SCADA integration: connect SCADA and OPC data to MES and ERP
Your SCADA already holds the machine data, and it should stay where it is. Meta Smart Factory reads the tag tree your SCADA or OPC server already curates, read-only by default, and adds what SCADA does not carry: the work order, material, operator and quality result behind every count.
Talk to us about your SCADADoes an MES replace SCADA?
No. SCADA controls and visualises process state in real time, at the control level. The MES works one level above it, in minutes and hours: which order is running, on which machine, from which material, by whom and at what quality. They are not substitutes, and replacing SCADA with an MES is as much a mistake as buying an OEE dashboard and calling it an MES.
Three ways to get machine data into the MES
Anything that writes back to a machine, such as a recipe download, a setpoint push on changeover or an andon output, is a separate connection. It is scoped deliberately and is not part of the read-only start.
What SCADA does not hold
SCADA knows a machine ran at a given rate for forty minutes. It does not know that those forty minutes belonged to a particular work order, ran material from a lot that also went into other orders, and were operated by someone certified for the process. Genealogy, order context, labour and quality disposition are MES concerns, and they are what the MES adds on top of the same signals. Counts and confirmations then go on to the ERP. MES vs ERP vs SCADA sets out where each system ends.
One practical point from the machine interface: read accumulating counters and take deltas, instead of counting edges. A pulse shorter than the polling interval is invisible to a polled read, and a counter that only climbs is immune to that.
SCADA integration: common questions
Do we keep our SCADA?
Yes. It keeps controlling and visualising the machines. The MES reads from it or from the PLCs, and does not write back unless that connection is scoped on purpose.
Is it safe to connect to a control network?
The start is read-only. Plants that do not want another device on the control network can use the OPC or SCADA route, so MSF talks to the server and not to each controller. The platform is covered by an ISO/IEC 27001 certificate.
Can the MES use SCADA tags for OEE?
Yes. Machine states, counts and cycle times from the tag tree give OEE and TEEP per machine, line and plant, and alarm or fault codes map to stop reasons where the controller exposes them.
Which protocols are supported?
OPC UA and OPC DA, Modbus TCP and RTU, EtherNet/IP and MQTT, and PROFINET, BACnet and DNP3 through the SCADA layer. Supported PLCs and protocols lists the drivers.
How do we try it?
A Proof of Concept on one line, with the SCADA tags you already have, typically 2 to 12 weeks depending on the product.