What’s new in Opcenter Intra Plant Logistics 2404

By Alessandro Cereseto

Streamlining operations to enhance efficiency across industries

Efficiently managing logistics within factories and warehouses is a multifaceted challenge, encompassing various aspects such as inventory management, storage and warehouse management, replenishment management, transport management and inbound or outbound logistics.

In Siemens Digital Industries Software’s ongoing efforts to enhance Opcenter™ Intra Plant Logistics (IPL) software, which is part of the Siemens Xcelerator business platform of software hardware and services, the April 2024 release contains significant updates. We introduce integration enhancements, including the Opcenter IPL Any MES Gateway, facilitating seamless integration with third-party manufacturing execution system (MES) solutions, and the addition of a new resource hierarchy and configuration application within the Opcenter IPL portal, enabling easy configuration of resources aligned with MES modeling. Additionally, using the Opcenter IPL MES Gateway supports integrating factory hierarchy, material consumption, kanban replenishment and manual or hot call replenishment.

Benefits:

Streamline operations, enhancing efficiency across industries
Accelerate integration and customization
Meet IT security requirements
Improve UX
Reduce inventory and costs
Improve performance

With the first release of the second generation Opcenter IPL Transport Management system, users can manage transporting raw materials, semifinished goods and finished products with high flexibility and efficiency. Integrating with Omron, Knapp and SIMOVE AGV fleet managers ensures optimized transport destination selection based on capability and capacity.

To comply with information technology requirements, this version includes enhanced security measures, like encryption for credentials and data at rest. Additionally, we improve the user experience (UX) by addressing minor issues and making enhancements in web and personal digital assistant (PDA) applications.

Further, by retiring several applications that have reached end-of-life or are no longer within the scope of Opcenter IPL, companies can simplify deploying and managing the Opcenter IPL suite while improving user-facing documentation.

Overall, these updates signify our commitment to innovation, security and user satisfaction, ensuring that Opcenter IPL remains at the forefront of intralogistics software solutions, delivering value and efficiency to our customers.

Capabilities

Integrating Opcenter IPL Any MES Gateway and Opcenter EX DS

Image of the Opcenter IPL 2404 User Interface

Using Opcenter IPL Any MES Gateway can ease integration into third-party MES solutions. This gateway is also used in Opcenter Execution Discrete (EX DS).

We added a new resource hierarchy and configuration application to the Opcenter IPL portal to support the IPL configuration of the resources that the MES creates and maintains.

In the 2404 release, using the Opcenter IPL Any MES Gateway supports integrating:

Factory hierarchy
Material consumption
Kanban replenishment
Manual or hot call replenishment

IPL Transport Management

With this first release of the second
generation of Opcenter IPL Transport
Management, users can:

Manage the transport of raw materials, semifinished goods and finished goods throughout the site
Achieve high flexibility in modeling to adjust to the specific needs in a given area
Manage transport requests and transportation orders
Integrate with Omron, Knapp and SIMOVE AGV fleet managers
Select the best transport destination based on capability and capacity

Available for early adopters. Contact product management.

Improved security

Encryption of credentials
Database (DB) connection string
RabbitMQ connection credentials
Keycloak credentials
Encryption of data at rest
Database encryption (provides a new manual, whereas the actual configuration is done in the database solution)

Application retirement

With this 2404 release, we removed a variety of applications. All these applications are end-of-life or out of Opcenter IPL scope. In parallel to this, we also updated the documentation.

Various small enhancements and fixes

Minor fixes done in the web and PDA applications include:

SF-7096 – Fixes for the Opcenter IPL commissioning client
SF-8110 – Fixes for kanban and smart scan configuration
SF-9340 – Fixes for storage in web and PDA
SF-10468 – Fixes and enhancements for approved vendor list (AVL)

Learn more about Opcenter IPL

Discover the power of Opcenter Intraplant Logistics to optimize your material flow from warehouse to factory floor. With real-time inventory management, smart JIT material replenishment, and special material management, you can increase line performance, maintain inventory accuracy, and ensure smooth material flow. Learn more about how this solution can revolutionize your intralogistics capabilities.