Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances in public and private subnets
  • In the private subnets, installed as high-availability clusters:
    • iBASEt’s proprietary software
    • Amazon Elasticsearch Service (Amazon ES)
    • A MongoDB resources
    • Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS)
  • An Application Load Balancer to route traffic to the Solumina web application over HTTPS
  • Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) making it easy for you to run Kubernetes on AWS without needing to install, operate, and maintain your own Kubernetes control plane.
  • An Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) bucket for storing Quick Start assets
  • Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) to provide on-demand scaling and management of AWS Cloud services and resources.

Walkthrough
To deploy the Solumina environment, follow the instructions in the deployment guide. The deployment process includes these steps:

  1. Sign in to your AWS account, and choose one of the following options to launch the AWS CloudFormation template.
  2. Check the AWS Region. This is where the network infrastructure for iBASEt will be built. The template is launched in the US East (Ohio) Region by default. This deployment includes Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS), which is not currently supported in all AWS Regions. For a current list of supported Regions, see the AWS Service Endpoints webpage. This Quick Start does not support shared subnets. The subnets require NAT gateways in their routing tables to allow the instances to download packages and software without exposing them to the internet.

This Quick Start reference deployment guide provides step-by-step instructions for deploying iBASEt Solumina Manufacturing Execution System (MES) on the AWS Cloud. You can also see the source code for this Quick Start on GitHub.

Cleaning up
To avoid incurring future charges, delete the resources by navigating to CloudFormation in AWS Console and deleting the stack.

Prerequisites

Specialized knowledge
This deployment guide also requires a moderate level of familiarity with AWS services. If you’re new to AWS, visit the Getting Started Resource Center and the AWS Training and Certification website for materials and programs that can help you develop the skills to design, deploy, and operate your infrastructure and applications on the AWS Cloud.

AWS Account
If you don’t already have an AWS account, create one at https://aws.amazon.com by following the on-screen instructions. Part of the signup process involves receiving a phone call and entering a PIN using the phone keypad. Your AWS account is automatically signed up for all AWS services. You are charged only for the services you use.

Conclusion
As manufacturers continue to drive efficiency improvement and cost reduction programs, applications are increasingly being deployed and managed on the cloud. iBASEt Solumina QuickStart offers manufacturers a way to ease this transition with an industry-proven solution supported and enabled by the AWS cloud. The continued push to digitally transform manufacturing operations is ushering in a new era of performance improvements coupled with remote monitoring and management possibilities. Manufacturers on a digital transformation path should seriously consider this AWS cloud offering as a way to accelerate their digital journey.

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Preet Virk

Preet Virk

Preet Virk is Sr. Partner Solutions Architect working for Industrial Software segment at AWS. He works as a technical leader and trusted adviser for AWS partners focusing on Industrial IoT, Machine Learning, Edge Computing and Data-lake formation. He enjoys building joint solutions with his partners adhering to AWS best architectural practices and patterns enabling their customers bring the data to works.

Sung Kim

Sung Kim

Sung Kim is the Chief Technology Officer and leads iBASEt’s long-term technology vision and is responsible for the overall product architecture and infrastructure deployment profiles, focusing on open standards and integration technologies.